Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 238]. Brethren:

1 ²⁰In nothing shall I be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, also now Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I live on in the flesh, this to me is the fruit of labor; and what I shall choose I know not. ²³For I am being constrained by the two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better; ²⁴but to abide in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. ²⁵And having been persuaded of this, I know that I shall stay and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶in order that the basis for your boasting might abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my presence with you again. ²⁷Only be conducting yourselves worthily of the Gospel of the Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I might hear of the things concerning you, that ye stand in one spirit, with one soul striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

Gospel

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

4 ¹⁶Jesus 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?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy Mother Ephrosyne of Alexandria, and our venerable father, Sergius the Wonder-worker, Abbot of Radonezh.

Epistle

For the Venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷ Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:

“Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.

Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.

²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.

²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 8th – Civil Calendar
September 25th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Mother Ephrosyne.

The daughter of a rich and eminent man, Paphnutios, from Alexandria, she was besought of God by her childless parents, who brought their daughter up in the Christian Faith. Not wishing to marry, the young Ephrosyne, in order to hide from her father, dressed herself in men’s clothing and presented herself to the abbot of a monastery as a eunuch of the Emperor Theodosios with the name of Smaragdus. The abbot received her and placed her under the guidance of the monk Agapetus as spiritual father. By her fasting and prayers, Smaragdus quickly outstripped the other monks in the monastery. When she had spent thirty-eight years in strict asceticism, Paphnutios visited the monastery and the abbot placed him in Smaragdus’ care for prayer and counsel. Smaragdus recognized Paphnutios, but Paphnutios did not recognize her. When her father confessed his grief for his lost daughter, Smaragdus told him not to lose hope, for he would see his daughter again once more in this life, and asked him to come again in three days’ time. When Paphnutios returned, Smaragdus was on her deathbed. Then the dying monk said to Paphnutios: ‘I am Ephrosyne your daughter; you are my father.’ Her father could not for a long time collect himself, for sheer astonishment. Then Ephrosyne breathed her last and her father wept over her. After burying his daughter, Paphnutios remained in the monastery and settled in the cell of his departed, holy daughter. After ten years of asceticism, holy Paphnutios entered into rest in the Lord.

2. Our Holy Father Sergius (Sergy) of Radonezh.

A great ascetic and light of the Russian Church, he was born in 1313 in Rostov of devout parents, Kiril and Maria. After the death of his parents, Bartholomew—for that was his baptismal name—became a monk and founded the community of the Holy Trinity in the forest of Radonezh. A gentle and meek servant of God, occupied only with labor and prayer, he was made worthy of the gifts of wonder-working for the purity of his heart, raising the dead in the name of Christ. The holy Mother of God appeared to him a number of times. Princes and bishops came to him for counsel, and he gave his blessing to Prince Dimitri of the Don and foretold his victory in Russia’s war of liberation against the Tartars. He had insight into men’s hearts and into distant events. His community became filled with monks during his lifetime, and has served through the ages as one of the chief centers of spiritual life and of God’s miracles. St. Sergius entered into rest in 1392. After his death, he appeared a number of times to various people.

3. Our Holy Mother Ephrosyne of Suzdal.

Her baptismal name was Theodula, and she was the daughter of Michael Vsevolodovitch and the betrothed of Menas, Prince of Suzdal. She had never desired marriage, and prayed to God to keep her in virginity till her death. When they took her as a bride to Suzdal, Prince Menas died suddenly. She did not return to her parents but retired to a monastery, where she lived in asceticism till her death. She was endowed by God with wonder-working gifts, and entered into rest in 1250.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A saint is not remarkable on the surface; all his riches are internal, in his soul. A peasant came a long way to the monastery to see St. Sergius. When he asked for the abbot, he was told that he was working in the garden. The peasant went off to the garden and saw a man there in poor and dirty clothing, hoeing along with the other workers. The peasant returned to the monastery dissatisfied, thinking within himself that the monks were making fun of him, and repeated, that there might be no mistake, that he wanted to see the famous holy father, Sergius. Sergius arrived back at the monastery just then, and welcomed the peasant, serving him at table. The saint looked into the heart of his guest, and saw there the thoughts about himself. To quiet him, he told him that he would see St. Sergius if he waited a little. Just then, a prince arrived at the monastery with his nobles. Both the prince and the nobles bowed low to Sergius and asked his blessing. The monks then removed the peasant from the room to make room for the new guests, and this peasant looked with wonder from afar, and peered to see that which he had spurned the sight of from nearby. He chided himself for his ignorance and was deeply ashamed. When the prince had departed, the peasant quickly went up to the saint, fell at his feet and asked his forgiveness. And the great saint was gentle with him, and said: ‘Don’t grieve, my son; you thought a true thing of me, reckoning me as nothing, while others are deluded in thinking me something great.’

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.