Daily Devotional

Thursday, May 20, 2027 (NS), May 7, 2027 (OS)

No Fasting.

Thursday of the Third Week

The commemoration of the appearance of the Sign of the precious Cross in the sky over Jerusalem in A.D. 351, the holy Martyr Akakios the Cappadocian at Byzantium, and our venerable Father Nilos, Wonder-worker of Sora.

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Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 20]. In those days:

8 ²⁶An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Rise up and go toward the south, on the way which goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza”; the same is desert. ²⁷And having risen, he went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a potentate under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, and who had come to Jerusalem to make obeisance, ²⁸was returning, and he was both sitting in his chariot and reading the Prophet Esaias. ²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.” ³⁰And Philip ran up and heard him reading the Prophet Esaias, and said, “So then dost thou really understand what thou readest?” ³¹But he said, “No. How can I, unless someone should guide me?” And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²And the section of the Scripture which he was reading was this: “As a sheep He was led to slaughter; and as a lamb dumb before him who sheareth him, thus He openeth not His mouth [cf. Is. 53:7]. ³³“In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away; but who shall describe His generation? For His life is being taken away from the earth [cf. Is. 53:8].” ³⁴And the eunuch answered and said to Philip, “I entreat thee, concerning Whom speaketh the prophet this? Concerning himself or concerning some other?” ³⁵And Philip opened his mouth and began from this Scripture, and preached the good tidings to him—Jesus. ³⁶And as they were going along the way, they came upon some water. And the eunuch saith, “Behold, water; what hindereth me to be baptized?” ³⁷And Philip said, “If thou believest with all thy heart, it is possible.” And he answered and said, “I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.” ³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. ³⁹And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried off Philip, and the eunuch saw him no longer; then he went on his way rejoicing.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 22]. The Lord said to the Jews who had believed in Him:

6 ⁴⁰“This is the will of the One Who sent Me, that everyone who seeth the Son and believeth in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up in the last day.” ⁴¹The Jews then were murmuring about Him, because He said, “I am the bread, the One having come down out of the heavens.” ⁴²And they were saying, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, of Whom we know the father and the Mother, is it not? How is it then that this One saith, ‘I have come down out of the heavens’?” ⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Cease murmuring with one another. ⁴⁴“No one is able to come to Me unless the Father, the One Who sent Me, should draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

Epistle

For the Cross:

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 49]. In those days:

26 ¹Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted thee to speak for thyself.” Then Paul, stretching forth his hand, began to defend himself:

For Gk. usage, skip to Acts 26:12-20; for Sl. usage, read Acts 26:2-5, 12-20.

²“Concerning all the things of which I am being accused by the Jews, king Agrippa, I deem myself happy, because I am about to defend myself before thee today, ³“especially because thou art one acquainted with all of the customs and also the subjects of dispute among the Jews. Wherefore I entreat thee to hear me with forbearance. ⁴“So then, my way of life from my youth which was from the beginning among mine own nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know, ⁵“who knew me before, from the beginning—if they would be willing to testify—that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.... ¹²“And during these things,...

Gk. and Sl. usages continue the Reading from here, Acts 26:12-20.

¹²“As I went to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, ¹³“at midday, in the way, I saw, O king, a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴“And after all of us fell down to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵“And I said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶“‘But rise up and stand on thy feet; for I appeared to thee for this purpose, to appoint thee a servant and a witness both of what thou didst see and of what I shall appear to thee in visions, ¹⁷“‘taking thee out for Myself from the people and the nations, to whom now I send thee forth, ¹⁸“‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them about from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith that is in Me.’ ¹⁹“Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I did not become disobedient to the heavenly vision; ²⁰“but I was bringing tidings to those in Damascus first and in Jerusalem, and in all the land of Judæa, and to the nations, to repent and turn to God, practising works worthy of repentance.”

for Sl. usage, see [1 Cor. 1:18-24].

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

For the Cross:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§§ 60, 61]. At that time:

19 ⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw Jesus, they cried out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him.” Pilate saith to them, “Ye take Him and crucify Him, for I find no cause for accusation in Him.” ⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself Son of God.” ⁸Therefore, when Pilate heard this saying, he was the more afraid. ⁹And he entered into the Prætorium again, and saith to Jesus, “From what place art Thou?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. ¹⁰Then Pilate saith to Him, “Speakest Thou not to me? Knowest Thou not that I have authority to crucify Thee, and authority to release Thee?” ¹¹Jesus answered, “Thou wouldest have no authority at all against Me, except it were given to thee from above.”... ¹³Therefore Pilate, having heard this saying, brought out Jesus, and took his seat upon the tribunal in a place which is called Lithostrotos, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour. And he saith to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵But they cried out, “Take Him away, take Him away, crucify Him.” Pilate saith to them, “Your King shall I crucify?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Cæsar.” ¹⁶Therefore he then delivered Him up to them, in order that He might be crucified.

