Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Holy and Great Saturday

Epistle

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 133]. Brethren:

Note two Readings, one from 1 Cor. 5:6-8 and Gal. 3:13, 14.

Begin with First Corinthians [§ 133]:

5 ⁶A little leaven leaveneth the whole dough. ⁷Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new dough, even as ye are unleavened. For also Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us; ⁸therefore let us be keeping festival, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened loaves of sincerity and of truth.

Conclude with Galatians [§ 206]:

3 ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it hath been written: “Cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree [Deut. 21:23]”), ¹⁴that the blessing of Abraham might come to pass to the nations in Christ Jesus, in order that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

In the Divine Liturgy

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 91]. Brethren:

6 ³As many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. ⁴Therefore we were buried with Him by the baptism into the death, that even as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, thus also we should walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, certainly also we shall be of the resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be rendered inactive, in order to no longer serve sin. ⁷For the one who died hath been justified from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹knowing that Christ Who was raised from the dead dieth no more; death no longer hath dominion over Him. ¹⁰For the death which He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life which He liveth, He liveth to God. ¹¹Thus reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 114].

27 ⁶²On the morrow, which is after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate, ⁶³saying, “Sir, we were reminded that that deceiver said while He was yet alive, ‘I am being raised after three days.’ ⁶⁴“Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perchance His disciples come by night and steal Him, and say to the people, ‘He was raised from the dead’; and the last deceit shall be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵And Pilate said to them, “Ye have a guard; go your way and make it as secure for yourselves as ye know how.” ⁶⁶And they went and made the tomb secure, having sealed the stone with the guard being present.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 115].

28 ¹Late on the sabbath, at the dawning toward the first day of the week, there came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the tomb. ²And behold, a great earthquake occurred; for an angel of the Lord descended out of heaven, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it. ³And his appearance was as lightning, and his garment white as snow. ⁴And those keeping guard, because of their fear of him, were shaken and became as dead men. ⁵And the angel answered and said to the women, “Cease being afraid, for I know that ye seek Jesus Who hath been crucified. ⁶“He is not here; for He was raised, even as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. ⁷“And go quickly and say to His disciples that He was raised from the dead. And behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him. Behold, I have told you.” ⁸And they went out quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and ran to bring tidings to His disciples. ⁹But as they were going to bring tidings to His disciples, then behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice ye.” And they approached and laid hold of His feet, and made obeisance to Him. ¹⁰Then Jesus saith to them, “Cease being frightened. Go and bring tidings to My brethren that they should go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me.” ¹¹Now when they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that came to pass. ¹²And after they were gathered together with the elders and took counsel, they gave a considerable amount of money to the soldiers, ¹³saying, “Say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him while we were sleeping.’ ¹⁴“And if this should be heard before the governor, we will persuade him and make you free from care.” ¹⁵And they took the money and did as they were taught. And this report was spread abroad by the Jews until today.

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus appointed them. ¹⁷And having seen Him, they made obeisance to Him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying, “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰“teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age.” Amen.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father John, disciple of St. Gregory the Decapolite.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 1st – Civil Calendar
April 18th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father John.

He was a disciple of St. Gregory of Decapolis. In the time of the iconoclast heresy, the Emperor Leo the Armenian put John to torture, together with his teacher, Gregory, and Joseph the Hymnographer. When Gregory finished his earthly course, John became abbot of the Decapolite monastery in Constantinople. Becoming abbot, he intensified his asceticism for the sake of the kingdom of God. He died peacefully in about 820. After his death, St. Joseph buried him near the grave of St. Gregory.

2. The Holy Martyr John the New of Ioannina.

He was born in Ioannina, the ancient capital of King Pyrrhus. When his poor parents died, the young John went to Constantinople and there continued his trade, for he was a craftsman. The Turks had occupied Constantinople not long before this, and many Christians had, out of fear, denied Christ and accepted Islam. St. John had his workshop right in the midst of these men who had become Turks. The more inflamed St. John became with love for Christ, the more outwardly apparent this became to these apostates. He began to dispute with them about the Faith, and to reprimand them for their betrayal of Christ. They dragged him before the judge and falsely accused him of having earlier accepted Islam and having returned to Christianity. For this he was tortured—beaten and flogged with iron flails—and then cast into prison. On the second day, which was the day of Pascha, they brought him out for further torture, and John emerged full of joy and singing: ‘Christ is risen from the dead!’ He spoke courageously to his torturers, saying: ‘Do what you will to me, and send me as quickly as possible from this transient life into life eternal. I am Christ’s servant; I follow Christ, and I die for Christ that I may live with Him!’ After that, John was bound in chains and taken to the place of burning. Seeing the great flames prepared for him, John ran forward and leapt into them. But his torturers, seeing how he sought death in the fire, pulled him out of it and sentenced him to be beheaded. When they had cut off his head, they threw it and his body into the fire. Later, Christians gathered the ashes and some of his precious and wonder-working relics and buried them in the Great Church in Constantinople. Thus he died a martyr’s death and received the glorious wreath of martyrdom on April 18th, 1526.

3. The Holy Martyrs Victor, Zotikos, Zeno, Akyndios and Severian.

They were all martyred under the Emperor Diocletian. They were pagans until they witnessed the martyrdom of St. George the Great Martyr. Then, seeing the sufferings and courage of this glorious martyr and the many miracles that were wrought at that time, they embraced the Christian Faith. For this Faith they soon suffered, and were crowned with glory.

4. The Holy Martyr Apollonius.

He was a Roman senator. Denounced for his faith, he confessed it before the entire senate, for which he was beheaded in the year 186.

FOR CONSIDERATION

In one description of the Christian martyrs under the Persian King Sapor, it is said: ‘Swords become blunt, sword-bearers fall and sword-makers tire—but the Cross is ever higher and higher upraised and burnished with the blood of Christ’s martyrs.’ Times without number the persecutors of Christians have said complacently to themselves that they have done away with Christianity for good. In the event, their lives came to an end while Christianity sprouted and flowered anew. However, in the teeth of this experience, some of our contemporaries reckon that the Christian Faith can be uprooted forcibly. But—they do not say how. And they forget that this has already been attempted again and again without success. It was with reason that Tertullian cried to the pagans: ‘You are spilling our blood in vain; the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity!’

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.