Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 36]. In those days:

15 ⁵There rose up certain of those from the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

⁶And the apostles and the presbyters were gathered together to see about this matter. ⁷And after much discussion took place, Peter rose up and said to them, “Men, brethren, ye know that from former days God Himself chose among us for the nations to hear by my mouth the word of the Gospel, and to believe. ⁸“And God, the Knower of hearts, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us; ⁹“and He made no distinction between both us and them, having purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰“Now then why tempt ye God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹“But through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe we are to be saved in like manner as they.” ¹²And all the multitude became silent, and were listening to Barnabas and Paul relating how many signs and wonders God wrought among the nations through them. ¹³And after they became silent, Iakovos answered, saying, “Men, brethren, hear me. ¹⁴“Symeon related how God first visited to take from the nations a people for His name. ¹⁵“And to this agree the words of the prophets, even as it hath been written: ¹⁶“‘“After these things I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen, and I will build again the things which have been dug down, and I will set it up [cf. Amos 9:11], ¹⁷“‘“so that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, even all the nations upon whom My name hath been called upon them,” saith the Lord Who doeth all these things [cf. Amos 9:12].’ ¹⁸“Known to God are all His works from eternity. ¹⁹“Wherefore I judge that we are not to trouble those who from the nations are turning to God, ²⁰“but that we write to them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood. ²¹“For Moses from generations of old hath in every city those proclaiming him, since he is read every sabbath day.” ²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and to the presbyters, with the whole Church, to send chosen men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas surnamed Barsavas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, ²³having written by their hand thus: “The apostles and the presbyters and the brethren to those brethren who are of the nations in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. ²⁴“Whereas we have heard that certain from among us who went out troubled you with words, upsetting your souls, saying, ‘Be circumcised and keep the law’—to whom we gave no such command— ²⁵“it seemed good to us, having come to be of one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶“men who have handed over their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷“We have sent forth therefore Judas and Silas, who shall themselves also relate verbally the same things. ²⁸“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no further burden than these necessary things: ²⁹“that ye abstain from sacrifices to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication; from which, if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare-well.”

³⁰So when they were dismissed, they went to Antioch; and after they gathered together the multitude, they delivered the epistle. ³¹And having read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. ³²Both Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, by much discourse exhorted the brethren and confirmed them. ³³And after they continued for a time, they were sent forth in peace from the brethren to the apostles. ³⁴But it seemed good to Silas to abide there.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 37]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

10 ¹⁷“On this account My Father loveth Me, because I lay down My soul, that I might take it again. ¹⁸“No one taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father.” ¹⁹A division therefore again arose among the Jews on account of these words. ²⁰And many of them were saying, “He hath a demon and is mad; why hear ye Him?” ²¹Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is possessed by a demon. A demon is not able to open the eyes of the blind, is he?”

²²And it came to be the feast of the dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³And Jesus was walking about in the temple in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴Then the Jews came round about Him and were saying to Him, “Until when dost Thou lift up our soul? If Thou art the Christ, tell us openly.” ²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and ye believe not. The works which I do in the name of My Father, these bear witness concerning Me. ²⁶“But ye believe not; for ye are not of My sheep, even as I said to you. ²⁷“The sheep, those that are Mine, hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸“And I give them eternal life.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy and Righteous Job the much-suffering.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:

11 ²⁷“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. ²⁸“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. ³⁰“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 19th – Civil Calendar
May 6th – Church Calendar

1. Holy, Righteous, and Long-suffering Job.

Job was a descendant of Esau the grandson of Abraham, and lived in Arabia about 2,000 years before Christ. His father’s name was Zareth and his mother’s Bosora; his full name was Jobab. He was an honorable and God-fearing man, and was very rich. But when he reached the age of seventy-nine, God permitted heavy temptation from Satan to fall on him, as is written in detail in the Book of Job. In one day, Job lost all his great possessions and his sons and daughters. Then a great sickness fell on him, from which his whole body was covered with sores from top to toe, and Job lay on a rubbish heap outside the town and scoured his boils with sherds of broken pottery. But Job did not complain of God, but patiently endured all his sufferings to the end. Therefore the Lord restored his health and gave him riches greater than he had had before, and there were born to him seven sons and three daughters; as many as he had had before. And Job lived for 248 years, glorifying and praising God. Job is regarded as the model of patient endurance of every suffering that God sends us, and is a type of the suffering Christ.

2. The Holy Martyr Barbaros.

Barbaros was a soldier in the time of Julian the Apostate. When the imperial commander Bacchus led the Roman army against the Franks, Barbaros was in that army, a secret Christian. In this battle there appeared a hero on the Frankish side, like the earlier Goliath, and he challenged the Romans to send one of their number out to single combat. The commander told Barbaros to go. Barbaros prayed in his heart to the living Lord, went out and conquered this giant. As a result, the Frankish army was confused and overcome. Then the commander made a great triumph, and ordered that sacrifice be made to idols. But, at this sacrificing, he noticed that Barbaros was standing to one side. When he asked him why, Barbaros revealed that he was a Christian. The commander informed the emperor, and the emperor commanded that Barbaros be put to the harshest torture, which Barbaros endured with rare courage and composure. At the time of his martyrdom, many marvels were seen and many soldiers, seeing them, embraced the Christian Faith. Among these was the commander Bacchus himself, with Callimachus and Dionysius. All three of them were beheaded for the name of Christ, and after them, Barbaros, in 362. Their souls went to the kingdom of Christ the immortal King.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Abba Isaias said of himself: ‘I see myself as a horse wandering without a rider. Whoever finds it sits thereon and trots on it whither he wishes. When the rider leaves the horse, a second takes it and does the same, then a third and so forth.’ This great ascetic, of whom all said with wonder that he had achieved perfection, said this of himself either out of humility or from the memory of the time of his imperfection. This saying is true in relation to every Christian who walks spiritually ungirt and unbridled. No sooner has one passion dismounted than another mounts. As soon as one has worn him out and left him in despair, another mounts him, with a diminished capacity to make him happy. Such a man has no rider to guide him in the right path without deviating either to the right or left. The only friendly rider, to be welcomed with joy, is a holy and powerful Christian spirit.

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.