Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Eighteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 227]. Brethren:

4 ²⁵Having put off the falsehood, “Be speaking truth each one with his neighbor [cf. Zach. 8:16],” for we are members of one another. ²⁶“Be ye angry, and sin not [Ps. 4:5(4)]”: let not the sun set upon your provocation. ²⁷Cease giving place to the devil. ²⁸The one who stealeth, let him steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, in order that he may have something to give to the one who hath need. ²⁹Let not any rotten speech proceed out of your mouth, but if any, such that is good for building up, as the need may be, in order that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰And cease grieving the Holy Spirit of God, in Whom ye were sealed until a day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice; ³²and keep on becoming kind to one another, compassionate, graciously forgiving one another, even as God in Christ also graciously forgave you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 33]. At that time:

8 ¹¹The Pharisees came to Jesus and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from the heaven, putting Him to the test. ¹²And having groaned in His spirit, He saith, “Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say to you, there shall be no sign given to this generation.” ¹³And having left them, He embarked into the ship again and went away to the other side. ¹⁴And they forgot to take loaves. And except for one loaf, they did not have any with them in the ship. ¹⁵And He repeatedly gave them express orders, saying, “Be taking heed and be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” ¹⁶And they were reasoning with one another, saying, “It is because we have no loaves.” ¹⁷But Jesus, having known it, saith to them, “Why reason ye, because ye have no loaves? Do ye not yet perceive nor comprehend? Have ye still hardened your heart? ¹⁸“Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? ¹⁹“When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?” They say to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰“And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large provision baskets full of fragments took ye up?” And they said, “Seven.” ²¹And He was saying to them, “Do ye not yet comprehend?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and the appearance of the wonderworking Lesna Icon of the Theotokos, and the holy Great-martyr Niketas.

Epistle

For the Icon:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 320]. Brethren:

9 ¹The first tabernacle also used to have both ordinances of worship and the sanctuary of this world. ²For a tabernacle was furnished: the first in which were both the lampstand and the table, and the laying forth of the loaves, which is called Holy; ³and after the second veil, a tabernacle which is called Holy of Holies, ⁴which hath a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant which hath been covered all around from every side with gold, in which was the golden jar having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, concerning which now is not the time to speak severally. ⁶Now after these things were thus furnished, the priests, on the one hand, enter into the first tabernacle, performing worship services; ⁷on the other hand, into the second, the high priest entereth alone once for all every year, not without blood, which he offereth on behalf of himself and the faults of ignorance of the people.

For the Great-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 Icon:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 54]. At that time:

10 ³⁸ Jesus entered into a certain village. And a certain woman, by name Martha, received Him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat down beside the feet of Jesus, and was listening to His word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted about much serving, and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, is it no concern to Thee that my sister left me to serve alone? Speak to her therefore that she should help me.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. ⁴²“But there is need of one thing, and Mary chose the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”...

11 ²⁷And it came to pass, as He was speaking these things, a certain woman out of the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts which Thou didst suck.” ²⁸But He said, “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”

For the Great-martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 36]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Become therefore wise as the serpents and guileless as the doves. ¹⁷“But continue being on guard against men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸“And also ye shall be brought before governors and kings on account of Me, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹“But whenever they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what ye should speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. ²⁰“For ye are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father Who is speaking in you. ²¹“Now a brother shall deliver up a brother to death, and a father a child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death. ²²“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake; but the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 28th – Civil Calendar
September 15th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Niketas.

Niketas was a Goth by birth, and a disciple of Bishop Theophilus of the Goths, who took part in the First Ecumenical Council. When Athenarik, Prince of the Goths, began to persecute the Christians, St. Niketas stood before the prince and denounced him for his paganism and inhumanity. Tormented by terrible tortures, Niketas the more strongly confessed his faith in Christ, and prayed to God with thanksgiving. His mind was unceasingly lifted up to God and immersed in Him, and in his hand beneath his robe he held an icon of the holy Mother of God with the pre-eternal Christ Child standing and holding the Cross in His hands. St. Niketas carried this icon because the holy Mother of God had appeared to him and comforted him. Finally, the torturer threw Christ’s martyr into the flames, in which St. Niketas breathed his last; but his body remained untouched by the fire. His friend Marianus took his body from the land of the Goths (Wallachia and Bessarabia) to Cilicia, to the town of Mopsuestia, where he built a church dedicated to St. Niketas and placed the wonder-working relics of the martyr in it. Niketas suffered and was glorified in 372.

2. Our Holy Father Philotheus.

He was from the village of Myrmix or Mravin in Asia Minor. His mother had the same name the other way round—Theophila. He was a priest, and a wonder-worker even during his lifetime. On one occasion, he turned water into wine, and on another multiplied bread. He entered into rest in the Lord in the tenth century, and myrrh was found to flow from his relics.

3. The Holy Martyr Porphyrios.

An actor, he first mocked at Christians before Julian the Apostate. On one occasion, when he was mimicking the Christian Mystery of Baptism, he was dipped into the water, pronouncing the words: ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ When he emerged from the water, he cried out: ‘Now I am a Christian!’ Everyone thought that this was in jest, as always, but he held firm to it, stopped mocking Christians and finally suffered for Christ. He was beheaded in 361, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

4. The Holy Martyrs Theodotus, Asclepidotus and Maximus.

Nobles of Trachis, they suffered for Christ near Philippopolis in the village of Saltis, some time between 305 and 311, and entered into the kingdom of heaven.

5. St. Vissarion, Archbishop of Larissa, the Wonder-worker.

He founded the Monastery of the Savior in the diocese of Larissa, and was glorified by his miracles both during his lifetime and after his death. He lived in the sixteenth century.

6. The Holy New-Martyr John of Crete.

He suffered for the Christian Faith under the Turks in the city of Ephesus in 1811.

7. St. Joseph, Bishop of Alaverdsk.

One of the twelve Syrian fathers (see May 7th), who were sent to the Caucasus area to preach the Gospel, St. Joseph went peacefully to the Lord in 570. His wonder-working relics are preserved in the Cathedral in Alaverdsk.

FOR CONSIDERATION

God is not mocked. He either punishes mockers to correct them, or turns them to that which they mocked. St. Porphyrios was at first famous among the pagans as a mocker of Christianity. On one occasion, he enacted a mock Christian Baptism before the Emperor Julian the Apostate and his court. But something utterly unpremeditated happened. When Porphyrios went down into the water and spoke the words of Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, his soul was suddenly changed within him and he indeed became a Christian. In place of his mocking of the Christian Faith, he began to denounce the emperor for his impure idolatry. For this he was tortured and beheaded. A similar thing happened with a comedian, Gennesus, probably in the time of Diocletian. This Gennesus presented the Christian Eucharist before a crowd of pagans, delighting them all with his mockery and wit. But all of a sudden he changed and cried out before the people: ‘I believe, and want to be baptized!’ The onlookers thought at first that this was part of the act, but he went on reiterating his faith in Christ. When, before the judge and the emperor, he remained steadfast in his faith, he was tortured and killed. Thus do Christ’s mockers become His martyrs.

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.