Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Eleventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 175]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 2 Cor. 4:1-12; for Sl. usage, see 2 Cor. 4:1-6.

4 ¹Having this ministry, even as we received mercy, we are not fainthearted, ²but we renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every conscience of men before the face of God. ³But even if our Gospel is being veiled, it is hidden in those perishing, ⁴in whom the God of this age blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that the illumination of the Gospel of the glory of the Christ, Who is the image of God, should not dawn on them. ⁵For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your slaves for Jesus’ sake. ⁶Because it is God Who said, “Let there be light [cf. Gen. 1:3]” to shine out of darkness, Who shined in our hearts, for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the preeminence of the power may be of God, and not from us. ⁸In every way we are afflicted, but not straitened; we are at a loss, but not utterly at a loss; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. ¹¹For we, the living, are always being delivered to death on account of Jesus, that also the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. ¹²So that indeed death energizeth itself in us, but life in you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 99]. The Lord said to His disciples:

24 ¹³“The one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved. ¹⁴“And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the inhabited world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end come. ¹⁵“Whenever ye therefore see ‘the abomination of the desolation [cf. Dan. 9:27, 12:11],’ which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”—the one who readeth, let him understand— ¹⁶“then let those in Judæa flee to the mountains. ¹⁷“The one on the housetop, let him not come down to take away anything out of his house. ¹⁸“And the one in the field, let him not return back to take up his clothes. ¹⁹“And woe to those who are with child and to those who give suck in those days. ²⁰“But be praying that your flight might not take place in winter, neither on a sabbath. ²¹“For then there shall be great affliction, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until the present, no, nor ever shall be. ²²“And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ²³“Then if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁴“For false christs and false prophets shall be raised up, and they shall produce great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶“If then they should say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the desert,’ do not begin to go forth; ‘Behold, He is in the secret chambers,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁷“For even as the lightning cometh forth from the east and appeareth as far as the west, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸“For wheresoever the corpse may be, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Dormition, and the holy Prophet Samuel.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 156].

14 ²⁰Brethren, cease becoming children in your minds, but be ye infants in malice; and keep on becoming mature in your minds. ²¹In the law it hath been written: “By other tongues and by other lips will I speak to this people; and not even thus will they hear Me [cf. Is. 28:11, 12],” saith the Lord. ²²Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelievers; and prophecy is not for the unbelievers, but to those who believe. ²³If therefore the whole church should come together in the same place, and all be speaking with tongues, and those who are unlearned or unbelievers should come in, will they not say that ye are mad? ²⁴But if all be prophesying, and some unbeliever or one unlearned should come in, he is reproved by all, he is examined by all. ²⁵And thus are the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling upon his face, he will make obeisance to God, reporting that God is verily among you.

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 2nd – Civil Calendar
August 20th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Prophet Samuel.

The fifteenth and last of the Judges of Israel, he lived eleven hundred years before Christ. He was of the tribe of Levi, born of Elkanah and Hannah in a place called Ramatha or Arimathea, where noble Joseph was later born. The barren Hannah besought Samuel of the Lord with tears, and dedicated him to God when he was three years old. Living in Shiloh near the Ark of the Covenant, Samuel, at the age of twelve, had a true revelation from God of the punishment which would come upon the house of the high priest, Eli, because of the worthlessness of his sons Hophni and Phineas. This revelation was swiftly fulfilled: the Philistines routed the Israelites, slew both of Eli’s sons and captured the Ark of the Covenant. When the messenger brought these bad tidings to Eli, he fell dead on the ground, breathing his last at the age of ninety-eight, and the same thing happened to his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas. Israel was under the Philistine yoke after this for twenty years. When this time had elapsed, God sent Samuel to the people to preach repentance to them as the one means of their salvation from their enemies. The people repented and cast out the foreign idols which they had served, accepting Samuel as prophet, priest and judge. Then Samuel set out with the army against the Philistines, and with God’s help, put them to confusion and slew them, freeing the land and the people. After that, Samuel judged the people in peace to old age. Seeing him growing old, the people asked him to give them a king in his place. In vain, Samuel urged the people against this, saying that God was their only king, but the people remained adamant in their desire. Although this desire was not pleasing to God, He commanded Samuel to anoint Saul the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, as king. Saul reigned a short time, and God rejected him for impudence and disobedience, and then commanded Samuel to anoint David the son of Jesse as king in Saul’s place. At the time of his death, Samuel gathered all the people together and took leave of them, and when he died all Israel wept for him and buried him solemnly in his house at Ramah.

2. The Hieromartyr Philip, Bishop of Heraklion, with the Priest Severus and the Deacon Hermes.

It is almost certain that they were Slavs. They served God in Thrace, and were there first put to torture for Christ. When the pagans were running to set fire to a Christian church, Philip courageously said to their leaders: ‘Do you think that God is shut within walls? He lives in men’s hearts.’ The church was gutted, all the books burned and the clergy taken to Jedrene, where, after imprisonment and torture, they were thrown half-burned into the River Maritsa. Thirty-eight other Christians died a martyr’s death with them. It is thought that they suffered in the time of Diocletian.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Repent before death closes the door of your life and opens the door of the Judgement. Repent before death, and because you do not know the hour of your death, repent today, this instant, and stop repeating your sin. St. Ephraim the Syrian prayed thus to God:

   ‘Before the wheel of time comes to a stop in my life, have mercy on me!
   Before the wind of death blows, and sickness, the herald of death, appears in my body, have mercy on me!
   Before the majestic sun in the heavens becomes darkened for me, have mercy on me; and may Thy light shine for me from the heavens and drive out the fearful darkness of my mind.
   Before the earth returns to earth and becomes corruption, and before the destruction of all the features of its beauty, have mercy!
   Before my sins are revealed at the Judgement to my shame before the Judge, O most gracious Lord, have mercy on me!
   Before the armies come forth, escorting the King’s Son, to gather our miserable race together before the Judge’s throne, have mercy!
   Before the sound of the voice of the trumpet heralds Thy coming, spare Thy servant and have mercy, O our Lord Jesus!
   Before Thou shuttest Thy door to me, and before I become food for the unquenchable fires of Gehenna, have mercy on me!’

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.