Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday Before The Exaltation of The Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 126]. Brethren:

2 ⁶We speak wisdom among the perfect, but a wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nought. ⁷But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, which hath been hidden and which God foreordained before the ages to our glory, ⁸which not one of the rulers of this age hath known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of the glory. ⁹But even as it hath been written: “Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God prepared for those who love Him [cf. Is. 64:4].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 39]. The Lord said:

10 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. ³⁹“The one who findeth his life shall lose it; and the one who loseth his life on account of Me shall find it. ⁴⁰“The one who receiveth you receiveth Me, and the one who receiveth Me receiveth the One Who sent Me forth. ⁴¹“The one who receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²“And whosoever shall give to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, in no wise shall he lose his reward.”

11 ¹And it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, He passed over from that place to teach and preach in their cities.

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 130]. Brethren:

4 ¹Let a man so reckon us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ²And furthermore, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. ³But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by a man’s day; but neither do I examine myself. ⁴For I am conscious of nothing in myself, but not in this have I been justified: but the One Who examineth me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore cease judging anything before the time, until the Lord should come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then to each one there shall be the praise from God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 93]. At that time:

23 ¹Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. ³“All things therefore whatsoever they tell you to keep, be keeping and doing, but according to their works do not be doing; for they say, and do not. ⁴“For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on the shoulders of men; but they are not willing to move them with their own fingers. ⁵“And they do all their works to be seen by men. For they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments; ⁶“and they love the chief place at the suppers, and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷“and the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, rabbi.’ ⁸“But ye, do not be called ‘rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ; and ye are all brethren. ⁹“And do not begin to call anyone Father upon the earth, for One is your Father, the One in the heavens. ¹⁰“Neither be ye called guides; for One is your Guide, the Christ. ¹¹“But the greater of you shall be your servant. ¹²“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Nativity of the Theotokos, and Hieromartyr Autonomus, Bishop of Italy.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 25th – Civil Calendar
September 12th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Autonomos.

A bishop, he left Italy for Bithynia in Asia during Diocletian’s persecution, going to a place called Soreos, where he brought many to the Christian Faith and built them a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. He stayed in the house of a devout Christian, Cornelius, whom Autonomos ordained priest and then consecrated bishop. Not far from the town of Soreos was a place called Limnae, entirely inhabited by pagans. St. Autonomos went to this place and quickly brought many to the light by the Gospel of Christ. This roused the pagans, and they hurried one day to the church of the Archangel Michael in Soreos, and during divine service, slew Autonomos in the altar, killing also many other Christians in the church. In the time of the Emperor Constantine, a noble courtier, Severian, built a church over St. Autonomos’ grave. Two hundred years after his death, St. Autonomos appeared to a soldier called John. This soldier dug up the saint’s relics and found them to be completely incorrupt, and many of the sick received healing from them. Thus God glorified him who glorified Him while in the body.

2. The Hieromartyr Cornutos, Bishop of Iconium.

Born in Nikomedia, in the village of Sarsalus, he was already very old when a persecution arose under Decius and Valerian. A torturer, Perinius, came to Nikomedia and began to seek out the Christians. They went out of the city and hid, but their aged bishop would not leave and presented himself to Perinius, proclaiming himself a Christian. The torturer bound him hand and foot and ordered that he be dragged through the town until his blood flowed. He gave his holy soul to God under the sword.

3. The Holy Martyr Julian, with his 40 companions.

They all suffered in about the year 300, being first tortured and then beheaded. In the face of death, St. Julian prayed thus: ‘To those who take some of my dust, grant, O Lord, the forgiveness of their sins and the subduing of their passions; may marauding birds never invade their fields, nor grasshoppers nor caterpillars, nor any other such dangerous or deadly thing; and do Thou receive my soul in peace.’

4. Our Holy Father Daniel of Thasos.

An ascetic and the founder of a great monastery, he was a contemporary of St. Ioannikios the Great and was present when Ioannikios visited the island of Thasos, where the people besought him to free them from an infestation of snakes. The saint prayed to God, and the snakes, in large numbers, rushed into the sea and were drowned.

5. The Holy Martyrs Makedonios, Tatianos and Theodoulos.

They suffered for Christ the Lord in the time of Julian the Apostate at Myropolis in Phrygia. They were harshly tortured for destroying the statue of an idol, and burned on an iron grid until they gave their souls to God. While they were burning over the fire, these courageous men cried out mockingly to the torturer: ‘Why not try our meat, to see if it’s done!’ and also, like the glorious Archdeacon Laurence: ‘Turn us over; we’re done on this side!’ Seeing and hearing the holy martyrs on the fire, the torturers were infinitely more confused and frightened than they were.

FOR CONSIDERATION

What sort of relationship must a man have with God? Uninterrupted and constant. ‘Cleave to God as a son to his father,’ counsels St. Anthony. St. Alonius says: ‘If a man does not have a heartfelt sense that, besides him and God, there is no one else in the world, he cannot find peace of soul.’ The one God is enough, and more than enough, for all that the heart of man can desire. Blessed Theodora took on a strange child without a word, accepting it from her slanderers as her own. Out of love, she brought the child up in the fear of God. At the time of her death, she counselled the child thus: ‘What more does a man need than God and His divine love? He is our treasure, our riches, our food and drink, our clothing and shelter, our health and strength, our mirth and joy, our hope and our confidence. Strive to find Him, my son. If you find the one God, that is enough for you, you will find more joy in Him than if you had found the whole world.’ In thus saying, St. Theodora was not speaking from books or using another’s words; she was speaking from her own experience. She had lived for seven years driven out and scorned by men, and during this time she had discovered by experience that God was all in all to her, and that the one God is sufficient for all that the heart of man can desire.

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.