Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Renewal Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 8]. In those days:

3 ¹¹As the lame man who was healed held fast to Peter and John, all the people, utterly amazed, ran together toward them on the porch which is called Solomon’s. ¹²And after Peter saw it, he answered to the people, “Men, Israelites, why do ye wonder at this? Or why do ye look intently on us, as if by our own power or piety we have caused him to walk? ¹³“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, Whom ye delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, after the latter adjudged to release Him. ¹⁴“But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and ye yourselves asked for a man, a murderer, to be granted to you, ¹⁵“and ye killed the originator of life, Whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. ¹⁶“And in the power of His name by faith, this man, whom ye see and know, was strengthened by His name, and the faith which is by Him gave this complete soundness to him before you all.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 11]. At that time:

3 ²²Jesus came, and His disciples, to the Judæan land; and there He was spending time with them, and was baptizing. ²³And John was also baptizing in Ænon near Saleim, because there was much water there. And they were coming and were being baptized. ²⁴For John had not yet been cast into the prison. ²⁵Then there arose an inquiry from the disciples of John with a Jew about purification. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He Who was with thee across the Jordan, to Whom thou hast borne witness, behold, this One is baptizing, and all are coming to Him.” ²⁷John answered and said, “A man is able to receive nothing unless it hath been given to him from the heavens. ²⁸“Ye yourselves bear witness to me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but that ‘I have been sent forth before that One.’ ²⁹“The one who hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy then, which is mine, hath been made full. ³⁰“It is needful for that One to go on increasing, but for me to go on decreasing. ³¹“The One Who cometh from above is above all. The one who is out of the earth is of the earth, and speaketh of the earth; the One Who cometh out of the heavens is above all. ³²“And what He hath seen and heard, this He testifieth; and no one receiveth His testimony. ³³“The one who receiveth His testimony hath set his seal to this, that God is true.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 63]. Brethren:

5 ⁶Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in order that He might exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all of your care upon Him, for with Him there is a care for you. ⁸Be sober, watch; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he might devour— ⁹whom withstand, firm in the faith, knowing the same incidents of suffering are being accomplished in your brotherhood which is in the world.

¹⁰But the God of all grace, the One Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after ye suffered a little while, shall Himself perfect, set fast, strengthen, and found you. ¹¹To Him be the glory and the might to the ages of the ages. Amen.

¹²By Silouanos, the faithful brother, as I reckon, I am writing briefly to you, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which ye stand. ¹³She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, greeteth you, and Mark my son. ¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace be with you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“The one who heareth you heareth Me, and the one who rejecteth you rejecteth Me, and the one who rejecteth Me rejecteth the One Who sent Me forth.”

¹⁷And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are being made subject to us in Thy name.” ¹⁸And He said to them, “I was beholding Satan as lightning having fallen out of the heaven. ¹⁹“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. ²⁰“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” ²¹In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mk. 6:7-13].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 8th – Civil Calendar
April 25th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark.

St. Mark was a companion and helper of the Apostle Peter in his journeys. Peter, in his first Epistle, calls him his son, not after the flesh but after the spirit (I Pet. 5:13). When Mark was with Peter in Rome, the faithful begged him to write down for them the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, His miracles and His life. So Mark wrote his Gospel, which the Apostle Peter himself saw and testified to as true. Mark was chosen by the Apostle Peter to be bishop, and sent to Egypt to preach. And so Mark was the first preacher of the Gospel and the first bishop in Egypt. Egypt was oppressed by a thick darkness of paganism, idolatry, divination and malice. But, with the help of God, St. Mark succeeded in sowing the seed of the knowledge of God in Libya, Ammonicia and Pentapolis. From Pentapolis, he went to Alexandria, whither the Spirit of God led him. In Alexandria, he succeeded in establishing the Church of God, in giving her bishops, priests and deacons and in rooting everything firmly in faithfulness and devotion. Mark confirmed his preaching with many great miracles. When the pagans brought accusations against Mark as a destroyer of their idolatrous faith, and when the governor of the city began to search for Mark, he fled again to Pentapolis, where he continued his earlier work. After two years, Mark again returned to Alexandria, to the great joy of his faithful, whose number had already increased very greatly. The pagans took the opportunity to seize Mark, and they bound him firmly and began to drag him over the cobblestones, crying: ‘We’re taking the ox to the stall!’ They threw him into prison all injured and bloodstained, where there appeared to him first an angel from heaven, who encouraged and strengthened him, and then the Lord Himself. Jesus said to him: ‘Peace to thee, Mark My Evangelist!’ to which Mark replied: ‘And peace to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ!’ On the next day, the wicked people hauled Mark from prison and again dragged him through the streets with the same cry: ‘We’re taking the ox to the stall!’ Utterly spent and enfeebled, Mark said: ‘Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit,’ and thus breathed his last and went to the better world. His holy relics were given burial by Christians, and through the ages they gave healing to people from every pain and ill.

2. St. Anianus, Second Bishop of Alexandria.

When St. Mark stepped from the boat onto dry land in Alexandria, one of his shoes was torn, and he took it to a cobbler. While the cobbler was sewing it, he drove the awl through his left hand and the blood began to flow, the man screaming with the pain. Then the apostle of God mixed dust with his spittle and anointed the injured hand, and it at once became whole and healthy. The cobbler marvelled at this miracle, and invited Mark to his house. Hearing Mark’s preaching, Anianus, for that was his name, was baptized, he and his whole household. Anianus showed such devotion and zeal for the work of God that St. Mark consecrated him bishop, and this holy man was the second Bishop of Alexandria.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The devil quickly finds work for idle hands, but an angel for diligent ones. In this world of constant movement and incessant change, a man, whether he likes it or not, must be busy, either with good works or with evil ones. An idle man is not, in fact, unoccupied: he is a diligent worker for the devil. A lazy body and a lazy soul are the most suitable ground for devilish sowing and reaping. St. Anthony the Great says: ‘The body must be subdued and exhausted by long labor,’ and St. Ephraim the Syrian teaches: ‘Learn to work, so that you don’t have to learn to beg!’ And all the other holy fathers, without exception, speak of the indispensability of labor for the salvation of the soul of man. The apostles and all the saints give us an example of hard and unceasing labor, both spiritual and physical. That the lazy man, by idleness, does not prolong his life on earth, is clearly attested by the longevity of many of the saints, the greatest laborers of all upon earth.

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.