Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Twenty-Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 290].

1 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to a promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child: ²Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord....

⁸Do thou not become ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me His prisoner, but suffer hardship with the Gospel, according to God’s power, ⁹Who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time, ¹⁰but now hath been made manifest by the appearance of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who brought death to nought indeed and brought to light life and incorruption through the Gospel, ¹¹to which I was appointed a herald and apostle and teacher of nations. ¹²For which cause I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know Whom I have believed, and have been persuaded that He is able to guard the deposit entrusted to me until that day. ¹³Keep on holding fast an outline of sound words which thou heardest from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard thou the good deposit entrusted to thee through the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.

¹⁵This thou knowest, that all they who are in Asia were turned away from me, of whom are Phygellos and Hermogenes. ¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphoros, for many times he refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; ¹⁷but having been in Rome, he sought me out most diligently and found me— ¹⁸may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day—and in how many things he ministered in Ephesus thou knowest better than I need say.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§§ 82, mid 83]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

16 ¹⁵“Ye are they who justify yourselves before the face of men, but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is exalted among men is an abomination before the face of God. ¹⁶“The law and the prophets were until John; from that time the kingdom of God is being preached as good tidings, and everyone is forcing himself into it. ¹⁷“But it is easier for the heaven and the earth to pass away than one tittle of the law to fall. ¹⁸“Everyone who divorceth his wife and marrieth another committeth adultery; and everyone who marrieth her who hath been divorced from a husband committeth adultery.”...

17 ¹Then He said to His disciples, “It is impossible that the stumbling blocks should not come, but woe to him through whom they come! ²“It is more profitable for him if a millstone turned by an ass is put about his neck, and he is cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³“Be taking heed to yourselves. Now if thy brother should sin against thee, rebuke him; and if he should repent, forgive him. ⁴“And if seven times in the day he should sin against thee, and seven times in the day he should return to thee, saying, ‘I repent,’ thou shalt forgive him.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Entrance of the Virgin Mary into the Temple.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 320]. Brethren:

9 ¹The first tabernacle also used to have both ordinances of worship and the sanctuary of this world. ²For a tabernacle was furnished: the first in which were both the lampstand and the table, and the laying forth of the loaves, which is called Holy; ³and after the second veil, a tabernacle which is called Holy of Holies, ⁴which hath a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant which hath been covered all around from every side with gold, in which was the golden jar having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, concerning which now is not the time to speak severally. ⁶Now after these things were thus furnished, the priests, on the one hand, enter into the first tabernacle, performing worship services; ⁷on the other hand, into the second, the high priest entereth alone once for all every year, not without blood, which he offereth on behalf of himself and the faults of ignorance of the people.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 4].

1 ³⁹In those days Mariam rose up and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; ⁴⁰and she entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³“And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴“For behold, as the sound of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultant joy. ⁴⁵“And happy is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of those things which were spoken to her from the Lord.” ⁴⁶And Mariam saith:

“My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷“and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,

⁴⁸“for He looked upon the low estate of His slave. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹“For the mighty One did great things to me, and holy is His name.”... ⁵⁶And Mariam stayed with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 54]. At that time:

10 ³⁸Jesus entered into a certain village. And a certain woman, by name Martha, received Him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat down beside the feet of Jesus, and was listening to His word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted about much serving, and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, is it no concern to Thee that my sister left me to serve alone? Speak to her therefore that she should help me.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. ⁴²“But there is need of one thing, and Mary chose the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”...

11 ²⁷And it came to pass, as He was speaking these things, a certain woman out of the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts which Thou didst suck.” ²⁸But He said, “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 4th – Civil Calendar
November 21st – Church Calendar

1. The Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God.

When the most holy Virgin Mary had reached the age of three, her parents, holy Joachim and Anna, took her from Nazareth to Jerusalem to give her to the service of God in fulfillment of their promise. It was three days journey to Jerusalem, but going as they were on God’s work, they did not find the journey difficult. Many of Joachim and Anna’s kinsmen gathered to take part in this celebration, in which the invisible angels of God also took part. Maidens went ahead with lighted candles in their hands, followed by the most holy Virgin, led on either side by her father and mother. The Virgin was clad in royal and beautiful garments, like those of the ‘king’s daughter,’ the Bride of God (Ps. 44:9, 10). Behind them walked many of their kinsfolk and friends, all bearing lighted candles. There were fifteen steps leading to the Temple. Her parents stood the Virgin on the first step, and she ran quickly to the top on her own, where the high priest, Zacharias, the father of St. John the Forerunner, met her, and taking her by the hand, led her not only into the Temple, but into the Holy of Holies, the holiest place of all, into which none could enter except the high priest, and that only once a year. St. Theophylact of Ochrid says that Zacharias was ‘transported in mind and moved by God’ when he led the Virgin into the chief place in the Temple, beyond the second curtain—otherwise there could be no explanation of his action. Her parents then offered sacrifices to God according to the law, received the priest’s blessing, and returned home, leaving the most holy Virgin in the Temple. She dwelt in the Temple for nine whole years. While her parents were alive, they visited her often. When they departed this life, the holy Virgin was left an orphan, and longed to remain in the Temple for the rest of her days, without entering into marriage. This being contrary both to the law and Israelite custom, she was confided at the age of fourteen to St. Joseph, a kinsman of hers in Nazareth, so that she might, under the protection of betrothal, live in virginity and thus fulfill both her desire and the demands of the law, for it was unknown in Israel at that time for a girl to vow perpetual virginity. The holy Virgin Mary was the first to do this, and was later followed by thousand upon thousand of virgin men and women in the Church of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Submit yourself to the will of God, and do not pry too closely into His judgements, for that can send you out of your mind. The judgements of God are innumerable and unfathomable. A monk in the desert, thinking he had achieved perfection, prayed to God that He would reveal to him His various judgements in the lives of men. God put the thought into his head to go a long way to visit an aged spiritual guide and ask him about this. While the monk was on the way, he met an angel of God, in the semblance of an ordinary man, who accompanied him and told him that he, too, wanted to visit the elder. Travelling thus together, they came upon the house of a God-fearing man, who welcomed them warmly, giving them food on a silver platter. When they had eaten, the angel took the plate and threw it into the sea. This was something strange and wrong in the monk’s eyes, and he asked the angel why he had done such a thing. The angel answered him gently: ‘The man was pleasing to God in all things, and had nothing in his house that he had acquired unjustly except that silver plate. By God’s judgement, I threw away that stolen plate, that the man might be righteous in all things before God. Such things are the mysterious and unfathomable judgements of God. And you, elder, go back to your cell and don’t exercise yourself foolishly in trying to examine that which is in the power of the one 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.