Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 185].

8 ¹Brethren, I make known to you the grace of God which had been given in the churches of Macedonia, ²that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep-down poverty abounded to the wealth of their open-handedness. ³For according to their means, I bear witness, and beyond their means, they voluntarily gave, ⁴with much supplication entreating us for the grace and the fellowship of the ministry which is for the saints; ⁵and this they did not as we hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and to us by the will of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 29]. At that time:

7 ¹Jesus entered into Capernaum. ²And a certain slave of a centurion, who was highly valued by him, being ill, was about to die. ³And after he heard about Jesus, he sent out elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and cause his slave to recover. ⁴And they, having gone to Jesus, were beseeching Him earnestly, saying that he is worthy to whom He shall grant this. ⁵“For he loveth our nation, and he himself built the synagogue for us.” ⁶Now Jesus began going with them; but, already, when He was not far away from the house, the centurion sent friends to them, saying to them, “Lord, cease troubling Thyself; for I am not fit that Thou shouldest enter under my roof. ⁷“Wherefore, I deemed myself not even worthy to come to Thee; but speak a word, and my servant shall be healed. ⁸“For I also am a man who is placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goeth; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he cometh; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he doeth it.” ⁹And after Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him. And having turned around to the crowd following Him, He said, “I say to you, not even in Israel did I find so great faith.” ¹⁰And after those who were sent returned to the house, they found the slave well who had been sick.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Marcian and Martyrios, the notaries of Constantinople, and the holy and righteous St. Tabitha, the widow raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter.

Epistle

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 257]. Brethren:

3 ⁴Whenever the Christ, Who is your life, should be made manifest, then also ye shall be made manifest with Him in glory.

⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶On account of which things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷among whom ye also walked once, when ye used to live in them. ⁸But now ye also put off from yourselves all these things: wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, foul language out of your mouth. ⁹Cease lying to one another, since ye have put off the old man with his practises, ¹⁰and have put on the new that is being renewed toward full knowledge according to the image of the One Who created him, ¹¹where there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all things and in all.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 4:7-13].

For St. Tabitha:

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 23]. In those days:

9 ³²It came to pass, as Peter passed through all quarters, he went down also to the saints that dwelt at Lydda. ³³And there he found a certain man, by name Æneas, who kept his bed for eight years, and was paralyzed. ³⁴And Peter said to him, “Æneas, Jesus the Christ healeth thee; rise up and make up thy bed for thyself.” And straightway he rose up. ³⁵And all those inhabiting Lydda and the Sharon Plain, who saw him, turned to the Lord. ³⁶Now there was in Joppa a certain disciple, by name Tabitha, which, being interpreted, is called Dorcas. She was full of good works and of alms which she used to do. ³⁷And it came to pass in those days she fell sick and died. And after they washed her, they laid her in an upper room. ³⁸And since Lydda was near to Joppa, and the disciples heard that Peter was in it, they sent forth two men to him, beseeching him not to delay to come over to them. ³⁹And Peter, having risen up, went with them, whom after he came, they brought him into the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing howsoever many tunics and garments Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, rise up.” And she opened her eyes; and after she saw Peter she sat up. ⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and after he called the saints and the widows, he presented her alive. ⁴²And it became known throughout all of Joppa; and many believed on the Lord.

Gospel

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 63]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ²“There is nothing which hath been covered up which shall not be uncovered, nor hidden which shall not be known. ³“Wherefore, whatsoever ye said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye spoke in the ear in the closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. ⁴“And I say to you, My friends, do not become afraid because of those who kill the body, and after these things are not able to do anything more. ⁵“But I will show you Whom ye should fear: fear the One Who after the killing hath power to cast into Gehenna; yea, I say to you, this One fear. ⁶“Five sparrows are sold for two assaria, are they not? And not one of them is forgotten before the face of God. ⁷“Yea, even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Therefore cease being afraid; ye excel many sparrows. ⁸“But I say to you, everyone who shall confess in Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess in him before the angels of God. ⁹“But the one who denieth Me before the face of men shall be denied before the face of the angels of God. ¹⁰“And everyone who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one who blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. ¹¹“And whenever they bring you in before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, cease being anxious how or what ye should speak in defense, or what ye should say; ¹²“for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what things it is needful to say.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mt. 10:1, 5-8].

