Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 24]. In those days:

10 ¹There was a certain man in Cæsarea, by name Cornelius, a centurion from a cohort which is called Italic, ²a pious man and one who feared God with all his house, who both did many alms to the people and entreated God continually. ³He saw in a vision plainly, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God come in to him and say to him, “Cornelius.” ⁴And after he looked intently on him, he became afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God. ⁵“And now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon, who is surnamed Peter. ⁶“This man is staying as a guest with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius departed, he called two of his household servants, and a pious soldier of those who remained in service to him. ⁸And after he related in full all things to them, he sent them forth to Joppa. ⁹And on the morrow, as they sojourned and drew near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. ¹⁰And he became very hungry, and was wishing to taste food. But while they prepared, a state of ecstasy fell upon him. ¹¹And he beholdeth the heaven having been opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as a great sheet bound at the four corners, and being let down upon the earth, ¹²in which were all the quadrupeds of the earth, and the beasts, and the creeping things, and the birds of the heaven. ¹³And there came a voice to him, “Rise up, Peter, slay and eat.” ¹⁴But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord; for I never ate anything common or unclean.” ¹⁵And a voice again came for the second time to him, “What God cleansed, cease thou making common.” ¹⁶And this took place thrice; and the vessel was taken up again into the heaven.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 24]. The Lord said to those Jews who had believed Him:

6 ⁵⁶“The one who eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷“Even as the living Father sent Me forth, and I live because of the Father, also the one who eateth Me, even he shall live because of Me. ⁵⁸“This One is the bread, the One having come down out of the heavens—not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. The one who eateth this bread shall live forever.” ⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.

⁶⁰Many of His disciples, therefore, after they heard this, said, “Hard is this saying; who is able to hear it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were murmuring about this, said to them, “Doth this offend you? ⁶²“What if then ye should see the Son of Man ascending where He was before? ⁶³“It is the spirit that maketh alive; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴“But there are some of you who believe not.” For Jesus knoweth from the beginning who they are who believe not, and who is the one who shall deliver Him up. ⁶⁵And He was saying, “Therefore, I have told you, that no one is able to come to Me, except it be given to him from My Father.” ⁶⁶From this time on, many out of His disciples went away to the things left behind, and no longer walked about with Him. ⁶⁷Then said Jesus to the twelve, “Ye do not also wish to go away, do ye?” ⁶⁸Then Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life; ⁶⁹“and we have believed and have come to know that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, the living One.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

11. The commemoration of the founding of Constantinople, and Hieromartyr Mokios, presbyter of Amphipolis in Macedonia, and the holy Kyril and Methodios, Equals-to-the-apostles, and Hieromartyr Joseph, Metropolitan of Astrakhan.

Epistle

For the Hieromartyr Mokios:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 258]. Brethren:

3 ¹²Put on for yourselves, as elect of God, holy and beloved, compassion from your inward parts, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, ¹³bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving one another, if anyone hath a complaint against someone; even as the Christ graciously forgave you, thus also do ye. ¹⁴And over all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵And let the peace of God be presiding in your hearts, to which also ye were called in one body; and keep on becoming thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual odes, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Tim. 2:1-10].

For the Equals-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

For the Hieromartyr Joseph:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 334]. Brethren:

13 ⁷Be remembering those who lead you, who spoke to you the word of God, whose faith keep on imitating, observing attentively the end of their conduct: ⁸Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and to the ages. ⁹Cease being carried about by various and strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods, in which those walking therein were not profited. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those serving the tabernacle have no authority to eat; ¹¹for the bodies of those animals, “whose blood is being brought into the holies for sins” by the high priest, “are being burned outside of the encampment [cf. Lev. 16:27].” ¹²Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside of the gate. ¹³Let us be going forth therefore to Him outside of the encampment, bearing His reproach; ¹⁴for we have no abiding city here, but we seek the coming one. ¹⁵Through Him, then, let us be offering up a “sacrifice of praise [Lev. 7:2(12)]” continually to God, that is, “the fruit of the lips [cf. Hos. 14:3(2); Is. 57:19],” giving thanks to His name. ¹⁶But cease being forgetful of doing good and of contributing; for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.

Gospel

For the Hieromartyr Mokios:

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

15⁹“Even as the Father loved Me, I also loved you; abide in the love, that which is Mine. ¹⁰“If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept the commandments of My Father, and abide in His love. ¹¹“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be made full. ¹²“This is My commandment, that ye be loving one another, even as I loved you. ¹³“Greater love hath no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴“Ye are My friends if ye be doing whatsoever I command you. ¹⁵“I no longer call you slaves, for the slave knoweth not what his lord is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things which I heard from My Father I made known to you. ¹⁶“Ye did not choose Me for yourselves, but I chose you for Myself, and I appointed you that ye be going and bearing fruit, and that your fruit be abiding, in order that whatsoever ye ask the Father in My name He might give you.”

