Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Movable Calendar (Paschalion)

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of the Great Fast

There is No Divine Liturgy This Day Because of the Great Fast.

No readings given.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, our most holy Lady Theotokos.
According to the Greek Typikon of the Great Church (Hagia Sophia of Constantinople), if the Feast of the Annunciation should fall on either holy and Great Friday or Great Saturday, the service would be transferred to Pascha.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 306]. Brethren:

2 ¹¹Both He Who sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹²saying, “I will announce Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the church will I hymn Thee [cf. Ps. 21(22):22]”; ¹³and again, “I will trust in Him [cf. Is. 8:17]”; and again, “Behold, I and the children whom God gave Me [Is. 8:18].” ¹⁴Since then the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, in order that through death He might bring to nought the one who hath the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and might set free those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶For surely He taketh not hold of the nature of the angels, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, in order to be made an expiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For having Himself been tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to help those who are tempted.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 4].

1 ³⁹In those days Mariam rose up and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; ⁴⁰and she entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³“And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴“For behold, as the sound of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultant joy. ⁴⁵“And happy is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of those things which were spoken to her from the Lord.” ⁴⁶And Mariam saith:

“My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷“and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior,

⁴⁸“for He looked upon the low estate of His slave. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹“For the mighty One did great things to me, and holy is His name.”... ⁵⁶And Mariam stayed with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 3]. In those days:

1 ²⁴Elisabeth, the wife of Zacharias, conceived, and was concealing herself five months, saying, ²⁵“Thus the Lord hath done to me, in the days in which He looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.”

²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent forth by God to a city of Galilee, the name of which was Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin who was espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mariam. ²⁸And the angel entered and said to her, “Rejoice thou who hast been shown grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.” ²⁹And having seen him, she was greatly troubled at his word, and was considering what kind of salutation this may be. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “Cease being afraid, Mariam; for thou didst find grace with God. ³¹“And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. ³²“This One shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of His father David. ³³“And He shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” ³⁴But Mariam said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I know not a man?” ³⁵And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that Holy One Who is born of thee shall be called Son of God. ³⁶“And behold, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she hath even conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who is called barren. ³⁷“For all of that which is spoken shall not be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mariam said, “Behold, the slave of the Lord; may it be to me according to thy word.” And the angel departed from her.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 7th – Civil Calendar
March 25th – Church Calendar

1. The Annunciation.

When the most holy Virgin had lived and served in the Temple at Jerusalem for eleven years, and was by then fourteen years old when, that is, she was entering on her fifteenth year—the priests informed her that, according to the law, she could no longer remain in the Temple but must be betrothed and marry. But, to the great surprise of all the priests, the most holy Virgin replied that she had dedicated herself to God and wished to remain a maiden till death and enter into wedlock with no one. Then, by God’s providence and under His inspiration, Zacharias, the high priest and father of the Forerunner, in consultation with the other priests, chose twelve unmarried men from the tribe of David so that they might entrust the Virgin Mary to one of them to preserve her virginity and care for her. She was thus entrusted to Joseph, an old man from Nazareth and a kinsman of hers. In his house, the most holy Virgin continued to live in the same manner as in the Temple, passing her time in the reading of the sacred Scriptures, in prayer, in pondering on the works of God, in fasting and in handwork. She scarcely ever left the house, nor took an interest in worldly matters or events. She generally conversed very little with anyone, and never without a particular need. She was intimate only with the two daughters of Joseph. But when the time prophesied by the Prophet Daniel had come and when God was pleased to fulfill the promise made to Adam when He drove him out of Paradise, and to the prophets, the mighty Archangel Gabriel appeared in the chamber of the most holy Virgin, at the precise moment (as some priestly writers have related) that she was holding open on her lap the book of the Prophet Isaias and pondering on his great prophecy: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son’. Gabriel appeared to her in angelic light and said to her: ‘Rejoice, thou who hast been shown grace, the Lord is with thee!’ and so forth, just as is related in the Gospel of the divine Luke. With this angelic greeting and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the salvation of mankind and the renewal of creation were set in motion. The archangel turned the first page of the story of the New Testament with the word ‘Rejoice!’ to show by this the joy that the New Testament signifies for mankind and for all things created. And therefore the Annunciation is looked upon as a joyous, as well as a great, feast.

2. The Holy Martyrs Pelagia, Theodosia and Dula.

These three holy women suffered for the Lord. Pelagia and Theodosia were slain with the sword after imprisonment and torture, but St. Dula, a slave, suffered alone and died in the city of Nikomedia. God transplanted His three white roses, stained with the blood of martyrdom, into His heavenly garden.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Once they asked Abba Athanasius: ‘How can the Son be equal to the Father?’ And he replied: ‘Even as one has two eyes but one sight.’ An excellent answer. As well as this we might add: ‘Even as one has two ears but one hearing. And likewise for all three divine hypostases: there are three candles, but the same light.’

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.