Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Twenty-Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 308]. Brethren:

3 ⁵Indeed, “Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant [cf. Num. 12:7],” for a testimony of the things which were to be spoken, ⁶but Christ as Son over His house, Whose house are we, if indeed we should hold fast the boldness and the boasting of the hope firm until the end. ⁷Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, “Today, if ye will hear His voice [Ps. 94(95):8], ⁸“do not go on hardening your hearts as in the provocation, in the day of the temptation in the wilderness [Ps. 94(95):8], ⁹“where your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years [cf. Ps. 94(95):9, 10]. ¹⁰“Wherefore I was wroth with that generation, and I said, ‘They always err in their heart, and they do not know My ways [cf. Ps. 94(95):10, 11]’; ¹¹“so I swore in My wrath, ‘If they shall enter into My rest [Ps. 94(95):11]’”;... ¹⁷and with whom was He wroth forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom swore He that they should not enter into His rest, except to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹And we see that they were not able to enter in on account of unbelief.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 42]. The Lord said:

9 ⁴²“Whosoever shall cause one of the little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him rather if a millstone were put about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. ⁴³“And if thy hand should cause thee to stumble, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go away into the Gehenna, into the fire, the unquenchable one, ⁴⁴“where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched [cf. Is. 66:24].’ ⁴⁵“And if thy foot should cause thee to stumble, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life lame, than having two feet to be cast into the Gehenna, into the fire, the unquenchable one, ⁴⁶“where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched [cf. Is. 66:24].’ ⁴⁷“And if thine eye should cause thee to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God one-eyed, than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of the fire, ⁴⁸“where ‘their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched [cf. Is. 66:24].’ ⁴⁹“For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. ⁵⁰“The salt is good; but if the salt should become saltless, with what will ye season it? Be having salt in yourselves and keeping peace with one another.”

10 ¹And He rose up from that place and came into the borders of Judæa by the other side of the Jordan. And crowds came together to Him again; and as He had been accustomed, He was teaching them again.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Virgin-martyr Julianna of Nicomedia, and all those with her, and our holy father among the saints, Peter, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 3rd – Civil Calendar
December 21st – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Juliana, and the 630 martyrs with her.

This glorious virgin martyr was born in Nikomedia of pagan parents. Hearing the Gospel preached, she turned to Christ with all her heart and began to live in exact observance of the Lord’s commandments. A certain senator, Eleusius, was her betrothed. In order to free herself from him, Juliana told him that she would not marry him unless he became eparch of that city. She said this thinking that the young man would not be in the least likely to attain to such a high position, but Eleusius worked at it, and by flattery and bribes, gained the post of Eparch of Nikomedia. Juliana then revealed to him that she was a Christian, and could not enter into marriage with him unless he accepted her faith, saying: ‘What would it profit us to be united physically but divided in spirit?’ Eleusius was exasperated, and denounced her to her father. Her furious father poured scorn on her and whipped her, and then handed her over to the eparch for torture. The eparch ordered that she be harshly beaten; then she was thrown into prison all torn and bleeding. But the Lord healed her in the prison, and she appeared before the eparch whole and unharmed. He then put her into a glowing furnace, but the fire did not burn her. Seeing this wonder, many came to believe in Christ the Lord. Five hundred men and a hundred thirty women were converted. The eparch condemned them all to death, and ordered that they be beheaded with the sword, and their souls entered into Paradise. Then the wicked judge condemned holy Juliana to be beheaded with the sword. Rejoicing in spirit, Juliana went out to the scaffold, prayed on her knees to God and laid her head on the block. Her head was cut off, and her soul went to Christ’s eternal kingdom of light, in the year 304. God’s punishment quickly fell on Eleusius: sailing over the sea, his ship broke up and he fell into the water. He did not find death in the waves, but swam to an island, where the dogs tore him to pieces and devoured him.

2. St. Peter the Wonder-worker, Metropolitan of Russia.

Born in the province of Volinsk, he received the monastic schema at the age of twelve. He was a great ascetic and an icon-painter. He founded a monastery on the River Rata, and became its abbot. He was made Metropolitan of Kiev against his will, and consecrated in Constantinople by Patriarch Athanasius. As metropolitan, he suffered a great deal at the hands of the envious and of heretics, governing the Church for eighteen years as a good and zealous pastor. During his lifetime, he built himself a tomb in the Church of the Dormition, where his holy and wonder-working relics are preserved to this day. He entered into rest in 1326, and went to his true homeland.

3. The Holy Martyr Themistocles.

As a herdsman, the young Themistocles kept sheep in a field near Myra in Lycia. At that time, the persecutors of the Christians were seeking St. Dioscorides, and came upon Themistocles, asking him if he knew where Dioscorides was hiding. Themistocles, although he knew, refused to say, and declared himself a Christian. He was tortured and beheaded in the time of Decius, in 251.

FOR CONSIDERATION

He who sets his sights on Christ’s kingdom will have to encounter obstructions, and these obstructions are manifold and varied. They are mostly the evil workings of demons. Therefore every man zealous for the spiritual life must be on his guard not to take every shining vision from the other world as a divine revelation. That the adversary is able to appear as an angel of light is shown in the life of the holy martyr Juliana. When this holy maiden was lying in prison, the adversary appeared to her in angelic light, smiled at her, and counseled her to offer sacrifice to idols and so avoid torture. The frightened Juliana asked: ‘Who are you?’ The adversary replied: ‘I am an angel of God. God is greatly concerned for you, and has therefore sent me with the message that you should obey the eparch, that your body may not be covered in wounds. The Lord is gracious, and will forgive you for the weakness of your body.’ The martyr was horrified at these words, and confused, and fell to prayer with tears, begging God to show her who it was who had spoken with her. Then she heard a voice from heaven: ‘Be brave, Juliana; I am with you, giving you power and authority over the one who has come to you, and by this you will know who he is.’ And the devil was bound, and forced to reveal that he was the same who tempted Eve in Paradise, who told Cain to kill Abel and Herod to kill the children in Bethlehem, the Jews to stone Stephen, Nero to crucify Peter upside down and behead Paul, and so forth. Thus this holy maiden, fortified by God’s strength, did not give herself to delusion from the evil spirit, but by her vigilant and ardent prayer, overcame him.

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.