Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 62].

4 ¹²Beloved, cease being astonished by the strangeness of the proving by fire which is taking place among you, in order to test you, as if a strange thing were happening to you, ¹³but according as ye take part in the sufferings of Christ, be rejoicing, that also in the revelation of His glory ye might rejoice exultingly. ¹⁴If ye are being reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of the glory and power and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. On the one hand, according to them, He is being blasphemed, but on the other hand, according to you, He is being glorified. ¹⁵For let none of you be suffering as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a busybody in the matters of others. ¹⁶But if any suffer as a Christian, let him cease being ashamed, but keep on glorifying God in respect to this. ¹⁷For it is the time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; but if first from us, what shall be the end of those who disobey the Gospel of God? ¹⁸And “if the righteous one scarcely is saved, where shall the ungodly one and sinner appear [cf. Prov. 11:31]?” ¹⁹Therefore, they who suffer indeed according to the will of God, let them be committing their souls in well doing, as to a faithful Creator.

5 ¹The presbyters who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow presbyter and witness of the sufferings of the Christ, who also am a partaker of the coming glory to be revealed: ²Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising the episcopal office, not by constraint, but willingly, not for sordid greed of gain, but readily, ³neither as exercising lordship over the clergy, but becoming examples to the flock; ⁴and after the chief Shepherd hath been made manifest, ye shall carry off the unfading crown of the glory. ⁵In like manner ye younger ones, be subject to the elders. And all being subject to one another, gird yourselves with humility; for God “setteth Himself against the proud, but giveth grace to the humble [Prov. 3:34].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 52]. At that time:

11 ²⁷Jesus came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking about in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders come to Him, ²⁸and say to Him, “By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority that Thou mayest be doing these things?” ²⁹And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word; and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things: ³⁰“The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ³²“But if we should say, ‘From men’?”—they were fearing the people; for all held that John was a prophet. ³³And answering, they say to Jesus, “We know not.” And Jesus answered, saying to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and our holy father among the saints, Basil the Great.

Epistle

For the Feast:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 254]. Brethren:

2 ⁸Be wary lest there shall be anyone who leadeth you captive through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the divinity bodily, ¹⁰and ye are made full in Him, Who is the head of all principality and authority, ¹¹in Whom also ye were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ, ¹²having been buried with Him in the baptism, in which also ye were raised with Him through faith in the energy of God, Who raised Him from the dead.

For the Hierarch:

For Sl. usage, see [Heb. 7:26-8:2].

Gospel

For the Feast:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§§ 6, mid 8]. At that time:

2 ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God over all the things which they heard and saw, even as it was spoken to them.

²¹And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the little Child, then His name was called Jesus, which He was called by the angel before He was to be conceived in the womb....

⁴⁰And the little Child was growing and showing Himself strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

⁴¹And His parents were going year by year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. ⁴²And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³And after they fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the Child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His Mother did not know it. ⁴⁴But they, supposing Him to be in the company, went a day’s journey; and they were searching for Him among their kinfolk and among their acquaintances. ⁴⁵And not having found Him, they turned round about to Jerusalem seeking Him. ⁴⁶And it came to pass, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them and questioning them. ⁴⁷And all those who heard Him were beside themselves at His comprehension and answers. ⁴⁸And after they saw Him, they were amazed; and His Mother said to Him, “Child, why didst Thou do thus to us? Behold, Thy father and I were seeking Thee suffering distress.” ⁴⁹And He said to them, “Why is it that ye were seeking Me? Ye know that it is necessary for Me to be in the things of My Father, do ye not?” ⁵⁰And they understood not the saying which He spoke to them. ⁵¹And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was being subject to them. And His Mother was keeping all these sayings in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus kept on advancing in wisdom and stature, and in grace in the presence of God and men.

For the Hierarch:

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

6 ¹⁷Jesus 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)

January 14th – Civil Calendar
January 1st – Church Calendar

1. The Circumcision of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

On the eighth day after His birth, the divine Child was taken to the temple and duly circumcised according to the Jewish law that had been observed from the time of Abraham. At this time He was given the name Jesus, the name announced to the most holy Virgin by the Archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:31).

The Baptism of the New Covenant was prefigured in the Circumcision of the Old Covenant. The Lord’s Circumcision shows that He took true human flesh upon Himself, not its semblance as heretics later taught of Him. The Lord was truly circumcised, desiring thus to fulfill all the law, which He Himself had given through our forefathers and the prophets. Fulfilling all the ordinances of the law, He superseded them by Baptism in His Church, for, as the apostle declares: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:15). (In the Church Calendar, this feast of the Lord has neither forefeast nor after-feast.)

2. St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea.

St. Basil was born in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, in about 330. While still unbaptized, he spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and other contemporary secular disciplines. Among his fellow-students were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, later the apostate emperor. When already of mature years, he was baptized in the Jordan together with his former tutor Evulios. He was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and died at the age of fifty.

A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and zeal for the Faith, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of the Church of God, Basil fully deserved his title “the Great”. In the Office for his feast, he is referred to as a bee of the Church of Christ, bringing honey to the faithful but stinging those in heresy. Many of the writings of this father of the Church have survived—theological, apologetic, on asceticism and on the canons. There is also the Liturgy that bears his name. This Liturgy is celebrated ten times in the year: on January 1st, on the Eves of the Nativity of Christ and the Theophany, on every Sunday in the Great Fast with the exception of Palm Sunday, and on the Thursday and Saturday in Holy Week.

St. Basil departed this life peacefully on January 1st, 379, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Why must one obey the Church and not some man whose thinking is opposed to that of the Church, eminent or intellectually gifted though that man may be? Because the Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and is guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Also because “the Church” signifies the community of the saints, an orchard of choice, fruit-bearing trees. If a man remains opposed to the community of the saints, that means that he is unholy. Why, therefore, listen to him? “The Church is an enclosure”, says the wise Chrysostom. “If you are within, the wolf cannot enter, but if you stray outside, the wild beasts will get you.... Do not wander from the Church; there is nothing more impregnable than the Church. She is your hope and your salvation. She is higher than the heavens, firmer than rock, wider than the world; she never grows old, but is forever renewing her youth.”

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.