Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second General Epistle of Saint John [§ 75].

1 ¹The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also those who have come to know the truth, ²for the sake of the truth which abideth in us and shall be with us forever: ³Grace, mercy, peace shall be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I was gladdened greatly that I have found some of thy children walking in truth, even as we received a commandment from the Father. ⁵And I now request thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we be loving one another. ⁶And this is the love, that we be walking according to His commandments. This is the commandment, even as ye heard from the beginning, that ye be walking in it. ⁷For many deceivers entered into the world, those not confessing Jesus Christ coming in the flesh; this is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸Keep on looking to yourselves, in order that ye might not lose that which we wrought, but that ye might receive a full reward. ⁹Everyone who transgresseth and abideth not in the teaching of the Christ hath not God; the one abiding in the teaching of the Christ, this one also hath the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone come to you and bring not this teaching, cease receiving him into the house and saying to him fare-thee-well; ¹¹for the one who saith to him fare-thee-well partaketh in his evil works.

¹²Having many things to write to you, I was not willing by means of paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and to speak face to face that our joy may be full. ¹³The children of thine elect sister greet thee. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 68]. At that time:

15 ²⁰The soldiers took Jesus; and they lead Him out in order that they might crucify Him....

²²And they bring Him to a place, Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, Place of a Skull.... ²⁵And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.... ³³And the sixth hour having come to pass, there came to be a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, My God, why didst Thou forsake Me [cf. Ps. 21(22):1]?” ³⁵And some of those standing by, having heard that, were saying, “Behold, He calleth Elias.” ³⁶And one of them ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and was attempting to give Him to drink, saying, “Let be; let us see if Elias is coming to take Him down.” ³⁷And Jesus let out a loud cry, and gave up the spirit. ³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn into two from top to bottom. ³⁹Now after the centurion who stood opposite Him saw that He thus cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly this Man was God’s Son.” ⁴⁰And there were also women looking on from afar off, among whom was also Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of Iakovos the younger and of Joses, and Salome— ⁴¹who also, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and ministering to Him—and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable father among the saints, Leo, Bishop of Catania in Sicily, and the venerable Hieromartyr Cornelius, Abbot of the Monastery of the Caves of Pskov.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99]. Brethren:

8 ²⁸We know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰But whom He foreordained, these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these also He glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He Who indeed spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. ³⁴Who is the one who condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶Even as it hath been written: “For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps. 43(44):23(22)].” ³⁷But in all these things we more than conquer through the One Who loved us. ³⁸For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things coming, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

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)

March 5th – Civil Calendar: Non-Leap Year
March 4th – Civil Calendar: Leap Year
February 20th – Church Calendar

1. St. Leo, Bishop of Catania.

Beneath the Mount Etna volcano, in the town of Catania, St. Leo was a good shepherd and compassionate teacher of the people. He had great care for the sick and the poor, and both his zeal for the Faith and his compassion for the needy were great. There appeared one day in that town a magician called Heliodorus, who deluded the people with many illusions and greatly seduced the young. He once entered a church during a divine service and began his tricks. St. Leo came up to him, bound him with one end of his pallium and led him out to the marketplace. Since the emperor had ordered the execution of Heliodorus, a great fire was kindled. When it was burning fiercely, Leo stood among the flames, holding Heliodorus to prevent him from working any of his diabolical tricks. Heliodorus was completely burned up, but Leo remained alive and unharmed. All who had been taken in by Heliodorus, and who had regarded him as in some way divine, were put to shame by this. The compassionate and zealous Leo became known throughout the whole kingdom as a wonder-worker, helping people by his miracles. When he had finished his course, sometime in the 8th century, his soul went to the Lord and healing myrrh flowed from his relics.

2. The Hieromartyr Sadok.

Sadok was bishop in Persia after St. Simeon. One night St. Simeon appeared to him in a dream and said: ‘Yesterday, me; today, you!’ Sadok interpreted these words to his congregation as meaning: ‘Last year I suffered; this year you will.’ And indeed, in that year, King Sapor arrested him with many of his clergy and people and brought them to trial. He first ordered them to worship fire and the sun as divine. Sadok replied: ‘We are ready with all our hearts to die for our God, and will not worship fire or the sun.’ They were then tortured and condemned to be beheaded with the sword. Before execution, Sadok raised this prayer to God: ‘Wash us from our sins, O Lord, in our own blood,’—and Sadok gloriously gave his body to death and his soul to God immortal, together with his priests and his people. He suffered in 342 or 344.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Water is finer than earth; fire is finer than water; air is finer than fire; electricity is finer than air. But, in the spiritual world, both air and electricity are coarse elements. Electricity is very fine, but the voice is finer than electricity, thought is finer than the voice and the spirit is finer than thought. Air is fine, and carries the voice over a great distance. Electricity is fine, and carries light over a great distance. So also every act and word and thought of yours is carried to all parts of the spiritual kingdom. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to perform a sinful act, to speak a sinful word and to think a sinful thought! To what an immeasurable distance are waves raised on the spiritual sea! But do not examine distant minutiae that are beyond your ken. It is of the greatest importance to know and weigh how every act, word and thought of yours makes an inescapable impression on four sides: on God and the spiritual world, on nature, on other people and on your own soul. If you train yourself in this knowledge, you will reach a high level of saving vigilance.

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.