And they took Jesus and led Him away. ¹⁷And bearing His Cross, He went out to the place called Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, on the one side and the other, and Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹And Pilate also wrote a title, and put it on the Cross. And it was written: “Jesus the Nazaræan, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. ²¹Then the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Write not, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” ²²Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³Then the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic; but the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. ²⁴They said therefore to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us obtain it by lot for whom it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, “They parted My garments among themselves, and upon My clothing they cast a lot [Ps. 21(22):18].” These things therefore the soldiers did. ²⁵Now there had stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶Then Jesus, having seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, saith to His Mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” ²⁷Then He saith to the disciple, “Behold, thy Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. ²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things now have been accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, “I thirst.”... ³⁰Then, when Jesus took the vinegar, He said, “It hath been finished.” And having bowed His head, He delivered up the spirit.

³¹The Jews therefore, since it was the preparation, in order that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath—for great was the day of that sabbath—asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³²Then the soldiers came and indeed broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. ³³But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and straightway blood and water came out. ³⁵And the one who hath seen it hath borne witness, and his testimony is true; and that one knoweth that he speaketh true things, that also ye might believe.

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 20th – Civil Calendar
May 7th – Church Calendar

1. Commemoration of the Appearance of the Precious Cross over Jerusalem.

In the time of the Emperor Constantius, St. Constantine’s son, and Patriarch Kyril of Jerusalem, the Precious Cross appeared one day at nine o’clock in the morning above Golgotha, and spread as far as the Mount of Olives. This Cross was brighter than the sun and more beautiful than the loveliest rainbow. The whole people—believers and unbelievers—left their work and watched this heavenly sign in fear and wonder. Many unbelievers were converted to faith in Christ, and also many Arians abandoned their wicked heresy and returned to Orthodoxy. Patriarch Kyril wrote a letter to the Emperor Constantius about this sign, the emperor himself being inclined towards Arianism. This took place on May 7th, 357. Thus was it demonstrated by this means that the Christian Faith does not lie in the worldly theorizing of the sensual understanding of men, but in the power of God, shown forth through wonders and signs without number.

2. The Holy Martyr Akakios.

This saint was an officer in the Roman army in the time of the Emperor Maximian. Answering at judgement for his faith in Christ, he said that he had inherited a devout faith from his parents, and that he would be steadfast in it, seeing the many miracles of healing that came from the relics of the Christian saints. After harsh torture endured courageously in the Thracian city of Pyrrinthus, Akakios was taken to Byzantium, where he underwent further torture and was finally beheaded with the sword. He suffered with honor and went to the kingdom of eternal joy in the year 303.

3. Our Holy Fathers of Georgia.

In the sixth century, two hundred years after St. Nina had preached the Gospel in Georgia, the most holy Mother of God appeared to John, an ascetic of Antioch, and commanded him to choose twelve of his disciples and go to Georgia, to strengthen the Orthodox Faith there. John did so. Reaching Georgia, these twelve missionaries were formally welcomed by the prince of that country and the Catholicos (Patriarch) Evlalius, and immediately began their work with great zeal. The people gathered around them in hordes, and they strengthened them in the Faith with great wisdom and many miracles. The chief of these Christ-loving missionaries was St. John of Zedan, and the names of the others were: Abidus, Anthony, David, Zeno, Thaddeus, Jesse, Isderius, Joseph, Michael, Pyrrus, Stefan and Shio. With apostolic zeal, they all strengthened the Christian Faith in Georgia, founded many monasteries and left many disciples to follow them. Thus they became worthy of glory in heaven and power on earth.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘I know that my debt was greater, and that more was forgiven me. I was called from juridical and public work to the priesthood; and therefore I show myself ungrateful if I love less than the measure to which I am forgiven.’ These are the words of St. Ambrose, who was unexpectedly called by God to change his calling, and from the practice of law to become a hierarch in the Church of Christ. By these words, the saint shows how the priestly calling is higher than the worldly, how he came to it at the call of God, and how he who is called owes gratitude to God. The debt of gratitude is regarded by all the saints as their greatest debt. Without gratitude to God, no advance can be made in the spiritual life. Ceaseless gratitude to God is a seed of grace from which, if it is watered with tears of unceasing repentance, grows a beautiful fruit—love towards God.

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.