Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The first Sunday in November: The Synaxis of the holy Unmercenary Physicians

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 153]. Brethren:

12 ²⁷Ye are the body of Christ, and members severally.

²⁸And God set for Himself some in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then works of power, then free gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues. ²⁹All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All do not have works of power, do they? ³⁰All do not have free gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? ³¹All do not interpret, do they? But keep on desiring earnestly the better gifts of grace. And yet I show you a more surpassing way.

13 ¹If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophecy, and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains from one place to another, but I have not love, I am nothing. ³And if I dole out all of my goods, and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but I have not love, I am being profited nothing. ⁴Love is long-suffering, is kind; love is not jealous; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; ⁵doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; ⁷covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Love never falleth away.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Twenty-Fourth Week

Grave Mode — Second Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 221]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁴Christ is our peace, the One Who made the both one, and broke down the middle wall of the hedge, ¹⁵having abolished by ordinances the enmity—the law of the commandments—in His flesh, in order that He might create in Himself the two into one new man, making peace, ¹⁶and might thoroughly reconcile them both in one body to God through the Cross, having slain the enmity by it. ¹⁷And He came and preached the good tidings, peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then ye are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, ²⁰who were built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹in Whom every building, being joined together, increaseth to a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in Whom ye also are being built up together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 83]. The Lord said:

16 ¹⁹“There was a certain rich man, and he was clothing himself in purple and fine linen, making merry in splendor every day. ²⁰“And there was a certain beggar, by name Lazarus, who was full of sores and was cast toward his gateway, ²¹“and was desiring to be fed from the crumbs that were falling from the table of the rich man; yea, even the dogs, which came were licking his sores. ²²“And it fell due for the beggar to die and for him to be carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham; and the rich man also died, and was buried. ²³“And in Hades, being in torments, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴“And he cried aloud and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am suffering pain in this flame.’ ²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Child, be mindful that thou didst have rendered to thee thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus likewise the bad things; but now, here, he is being comforted and thou art suffering pain; ²⁶“‘and besides all these things, between us and you a great chasm hath been firmly fixed, so that those wishing to pass through from this place to you are not able, nor may they pass through from that place to us.’ ²⁷“And he said, ‘I beg thee then, father, that thou wouldest send him to the house of my father, ²⁸“‘for I have five brothers, in order that he may bear witness to them, lest they also should come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹“Abraham saith to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰“But he said, ‘By no means, father Abraham; but if one from the dead should go to them, they will repent.’ ³¹“And he said to him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead.’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Akindynos and those with him.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 331]. Brethren:

12 ¹We also, having so great a cloud of witnesses which is set around us, and having laid aside every weight and sin that is easily circumvented, let us by means of patience be running the course which is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the originator and accomplisher of our faith, Who, in exchange for the joy set before Him, endured a cross, having despised the shame, and hath sat down on the right of the throne of God. ³For consider the One Who hath endured contradiction by sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your souls.

⁴Ye did not yet resist as far as blood, struggling against sin. ⁵And ye have utterly forgotten the exhortation which He discourseth with you as to sons, “My son, cease making small account of the chastisement of the Lord, nor be faint when reproved by Him [Prov. 3:11]. ⁶“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth [cf. Prov. 3:12].” ⁷If ye endure chastisement, God is dealing with you as with sons; for who is a son whom the father chastiseth not? ⁸But if ye are without chastisement, of which all have become partakers, then ye are bastards and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we indeed used to have fathers of our flesh as instructors, and we were giving them respect. We shall much more be subject to the Father of the spirits and live, shall we not? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days were chastening us according to that which seemed fit to them; but He for our profit, for us to partake of His holiness.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mt. 10:16-22].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 15th – Civil Calendar
November 2nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Acyndinus, Pegasius, Anempodistus, Aphthonius, Elpidephorus and others with them.

They were Persian Christians, and suffered in the time of King Sapor, in 355. The first three were servants at the court of this king, but secretly served Christ their Lord. When they were arrested and brought to trial before the king, he asked them whence they came. To this they replied: ‘Our paternity and life is the most holy Trinity, coessential and undivided, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God.’ The king gave them over to harsh torture, and they endured it all courageously, singing psalms and with prayer on their lips. At the time of their torture and imprisonment, angels of God appeared to them several times, and once the Lord Christ Himself, as a Man ‘with a face radiant as the sun’. When one of the torturers, Aphthonius, saw with wonder that boiling lead did no harm to the martyrs, he believed in Christ and cried out: ‘Great is the Christian God!’ He was then immediately beheaded, and many others saw and believed. Then the king commanded that Acyndinus, Pegasius and Anempodistus be sewn into goat-skins and thrown into the sea. Then St. Aphthonius appeared from the other world with three shining angels, and they bore the martyrs to dry land and set them free. Elpidephorus was a courtier. When he revealed that he was a Christian, and denounced the king for his slaughter of innocent Christians, the king condemned him to death, and Elpidephorus was beheaded along with about seven thousand other Christians. Then the three first-named martyrs were finally thrown into a burning furnace, along with twenty-eight soldiers and the king’s mother, who had also come to faith in Christ. And so, in the flames, they gave their righteous souls into the hands of the Lord.

2. Our Holy Father Markianos (Marcian) of Kyros.

He was from the town of Kyros (Cyrus) in Syria, and was distinguished by noble birth and physical beauty. He left all for Christ, and withdrew to the desert of Halkis as a solitary. He was a contemporary of Patriarch Flavian of Antioch and the Emperors Constantius and Valens. A divine light, by which he read the holy Scriptures, shone in his cell at night, and he never had need of any other light, being a great wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death. At the time of his death, he commanded his disciple Evsevios to conceal his body and bury it in secret, to avoid veneration. He entered into rest in the Lord in the year 387.

3. The Hieromartyr Victorinus, Bishop of Patav.

Many assert that he was a Slovene. Blessed Jerome cites him as a man learned and devout. He knew Greek better than Latin, and wrote commentaries on several books of the Old and New Testaments. He suffered for the Christian Faith in about 303.

FOR CONSIDERATION

How shall he attain to love for his enemies who sets aside love for his parents? Love for one’s parents is the chief and fundamental school of love. Without this schooling, one cannot go further. The Serbian King Dragutin stood in arms against his father in order to seize his throne. But it so happened that he broke his leg, and this awakened his conscience, which tormented him till his death, giving him no peace. Dragutin relinquished his throne, and gave over his power to his younger brother Milutin. He embarked on great works of mercy, built churches and performed other good deeds. He also lived an intensive, secret ascetic life. He girded his naked body with a belt of reeds, dressed in coarse sackcloth and prayed to God at night in a secretly-prepared grave. The repentant king did all this only to gain God’s forgiveness for his lack of love towards his parents, and God forgave him.

Many holy martyrs, whom their executioners had come to seek out, welcomed them with joy and entertained them in their homes until the time came for them to be put to death. To entertain the man who is to shed one’s blood is indeed a great expression of love for one’s enemies. When King Sapor put Acyndinus, Pegasius and the others to harsh torture, he suddenly went out of his mind and became dumb, being unable to speak, and clawed at his face in his great fury. Seeing his tormentor in such despair, St. Acyndinus wept, and prayed to God for the king, saying: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, speak!’ and the king was loosed from his dumbness and began to speak. Here is an example of true love for one’s enemies.

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.