Daily Devotional

Saturday, September 5, 2026 (NS), August 23, 2026 (OS)

No Fasting.

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Dormition, and the holy Martyr Louppos (transferred to the 22^nd of August on account of the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition), and Hieromartyr Irenæos, Bishop of Lyons.

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Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 130]. Brethren:

4 ¹Let a man so reckon us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ²And furthermore, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by a man’s day; but neither do I examine myself. ⁴For I am conscious of nothing in myself, but not in this have I been justified: but the One Who examineth me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore cease judging anything before the time, until the Lord should come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then to each one there shall be the praise from God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 93]. At that time:

23 ¹Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. ³“All things therefore whatsoever they tell you to keep, be keeping and doing, but according to their works do not be doing; for they say, and do not. ⁴“For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they are not willing to move them with their own fingers. ⁵“And they do all their works to be seen by men. For they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments; ⁶“and they love the chief place at the suppers, and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷“and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, rabbi.’ ⁸“But ye, do not be called ‘rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ; and ye are all brethren. ⁹“And do not begin to call anyone Father upon the earth, for One is your Father, the One in the heavens. ¹⁰“Neither be ye called guides; for One is your Guide, the Christ. ¹¹“But the greater of you shall be your servant. ¹²“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 5th – Civil Calendar
August 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Loupos.

This holy man was a servant of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. When St. Demetrius was killed by being pierced with spears by order of the Emperor Maximian, Loupos dipped the hem of his garment and his ring in the martyr’s blood. Loupos worked many miracles in Thessalonica with this garment and ring, healing people of every pain and infirmity. The Emperor Maximian, who was still staying in Thessalonica, discovered this, and commanded that Loupos be tortured and killed. But the soldiers who drew their weapons on Loupos turned one on the other and wounded one another. After harsh torture, he was beheaded and entered into the heavenly kingdom.

2. The Hieromartyr Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons.

He was sent by St. Polycarp from Asia Minor to preach in Gaul. He became the first Bishop of Lyons and brought many pagans to Christianity. At the time of a persecution of Christians in the year 177, Pothinus was taken for trial; carried there, as he was ninety years old. ‘Who is the Christian God?’ the proconsul asked him. ‘You will find out, if you are worthy,’ old Pothinus answered him. The pagans assaulted him with sticks and stones, and belabored him without mercy. Thrown into prison, St. Pothinus died of the beating and entered into the heavenly kingdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.

He was in his youth a pupil of St. Polycarp, the disciple of the apostles, who sent him to preach in Gaul. After St. Pothinus’ death by martyrdom, Irenaeus was made bishop. In his numerous writings, Irenaeus both expounded the Orthodox Faith and defended it against heretics. He suffered for Christ in the time of the Emperor Severus, in 202, along with nineteen thousand Christians.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The mysterious power of the Cross, however inexplicable, is true and indisputable. St. John Chrysostom speaks of the custom that obtained in his time, of placing the sign of the Cross ‘on the imperial diadem and the soldiers’ accoutrements, and of making it on parts of the body: the head, the breast and the heart, both at the table of sacrifice and on lying down in bed.’ ‘If,’ he says, ‘we are striving to drive out demons, we use the Cross, and it is also of aid in healing sickness.’ St. Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a glass containing poison, and the glass shattered as if struck by a stone. St. Julian made the sign of the Cross over a cup of poison brought to him, and drank the poison, suffering no bodily harm from it. The holy martyr Vasilissa of Nikomedia protected herself with the sign of the Cross and stood in the midst of the flames, remaining completely untouched. The holy martyrs Audon and Senis crossed themselves when ravening wild animals were let loose on them, and the beasts became docile and meek as lambs. The sign of the Cross has been the most powerful weapon against great temptations from demons, from the early ascetics down to the present day. The most ferocious of the devil’s devisings are dispersed into nothing, like smoke, when a man signs himself with the Cross. Thus it was the good will of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that the erstwhile sign of wickedness and shame, the cross, should, after His crucifixion on the wood of the Cross, be the vehicle of all-conquering power and might.

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.