Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 94].

7 ¹Brethren, are ye ignorant (for I speak to those knowing the law), that the law ruleth over the man for as long a time as he liveth? ²For the woman who is under a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband should die, she is released from the law of her husband. ³So then if, while her husband liveth, she should become married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband should die, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she hath become married to another man. ⁴So that, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of the Christ, to the end that ye become Another’s—to One Who was raised from the dead—in order that we should bear fruit to God. ⁵For when we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins, which were through the law, were energizing in our members to bear fruit to death. ⁶But now we were released from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so as to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

⁷What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it not be! But I knew not sin, except through the law. For I knew not coveting, except the law was saying, “Thou shalt not covet [Ex. 20:17].” ⁸But sin, taking occasion through the commandment, worked out in me every desire. For without the law sin was dead. ⁹And I was living without the law once; but after the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. ¹⁰And the commandment, which was unto life, this was found for me to be unto death. ¹¹For sin, taking occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it slew me. ¹²So that the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. ¹³Hath then that which is good become death to me? May it not be! But sin, that it might appear sin, worked out death to me through that which is good, that sin might become exceedingly sinful through the commandment.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 34]. At that time:

9 ³⁶Jesus, having seen the crowds, was moved with compassion for them, because they were wearied and cast down, as sheep not having a shepherd. ³⁷Then He saith to His disciples, “The harvest indeed is great, but the workers are few. ³⁸“Entreat therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth workers into His harvest.”

10 ¹And after He called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness. ²Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; Iakovos the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; Iakovos the son of Alphæos, and Lebbæos, who was surnamed Thaddæos; ⁴Simon the Cananite, and Judas the Iscariote, who also delivered Him up. ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our father among the saints, Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Great-martyr John the New of Sochi, who suffered at Belgrade.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ mid 318]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Heb. 8:1-6; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 8:3-6.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man. ³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is necessary for this One to have something also which He might offer. ⁴For if, indeed, He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, ⁵who worship a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses had been divinely warned when he was about to execute the tabernacle; for, “See,” saith He, “that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shown to thee in the mount [cf. Ex. 25:40].” ⁶But now He hath attained a more excellent liturgy, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.

For the Great-Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Gospel

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 64]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ⁸“Everyone who shall confess in Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess in him before the angels of God. ⁹“But the one who denieth Me before the face of men shall be denied before the face of the angels of God. ¹⁰“And everyone who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one who blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. ¹¹“And whenever they bring you in before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, cease being anxious how or what ye should speak in defense, or what ye should say; ¹²“for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what things it is needful to say.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 15th – Civil Calendar
June 2nd – Church Calendar

1. St. Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople.

He was a nobleman of Constantinople. His father Theodore, a wealthy and devout man, was a highranking official at the emperor’s court. Nikephoros served several years at court in the same capacity as his father, but then, seeing all the vanity of the world, he withdrew to the shore of the Bosphorus and built a monastery there. This monastery rapidly became filled with monks and he administered it; not, however, himself becoming a monk from a conviction of his unworthiness. He was, in this, an example to all. He had earlier, as a layman, taken part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council, at the request of the emperor and the patriarch, and was of great assistance there with his intimate knowledge of holy Scripture. When Patriarch Tarasios died, Nikephoros, much against his will, was chosen to succeed him. He was immediately professed a monk and received the priestly orders in succession, being enthroned as patriarch in Hagia Sophia in 806. This was in the time of the Emperor Nikephoros, who went off to war against the Bulgars very shortly after this and was killed in battle there. His son Stavrakios reigned for only two months before he died. After this, the good Emperor Michael, called Rangabe, came to the throne, but he reigned only two years before Leo the Armenian attacked him and drove him into exile. When this emperor began his reign, the patriarch sent him a book on the Confession of the Orthodox Faith for him to sign (this being accord­ing to the custom obtaining for all Byzantine emperors, who were regarded as sworn to uphold and defend the true Faith). The emperor did not sign it, but set it aside until his coronation. When the patriarch crowned him, he still refused to sign the book, and revealed himself to be an iconoclast heretic. The patriarch attempted to remonstrate with him and bring him back to the true Faith, but in vain. The emperor exiled him by force to the island of Prokonnesos, where he spent several years in want and privation before going to eternity in the year 829. He governed the Church as patriarch for nine years.

