Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Eighteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 234]. Brethren:

6 ¹⁸Stand [Eph. 6:14] by means of every prayer and entreaty, praying in every season in the Spirit, and being vigilant toward this same thing with all perseverance and entreaty for all the saints, ¹⁹and for me, that utterance may be given to me, in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in a chain, that in it I might speak boldly as there is need for me to speak.

²¹But in order that ye also may know the things concerning me, what I am practising, Tychikos, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things, ²²whom I am sending to you for this very thing, that ye might know the things concerning us, and that he might comfort your heart.

²³Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 41]. At that time:

9 ³³Jesus and His disciples came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house, He was questioning them, “What were ye discussing among yourselves on the way?” ³⁴But they were keeping silent; for on the way they discussed with one another who was greater. ³⁵And He sat down and called the twelve, and saith to them, “If anyone doth wish to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶And He took a little child and set him in their midst. And after He took him into His arms, He said to them, ³⁷“Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but the One Who sent Me forth.”

³⁸And John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who doth not follow us casting out demons in Thy name, and we hindered him, because he doth not follow us.” ³⁹But Jesus said, “Cease hindering him, for there is no one who shall do a work of power in My name, and be able quickly to speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰“For he who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because ye are of Christ, verily I say to you, in no wise shall he lose his reward.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation, and the holy Martyrs Trophimos, Savvatios, and Dorymedon, and the holy Passion-bearer, the pious Prince Igor of Chernigov, named George in the monastic tonsure.

Epistle

For the Passion-bearer:

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 17]. In those days:

6 ⁸Stephen, full of faith and of power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹But there rose up some of those from the synagogue which is called that of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰And they were not able to stand against the wisdom and the spirit by which he was speaking. ¹¹Then they suborned men, who said, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹²And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes. And having set upon him, they seized him, and brought him to the sanhedrin. ¹³And they set up false witnesses, saying, “This man ceaseth not speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; ¹⁴“for we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazaræan shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵And having looked intently upon him, all those sitting in the sanhedrin saw his face as though it were a face of an angel.

7 ¹Then the high priest said, “Are then these things so?” ²And he began saying, “Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³“and said to him, ‘Get thee out from thy land and from thy kindred, and come here into a land which I shall show thee [cf. Gen. 12:1].’ ⁴“Then after he went out from the land of the Chaldæans, he dwelt in Haran. And from that place, after his father died, He removed him into this land in which ye now dwell. ⁵“And He did not give him an inheritance in it, not even the breadth of a footstep. And yet He promised to give it to him for a possession, and his seed after him, though he had no child.... ⁴⁷“But Solomon built Him a house. ⁴⁸“But the Most High dwelleth not in temples made by hand, even as the prophet saith, ⁴⁹“‘The heaven is a throne to Me, and the earth a footstool of My feet; what manner of house will ye build Me,’ saith the Lord, ‘or what is the place of My rest [cf. Is. 66:1]? ⁵⁰“‘My hand did make all these things, did it not [cf. Is. 66:2]?’ ⁵¹“O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in the heart and in the ears, ye always fall in a direction contrary to the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, also do ye. ⁵²“Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they slew those who announced beforehand about the coming of the righteous One, of Whom now ye have become betrayers and murderers, ⁵³“ye who received the law by the disposition of angels, and guarded it not.” ⁵⁴And when they heard these things their hearts were sawn asunder, and they were gnashing their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed intently into the heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right of God; ⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens having been opened and the Son of Man standing on the right of God.” ⁵⁷And they cried out with a loud voice, and they held their ears together, and rushed upon him with one accord. ⁵⁸And they cast him outside of the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses themselves laid aside their garments at the feet of a young man who was called Saul. ⁵⁹And they kept on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰And having knelt down, he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not make this sin stand against them.” And having said this, he fell asleep.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 52]. The Lord said to His disciples:

15 ¹⁷“These things I command you, that ye be loving one another.

