Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 231]. Brethren:

5 ²⁵Husbands, be loving your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶in order that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her in the laver of the water with the word, ²⁷that He might present her to Himself the glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things; but that she may be holy and unblemished. ²⁸So ought the husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loveth his own wife loveth himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as also the Lord the Church. ³⁰For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. ³¹“Because of this shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be into one flesh [cf. Gen. 2:24].” ³²This mystery is great; but I speak in regard to Christ and in regard to the Church. ³³However do ye severally be loving in this manner each one his own wife as himself, and the wife in this manner that she be fearing the husband.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 12]. At that time:

4 ¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness, ²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing; and they having been brought to an end, afterwards He became hungry. ³And the devil said to Him, “If Thou art God’s Son, command this stone that it become bread.” ⁴And Jesus gave answer to him, saying, “It hath been written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God [cf. Deut. 8:3].’” ⁵And the devil, having brought Him up into a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. ⁶And the devil said to Him, “To Thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them; for to me it hath been delivered up, and to whomsoever I may wish to give it. ⁷“Thou, therefore, if Thou wilt make obeisance before me, all shall be Thine.” ⁸And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan. For it hath been written: ‘Thou shalt make obeisance to the Lord thy God, and Him alone shalt thou worship [cf. Deut. 6:13].’” ⁹And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him upon the wing of the temple, and said to Him, “If Thou art God’s Son, cast Thyself down from this place. ¹⁰“For it hath been written: ‘He shall enjoin His angels concerning Thee, to keep Thee [Ps. 90(91):11],’ ¹¹“and, ‘Upon their hands shall they take Thee up, lest ever Thou strike Thy foot against a stone [Ps. 90(91):12].’” ¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It hath been said, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God [Deut. 6:16].’” ¹³And after the devil brought to an end every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a common report concerning Him went out throughout all the country round about. ¹⁵And He was teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

14. The commemoration of the Leave-taking of Theophany, and the holy Equal-to-the-apostles Nina, Enlightener of Iberia, and the holy Fathers who were slain at Sinai and Raitho.

Epistle

For the Equal-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 131]. Brethren:

4 ⁹I think that God showed forth us the apostles last, as condemned to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are held in honor, but we are dishonored. ¹¹Until the present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are being buffeted, and never at rest. ¹²And we toil working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we bear up; ¹³being evilly spoken of, we beseech. We became as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all until now. ¹⁴I do not write these things shaming you, but admonishing you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For if ye have myriads of tutors in Christ, yet ye have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the Gospel. ¹⁶Therefore, I beseech you, keep on becoming imitators of me.

For the venerable Fathers:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 325]. Brethren:

10 ³²Remind yourselves of the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great contest of sufferings: ³³partly, being made a show of both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, having become partners of those who conducted themselves thus. ³⁴For ye also sympathized with those in bonds and ye yourselves accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and abiding possession. ³⁵Do not begin therefore to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

for Sl. usage, see [Rom. 8:28-39].

Gospel

For the Equal-to-the-apostles:

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.”

For the venerable Fathers:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 67]. The Lord said:

12 ³²“Cease being afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³“Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief draweth near nor moth destroyeth; ³⁴“for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ³⁵“Let your loins be girded about and the lamps be kept burning; ³⁶“and be ye like to men waiting for their own lord—whenever he should depart from the wedding festivities—that when he cometh and knocketh, straightway, they might open to him. ³⁷“Happy are those slaves whom the lord, after he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say to you that he shall gird himself about and shall have them recline at table, and will come forth and minister to them. ³⁸“And if he should come in the second watch, and in the third watch should he come, and find them thus, happy are those slaves. ³⁹“But know ye this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰“Ye therefore also keep on becoming ready, for in the hour ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 27th – Civil Calendar
January 14th – Church Calendar

1. St. Nina, the Enlightener of Georgia.

Hearing of the Georgian people, the maiden Nina desired from her early years to travel to Georgia and baptize the Georgians. The Mother of God appeared to her and promised her that she would take her to that land. When the Lord opened the path to her, the young Nina indeed went to Georgia, where she very quickly gained the love of the people. She baptized Mirian, King of Georgia, his wife Nana and their son Bakar, who then zealously aided Nina in her missionary efforts. Nina traveled throughout Georgia in the course of her life, and succeeded in bringing all the people to the Christian Faith—and this during a time of fearful persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. She rested from her many labors and entered into peace in the Lord in the year 335. Her grave is in a church in Samtavro. She performed many miracles both during her lifetime and after her death.

2. Our Holy Fathers, the Martyrs of Sinai and Raithu.

These holy fathers were killed by the Saracens; those of Sinai in the fourth century, and the others in the fifth.

FOR CONSIDERATION

If the dogma of faith seems at times to you to be tough food, you must first try to fulfill Christian moral dogma, and then the understanding of the dogma of faith will be revealed to you. The inquisitive examination of high things, without the effort to rectify one’s life, is of no use whatever. At one time, a group of Egyptian monks was considering Melchisedek, and being unable to come to any clarity about the mysterious personality of this ancient king and high priest, they invited Abba Copres to their place of assembly and questioned him concerning Melchisedek. Hearing this, Copres smote himself on the mouth three times and said: ‘Woe to you, Copres! You have set aside that which God ordained for you to do, and you investigate that which God does not require of you.’ The monks were filled with shame, and dispersed. St. Chrysostom writes: ‘If we hold true dogma and give no thought to our conduct, we shall find this of no use; and also if we give thought to our conduct and neglect true dogma, we shall receive nothing useful to our salvation. If we wish to be delivered from Gehenna and obtain the kingdom, we must be adorned from both sides: with both true faith and uprightness of life.’

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.