2. The Holy New-Martyr Constantine.

Born a Moslem on the island of Mytilene, he was healed of a grave illness by the aid of holy water in the church, and seeing other marvels of the Christian Faith, was baptized on the Holy Mountain in the skete of Kapsokalyvia. He later fell into the hands of the Turks, who, after inflicting terrible torture on him, hanged him in Constantinople on June 2nd, 1819.

3. The Holy Martyr John the New of Sochava.

A nobleman of Trebizond, he was denounced by some envious Latin and suffered for Christ in the town of Akerman. After being tortured for not accepting the Islamic religion (for the governor of the town was of that faith), St. John was tied to a horse’s legs and dragged round the town. Some wicked Jews, seeing him thus, ran up and butchered him. That night, a burning column was seen by many people above his body, and three men bathed in light standing around it. Later the Moldavian commander, Joalexander, took his honored body and buried it in the metropolitical church, where it remains to this day and miraculously saves men from various pains and sicknesses. He suffered with honor and was glorified on June 2nd, 1492.

4. The Hieromartyr Erazmo of Ochrid.

This saint was born in Antioch and lived in the reigns of Diocletian and Maximian. He lived in strict asceticism on Mount Lebanon, and was endowed by God with great wonder-working gifts. As a bishop, he set out to preach the Gospel. Arriving at the city of Ochrid, he restored the son of a man called Anastasius to life by his prayers, and baptized him. At this time, Erazmo baptized many other pagans and tore down the idolatrous altar in Ochrid. For this he was denounced to the Emperor Maximian, who was at that time staying in Illyria. The emperor brought him before the copper image of Zeus, and ordered him to bring sacrifices and worship the idol. St. Erazmo, by his power, caused a terrible dragon to come out of the statue, which terrified all the people. The saint then worked another wonder, and the dragon died. Then the saint preached Christ and baptized 20,000 souls. The furious emperor commanded that all 20,000 be beheaded, and put Erazmo to harsh torture, before throwing him into prison. But an angel of God appeared to him, as once to the Apostle Peter, and led him out of the prison. After that, this servant of God went to Campania, where he preached the Gospel to the people, then returned again to the town of Hermelia, where he withdrew to a cave and lived in asceticism for the rest of his days. At the time of his death, he prostrated three times towards the East, and with upraised hands, prayed to God to forgive and give eternal life to all those who would, with faith, call upon his name. At the end of his prayer, a voice was heard from heaven: ‘Let it be as thou hast asked, My little healer Erazmo!’ The saint looked up once more to heaven with great joy and saw a wreath of glory descending upon him, and a choir of angels, prophets, apostles and martyrs waiting to receive his holy soul. He finally cried: ‘Lord, receive my spirit!’ and breathed his last, in about the year 303. The cave and chapel of St. Erazmo stand to this day not far from Ochrid, and from there is proclaimed to this day the great power of the man of God, Erazmo the hieromartyr.

(In the Slavonic Prologue and Menaion, St. Erazmo is commemorated on May 4th; but in the Greek on June 2nd. This latter is more correct, as the feast of this saint has been celebrated in Ochrid on June 2nd from time immemorial.)

FOR CONSIDERATION

The veneration of icons is an integral part of Orthodoxy, and cannot be divorced from it. ‘An icon is a divine thing, but it is not God,’ said St. Nikephoros to the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Armenian. He then explained that Moses had made a bronze serpent and lifted it up in the wilderness, although it had previously been commanded: ‘Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image.’ The latter was commanded so that the chosen people should be saved from the idol-worship of Egypt, and the former so that He, the one most high God, might show His power through a visible thing. Thus He allows His power to be shown forth through icons. It is His holy will and our aid to salvation. If icons were things of little meaning, why did many of the holiest men and women suffer unto death throughout history for the holy icons?

Daily Scripture Readings taken from The Orthodox New Testament, translated and published by Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, copyright © 2000, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Daily Prologue Readings taken from The Prologue of Ochrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, translated by Mother Maria, published by Lazarica Press, Birmingham, England, copyright © 1985, all rights reserved. Edited by Dormition Skete.