Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 195]. Brethren:

12 ¹⁰I am well pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ’s sake; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have become foolish in boasting! Ye compelled me. For I ought to be commended by you; for I lacked nothing of the exceedingly super apostles, even though I am nothing. ¹²Indeed the signs of the apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and works of power. ¹³For what is it in which ye were less than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong. ¹⁴Behold, I am ready to come to you a third time. And I will not burden you; for I seek not your things, but you. For the children ought not to lay up in store for the parents, but the parents for the children. ¹⁵Now I with the greatest pleasure will spend and will be expended utterly for your souls, even if loving you more abundantly, I am being loved the less. ¹⁶But let it be so, I did not burden you; but being crafty, I took you with guile. ¹⁷I did not take advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent forth to you, did I? ¹⁸I besought Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Titus did not take advantage of you in anything, did he? We walked in the same spirit, did we not? We walked in the same steps, did we not? ¹⁹Again, do ye think that we are making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ; but we do all things, beloved, for your building up.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 16]. At that time:

4 ¹⁰When Jesus was alone, those about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable of the sower. ¹¹And He began to say to them, “To you it hath been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, everything is done in parables, ¹²“that ‘seeing they see and perceive not, and hearing they hear and understand not, lest they should turn again and their sins be forgiven them [cf. Is. 6:9, 10].’” ¹³And He saith to them, “Know ye not this parable? And how will ye know all the parables? ¹⁴“The sower soweth the word. ¹⁵“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; and whenever they hear, Satan straightway cometh and taketh away the word which hath been sown in their hearts. ¹⁶“And these in like manner are the ones who are sown upon the rocky places who, whenever they hear the word, straightway, receive it with joy; ¹⁷“and they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then after affliction or persecution ariseth on account of the word, straightway they are made to stumble. ¹⁸“And these are the ones who are sown in the midst of thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹“and the cares of this age, and the deceit of wealth, and the desires concerning the rest entering in choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. ²⁰“And these are the ones who were sown on the good ground, such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit: one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.” ²¹And He was saying to them, “The lamp doth not come, in order that it might be put under the bushel or under the couch, doth it? It is in order that it might be placed upon the lampstand, is it not? ²²“For nothing is hidden, except that it should be made manifest; nor did a secret thing take place, but that it should come to light. ²³“If anyone hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

7. The commemoration of the holy Martyr Sozon, and the venerable Martyr Makarios, Wonder-worker of Kanev.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 93]. Brethren:

6 ¹⁸Having been freed from sin, ye were made slaves to righteousness. ¹⁹I speak in human terms on account of the weakness of your flesh. For as ye presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification. ²⁰For when ye were slaves of sin, ye were free as to righteousness. ²¹Therefore what fruit were ye having then in the things of which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now having been freed from sin, and having been made slaves to God, ye have your fruit to sanctification, and the end everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

for Sl. usage, see [Jn. 15:17-16:2].

For the venerable Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 38]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ³²“Everyone therefore who shall confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³³“But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³⁴“Never think that I came to cast peace on the earth; I came not to cast peace, but a sword. ³⁵“For I came to divide in two a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶“and a man’s enemies shall be those of his own household. ³⁷“The one who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸“And whosoever taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 20th – Civil Calendar
September 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Sozon.

Born in Lykaonia, Sozon was a shepherd and lived by the law of God, teaching his brothers and sisters, and his friends, his devout faith. He learned in a vision that he would suffer martyrdom for Christ. At that time, there was a great persecution of Christians near the city of Pompeiopolis on the part of Maximian, the governor of Cilicia. In the city, there was a golden idol which was worshipped by the pagans. Sozon left his sheep, went to the city, entered the pagan temple and knocked an arm off the golden idol, melting it down and giving the gold to the poor. There was a great outcry in the city because of this, and the pagans began to search for the guilty man. That no one else should suffer for his action, Sozon went to the governor and declared himself to be a Christian and the performer of that act. The torturers first beat him, then chained him to a tree and flogged him with iron flails. When he was at his last breath, they cast him into the flames, where holy Sozon gave his soul to God. He suffered in about 304. His relics were found to be wonder-working, and a church dedicated to him was built over them.

2. The Holy Apostles Evodus and Onesiphorus.

These apostles were among the Seventy. St. Ignatius the God-Bearer mentions St. Evodus in glowing terms in his Epistle to the Antiochians. Evodus was a disciple of the Apostle Peter, and his successor at his hands as Bishop of Antioch. Evodus wrote a work on the holy Mother of God, in which he expounds how the holy Virgin was taken to the Temple at the age of three, how she stayed there for eleven years and was given into Joseph’s keeping at the age of fifteen, and how she gave birth to the Lord at that age. He wrote another work under the title ‘The Lighthouse,’ but both these works were destroyed during a time of persecution of Christians. He was killed for Christ during one of the Emperor Vespasian’s visits to Antioch.

St. Onesiphorus is mentioned by the Apostle Paul (II Tim. 1:16— 18) as his sincere friend and helper. He suffered for Christ in Colophon, where he had been bishop. It is said that he was bound behind wild horses and torn asunder. Thus these faithful soldiers of Christ served with honor on earth and entered into the joy of their Lord.

3. The Holy Martyr Efpsychios (Eupsychius).

Son of Dionysius, a senator, he was brutally tortured for Christ, whipped and flogged and then flung half-dead into prison, where an angel of God appeared to him and healed him. Freed from prison, he gave away all his possessions, some to the poor and some to his slanderers. Arrested afresh, he was flogged until he gave his soul to God. Milk and water flowed from his wounds in place of blood. He suffered in the time of the Emperor Hadrian (117-38).

4. St. John (Ioann), Archbishop of Novgorod.

He was first a married priest and then, from 1163, bishop in Novgorod, building seven churches during his lifetime. He had a vision of the holy Mother of God and a rare power over demons, making them obey him, and he once miraculously preserved Novgorod from an attack by seventy-two princes. He suffered from diabolical temptations, but overcame them all by the power of the Cross and by prayer. Retiring to a monastery in old age, he received the Great Habit and entered peacefully into rest in the Lord on September 7th, 1185.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Victory over anger is one of the greatest Christian victories. We generally become angry either with those whom we desire to turn from sin or with our calumniators. In relation to this, we forget that anger is a mortal sin and that, in seeking the salvation of another, we risk losing our own, in the words of St. Makarios. Anger against an enemy usually involves some other evil sentiment, and that is the desire for revenge. St. Efpsychios had so conquered the passion of anger within himself that, in the face of death, he gave half of his possessions to the poor and half to his slanderers, because of whom he was being tortured and killed. He regarded his slanderers as his benefactors. St. Chrysostom writes: ‘Let us clip the wings of anger, and evil will not gain any height. Anger,’ he says, ‘is an evil sickness that can destroy our souls. Anger is a terrible fire that devours everything. If an angry man could see himself in the moment of anger, he would need no other counsel to cease from anger, because there is nothing more unpleasant than an angry face.’ Abba Ammon confessed of himself: ‘I spent fourteen years in Sketis, praying to God day and night to give me victory over anger.’

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.