Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Twenty-Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 312]. Brethren:

5 ¹¹Concerning Melchisedek there is much for our discourse and difficult in interpretation to speak, since ye have become dull in hearing. ¹²For though you even ought to be teachers by reason of the time, ye have need of one to teach you again what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God; and ye have come to be in need of having milk and not of solid food. ¹³For everyone who partaketh of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant; ¹⁴but solid food is for the mature who, by reason of habit, have the senses exercised for discernment of both good and evil.

6 ¹Wherefore having left the discourse of the beginning principle of the Christ, let us be borne on to perfection, not laying down again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God, ²of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. ³And this we will do if indeed God permit. ⁴For it is impossible for those who were enlightened once for all, and who tasted of the gift, the heavenly one, and became partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶and who fell away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify anew to themselves the Son of God and make a public example of Him. ⁷For the earth which drinketh up the oft coming rain, and produceth herbage fit for those by whom it is cultivated, receiveth blessing from God; ⁸but that which shooteth forth thorns and thistles is not approved and near cursing, of which the end is for burning.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 99]. At that time:

20 ¹As Jesus taught the people in the temple and preached the Gospel, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, suddenly came upon Him, ²and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority doest Thou these things? Or who is the one who gave Thee this authority?” ³And He answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word, and tell Me: ⁴“The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men?” ⁵And they deduced for themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ⁶“But if we should say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death; for they have been persuaded that John was a prophet.” ⁷And they answered that they knew not from what place it was. ⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Prophet Sophonios (Zephaniah).

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 104]. Brethren:

10 ¹¹The Scripture saith, “Everyone who believeth on Him shall not be ashamed [cf. Is. 28:16].” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich to all those who call upon Him. ¹³For, “Everyone, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved [Joel 2:32].” ¹⁴How then shall they call on One in Whom they believed not? And how shall they believe in One of Whom they heard not? And how shall they hear without one preaching? ¹⁵And how shall they preach, unless they are sent forth? Even as it hath been written: “How beautiful are the feet of those preaching the glad tidings of peace, of those preaching the glad tidings of good things [cf. Is. 52:7]!” ¹⁶But not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, “Lord, who hath believed our report [Is. 53:1]?” ¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by that which is said of God. ¹⁸But I say, they heard, did they not? Yea rather, “Their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world [Ps. 18(19):4].” ¹⁹But I say, Israel did not know, did it? First Moses saith, “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you [Deut. 32:21].” ²⁰But Esaias is very bold, and saith, “I was found by those not seeking Me; I became manifest to those not asking after Me [Is. 65:1].” ²¹But to Israel He saith, “The whole day I stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and contradicting people [Is. 65:2].”

11 ¹I say then, God did not thrust away His people, did He? May it not be! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God did not thrust away His people whom He foreknew.

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 16th – Civil Calendar
December 3rd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Prophet Sophonias (Zephaniah).

Born on the mountain of Savarat and of the tribe of Simeon, he lived and prophesied in the seventh century before Christ, in the time of Josiah the pious King of Judah, and was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremias. With his great humility, pure mind and constant striving after God, he was found worthy of seeing into the future. He foretold the day of the wrath of God and the punishment of Gaza, Ashkalon, Ashdod, Ekron, Nineveh, Jerusalem and Egypt. He looked upon Jerusalem as ‘a filthy, polluted and oppressing city;...her princes within her are like roaring lions; her judges are ravening wolves;...her prophets are insolent and treacherous persons; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law’ (Zeph. 3:1-4). Foreseeing the coming of the Messiah, he cried out with rapture: ‘Sing, O daughter of Sion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!’ (3:14). This clairvoyant of secrets and mysteries went to his rest in the place where he was born, there to await the general resurrection and his reward from God.

2. St. John the Silent (the Hesychast).

Born in Nicopolis in Armenia, he was the son of Encratius and Ephemia. He became a monk at the age of eighteen and gave himself to asceticism, thoroughly cleansing his heart with tears, prayer and fasting. After ten years, he was made Bishop of Colonia. The example of his life drew his brother, Pergamius, and his uncle, Theodore, both noted members of the court of the Emperors Zeno and Justinian, to lead lives pleasing to God. Seeing the evil and intrigues of the world and his inability to put matters right, he abandoned the episcopal throne and went to the monastery of St. Sava near Jerusalem, disguised as a simple monk. He remained there a number of years quite unknown, conscientiously and capably performing whatever service the abbot gave him. Thereupon St. Sava suggested to the patriarch that he be ordained priest. When the patriarch came to do this, John confessed that he already bore the rank of bishop. Then St. John shut himself into his cell and spent year after year in silence and prayer. Afterwards, he spent nine years in the desert, sustaining himself with wild herbs, and then he returned to the monastery. He wrested the faithful away from the heresy of Origen, and made a great contribution to the struggle against that heresy and its condemnation. He was able to perceive the spiritual realm with clarity, and heal the sick. He could easily subdue demons, having already conquered himself. He entered peacefully into rest in 558 at the age of a hundred and four, being great in humility, power and godly wisdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Theodore, Archbishop of Alexandria.

After serving as patriarch for two years, he was tortured by the pagans. They put a crown of thorns on his head, and finally beheaded him for the Faith in 606.

4. Our Holy Father Theodoulos.

A noted patrician at the court of Theodosios the Great, he abandoned the vanity of this world after the death of his wife, and left Constantinople for a pillar near Ephesus, on which he spent a good thirty years in asceticism.

5. Our Holy Father Sava of Storozhev.

He was a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh and a great wonder-worker. After his death, he appeared to many people, sometimes to instruct, sometimes to warn and sometimes to heal. He went from this life to the better one in 1406.

FOR CONSIDERATION

God hearkens to the prayers of the just and answers them sometimes at once and in full, and at other times only later, at the proper time and according to the needs of the Church. In other words, in answering the prayer of a righteous man, God has in mind either that man’s salvation or the well-being of the whole Church. St. John the Silent prayed to God to reveal to him how the soul takes leave of the body, and while still at prayer, he was taken out of himself and had the following vision: A good man died in front of the church in Bethlehem, and angels took his soul from his body and bore it up to heaven with sweet singing. Coming out of his ecstasy, St. John set out at once on the road from St. Sava’s to Bethlehem. When he reached Bethlehem, he saw the dead body in front of the church, just as it had been in his vision.

When the great Sava the Sanctified died, John was in great grief and anguish. St. Sava appeared to him in a vision and said: ‘Do not grieve, Father John, because, although I am separated from you in the body, I am still with you in the spirit.’ Then John begged him. ‘Father, pray to the Lord to take me with you!’ and Sava replied: ‘That is impossible for now, for a great tribulation has yet to come on the monastery. God desires you to remain to comfort and strengthen the faithful against the heretics.’ St. John did not realize at once the sort of heretic to which the holy father was referring, but he found out later, when the Origenists began to shake the Church of 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.