Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Sixteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 211].

4 ²⁸Brethren, after the manner of Isaac, we are children of promise. ²⁹But as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. ³⁰But what saith the Scripture? “Cast out the maidservant and her son; for in no wise shall the son of the maidservant inherit with the son of the free woman [cf. Gen. 21:10].” ³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of a maidservant, but of the free woman.

5 ¹Keep on standing fast therefore in the freedom with which Christ set us free, and cease being held fast again with a yoke of slavery. ²Behold, I Paul say to you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. ³And I testify again to every man being circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ⁴Ye are deprived of all effect from the Christ, ye who are trying to be justified in the law; ye fell from grace. ⁵For we by the Spirit out of faith eagerly await the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision hath any strength, nor uncircumcision, but faith energizing itself through love. ⁷Ye were running well; who cut in on you that ye should not be persuaded to the truth? ⁸The persuasion is not from the One Who calleth you. ⁹A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. ¹⁰I have confidence in regard to you in the Lord, that ye will not be otherwise minded; but the one who troubleth you shall bear the judgment, whosoever he may be.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 27]. At that time:

6 ⁵⁴After Jesus came out of the ship, straightway those of the country of Gennesaret recognized Him, ⁵⁵and ran around that whole country round about, and began to carry about on the beds those who were ill to where they were hearing, “He is there.” ⁵⁶And wheresoever He entered, into villages or cities or fields, in the marketplaces they kept on laying those who were sick, and beseeching Him that they might touch if just the fringe of His garment; and as many as would touch Him were made well.

7 ¹And the Pharisees and some of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem, gathered together to Him. ²And after they saw some of His disciples eating loaves with defiled hands, that is, unwashed hands, they found fault. ³For the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands, up to the elbow, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. ⁴And on coming from the marketplace, unless they perform ablutions for themselves, they eat not. And there are many other things which they received and hold: dippings of cups and pitchers and copper vessels and couches. ⁵Then the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, “Why do Thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” ⁶And He answered and said to them, “Well did Esaias prophesy concerning you, the hypocrites, as it hath been written: ‘This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me [Is. 29:13]. ⁷“‘And in vain they revere Me, teaching as precepts the commandments of men [Is. 29:13].’ ⁸“For having left the commandment of God, ye keep on holding the tradition of men—dippings of pitchers and cups, and many other such like things ye do.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The beginning of the Indiction, which is the Church New Year. The commemoration of our venerable Father Symeon, Archimandrite and Stylite.

Epistle

For the Indiction:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 282]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹I exhort therefore, first of all, that entreaties, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, ²for kings and all those who are in authority, that we may pass a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and gravity. ³For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior, ⁴Who willeth all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶Who gave Himself a ransom for all, the testimony in its own times, ⁷for which I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not—a teacher of nations in faith and truth.

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 258]. Brethren:

3 ¹²Put on for yourselves, as elect of God, holy and beloved, compassion from your inward parts, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, ¹³bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving one another, if anyone hath a complaint against someone; even as the Christ graciously forgave you, thus also do ye. ¹⁴And over all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵And let the peace of God be presiding in your hearts, to which also ye were called in one body; and keep on becoming thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual odes, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

Gospel

For the Indiction:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 13]. At that time:

4 ¹⁶ Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and according to what was customary to Him, He went into the synagogue on the day of the sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷And there was handed over to Him the roll of Esaias the prophet. And having unfolded the roll, He found the place where it was written: ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, on account of which He anointed Me; He hath sent Me to preach the good tidings to the poor, to heal those who have been broken in heart, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind [Is. 61:1], to send forth in deliverance those who have been broken in pieces [cf. Is. 58:6], ¹⁹“to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [cf. Is. 61:2].” ²⁰And after He folded up the roll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were looking intently on Him. ²¹And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture hath been fulfilled in your ears.” ²²And all were bearing witness to Him, and were wondering at the words of grace which were proceeding out of His mouth, and were saying, “This is the Son of Joseph, is it not?”

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mt. 11:27-30].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 14th – Civil Calendar
September 1st – Church Calendar

1. The Beginning of the Church’s Year.

The First Ecumenical Council decreed that the Church’s year should begin on September 1st. The month of September was, for the Jews, the beginning of the civil year (see Exodus 12:2), the month of the gathering of fruits and the bringing to God of sacrifices of thanksgiving. It was at the time of this feast that the Lord Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth, opened the Book of the Prophet Isaias (Isaiah) and read the words: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance’ (Is. 61:1-2; cf. Luke 4:16-21). This month of September is also noted in the history of Christianity because it was during September that Constantine the Great was victorious over Maxentius, the enemy of the Christian Faith, a victory followed by the granting of freedom of confession of the Christian Faith throughout the whole Roman Empire. For a long time, the civil year in the Christian world was reckoned in the same way as the Church’s year, from September 1st, but it was later changed to January 1st, first in western Europe and then also in Russia in the time of Peter I.

2. Our Holy Father Simeon the Stylite.

Born in Syria of peasant parents, he fled from them at the age of eighteen and became a monk. He gave himself to the strictest asceticism, sometimes fasting for forty days. After that, he followed a particular ascesis, until then unknown: standing day and night on a pillar in unceasing prayer. His pillar was at first three meters high, then one of six meters was built for him, then eleven, eighteen and finally twenty. His mother, Martha, came to see him twice, but he would not receive her, saying to her from his pillar: ‘Don’t disturb me now, mother dear, if we are to be worthy to meet in the next world.’ St. Simeon endured innumerable assaults from demons, overcoming them all by prayer. He worked great miracles, healing the sick by his prayers and his words. People from all sides gathered around his pillar: rich and poor, kings and slaves. He helped them all, restoring bodily health to some, giving comfort and instruction to others and denouncing some for their heretical faith. The Empress Evdokia-Athenaïs was thus turned from the Eftychian heresy back to Orthodoxy. Simeon lived in asceticism during the reigns of the Emperors Theodosios the Younger, Marcian and Leo the Great. This first Christian stylite and great wonder-worker, St. Simeon, lived for seventy years, and entered into rest in the Lord on September 1st, 459. His relics were taken to Antioch, to the church dedicated to his name.

3. Rt. Jesus (Joshua) the Son of Navee.

Jesus was the leader of the Jewish people after the death of Moses. Only he and Caleb, of the several hundred thousand Jews that left Egypt, entered the Promised Land. Read of his faithfulness to God, his works and his wonders in the Book of Joshua. He lived for a hundred and ten years, and died in about 1440 B.C.

FOR CONSIDERATION

We must, while we are in this world, make use of all that is at hand for the formation of our souls, for, when death plucks us out of it, we shall take nothing to the other world except our souls as they have been formed in this. St. Simeon the Stylite, while still a young man of eighteen, fell flat on his face on the ground one day and breathed a prayer to God that He would show him the way of salvation. Lying there thus long in prayer, he had this vision: he was digging a trench as a foundation for something, and stopped digging to have a rest. At that, he heard a voice: ‘Dig deeper!’ He began to exert himself to dig deeper, but the voice came again: ‘Dig deeper!’ and he began again with a yet more intensive effort. The voice then said: ‘Stop; that’s enough. Now you must build, but you will not get anywhere without effort.’ Those who make little effort and build the life of their soul on sensual shallows build their building on sand, and such a building cannot stand in this transitory world—and even less in the world that endures.

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.