Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 215]. Brethren:

6 ¹¹See with what size letters I am writing to you with mine own hand. ¹²As many as wish to make a good show in the flesh, these constrain you to be circumcised, only that they may not be persecuted for the Cross of Christ. ¹³For not even they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but they wish you to be circumcised, in order that they might boast in your flesh. ¹⁴But may it not be for me to boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom the world hath been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision hath any strength, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. ¹⁶And as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

¹⁷Henceforth, let no one be giving me troubles, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 9]. The Lord said:

3 ¹³“No one hath gone up into the heavens, except the One Who came down from out of the heavens, the Son of Man, Who is in the heavens. ¹⁴“And even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus it is needful for the Son of Man to be lifted up; ¹⁵“that everyone who believeth in Him should not perish, but may have everlasting life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that everyone who believeth in Him should not perish, but may have everlasting life. ¹⁷“For God did not send forth His Son into the world in order that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Sixteenth Week

Grave Mode — Fifth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 181]. Brethren:

6 ¹We, working together, beseech you also not to receive the grace of God in vain— ²for He saith, “In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I helped thee [Is. 49:8]”; behold, now is an acceptable time; behold, now is a day of salvation— ³by not giving even one cause of stumbling in anything, that the ministry might not be blamed. ⁴But in all things commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in straits, ⁵in blows, in imprisonments, in instabilities, in toils, in vigils, in fastings, ⁶in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, ⁷in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness of the right hand and of the left, ⁸by glory and dishonor, by ill-fame and good fame; as deceivers and yet true; ⁹as unknown and well-known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not put to death; ¹⁰as ones sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 105]. The Lord said this parable:

25 ¹⁴“A certain man, going abroad, called his own slaves and delivered up to them his property. ¹⁵“And to one, indeed, he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own strength; and straightway he went abroad. ¹⁶“And the one who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷“And in like manner, the one who received two, he also gained another two. ¹⁸“But the one who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid the money of his lord. ¹⁹“And after a long time the lord of those slaves cometh, and settleth accounts with them. ²⁰“And the one who received the five talents came forward and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, thou didst deliver up to me five talents; behold, I gained another five talents above them.’ ²¹“And his lord said to him, ‘Well done, O good and faithful slave! Over a little thou wast faithful, I will appoint thee over much; enter into the joy of thy lord.’ ²²“And also the one who received two talents said, ‘Lord, thou didst deliver up to me two talents; behold, I gained another two talents above them.’ ²³“And his lord said to him, ‘Well done, O good and faithful slave! Over a few things thou wast faithful, I will appoint thee over much; enter into the joy of thy lord.’ ²⁴“And also the one who received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Lord, I have come to know that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering together from where thou didst not winnow. ²⁵“‘And I was afraid and went away and hid thy talent in the earth; behold, thou hast thine own.’ ²⁶“And his lord answered and said to him, ‘O evil and reluctant slave! Thou knewest that I reap where I did not sow, and gather together from where I did not winnow! ²⁷“‘Then it was needful for thee to have put my money to the bankers, and I should have received for myself mine own with interest. ²⁸“‘Take away then the talent from him, and give it to him who hath the ten talents. ²⁹“‘For to everyone who hath, it shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but from the one who hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him. ³⁰“‘And cast ye out the unprofitable slave into the darkness, the outer one. There shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.’”

After He said these things, He cried aloud, “The one who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

7. The commemoration of the holy Martyr Sozon, and the venerable Martyr Makarios, Wonder-worker of Kanev.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 93]. Brethren:

6 ¹⁸Having been freed from sin, ye were made slaves to righteousness. ¹⁹I speak in human terms on account of the weakness of your flesh. For as ye presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification. ²⁰For when ye were slaves of sin, ye were free as to righteousness. ²¹Therefore what fruit were ye having then in the things of which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now having been freed from sin, and having been made slaves to God, ye have your fruit to sanctification, and the end everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

for Sl. usage, see [Jn. 15:17-16:2].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 38]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ³²“Everyone therefore who shall confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³³“But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³⁴“Never think that I came to cast peace on the earth; I came not to cast peace, but a sword. ³⁵“For I came to divide in two a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶“and a man’s enemies shall be those of his own household. ³⁷“The one who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸“And whosoever taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 20th – Civil Calendar
September 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Sozon.

