Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Cheesefare

Epistle

The Reading is from the Third General Epistle of Saint John [§ 76].

¹The elder to Gaios the beloved, whom I love in truth. ²Beloved, I pray that in all things thou be prospered and in health, even as thy soul is being prospered. ³For I was gladdened greatly when brethren came and bore witness to the truth in thee, even as thou walkest in truth. ⁴Greater joy than these things have I not, that I may hear of my children walking in truth. ⁵Beloved, thou doest a faithful work whatsoever thou mightest work toward the brethren and toward the strangers, ⁶who bore witness of thy love before the Church, whom if thou send forth worthily of God, thou shalt do well. ⁷For the sake of the name they went forth, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸We therefore ought to receive such as these, in order that we may keep on becoming fellow workers for the truth. ⁹I wrote to the church; but Diotrephes, who loveth being first among them, receiveth us not. ¹⁰On this account, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he doeth, prating against us with evil words. And not being satisfied with these, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and hindereth those who are willing, and casteth them out of the church. ¹¹Beloved, do not be imitating the bad, but the good. The one doing good is of God; the one doing evil hath not seen God. ¹²To Demetrios testimony hath been given by all, and by the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and ye know that our testimony is true.

¹³I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to thee by means of ink and reed-pen; ¹⁴but I hope to see thee straightway, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to thee. Our friends greet thee. Be greeting the friends by name.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§§ 96, mid 108]. At that time:

19 ²⁹As Jesus drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, toward the mount called the Mount of Olives, He sent forth two of His disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go ye into the village opposite you, in which as ye enter ye shall find a colt which hath been tied, on which no man ever yet sat. Loose it and bring it. ³¹“And if anyone ask you, ‘Why do ye loose it?’ Thus shall ye say to him, ‘Because the Lord hath need of it.’” ³²And after they departed, they who were sent found all even as He said to them. ³³And as they loosed the colt, the masters of it said to them, “Why do ye loose the colt?” ³⁴And they said, “The Lord hath need of it.” ³⁵And they led it to Jesus. And having cast their own garments upon the colt, they put Jesus upon it. ³⁶And as He went, they were spreading under Him their garments in the way. ³⁷And when He drew near, already at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began rejoicing and to be praising God with a loud voice for all the works of power which they saw, ³⁸saying, “Blessed is the King Who cometh in the name of the Lord [cf. Ps. 117(118):25(26)]; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” ³⁹And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Thy disciples.” ⁴⁰And He answered and said to them, “I say to you that if these should keep silent, the stones will cry out.”...

22 ⁷And the day of the unleavened bread came, in which it was necessary for the passover to be sacrificed. ⁸And He sent forth Peter and John, having said, “Go and prepare the passover for us, that we might eat it.” ⁹But they said to Him, “Where dost Thou wish that we should prepare?” ¹⁰And He said to them, “Behold, after ye enter into the city, a man shall meet you, bearing an earthenware vessel of water; follow him into the house where he entereth. ¹¹“And ye shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher saith to thee, “Where is the lodging-place where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?”’ ¹²“And he shall show you a large upper room which hath been furnished; there make ready.” ¹³And they went and found it even as He had said to them. And they made ready the passover.

¹⁴And when the hour came to pass, He reclined at table, and the twelve apostles with Him. ¹⁵And He said to them, “With desire I desired to eat this passover with you before My suffering; ¹⁶“for I say to you that in no wise will I eat of it any more, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And having taken the cup, He gave thanks, and said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸“for I say to you that in no wise will I drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God should come.” ¹⁹And He took bread and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is My body which is being given for you; be doing this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁰In like manner also the cup, after having supped, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is being poured out for you. ²¹“But behold, the hand of him who delivereth Me up is with Me on the table. ²²“And the Son of Man indeed goeth according as it hath been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is delivered up!” ²³And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them then it may be who was about to do this.