For the Equals-to-the-apostles:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

For the Hieromartyr Joseph:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 67]. The Lord said:

12 ³²“Cease being afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³“Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief draweth near nor moth destroyeth; ³⁴“for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ³⁵“Let your loins be girded about and the lamps be kept burning; ³⁶“and be ye like to men waiting for their own lord—whenever he should depart from the wedding festivities—that when he cometh and knocketh, straightway, they might open to him. ³⁷“Happy are those slaves whom the lord, after he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say to you that he shall gird himself about and shall have them recline at table, and will come forth and minister to them. ³⁸“And if he should come in the second watch, and in the third watch should he come, and find them thus, happy are those slaves. ³⁹“But know ye this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰“Ye therefore also keep on becoming ready, for in the hour ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 24th – Civil Calendar
May 11th – Church Calendar

1. Ss. Kyril and Methodius, Equal to the Apostles.

They were brothers from Thessalonica, of eminent and wealthy parents, Leo and Maria. The elder brother, Methodius, spent ten years as an officer among the Slavs in Macedonia, and thus learned the Slavic language. After that, Methodius went off to Olympus and gave himself to monastic asceticism, and Kyril (Constantine) later joined him there. When the Khazarite king, Kagan, sought preachers of the Christian Faith from the Emperor Michael, the emperor commanded that these two brothers be found and sent to the Khazars. They converted Kagan to the Christian Faith and baptized him, together with a great number of his nobles and an even greater number of the people. After some time, they returned to Constantinople, where they compiled a Slavic alphabet of 38 letters and began to translate the service books from Greek into Glagolitic (the precursor of Slavonic). At the invitation of Prince Rastislav, they went to Moravia, where, with great devotion, they spread and confirmed the Faith, made more copies of the books, brought them priests and taught the young. They went to Rome at the invitation of the pope, and Kyril fell ill and died there, on February 14th, 869. Then Methodius returned to Moravia and labored at the confirming of the Faith among the Slavs until his death. After his death, he entered into rest in the Lord on April 6th, 885—his disciples, the Five Followers, with St. Clement as bishop at the beginning, crossed the Danube and moved towards the south, to Macedonia, where, from Ochrid, they continued the work among the Slavs that Kyril and Methodius had begun in the north.

2. The Hieromartyr Mokios.

A Roman by birth, and a priest in Amphipolis in Macedonia, he suffered in the time of Diocletian. He destroyed a statue of the god Dionysos by his prayers, which roused some of the pagans to fury against him but brought others to the Faith. He was beheaded for Christ in 295.

3. St. Nikodim of Peć, Archbishop of Serbia.

This great hierarch was a Serb by birth. He lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain, and was abbot of Hilandar. After the death of Sava the Third, he was chosen as archbishop of ‘all the Serbian lands and those bordering the sea,’ in 1317. He crowned King Milutin in 1321. He also translated the Jerusalem Typikon* into Serbian. In the Preface of this book he says: ‘Almighty God, Who knows our weaknesses, will give us spiritual strength, but only if we first make an effort.’ He sincerely loved the ascetic life, and labored to deepen it in the land of Serbia. He labored tirelessly to uproot the Bogomil heresy and confirm the Orthodox Faith. He entered into rest in the Lord in 1325 and his wonder-working relics are preserved in the monastery at Peć.

* A Typikon is a book of rubrics for the ordering of church services and of monastic life—Translator.

FOR CONSIDERATION

They asked St. Kyril in the Saracen camp: ‘As a Christian, is it possible to wage war and also to fulfill Christ’s command to pray to God for your enemies?’ To this St. Kyril replied: ‘If, in one law, there are two commandments written and given to men to fulfill, which man would the better fulfill the law—he who fulfills one commandment or he who fulfills both?’ To this the Saracens replied: ‘Undoubtedly, he who fulfills both.’ St. Kyril continued: ‘Christ our God commands us to pray to God for all those who persecute us, and to do good to them, but He has also said to us: “Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.” And we therefore submit to the insults that our enemies cast at us individually, and pray to God for them, but as a group we defend one another and lay down our lives for one another, so that you wouldn’t, by enslaving our brothers, take away their souls along with their bodies and kill them off completely.’

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.