Born in Lykaonia, Sozon was a shepherd and lived by the law of God, teaching his brothers and sisters, and his friends, his devout faith. He learned in a vision that he would suffer martyrdom for Christ. At that time, there was a great persecution of Christians near the city of Pompeiopolis on the part of Maximian, the governor of Cilicia. In the city, there was a golden idol which was worshipped by the pagans. Sozon left his sheep, went to the city, entered the pagan temple and knocked an arm off the golden idol, melting it down and giving the gold to the poor. There was a great outcry in the city because of this, and the pagans began to search for the guilty man. That no one else should suffer for his action, Sozon went to the governor and declared himself to be a Christian and the performer of that act. The torturers first beat him, then chained him to a tree and flogged him with iron flails. When he was at his last breath, they cast him into the flames, where holy Sozon gave his soul to God. He suffered in about 304. His relics were found to be wonder-working, and a church dedicated to him was built over them.

2. The Holy Apostles Evodus and Onesiphorus.

These apostles were among the Seventy. St. Ignatius the God-Bearer mentions St. Evodus in glowing terms in his Epistle to the Antiochians. Evodus was a disciple of the Apostle Peter, and his successor at his hands as Bishop of Antioch. Evodus wrote a work on the holy Mother of God, in which he expounds how the holy Virgin was taken to the Temple at the age of three, how she stayed there for eleven years and was given into Joseph’s keeping at the age of fifteen, and how she gave birth to the Lord at that age. He wrote another work under the title ‘The Lighthouse,’ but both these works were destroyed during a time of persecution of Christians. He was killed for Christ during one of the Emperor Vespasian’s visits to Antioch.

St. Onesiphorus is mentioned by the Apostle Paul (II Tim. 1:16— 18) as his sincere friend and helper. He suffered for Christ in Colophon, where he had been bishop. It is said that he was bound behind wild horses and torn asunder. Thus these faithful soldiers of Christ served with honor on earth and entered into the joy of their Lord.

3. The Holy Martyr Efpsychios (Eupsychius).

Son of Dionysius, a senator, he was brutally tortured for Christ, whipped and flogged and then flung half-dead into prison, where an angel of God appeared to him and healed him. Freed from prison, he gave away all his possessions, some to the poor and some to his slanderers. Arrested afresh, he was flogged until he gave his soul to God. Milk and water flowed from his wounds in place of blood. He suffered in the time of the Emperor Hadrian (117-38).

4. St. John (Ioann), Archbishop of Novgorod.

He was first a married priest and then, from 1163, bishop in Novgorod, building seven churches during his lifetime. He had a vision of the holy Mother of God and a rare power over demons, making them obey him, and he once miraculously preserved Novgorod from an attack by seventy-two princes. He suffered from diabolical temptations, but overcame them all by the power of the Cross and by prayer. Retiring to a monastery in old age, he received the Great Habit and entered peacefully into rest in the Lord on September 7th, 1185.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Victory over anger is one of the greatest Christian victories. We generally become angry either with those whom we desire to turn from sin or with our calumniators. In relation to this, we forget that anger is a mortal sin and that, in seeking the salvation of another, we risk losing our own, in the words of St. Makarios. Anger against an enemy usually involves some other evil sentiment, and that is the desire for revenge. St. Efpsychios had so conquered the passion of anger within himself that, in the face of death, he gave half of his possessions to the poor and half to his slanderers, because of whom he was being tortured and killed. He regarded his slanderers as his benefactors. St. Chrysostom writes: ‘Let us clip the wings of anger, and evil will not gain any height. Anger,’ he says, ‘is an evil sickness that can destroy our souls. Anger is a terrible fire that devours everything. If an angry man could see himself in the moment of anger, he would need no other counsel to cease from anger, because there is nothing more unpleasant than an angry face.’ Abba Ammon confessed of himself: ‘I spent fourteen years in Sketis, praying to God day and night to give me victory over anger.’

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.