Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Thirty-Second Week

Grave Mode — Tenth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ mid 285 A]. Child Timothy:

4 ⁹Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰For to this end we both toil and are reproached, because we have hoped upon a living God, Who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

¹¹Keep on commanding these things and teaching. ¹²Let no one despise thy youth, but keep on becoming an example of the believers in word, in behavior, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. ¹³While I am coming, be giving attention to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching. ¹⁴Do not neglect the gift of grace in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with laying on of the hands of the presbytery. ¹⁵Keep on meditating upon these things; keep on being in these things, that thy progress may be manifest in all things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 94]. At that time:

19 ¹Jesus was passing through Jericho. ²And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zacchæos, and he was a chief tax collector, and this man was rich. ³And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, for he was little of stature. ⁴And he ran in front and went up into a sycamore tree, in order that he might see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. ⁵And when Jesus came upon the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchæos, make haste and come down, for today it is needful for Me to stay in thy house.” ⁶And he made haste and came down, and received Him rejoicing. ⁷But after they saw it, they all were murmuring, saying, “With a sinful man He doth enter to lodge.” ⁸And Zacchæos stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I extorted anything of anyone by false charges, I give back fourfold.” ⁹And Jesus said to him, “Today, to this house, salvation came to pass, inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which hath been lost.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

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 30th – Civil Calendar
January 17th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Anthony the Great.

He was an Egyptian, born about 250 in a village called Quemen-el-Arons near Herakleopolis. After the death of his rich and noble parents, he shared his inherited possessions with his sister, who was still in her minority, made sure that she was cared for, gave away his half of the inheritance to the poor, and at the age of twenty, consecrated himself to the life of asceticism that he had desired from childhood. At first he lived near his own village but then, in order to escape the disturbance of men, went off into the desert, on the shores of the Red Sea, where he spent twenty years as a hermit in company with no one but God, in unceasing prayer, pondering and contemplation, patiently undergoing inexpressible demonic temptations. His fame spread through the whole world and around him gathered many disciples whom he, by word and example, placed on the path of salvation. In eighty-five years of ascetic life, he went only twice to Alexandria: the first time to seek martyrdom during a time of persecution of the Church, and the second at the invitation of St. Athanasius, to refute the Arians’ slanderous allegations that he too was a follower of the Arian heresy. He departed this life at the age of 105, leaving behind a whole army of disciples and followers. And although Anthony was unlettered, he was as a counselor and teacher one of the most learned men of his age, as also was St. Athanasius the Great. When some Hellenic philosophers tried to test him with literary learning, Anthony shamed them with the question: ‘Which is older, the understanding or the book? And which of these is the source of the other?’ The shamed philosophers dispersed, for they saw that they had only book-learning without understanding, while Anthony had understanding. Here was a man who had attained perfection insofar as man is able on earth. Here was an educator of educators and teacher of teachers, who for a whole eighty-five years perfected himself, and only thus was able to perfect many others. Full of years and great works, Anthony entered into rest in the Lord in the year 356.

2. The Holy Emperor Theodosios the Great.

This famous emperor, a zealot for the Faith, ruled from 379 to 395. Constantine the Great forbade the persecution of Christians. Theodosios the Great went a stage further: he forbade sacrifice to idols in the area under his administration. He played a considerable part in the establishing and spread of the Christian Faith in the world.

3. The Holy Martyr George the New of Ioannina.

He was an Albanian, born in the village of Churkli of very poor parents who were farm-laborers. Made a target by the Turks for conversion to Islam, he remained steadfast in the Christian Faith, for which he was hanged in Ioannina on January 17th, 1838. A great wonder-worker and healer, he is still active today.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Anthony teaches: ‘Learn to desire humility, for that will cover all your sins. All sin is hateful to God, but the most hateful of all is pride of heart. Do not consider yourself learned or wise, or all your toil will be lost and your ship will arrive empty at the shore.... If you have great power, threaten no man with death; know that according to nature you also are subject to death and that each soul takes off its body as its final clothing.’

In Byzantium there was a strange and instructive custom at the coronation of the emperor in Hagia Sophia. This was that, when the patriarch placed the crown on the emperor’s head, he at the same time placed in his hand a silk purse filled with grave-dust, that the emperor might be mindful of his death, flee all pride and be humble.

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.