¹⁸“If the world hate you, ye know that it hath hated Me before it hath hated you. ¹⁹“If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world—but I chose you for Myself out of the world—therefore the world hateth you. ²⁰“Keep on remembering the word which I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they know not the One Who sent Me. ²²“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no pretext for their sin. ²³“The one who hateth Me hateth My Father also. ²⁴“If I did not do the works among them which no other one hath done, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵“But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled which hath been written in their law: ‘They hated Me without a cause [cf. Ps. 34(35):22, 68(69):5(4)].’ ²⁶“But whenever the Paraclete should come, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the truth Who proceedeth from the Father, that One shall bear witness concerning Me. ²⁷“And ye also are bearing witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

16 ¹“These things I have spoken to you, in order that ye should not be made to stumble. ²“They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea moreover, there cometh an hour that everyone who killeth you should think that he offereth God a service.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 2nd – Civil Calendar
September 19th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Trophimos, Savvatios and Dorymedon.

In the time of the Emperor Probus, in the third century, when Attikos was governing Antioch, two Christians, Trophimos and Savvatios, both eminent and honored men, came to that city. Just at that time, there was a pagan festival and offerings to the idol of Apollo in Daphne near Antioch. Attikos made a special effort to ensure that all the citizens took part in the festivities. When some one saw Trophimos and Savvatios, and told Attikos that these two old men were not taking part, Attikos summoned them for trial, and when they refused to deny Christ, put them to torture one by one. After beating and torturing Trophimos, he sent him to Phrygia to Dionysius, a yet harsher torturer of Christians, himself taking Savvatios from prison and trying him. When the torturer asked Savvatios who he was and what was his rank, he replied: ‘My rank and dignity, my homeland, my glory and my riches are Christ the Son of God, Who is alive forever and by Whose providence the whole universe is held in being.’ He was therefore beaten and flogged with iron flails until his bones showed through his flesh, and he died under these tortures. The torturer put Trophimos to harsh torture, and held him in prison to inflict yet greater torture on him. Then a certain senator, Dorymedon, a secret Christian, came to the prison and ministered to Trophimos. When the torturer discovered this, he put them both to torture and finally threw them to the wild beasts. But the animals would not touch them. Holy Dorymedon even shouted into the ear of a she-bear to eat him up, but the bear only became even more docile. The torturer ordered, in consequence of this, that Ss. Trophimos and Dorymedon be beheaded. The souls of these holy martyrs now reign in heaven.

2. The Holy Martyr Zossima the Hermit.

A Sicilian prince, Dometian, went hunting in the mountains with his servants. In the hills, he saw an old man surrounded by wild beasts that were as tame as lambs. Asked who he was, the elder replied that his name was Zossima, and that he was a Christian and had lived a long time with the beasts, who were better than the persecutors of Christians in the city. This outraged Dometian, who was himself a harsh torturer of Christians, and he bound Zossima and sent him ahead to Nazareth, to torture him there and thus intimidate those who believed in Christ. When he had wounded him all over and left him bloodied with blows, he tied a rock round his neck and hanged him from a tree. Then the prince mocked at him: ‘Command a wild beast to come, and we’ll all believe!’ The holy martyr prayed to God, and an enormous lion appeared. Coming up to Zossima, it took the weight of the rock with its head, to ease the martyr. With great fear, the prince freed Zossima, who soon after that gave his soul into the hands of his Lord.

3. St. Theodore, Prince of Yaroslavl.

A righteous and merciful man, he received the Great Habit at the time of his death, entering into rest in 1298.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The dead sense and know good works done for them. Of this a Christian must have no doubt. Good works flow like an electric current through the whole heavenly world. An imperial official, Magistrian, was sent by the emperor on an important errand. On his journey, he saw a dead man lying naked. He was distressed at this, and taking off his tunic, wrapped the man in it and buried him. After a certain time, a misfortune overtook Magistrian: he fell from his horse and broke his leg. He lay sick in bed for a long time. At one moment, a number of doctors were gathered round him in consultation over his condition, and they decided that the leg must be amputated. That night, Magistrian could not sleep, but spent the hours sighing and weeping. At midnight, a man suddenly appeared to him and asked him: ‘Why are you crying?’ When Magistrian explained, the unknown man stretched out his hand to the injured leg, and it became whole. ‘For God’s sake, tell me who you are!’ cried Magistrian. To this the unknown man replied: ‘Look carefully; isn’t this your tunic? In response to your good deed, God has sent me to heal you. Give your thanks to God!’

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.