Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Thirty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 66]. Beloved:

1 ²⁰Know this first, that every prophecy of Scripture cometh not out of private explanation, ²¹for prophecy was not brought about at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke while borne along by the Holy Spirit.

2 ¹But false prophets arose among the people, as also there shall be false teachers among you, who shall introduce privily heresies of destruction, even denying the Master Who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many shall follow their licentious acts, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed. ³And in covetousness, they shall make merchandise of you with feigned words, for whom the judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction slumbereth not. ⁴For if God spared not angels who sinned, but cast them into Tartarus and delivered them to judgment with cords of darkness which have been kept for them; ⁵and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, one of eight, a herald of righteousness, after He brought a flood upon a world of ungodly ones; ⁶and having burned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He condemned them with destruction, having made them an example to those intending to live impiously; ⁷and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the licentious behavior of the lawless ⁸(for the righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured his righteous soul day after day by seeing and hearing their lawless works)— ⁹then the Lord knoweth how to deliver the pious out of temptation, and to keep the unjust who are under punishment until a day of judgment.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 59]. The Lord said to His disciples:

13 ⁹“Be taking heed to yourselves: For they shall deliver you up to councils; and ye shall be beaten in their synagogues; and ye shall be made to stand before governors and kings on account of Me, for a testimony to them. ¹⁰“And it is needful for the Gospel first to be proclaimed to all the nations. ¹¹“But whenever they lead you away and deliver you up, cease taking thought before what ye should say, neither be meditating. But whatsoever shall be given to you in that hour, be speaking this; for ye are not the ones who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²“Now brother shall deliver up brother to death, and a father, a child; and children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death. ¹³“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Meeting of the Lord, and the holy Martyr Nikephoros of Antioch.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 229]. Brethren:

5 ⁸Be walking as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth— ¹⁰proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹And cease having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for all which is made manifest is light. ¹⁴Wherefore, He saith, “Rouse thyself, thou who sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine on thee [cf. Is. 9:2, 26:19, 52:1, 60:1, 2].”

¹⁵Be taking heed then how exactly ye walk, not as unwise ones, but as wise ones, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷On this account cease becoming foolish, but become as ones understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And cease being drunk with wine, in which is prodigality, but keep on being filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 22nd – Civil Calendar
February 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Nikephoros.

The life of this holy martyr demonstrates clearly how God casts down pride and crowns humility and brotherly love with glory. There lived in Antioch two intimate friends, the learned priest Saprikios and the ordinary, simple townsman Nikephoros. Their friendship somehow turned into a terrible mutual hatred. Nikephoros, who feared God, tried many times to establish peace with the priest, but the latter would not respond. When a persecution of Christians broke out, the priest Saprikios was condemned to death and brought to the place of execution. Nikephoros stood in great distress in the path Saprikios was to take, begging him to forgive him before dying, and to part in peace. ‘I pray thee, thou martyr of Christ,’ said Nikephoros, ‘forgive me if I have in any way sinned against thee.’ Saprikios would not turn to his adversary, but calmly and proudly moved on to death. But, seeing the hardness of the priest’s heart, God would not have him receive the gift of martyrdom and the crowning with the wreath, and secretly withdrew His blessing. At the last moment, Saprikios denied Christ before the executioner and declared that he would worship idols. Hatred had blinded him to such an extent! Nikephoros entreated Saprikios not to deny Christ: ‘Oh, my beloved brother, do not do this! Do not deny our Lord Jesus Christ and lose the heavenly crown!’ But all in vain; Saprikios was unmoved. Then Nikephoros cried out to the executioners: I too am a Christian; kill me in Saprikios’ place!’ The executioners reported this to the judge, who ordered them to let Saprikios go and to kill Nikephoros in his place. Nikephoros joyfully laid his head on the block and was beheaded. And thus he was made worthy of the kingdom and crowned with the eternal wreath of glory. This came to pass in 260, in the reign of the Emperor Gallienus.

2. The Hieromartyr Peter of Damascus.

This saint is considered by some to have lived in the eighth century, and by others in the twelfth. This difference of opinion arises from there having been two Peters Damascene. The one about whom we are speaking was a great ascetic. Utterly selfless, he had not one single book of his own, but borrowed them to read. And he read untiringly, gathering wisdom as a bee does honey. He was at some time bishop in Damascus, but spoke out so strongly against Islam and the Manichean heresy that the Arabs cut out his tongue and sent him into exile deep in Arabia. But God gave him the power of speech, so that there in exile he preached the Gospel and brought many to the Christian Faith. He wrote and left to his descendants a precious book on the spiritual life. He died a confessor and a martyr, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Peter of Damascus writes thus of the general and the particular gifts of God: ‘The general gifts are the four elements, and all that come from them, all the wonderful and terrible works of God revealed in the holy Scriptures. But the particular gifts are those which God gives to a man individually; be it wealth for acts of mercy, or poverty for patience with thanksgiving; be it power for right judgement and the strengthening of virtue, or subjugation and slavery for the swift salvation of the soul; be it health for the helping of the infirm or weakness for the crown of patience; be it understanding and skill in gathering wealth for the sake of the virtues, or feebleness and clumsiness for submissive humility. All these, and though they may seem in contrast to one another, they are all, as they are apportioned, very good.’ He says in conclusion that we owe God gratitude for all His gifts, and must bear all infirmities and tribulations with patience and hope, for all that God gives us or brings upon us is for our salvation.

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.