Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Thursday of the Ascension

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 1].

1 ¹The first account indeed I made for myself concerning all which, O Theophilos, Jesus began both to do and teach, ²until the day in which He was taken up, after He gave command to the apostles whom He chose for Himself through the Holy Spirit, ³to whom also He presented Himself alive after He had suffered by many proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. ⁴And being assembled together with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “ye heard of Me; ⁵“for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days after these.” ⁶Indeed therefore, after they came together, they kept on questioning, saying, “Lord, dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷And He said to them, “It is not yours to know times or seasons which the Father Himself put in His own authority. ⁸“But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth.” ⁹And having said these things, while they looked, He was taken up; and from before their eyes, a cloud took Him up from under. ¹⁰And while they were gazing intently into the heaven as He went, then behold, two men stood by them in white raiment, ¹¹who also said, “Men, Galilæans, why do ye stand looking into the heaven? This Jesus, the One Who was taken up from you into the heaven, so shall He come in the manner ye beheld Him going into the heaven.” ¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount which is called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, being a sabbath’s day journey.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel According to Saint Mark. [§ 71]. At that time:

16 ⁹After Jesus rose early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰She went and brought tidings to those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹And they, having heard that He liveth and was seen by her, disbelieved. ¹²And after these things He was made manifest in a different form to two of them as they were walking and went into the country. ¹³And they went and brought tidings to the rest; neither did they believe them. ¹⁴Afterwards He was made manifest to the eleven themselves as they reclined at table; and He reproached their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not those who saw Him after He was raised. ¹⁵And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶“The one who believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but the one who believeth not shall be condemned. ¹⁷“And these signs shall accompany those who believe: In My name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak in new tongues; ¹⁸“they shall take up serpents; and if they should drink anything deadly, in no wise shall it harm them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall be well.”

¹⁹Then indeed, after speaking to them, the Lord was taken up into the heaven, and sat on the right of God. ²⁰And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the accompanying signs. Amen.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 114]. At that time:

24 ³⁶After Jesus rose from the dead, He stood in the midst of His disciples, and saith to them, “Peace be to you.” ³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted, and kept on thinking that they saw a spirit. ³⁸And He said to them, “Why are ye troubled? And why do reasonings come up in your hearts? ³⁹“Behold My hands and My feet, that I am He. Touch Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, even as ye see Me having.” ⁴⁰And having said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹And while they yet disbelieved from the joy, and wondered, He said to them, “Have ye anything to eat here?” ⁴²And they gave Him a portion of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. ⁴³And He took these and ate in their presence. ⁴⁴And He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that it is needful for all the things to be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning Me.” ⁴⁵Then He thoroughly opened their mind to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it hath been written, and thus it was needful for the Christ to have suffered, and to have risen from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷“and repentance and forgiveness of sins to have been preached in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸“And ye are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹“And behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you; but sojourn in the city of Jerusalem, until ye are clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰And He led them out as far as to Bethany. And having lifted up His hands, He blessed them. ⁵¹And it came to pass, as He was blessing them, He stood apart from them and was carried up into the heaven. ⁵²And they made obeisance to Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³And they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Eftychios (or Eftychous), Bishop of Melitene, and our holy father among the saints, Niketas, Bishop of Chalcedon.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 10th – Civil Calendar
May 28th – Church Calendar

1. St. Niketas the Confessor, Bishop of Chalcedon.

He renounced the world in his youth and withdrew to follow the path of monastic asceticism. He shone like the sun with virtue and came to the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities, being raised to the episcopal throne of Chalcedon. He was, as a hierarch, particularly compassionate to the poor and cared for many orphans, widows and beggars. When the wicked Emperor Leo the Armenian made his stand against the icons, St. Niketas came courageously to their defence, denouncing the emperor and expounding their meaning. He was finally driven into exile for his confession of the Faith, and after much hardship and suffering, went to the Lord to receive a wreath of glory in the kingdom of God.

2. The Holy Martyr Heliconis.

She was born in Thessalonica and educated in Christian piety. She went to Corinth in the time of Gordian and Philip, where she outspokenly denounced all who sacrificed to idols. When the governor, Perinos, urged her to offer sacrifice to Aesculapius, Christ’s martyr said to him: ‘Hear me, and know that I am a servant of Christ; as for Aesculapius, I do not know who he is. Do what you will.’ She was brought to trial for these words and terribly tortured. She was thrown into the flames, but a great gush of blood poured from her body and extinguished it, and she remained alive. She was thrown to the lions, but they would not touch her and instead fawned round her. Thrust into a temple for at least the semblance of offering sacrifice to idols, she smashed the idols, thereby arousing still greater hatred in her tormentors. Lying in prison covered all over with wounds, she saw the Lord Himself with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. He healed her wounds, comforting and encouraging her. Later, she was led out to the scaffold to be beheaded with the sword. Before her beheading, Heliconis raised her arms high and prayed that God accept her and bring her into the company of His flock in the heavenly fold. When she had finished her prayer, a voice was heard from heaven: ‘Come, make haste; a crown and a throne are prepared for thee.’ She was finally beheaded and received a wreath of glory from the Lord, for Whose love she was sacrificed like an innocent and pure lamb.

3. St. Ignatius (Ignaty), Bishop of Rostov.

This hierarch guided the flock of Christ for twenty-six years with great love and compassion. When he died and his body was placed in the church, some of those present saw him leave his coffin and rise up in the air above the church. He blessed the people and the city from on high, and then returned to his coffin. Many other miracles were wrought at his grave. He went to the Lord on May 28th, 1288.

FOR CONSIDERATION

From The Paradise of the Fathers: The brethren said, “If a man attaineth unto purity of heart what is the sign thereof? And when will he know himself if the heart is coming to purity?” The elder said, “When he seeth that all men are fair, and when no man appeareth to him to be unclean or polluted; whosoever is thus indeed standeth with purity. And if this be not the case, how can he fulfill the word of the apostle which saith, ‘When a man standeth wholly with purity, he will think that every man is better than he in heart and in truth,’ unless it be that he attaineth to the state of him of whom it is said, ‘He whose eyes are pure seeth not wickedness.’”

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.