Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 155].

14 ⁶Brethren, if I should come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either in revelation, or in knowledge, or in prophecy, or in teaching? ⁷Likewise, when lifeless things give a sound, whether flute or harp, if a distinction is never given in the sounds, how shall it be known what is being piped or being harped? ⁸For also if a trumpet should give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for war? ⁹Thus also, unless by the tongue ye should give an easily understood speech, how shall it be known what is being spoken? For ye shall speak into the air. ¹⁰There are, if it should happen, so many kinds of speech in the world, and none of them is without its distinctive sound. ¹¹Therefore, if I do not know the force of the speech, I shall be a barbarian to the one who speaketh, and the one who speaketh shall be a barbarian to me. ¹²Even so ye, since ye are zealots of spiritual gifts, keep on seeking that ye may abound to the building up of the Church. ¹³Wherefore let the one who speaketh in a tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I should pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. ¹⁵What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the understanding. I will chant with the spirit, and I will chant also with the understanding. ¹⁶Else if thou bless with the spirit, how shall the one who filleth the place of the unlearned say the “Amen” at thy giving of thanks, since what thou sayest he knoweth not? ¹⁷For thou indeed givest thanks well, but the other is not being edified. ¹⁸I thank my God I speak with tongues more than all of you; ¹⁹but in the church I wish to speak five words with my understanding, in order that I might instruct others also, than myriads of words in a tongue.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 81]. At that time:

20 ¹⁷When Jesus went up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples apart in the way and said to them, ¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, ¹⁹“and shall deliver Him up to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He shall raise Himself.” ²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, making obeisance and asking something from Him. ²¹And He said to her, “What dost thou wish?” She saith to Him, “Command that these two sons of mine might sit, one on Thy right and one on Thy left, in Thy kingdom.” ²²But Jesus answered and said, “Ye know not what ye ask for yourselves. Are ye able to drink the cup which I am about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They say to Him, “We are able.” ²³And He saith to them, “Ye shall indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized; but to sit on My right and on My left is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to those for whom it hath been prepared by My Father.” ²⁴And after the ten heard it, they were indignant on account of the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “Ye know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶“But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever doth wish to become great among you shall be your servant; ²⁷“and whosoever doth wish to be first among you shall be your slave— ²⁸“even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Transfiguration of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 65].

1 ¹⁰Brethren, give the more diligence to make sure for yourselves your calling and election; for if ye do these things, in no wise shall ye ever stumble. ¹¹For thus shall there be richly supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹²Wherefore I will not neglect to be reminding you always concerning these things, although ye know them and have been firmly set in the present truth. ¹³But I deem it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by way of reminding you, ¹⁴knowing that the putting off of my tabernacle is soon, even as our Lord Jesus Christ also declared to me. ¹⁵But I will also endeavor for you to have after my decease these things always, so that ye may be able to put yourselves in remembrance. ¹⁶For we did not follow fables which have been cleverly devised, but we became eyewitnesses of that One’s majesty and made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁷For having received from God the Father honor and glory, there was borne along by the magnificent glory such a voice to Him, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸And we heard this voice which was borne along from out of heaven, when we were with Him in the mount, the holy one. ¹⁹And we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which ye do well to take heed, as to a lamp shining in a squalid place, until the day should dawn and the morning star should arise in your hearts.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 45]. At that time:

9 ²⁸Jesus took along Peter and John and Iakovos, and went up into the mountain to pray. ²⁹And it came to pass, as He was praying, the appearance of His countenance was different, and His clothing became white, flashing as with lightning. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him, who were Moses and Elias, ³¹who appeared in glory and were speaking of His decease which He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. ³²But Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep; and after they fully awoke, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. ³³And it came to pass, as they were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias,” not knowing what he was saying. ³⁴And while he was saying these things, a cloud came to be and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they were entering into the cloud. ³⁵And there came to be a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved; be hearing Him.” ³⁶And while the voice came to be, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and related to no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 70]. At that time:

17 ¹Jesus taketh along Peter and Iakovos and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain in private; ²and He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. ³And behold, Moses and Elias appeared to them, talking together with Him. ⁴And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” ⁵While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, there came to be a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased; be hearing Him.” ⁶And after the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were exceedingly afraid. ⁷And having come to them, Jesus touched them and said, “Arise, and cease being afraid.” ⁸And after they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. ⁹And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus enjoined them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 19th – Civil Calendar
August 6th – Church Calendar

1. The Transfiguration of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

In the third year of His ministry, the Lord Jesus spoke more frequently to His disciples of His coming Passion, but linked it always with His glory after His suffering on the Cross. That His coming suffering should not utterly shatter His disciples, so that they fall away from Him, He, the all-wise, decided to show them, before His Passion, something of His divine glory. He therefore, taking with Him Peter, Iakovos and John, went up onto Mount Tabor and was there transfigured before them. ‘And His face shone as the sun, and His raiment became white as snow,’ and there appeared beside Him Moses and Elias, the great prophets of the Old Testament. And the disciples saw and were amazed, and Peter said: ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses and one for Elias.’ While Peter was still speaking, Moses and Elias disappeared and a bright cloud came and overshadowed the Lord and the disciples, and a voice came out of the cloud: ‘This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased; be hearing Him.’ Hearing this voice, the disciples fell prostrate on the ground as though dead, and remained thus lying in fear until the Lord came to them and said: ‘Arise, and cease being afraid’ (Matt. 17). Why did the Lord take only three disciples with Him onto Tabor, and not all of them? Because Judas was not worthy to behold the divine glory of the Master Whom he was to betray, and the Lord did not want to leave him alone at the foot of the mountain, that the betrayer should not thus work his betrayal. Why did Moses and Elias appear? To shatter the Jewish fallacy that Christ was one of the prophets—Elias, Jeremias or one of the others. This was why He revealed Himself as King over the prophets, and why Moses and Elias appeared as His servants. Up to this moment, the Lord had many times shown His divine power to His disciples, but on Tabor He showed them the glory of His divine nature. This vision of His divine energies and the hearing of the heavenly witness to Him as the Son of God must have been of support to the disciples in the days of the Lord’s suffering, for the strengthening of a steadfast faith in Him and His final victory.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Why did the Lord not reveal His divine glory on Tabor before all the disciples, but only before the three? First, because He Himself had given the law through Moses: ‘At the mouth of two witnesses or...of three, shall the matter be established’ (Deut. 19:15). Three witnesses were, then, enough. There was, though, a special reason for choosing these three disciples. The three of them represented the three chief virtues: Peter—faith, for he was the first to proclaim his faith in Christ as the Son of God, Iakovos—hope, for it was with hope in the promise of Christ that he was the first to lay down his life for the Lord, being the first killed by the Jews; John—love, for he lay on the Lord’s breast and stayed beneath the Lord’s Cross till the end. God is not the God of the many but the God of the chosen: ‘I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob’. God has often valued one faithful man more highly than a whole people. On several occasions, He intended to exterminate the Jewish people, but at the prayers of righteous Moses, He left the people alive. God hearkened to Elias more than to all the royalty of the faithless Ahab. At the prayers of one man, God often saved both towns and men. Thus the sinful town of Ustiug would have been destroyed by fire and hail if the one righteous man in it, St. Procopius the Fool for Christ (see July 8th), had not saved it by his prayers.

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.