For St. Tabitha:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 104]. The Lord said this parable:

25 ¹“The kingdom of the heavens shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ²“And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. ³“Those who were foolish took lamps for themselves and took no oil with them; ⁴“but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵“But while the bridegroom tarried, they all dozed and went on sleeping. ⁶“But in the middle of the night, there came to pass a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!’ ⁷“Then all those virgins were wakened and trimmed their lamps. ⁸“And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹“But the prudent answered, saying, ‘Peradventure there might not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰“But while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they who were ready went in with him to the wedding festivities; and the door was shut. ¹¹“And afterwards the remaining virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²“But he answered and said, ‘Verily I say to you, I know ye not.’ ¹³“Be watching then, for ye know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 7th – Civil Calendar
October 25th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Markianos (Marcian) and Martyrios.

These saints were clergy with Patriarch Paul of Constantinople in the time of the Emperor Constantius. After the death of the great Emperor Constantine, the Arian heresy, which had till then been kept under, sprang up again and began to spread, and the Emperor Constantius himself inclined towards it. There were two influential nobles at the imperial court, Evsevios and Philip, both ardent Arians. Through their influence, Patriarch Paul was dethroned and driven out to Armenia, where the Arians strangled him, and the patriarchal throne was seized by the dishonorable Macedonius. At that time, when Orthodoxy had two fierce struggles on hand, against both the pagans and the heretics, Markianos and Martyrios ranged themselves decisively and with all their strength on the side of Orthodoxy. Markianos was a reader and Martyrios a subdeacon at the Cathedral, and had been secretaries to Patriarch Paul. The Arians first tried to bribe them, but when the two holy men refused this with scorn, the heretics condemned them to death. When they were led to the scaffold, they raised their hands and prayed to God, thanking Him that they were finishing their lives as martyrs: ‘Lord, we rejoice that we are leaving this world by such a death. Make us worthy to be partakers of eternal life, O Thou our Life!’ They then laid their heads under the sword and were beheaded, in 355. A church was later built to them over their relics by St. John Chrysostom.

2. The Holy Martyr Anastasios.

He was a maker of cloth and a zealous Christian. In the time of Diocletian’s persecution of Christians at the beginning of the fourth century, this godly man went and presented himself to the judge of the Dalmatian town of Solin and confessed his faith in Christ. He was inhumanly tortured and then killed, and his body was thrown into the sea, from which it was later taken out and given burial.

3. St. Tabitha.

Tabitha (which means ‘doe’) was a disciple of the apostles and lived in Joppa, the present Jaffa. She was ‘full of good works and almsgiving’ (Acts 9:36). She suddenly weakened and died at the time that the Apostle Peter was in the city of Lydda, and the grieving disciples sent to Peter, asking him to come and comfort his people. The great apostle of Christ, on his arrival, told everyone to leave the room where the corpse lay, then knelt in prayer. When he had finished praying, he called to the dead body: ‘Tabitha, arise!’ and Tabitha opened her eyes and arose. Drawn by this wonder, many came to faith in Christ the Lord.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Among other mysterious perceptions by the holy souls of the saints, they had the perception of a fragrance from good spirits and a foul stench from impure spirits. A spirit that is pure and filled with light gives off a life-giving and fragrant scent, and a darkened and impure spirit gives off a suffocating and unbearable stench. Guided by a particular stench, the saints were able to tell what passion a man was possessed by. Thus St. Efthymios the Great recognized the stench of the passion of lust in a monk, Emilian, in the monastery of St. Theoktistos. Going one day to Matins, Efthymios passed by Emilian’s cell and smelled the stench of the demon of lust. Emilian had committed no sin, except that he had at that moment lustful thoughts, which were crowding into his heart from an unclean demon, a demon whose presence the saint had already sensed within this monk. The power of this perception was even more wonderfully seen once in St. Hilarion the Great. A certain niggardly man, a miser, had sent Hilarion some of his vegetables. When they were set before him, the saint said: ‘Take it away! I can’t stand the stench that’s coming from these greens! Can’t you smell it: the stench of avarice?’ When the monks marveled at these words, Hilarion told them to take the greens and give them to the oxen, and see if they would eat them. The oxen sniffed at them, and turned their heads away in disgust.

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.