Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 203]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁶Knowing then that a man is not being justified by the works of the law, except through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. ¹⁷But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is then Christ a minister of sin? May it not be! ¹⁸For if I build again these things which I destroyed, I constitute myself a transgressor. ¹⁹For I through the law died to the law, in order that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live in faith, in that of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 37]. The Lord said:

8 ³⁴“Whosoever is willing to follow after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and keep on following Me. ³⁵“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life on account of Me and of the Gospel, this same one shall save it. ³⁶“For what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his soul? ³⁷“Or what shall a man give as an exchange for his soul? ³⁸“For whosoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this generation, the adulterous and sinful one, also the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him, whenever He should come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

9 ¹And He was saying to them, “Verily I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who in no wise shall taste of death, until they see the kingdom of God having come in power.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Third Period

Sunday of the Eighteenth Week

Mode One — Seventh Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 188]. Brethren:

9 ⁶The one who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and the one who soweth with blessing shall also reap with blessing. ⁷Let each give even as he purposeth in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all self-sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work, ⁹even as it hath been written: “He dispersed, he gave to the poor; his righteousness abideth forever [Ps. 111(112):9].” ¹⁰Now the One Who supplieth seed to the sower and bread for eating, may He provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹being enriched in everything to all open-handedness, which worketh out through us giving of thanks to God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 91]. At that time:

18 ¹⁸A certain ruler came to Jesus and questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, by doing what shall I inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to him, “Why callest thou Me good? No one is good except One: God. ²⁰“Thou knowest the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, be honoring thy father and thy mother [cf. Ex. 20:13, 15, 14, 16, 12].’” ²¹And he said, “All these I kept for myself from my youth.” ²²And after Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “Yet one thing is wanting to thee: sell all, as much as thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and keep on following Me.” ²³And after he heard these things, he became deeply grieved, for he was exceedingly rich. ²⁴And after Jesus saw him become deeply grieved, He said, “How with difficulty shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵“For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they who heard it said, “And who is able to be saved?” ²⁷And He said, “The things impossible with men are possible with God.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, and the holy Apostle Quadratus of the Seventy, and our father among the saints, Demetrios, Metropolitan of Rostov, the Wonder-worker.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

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.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 4th – Civil Calendar
September 21st – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle Codratus.

One of the Seventy, he was a disciple of the great apostles. He preached the Gospel in Athens, and was at first bishop in Athens after St. Publius, and then in the city of Magnesia. He was very learned in the secular disciplines and rich with the grace of the Holy Spirit. His biographer says of him. ‘He was as a morning star among clouds,’ the clouds being the darkness of Hellenic paganism, lacking the light of devotion, and the holy Apostle Codratus shone to them—the Hellenes—as a great light, illumining the darkness, casting down the foul sacrifices and destroying demonic temples by his prayers. But darkness always hates the light, and the pagans hated holy Codratus. They first stoned him, as the Jews had earlier stoned St. Stephen, and then imprisoned him, leaving him without bread until his holy soul left his body and entered into the kingdom of Christ his God. St. Codratus wrote a defence of Christianity and gave it to the Emperor Hadrian. This defence acted so strongly upon the pagan emperor that he decreed that Christians should not be persecuted without especial cause. Holy Codratus suffered in about 130. He was buried in Magnesia, the place of his passion.

2. St. Dimitri, Bishop of Rostov.

He is commemorated on October 28th, and on this day is commemorated the finding of his wonder-working relics in 1752.

FOR CONSIDERATION

If we begin, with firm intention, to live according to God’s law, we must not fear any sort of attack by those who do not understand, for to him who has truly begun to live according to God’s law, all that happens to him at the hands of men, happens for his help and to the glory of God. It is especially necessary not to fear a move from a place we like to a place we dislike, a place of fear and of a depressed uncertainty about God’s intentions towards us. Did the wickedness of Joseph’s brethren do him harm? Was not rather his involuntary departure for Egypt the means of his rise to glory, the saving of his brothers from famine and the establishing of the conditions for all the wonderful works of God through Moses in Egypt and in the wilderness? Pagans and heretics often chased Orthodox Christians into barbarian regions. What happened then? Did this annihilate Orthodoxy? No; it rather confirmed it in the souls that were exiled and scattered among the barbarian peoples. The evil heretic Lucius drove the famous Makarios and several of the Tabennisiot hermits out of Egypt to a barbarian island, where all the inhabitants were idol-worshipers. But these holy men, by their teaching and example, quickly succeeded in baptising the whole island, and it later became known as the Isle of Repentance.

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.