Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 72]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:9-22; for Sl. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:10-20, beginning in the middle of verse 10, “My beloved: Everyone who doeth not righteousness....”

3 ⁹Everyone who hath been born of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him; and he is not able to sin, because he hath been born of God. ¹⁰In this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil. Everyone who doeth not righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who loveth not his brother. ¹¹Because this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we be loving one another, ¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And on account of what did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother righteous. ¹³Cease marvelling, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed over out of death into life, because we love the brethren. The one not loving his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hateth his brother is a manslayer, and ye know that every manslayer hath not eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶In this we have come to know love, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷But whosoever may have the world’s means of livelihood, and may observe his brother having need, and shutteth up from him his compassion from the inward parts, how doth the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸My little children, let us not be loving in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹And in this we know that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our hearts before Him, ²⁰that if our heart be condemning us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart be not condemning us, we have boldness toward God. ²²And whatsoever we may ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing before Him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 64]. At that time:

14 ¹⁰Judas the Iscariote, one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, in order that he might deliver Him up to them. ¹¹And after they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money; and he was seeking how he might opportunely deliver Him up.

¹²And on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they used to slay the passover, His disciples said to Him, “Where dost Thou wish that we go and prepare, that Thou mightest eat the passover?” ¹³And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith to them, “Go ye into the city, and a man shall meet you bearing an earthenware vessel of water; follow him. ¹⁴“And wheresoever he should enter, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher saith, “Where is the lodging-place, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵“And he will show you a large upper room, which hath been furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” ¹⁶And His disciples went away, and came into the city, and found it even as He said to them; and they made ready the passover. ¹⁷And evening having come to pass, He cometh with the twelve. ¹⁸And as they reclined at table and ate, Jesus said, “Verily I say to you, that one of you who is eating with Me shall deliver Me up.” ¹⁹And they began to be grieved, and to say to Him, one by one, “It is not I, is it?” And another, “It is not I, is it?” ²⁰But He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dippeth with Me in the dish. ²¹“The Son of Man indeed goeth even as it hath been written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is delivered up! Good were it for that man if he had not been born.” ²²And as they ate, Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²³And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them; and they all drank of it. ²⁴And He said to them, “This is My blood, that of the new covenant, which is being poured out for many. ²⁵“Verily I say to you that in no wise will I drink any more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷And Jesus saith to them, “Ye all shall be made to stumble because of Me during this night, for it hath been written: ‘I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad [cf. Zach. 13:7].’ ²⁸“But after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” ²⁹But Peter said to Him, “Though all shall be made to stumble, yet not I.” ³⁰And Jesus saith to him, “Verily I say to thee that today, during the night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” ³¹But he kept on speaking more vehemently, “If it should be necessary for me to die with Thee, in no wise will I deny Thee.” And in like manner also, they all were speaking.

³²And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He saith to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³And He taketh along with Him Peter and Iakovos and John, and began to be amazed and sorely troubled. ³⁴And He saith to them, “My soul is very sad unto death. Tarry here and be watching.” ³⁵And having gone forth a little, He fell upon His face on the ground, and was praying that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. ³⁶And He was saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee. Take away this cup from Me; but not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” ³⁷And He cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith to Peter, “Simon, sleepest thou? Wast thou not able to watch one hour? ³⁸“Be watching and praying that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹And again He went away and prayed, saying the same utterance. ⁴⁰And having returned, He found them again sleeping; for their eyes were weighed down, and they knew not what they should answer Him. ⁴¹And He cometh the third time, and saith to them, “Sleep on for what time remaineth and be taking your rest! It is enough, the hour hath come; behold, the Son of Man is being delivered up into the hands of the sinners. ⁴²“Rouse yourselves, let us be going; behold the one delivering Me up hath drawn near.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Great-martyr Theodore the Recruit, and Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Epistle

For the Great-martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Great-martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 103]. The Lord said to His disciples:

20 ⁴⁶“Be on your guard against the scribes, who wish to walk about in full dress, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at the dinners, ⁴⁷“who devour the houses of the widows, and for a pretense offer long prayers. They shall receive greater judgment.”

21 ¹And He looked up and saw the rich casting their gifts into the treasury. ²And He saw also a certain poor widow casting in that place two lepta. ³And He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow cast in more than all; ⁴“for all these did cast into the gifts of God out of that which is superfluous to them, but she, out of her need, cast in her whole means of living which she had.”

for Sl. usage, see [Jn. 15:17-16:2].

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

March 2nd – Civil Calendar: Non-Leap Year
March 1st – Civil Calendar: Leap Year
February 17th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Theodore the Tyro.

‘Tyro’ means ‘Recruit’. No sooner had St. Theodore entered the Marmarite regiment of the army in the town of Amaseia than a persecution of Christians broke out under the Emperors Maximian and Maximinus. Theodore did not attempt to conceal that he was a Christian, and was brought to trial and imprisoned in a prison that was then locked and sealed. The wicked judge intended him to die of hunger, but the Lord Christ Himself appeared to Theodore in the prison and encouraged His martyr with these words: ‘Fear not, Theodore; I am with thee. Take no more earthly food and drink, for thou shalt be in the other life, eternal and unending, with Me in heaven.’ Then a multitude of angels appeared in the prison, and the whole place shone with light. The warders on duty saw the angels in white apparel and were filled with fear. Then St. Theodore was taken out, tortured and condemned to death. He was thrown into fire, and gave his soul to the most high God. He suffered in 306.

2. Our Holy Fathers Theodosius (Teodosy) the Bulgarian and Roman his pupil.

As a monk, Theodosius settled not far from the town of Trnovo, where he founded a community which became known as ‘Theodosius’ after him. He was prominent in the council in Bulgaria against the Bogomils in 1360. Upholding the Orthodox Faith at that council, he put the Bogomils to shame by his reasoning. He finished his earthly course in Constantinople in 1362. His disciple, Roman, continued in asceticism in Theodosius’ community until his death.

3. St. Mariamna (Maria).

The sister of the apostle Philip, she traveled with her brother, and with him preached the Gospel in Hierapolis and in other places. After Philip had died a martyr’s death, Mariamna continued her missionary work in Lykaonia, where she died.

FOR CONSIDERATION

He is an artist who draws out and carves the shapes of living creatures from rough and formless stone. He is an artist who weaves many-colored carpets from the wool of sheep. He is an artist who builds a magnificent palace of clay bricks. But what artist in the world can equal Christ the Artist—Who makes the illiterate into wise men, fishermen into apostles, turns old men into heroes and the dissolute into saints? But everything must be given into the hand of the artist, that he may bring into being that which he is capable of creating. And all sorts of things are, in fact, committed to the hand of the artist. And men must be given into the hand of Christ, that He may draw out from them and build that which He alone knows and is able to create. Nineteen past centuries witness to us that all they who, far from standing against Christ the Artist, gave themselves to Him, were changed from brutish and ignorant beings into angelic sons 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.