Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Renewal Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 5]. In those days:

Gk. usage, Acts 2:22-38; Sl. usage, Acts 2:22-36.

2 ²²Peter spoke to the people. “Men, Israelites, hear these words: Jesus the Nazaræan, a Man from God, Who hath been shown forth to you by works of power and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in your midst, even as ye yourselves know— ²³“this One, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God—ye took and affixed to the Cross by lawless hands and did slay, ²⁴“Whom God raised up, having loosed the throes of death, inasmuch as it was not possible for Him to be held by it. ²⁵“For David saith in regard to Him, ‘I was foreseeing the Lord before my face continually, because He is on my right, that I should not be shaken [Ps. 15(16):8]. ²⁶“‘Therefore my heart was gladdened, and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also shall rest upon hope [Ps. 15(16):9], ²⁷“‘for Thou wilt not leave behind my soul in Hades, nor wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption [Ps. 15(16):10]. ²⁸“‘Thou madest known to me the paths of life; Thou shalt fill me full with good cheer with Thy countenance [Ps. 15(16):11].’ ²⁹“Men, brethren, it is allowed to speak with freedom of speech to you concerning the Patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his sepulcher is among us until this day. ³⁰“Therefore being a prophet—and knowing that God swore with an oath to him that from the fruit of his loins, according to his flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne— ³¹“he foresaw and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left behind in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ³²“This Jesus did God raise up, of Whom we are all witnesses. ³³“Therefore having been exalted to the right of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which ye now see and hear. ³⁴“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he saith himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit Thou on My right, ³⁵“‘“until I should place Thine enemies as a footstool of Thy feet [Ps. 109(110):1].”’ ³⁶“Assuredly therefore, let all the house of Israel know that God made Him, this same Jesus Whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 4]. At that time:

1 ³⁵John was standing, and two of his disciples. ³⁶And having looked at Jesus walking, he saith, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷And the two disciples heard Him speaking, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith to them, “What seek ye?” And they said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where art Thou staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” Then they went and saw where He was staying. And they stayed with Him that day; and it was about the tenth hour. ⁴⁰Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard this from John, and followed Him. ⁴¹This same one first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is, being interpreted, the Christ), ⁴²and he led him to Jesus. And having looked at him, Jesus said, “Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas. Thou shalt be called Kephas” (which is interpreted, a stone).

⁴³On the morrow Jesus intended to go forth into Galilee; and He findeth Philip, and saith to him, “Follow thou Me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, “We have found the One of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote—Jesus the son of Joseph, Who is from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, “Out of Nazareth can there be any good thing?” Philip saith to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and saith concerning him, “Behold, truly an Israelite in whom is no guile.” ⁴⁸Nathanael saith to Him, “From what place knowest Thou me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered, and saith to Him, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to thee, ‘I saw thee underneath the fig tree,’ believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He saith to him, “Verily, verily, I say to thee, henceforth ye shall see the heaven having been opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Apostle Nathanael, and our holy father among the saints, Theodore the Sykeote, Bishop of Anastasioupolis.

Epistle

No reading given.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:

11 ²⁷“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. ²⁸“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. ³⁰“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 5th – Civil Calendar
April 22nd – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Theodore the Sykeote.

His birthplace was the village of Sykeon in Galatia, because of which he was named ‘the Sykeote’. While still a ten-year-old boy, Theodore gave himself to strict fasting and all-night vigils under the eye of an elder, Stephen, who lived in his house. His mother, Maria, was a rich widow and intended her son to devote himself to a soldier’s calling. But St. George appeared to her in her sleep and told her that Theodore was destined for the service, not of an earthly king, but of the King of heaven. St. George also appeared to Theodore many times, either to instruct him or to save him from some danger in which the evil demons had placed him. He also had several visions of the most holy Mother of God. Theodore’s asceticism exceeded in its severity the asceticism of all the other ascetics of his time. He tormented his body in hunger and thirst and iron girdles and standing all night in prayer. All this—only to link his soul in love to God and to achieve total mastery over his body. The merciful Lord’s love responded to Theodore’s love. He gave him great power over evil spirits and over all the ills and pains of men. He became known on all sides as a miraculous healer. For his great purity and devotion, he was chosen against his wishes as Bishop of Anastasioupolis. He spent eleven years in episcopal service, and then begged God to release him from this service in order to devote himself again to his beloved asceticism. After that, he returned to his monastery, where, in old age, he gave his soul to the Lord for Whose sake he had undergone so much voluntary suffering. He died at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Herakleios, in about 613.

2. The Holy Martyr Leonidas.

The father of Origen, he suffered for Christ in Alexandria in 202. First, by imperial decree, all his goods were confiscated and then he was condemned to death. Origen wrote to his father in prison: ‘Father, do not worry about us, and do not flee from martyrdom on our account.’

3. Our Holy Father, the Monk Vitalis.

In the time of Patriarch John the Merciful, a young monk appeared, who, as soon as he arrived, compiled a list of all the prostitutes in Alexandria. His way of asceticism was exceptional and singular. During the day he hired himself out for the heaviest work, and at night he went into the brothels, gave the money he had earned to some prostitute and shut himself in her room with her for the whole night. As soon as he had shut the door, Vitalis begged the woman to lie down and sleep, while he spent the entire night in a corner of the room in prayer to God for that sinner. So he kept the sinner from sinning even for one night. The second night he would go to another, the third to another, and so on in order until he had gone through them all, then he went back to the one with whom he had started. By his counsel, many of these sinners left their foul calling; some married, others went to a monastery and others began some honest work for payment. All these women were forbidden by Vitalis to say why he came to them. As a result, he became a scandal to the whole of Alexandria. People reviled him in the streets, spat on him and buffeted him. But he bore it all patiently, revealing his good works to the Lord but concealing them from men. When he died, all became known about him. There began to be many miraculous healings over his grave; people came from various places, bringing their sick to it. Spat on by men, he was and is glorified by the all-seeing God.

FOR CONSIDERATION

At the time of the Council of Nicaea, various quarrelsome clerics wrote accusations against one another and gave them to the emperor. The Emperor Constantine took all these accusations, and without opening them, burned them in a brazier and said to the astonished bystanders: ‘If I were, with my own eyes, to see a bishop or priest or monk in some sinful act, I would cover him with my clothing, so that no one should see him in his sin.’ Thus the great Christian emperor put the scandalmongers to shame and shut their mouths. Our Faith forbids us to spy on the sins of others, and calls us to be merciless judges of ourselves. A sick man in a hospital is occupied with his own sickness and has neither the desire nor the time to examine the other sick people and sneer at their illnesses. Are not we all, in this world, like sick men in the hospital? And is it not common sense to occupy ourselves with our own sicknesses and not with another’s? Do not let anyone think that he will be healed of his sickness in this world. This world is the hospital and the place of healing, but in the other world there are no hospitals: there is either a king’s court or a prison.

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.