Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 22]. In those days:

9 ¹⁹Saul was certain days with the disciples in Damascus, ²⁰and straightway he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, that this One is the Son of God. ²¹And all those who heard were amazed, and were saying, “This is the one, is it not, who ravaged those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and had come here for this, that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” ²²But Saul was empowered the more, and was confounding the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, teaching that this is the Christ. ²³And when many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel together to kill him; ²⁴but their plot was made known to Saul. And they were watching the gates closely, both day and night, that they might kill him. ²⁵But the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. ²⁶And after Saul came up to Jerusalem, he was attempting to join himself to the disciples; but they were all fearing him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he set out in detail to them how he saw the Lord in the way, and that He spoke to him, and how he spoke boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸And he was with them in Jerusalem, going in and going out, ²⁹and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. And he was both talking and disputing with the Hellenists, but they attempted to put their hands to kill him. ³⁰But after the brethren came to know this, they brought him down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

³¹Then indeed were the churches throughout all of Judæa and Galilee and Samaria having peace, being built up and proceeding in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were being multiplied.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 52]. The Lord said to His disciples:

15 ¹⁷“These things I command you, that ye be loving one another.

¹⁸“If the world hate you, ye know that it hath hated Me before it hath hated you. ¹⁹“If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world—but I chose you for Myself out of the world—therefore the world hateth you. ²⁰“Keep on remembering the word which I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they know not the One Who sent Me. ²²“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no pretext for their sin. ²³“The one who hateth Me hateth My Father also. ²⁴“If I did not do the works among them which no other one hath done, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵“But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled which hath been written in their law: ‘They hated Me without a cause [cf. Ps. 34(35):22, 68(69):5(4)].’ ²⁶“But whenever the Paraclete should come, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the truth Who proceedeth from the Father, that One shall bear witness concerning Me. ²⁷“And ye also are bearing witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

16 ¹“These things I have spoken to you, in order that ye should not be made to stumble. ²“They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea moreover, there cometh an hour that everyone who killeth you should think that he offereth God a service.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Prophet Esaias, and the Great-martyr Christopher, and the translation of the precious relics from Myra to Bari of our holy father among the saints and wonder-worker, Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 20^th of May).

Epistle

For the Prophet:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 266].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Thess. 2:14-20; for Sl. usage, see 1 Thess. 2:14-19.

2 ¹⁴Brethren, ye became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus. For ye also suffered the same things by your own countrymen, even as they have by the Jews, ¹⁵who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, ¹⁶forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to the end that they fill up their sins always. But the wrath came upon them to the uttermost.

¹⁷But we, brethren, having been made orphans from you for an hour’s time—in person, not in heart—endeavored more abundantly to see your face with great desire. ¹⁸Wherefore we wished to come to you, indeed I Paul, both once and twice, and yet Satan hindered us. ¹⁹For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? Are not also ye before our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? ²⁰For ye are our glory and joy.

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Prophet:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 14]. At that time:

4 ²² The crowds were wondering at the words of grace which were proceeding out of Jesus’ mouth, and were saying, “This is the Son of Joseph, is it not?” ²³And He said to them, “No doubt, ye will say this parable to Me, ‘Physician, heal thyself; as much as we heard was done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.’” ²⁴And He said, “Verily I say to you that not one prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵“But in truth I say to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine arose over all the land; ²⁶“and to not even one of them was Elias sent, except to Sarepta of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷“And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisaios the prophet, and not one of them was cleansed, except Neman the Syrian.” ²⁸And all in the synagogue were filled with anger when they heard these things. ²⁹And they rose up and cast Him outside of the city; and they led Him up to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down headlong. ³⁰But He, having passed through the midst of them, kept going on His way.

For the Hierarch:

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 22nd – Civil Calendar
May 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Prophet Isaias (Isaiah).

This great prophet was of royal birth. He was born in Jerusalem of Amoz the brother of Amaziah, King of the Jews. By the great grace of God that was within him, Isaias was made worthy to see the Lord of Sabaoth on His heavenly throne, surrounded by six-winged seraphim which cried unceasingly: ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth’ (Is. 6). Isaias prophesied many things, both to individuals and to nations. Once he walked for three years naked through the streets of Jerusalem, prophesying the imminent fall of the city to the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, and warning the king and the leaders of the people not to seek help from Egypt and Ethiopia, because they too would shortly be over-run by the same Sennacherib, but to seek the aid of the all-seeing God. And this prophecy, like all the rest, was literally fulfilled (37:31-35). But his most important prophecies were on the incarnation of God, on the conception of the most pure Mother of God, on John the Baptist and on many events in the life of Christ. This clairvoyant, because of his pure heart and zeal for God, also received the gift of working miracles. Thus, when the besieged city of Jerusalem was suffering from thirst, he prayed to God and water flowed out from beneath the hill of Sion. This water was named Siloam (‘sent’), and it was to that water that, later, the Lord sent the man born blind, to wash himself and receive his sight (Is. 8:6; Jn 9:7). In the time of King Manasseh, when Isaias thundered against the pagan practices of the king and the leaders of the people, comparing that generation with Sodom and Gomorrah, the anger of the leaders and the people was lifted up against this great prophet, and he was seized, taken out of Jerusalem and sawn in half. He lived and prophesied seven hundred years before Christ.

2. St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker of Myra in Lycia.

On this day is commemorated the translation of his relics. In the time of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Patriarch Nicholas Grammatikos, in 1087, the body of this saint was taken from Myra in Lycia to the town of Bari in Italy. This came to pass because of a Moslem attack on Lycia. The saint appeared to a priest in Bari and commanded that his relics be taken there. At that time, the town of Bari was Orthodox and under the administration of an Orthodox patriarch. At the translation of the saint’s relics, many miracles were wrought on those who touched them, and a healing myrrh flowed in abundance from them. Also on this day is commemorated the miracle worked by St. Nicholas on Stefan of Dečani, King of Serbia. This was when the saint restored the sight of the blind King Stefan.

3. The Holy Martyr Christopher.

A great wonder-worker, he is especially venerated in Spain. His help is invoked particularly against infectious illnesses and great pestilence. He was martyred for Christ and glorified in 249.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Every Christian can take on himself some martyrdom for his Faith, both in times of persecution of the Faith and in times of peace. Abba Athanasius says: ‘Be tortured by your conscience, die to sin, be as a dead man on earth, and you will be a martyr by desire. They fought aforetime with kings and princes; you have the king of sin—the devil—and the princes, the demons. Formerly there were idols, heathen temples and those who sacrificed to idols. And these remain as thoughts in the soul. He who is a slave to lust bows down before the idol of Aphrodite. He who is in anger and fury bows down to the idol of Ares. He who is avaricious and blind to the trouble of his neighbor bows down to the idol of Hermes. But if you restrain yourself from all this, and keep yourself from the passions, you have conquered the idols, turned from evil and false belief and become a martyr for the Faith.’ And so, a man does not need to yearn for persecution and martyrdom. Every man in every age can endure martyrdom for the sake of Christ and His Gospel.

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.