²⁴And there was also a contention among them, that is, which of them is thought to be the greater. ²⁵And He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those exercising authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶“But ye shall not be so, but the one who is greater among you, let him become as the younger; and the one who governeth as the one who serveth. ²⁷“For who is greater, the one who reclineth at table, or the one who serveth? It is the one who reclineth at table, is it not? But I am in the midst of you as the One Who serveth. ²⁸“But ye are those who have continued with Me in My temptations. ²⁹“And I appoint to you a kingdom, even as My Father appointed to Me, ³⁰“that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” ³¹And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you for himself, in order to sift you as the wheat; ³²“but I have supplicated for thee, that thy faith might not fail; and when thou hast turned back, make steadfast thy brethren.” ³³And he said to Him, “Lord, with Thee I am ready to go both to prison and to death.” ³⁴And He said, “I tell thee, Peter, in no wise shall a cock crow today, before that thou shalt thrice deny to have known Me.” ³⁵And He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a purse and leathern pouch and sandals, did ye lack anything?” And they said, “Nothing.” ³⁶He then said to them, “But now, the one who hath a purse, let him take it, and in like manner, a leathern pouch; and the one who hath not a sword, let him sell his outer garment and buy one. ³⁷“For I say to you that this that hath been written must yet be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was reckoned with the lawless [cf. Is. 53:12]’; for also the things concerning Me have an end.” ³⁸And they said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

³⁹And having gone forth, He went, according to His custom, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the holy and Great-martyr Theodore the General, and the Prophet Zacharias.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 220]. Brethren:

2 ⁴God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with the Christ—by grace have ye been saved— ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, ⁷that He might show forth Himself in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, in order that we should walk in them.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Tim. 2:1-10].

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 36]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Become therefore wise as the serpents and guileless as the doves. ¹⁷“But continue being on guard against men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸“And also ye shall be brought before governors and kings on account of Me, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹“But whenever they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what ye should speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. ²⁰“For ye are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father Who is speaking in you. ²¹“Now a brother shall deliver up a brother to death, and a father a child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death. ²²“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake; but the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 21st – Civil Calendar
February 8th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates.

There are martyrdoms that are more than costly. The costliness of a martyrdom depends on the greatness of the good things of this world that a Christian gives up, receiving suffering in its place; and it depends also on the greatness of the suffering which he endures for the sake of Christ. St. Theodore, a Roman commander in the army of the Emperor Licinius and governor of the city of Heraklea, scorned his youth, his good looks, his military status and the goodwill of the emperor; and in place of all this received terrible tortures for the sake of Christ. Firstly Theodore was flogged, receiving 600 lashes on the back and 500 on the stomach; then he was crucified and pierced through with arrows. Finally he was slain with the sword. Why all this? Because St. Theodore loved Christ more than anything else in the world. He scorned the foolish idol-worship of the superstitious emperor, shattered the silver and gold idols, giving the pieces to the poor, brought many to the Christian Faith and urged the emperor himself to reject idolatry and believe in the one God. During the whole of his torture, Theodore repeated unceasingly: ‘Glory to Thee, my God, glory to Thee!’ He suffered on February 8th, 319, at three o’clock in the afternoon, and entered into the kingdom of Christ. He is regarded as the protector of soldiers, who turn to him for help. His wonder-working relics were taken from Efchaita to Constantinople and buried in the Church at Vlachernai.

2. The Holy Prophet Zacharias (Zechariah).

The eleventh of the Minor Prophets, he worked together with the Prophet Haggai to persuade Prince Zerubbabel to restore the temple in Jerusalem. He prophesied the solemn entry of Christ into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass, and Judas’ betrayal for thirty pieces of silver: ‘They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver,’ and the forsaking of Christ by His apostles at the time of His Passion: ‘Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.’ He entered into rest in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystapes, in about 520 B.C.

3. St. Sava the Second, Archbishop of Serbia.

He was the son of King Stefan the First-Crowned and nephew of St. Sava the First. Before becoming a monk, he was called Predislav. Following the example of his great uncle, he became a monk and gave himself zealously to the ascetic life. Chosen to be Archbishop of Serbia after St. Arsenius, and taking the name Sava II, he governed the Church with great devotion and love. He entered into rest in 1268, and his relics lie in the monastery at Peć.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Seraphim of Sarov writes on despair: ‘As the Lord works for our salvation, so the devil, that killer of men, works to lead man into despair.’ Judas the betrayer was little of soul and untested in battle, and therefore the devil, seeing him in despair, attacked him and forced him to suicide. But Peter, the firm rock, when he fell into great sin in the testing time of battle, did not despair nor lose the presence of the Spirit, but wept bitterly from a full heart, and the devil seeing this, fled from him as from a flaming fire. And, my brethren, St. Antiochus teaches that when despair descends upon us, we must not surrender to it, but strengthened and protected by our holy Faith, say resolutely to the wicked spirit: ‘What hast thou to do with us, thou who hast fallen away from God, thou fugitive from heaven and slave of wickedness? Thou darest in no wise do us harm, for Christ the Son of God has dominion over us and over all. But thou, O thou murderer, get thee away from us! Strengthened by His precious Cross, we trample upon thy serpent head!’

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.