Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 15]. In those days:

5 ²¹The apostles, having heard that, entered into the temple during the early morning and began teaching. But the high priest came and those with him, and they called together the sanhedrin and all the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent off to the prison to have them brought. ²²But after the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and reported, ²³saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut with all security, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but after we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴Now when the priest and the captain of the temple-guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were quite at a loss concerning them and what this would become. ²⁵But a certain one came and reported to them, saying, “Behold, the men whom ye yourselves put in the prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they were fearing the people, lest they should be stoned. ²⁷And after they brought them, they stood them in the sanhedrin. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸saying, “We did charge you by a command not to teach on this name, did we not? And behold, ye have made Jerusalem full of your teaching, and intend to bring the blood of this Man upon us.” ²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “It is needful to obey God rather than men. ³⁰“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye yourselves laid hands upon and hanged on a tree. ³¹“This One did God exalt with His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³²“And we are His witnesses of these words, and also the Holy Spirit Whom God gave to those who obey Him.” ³³Now after they heard that, their hearts were sawn asunder, and they were taking counsel to kill him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 19]. At that time:

6 ¹⁴The people, having seen what sign Jesus did, began to say, “This is truly the Prophet Who cometh into the world.” ¹⁵Then Jesus, having known that they were about to come and seize Him in order that they might make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain Himself alone.

¹⁶And when it became evening, His disciples went down to the sea; ¹⁷and having embarked into the ship, they were going across the sea to Capernaum. And already it had become dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸And the sea was stirred up by a great wind blowing. ¹⁹Then after they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the ship; and they became afraid. ²⁰But He saith to them, “I am; cease being afraid.” ²¹Then they were willing to receive Him into the ship; and straightway the ship came to be at the land to which they were going.

²²On the morrow, the crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one into which His disciples entered, and that Jesus did not enter together with His disciples into the little boat, but that His disciples went away alone— ²³but there came little boats from Tiberias, near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks. ²⁴When the crowd therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves also embarked into the ships and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵And after they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when didst Thou arrive here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Verily, verily, I say to you, ye seek Me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷“Cease working for the meat which perisheth, but for the food which abideth to everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give to you; for this One did God the Father seal.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Virgin-martyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia in Illyria.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 29th – Civil Calendar
April 16th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Agapia, Chionia and Irene.

They were sisters from the region of Aquileia. When the Emperor Diocletian was staying in Aquileia, he ordered that the famous spiritual guide, Chrysogonus, be executed. An old priest named Zoilus received a vision in which he was shown where the body of Chrysogonus lay unburied. The old man hurried off, found the body of the martyr, placed it in a coffin and carried it to his home. On the thirtieth day after that, St. Chrysogonus appeared to him and told him that the three maidens would be martyred in the next nine days, and that he, Zoilus, would himself enter into rest during that time. Anastasia the Clairvoyant also received the same tidings in a vision sent by Chrysogonus, who had been her teacher. The elder Zoilus did indeed find his rest after nine days, and the three sisters were brought to trial before the emperor. The emperor urged the holy maidens to worship idols, but they all refused, confessing their firm faith in Christ. Irene told the emperor that it was ridiculous to bow down to things made of wood and stone, made to order at an agreed price by the hands of a mortal man. The furious emperor flung them into prison. Now, when the emperor travelled to Macedonia, he took all his slaves and servants with him, including the three sisters. He gave them to Dulcitius, a general, for torture. Inflamed with a dark passion, he desired to defile the maidens, but when he tried to go into the prison, he lost his mind and fell upon the pots and cauldrons in front of the gate, embracing and kissing them, and was completely blackened with soot. When the emperor heard of this happening, he ordered another general to undertake the trial of the sisters. After terrible torture, the judge condemned the first two sisters to death by fire, but kept Irene for a time, hoping to defile her. But, when he sent Irene to the brothel along with some soldiers, an angel of God turned the soldiers back and led her out onto a high hill. The next day the general went out to the hill with his soldiers, and being unable to climb it, ordered that Irene be shot at with arrows. St. Anastasia gathered all three bodies together in one place and gave them burial. They suffered for Christ their King and Lord in about 304.

2. The Holy Martyr Leonides and those with him: Charissa, Nike, Galina, Kallis, Nunechia, Vasilissa and Theodora.

They were thrown into the sea, but it refused to receive them. They walked upon the sea as if it were dry land and sang praises to God: ‘I have won one battle, O Lord, and the soldiers have persecuted me, O Lord, and I have not denied Thee, O Lord; save Thou my soul!’ The pagans were at first astounded to behold this, but they then tied stones around their necks and again threw them into the deep, where they were drowned. They all suffered with honor for Christ our King and Lord in 281.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A story of the elder Barlaam: A man had three friends; two of these he loved sincerely, but avoided the third because he found him boring. It so happened that the emperor summoned the man to pay a debt. He turned to the first friend for aid, but he refused and went away. He asked help of the second, but he would not help him either. Somewhat shamefacedly, he turned to his third friend, who went willingly with him to the emperor. The meaning is this: the first friend is riches, the second is friends and family, and the third is the good deeds of a man in this world. The emperor is God, Who sends out His summons by means of death and demands payment of the debt. A man on the point of death looks for help from his riches, but they simply turn their back on him and pass into the hands of another. Then he turns to his kinsmen, but they go with him for a short distance, but then turn their backs on him, send him off and stay behind themselves tending to their own affairs. Then he begins to think on his good deeds, which he performed so grudgingly—and straightway these come with him on the road to the presence of the King and Judge. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The soul’s only companions into the other world are his deeds, be they good or bad. All that which was dear and precious to a man abandons him and turns its back on him; only his deeds, down to the very last one, go with him. He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

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.