Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Thirty-Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 241]. Brethren:

2 ¹²Even as ye always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in mine absence, be working out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for God is the One Who energizeth in you both to will and to energize for the sake of His good pleasure. ¹⁴Be doing all things without murmurings and disputings, ¹⁵in order that ye might become blameless and unsullied, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and wayward generation, among whom ye shine as luminaries in the world, ¹⁶holding forth the word of life, for a boast to me in the day of Christ, that I ran not in vain, nor labored in vain.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 25]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to him:

6 ²⁴“Woe to you, the rich! For ye are receiving in full your consolation.

²⁵“Woe to you who have been filled, for ye shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you, whenever all men shall speak well of you, for according to these things their fathers were doing to the false prophets.

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, keep on loving your enemies, doing well to those who hate you, ²⁸“blessing those who curse you, and praying for those who act despitefully toward you. ²⁹“To him who smiteth thee on the cheek, be offering also the other; and from him who taketh away thine outer garment, do not even withhold thy tunic. ³⁰“And to everyone who asketh thee, be giving; and from him who taketh away your things, cease demanding them back.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our righteous Father Xenophon and his wife, Mary, and their two sons, Arcadios and John, of Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 8th – Civil Calendar
January 26th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Xenophon and our Mother Maria, and their sons John and Arkadios.

They were rich and respected citizens of Constantinople. Xenophon and Maria lived godly lives, and made every effort to give their sons a Christian upbringing. When the boys were grown, their parents sent them to Beirut to study, but a storm capsized their ship. By God’s providence, both John and Arkadios were somehow saved and thrown onto the shore by the waves; in two separate places, however, so that each thought the other had perished. Out of grief for each other, they became monks in two different monasteries. After two years of mourning, their parents traveled to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places. There, helped by the insight of a holy man, the brothers were first united with each other and then with their parents. Out of gratitude to God, Xenophon and Maria gave away all their goods to the poor and both embraced the monastic state. This touching story of these four holy souls demonstrates clearly how the Lord guides most wonderfully the destinies of those who believe in Him; how He looses on them trials and sorrows, that they may later, yet more greatly strengthened in their faith, experience the greater joy. They lived and died in the fifth century.

2. Our Holy Father Simeon the Ancient.

A friend and companion of St. Palladios, he lived in asceticism in a cave from his early youth right up to his death. He founded two monasteries and entered into rest in the Lord in the year 390. He was named ‘the Ancient’ by St. Simeon the Stylite, who lived somewhat later.

3. St. David, King of Georgia (1089-1130).

He restored and strengthened Georgia as a country. He was a great zealot for the Christian Faith. He built many new churches throughout Georgia, and restored ancient ones. He is regarded as the regenerator of Orthodoxy in Georgia.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The greatest blessing any country can have is that of good and holy men living within it. Compared with this blessing, all other blessings are as nothing. Devout Christian kings regarded holy people in their lands as the greatest blessing from God. The holy Emperor Constantine the Great said: ‘We bless the Lord Jesus Christ that there exists in my day three glorious saints: the blessed Abba Anthony, Abba Elenius and Abba Efchius.’ Before the Battle of Kulikovo, a battle significant for Russia, the devout Prince Dimitri of the Don went off with his chief advisors and commanders to the forest of Radonezh to seek St. Sergius and beg his prayers. And although the prince prepared his armies for the war of liberation from the Tartars, he placed greater confidence in the prayers of one holy man than in a vast army and many weapons.

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.