Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Sixth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 39]. In those days:

For Gk. usage, see Acts 17:1-9; for Sl. usage, Acts 17:1-15.

17 ¹After Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And according to what was customary to Paul, he went in to them, and for three sabbaths was discoursing with them from the Scriptures, ³laying open and setting forth that it was needful for the Christ to have suffered, and to have risen from the dead, and that “this Jesus Whom I proclaim to you is the Christ.” ⁴And some of them were persuaded and were allotted to Paul and Silas—both of the Greeks who were reverent, a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. ⁵But those Jews who were not persuaded became jealous, and took to themselves certain evil men of the market-loungers, and formed a crowd, and made an uproar in the city; and having taken a stand against the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. ⁶But not having found them, they were dragging Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have upset the inhabited world are present here also, ⁷“whom Jason hath received. And these all practise contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” ⁸And they agitated the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. ⁹And after they took bail from Jason and the rest, they dismissed them. ¹⁰And the brethren straightway by night sent off to Verea both Paul and Silas, who, having arrived, went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹Now these, who received the word with all readiness and who daily examined the Scriptures if these things were so, were more noble than those in Thessalonica. ¹²Many indeed therefore from among them believed, and of the Greek women, those of noble rank, and of the men, not a few. ¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica came to know that in Verea also the word of God was proclaimed by Paul, they came there also stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴And then straightway the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as the sea; but both Silas and Timothy were staying behind there. ¹⁵And those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and having received a command for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as quickly as possible, they went forth.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 40]. At that time:

11 ⁴⁷The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together for a session of the sanhedrin, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this Man is doing many signs. ⁴⁸“If we should let Him thus alone, all will believe in Him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and the nation.” ⁴⁹But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest of that year, said to them, “Ye know nothing at all, ⁵⁰“nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹But he said this not of himself; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation; ⁵²and not for the nation only, but that He also should gather together into one the children of God who have been scattered abroad. ⁵³Then from that day they took counsel together among themselves, in order that they might put Him to death. ⁵⁴Jesus therefore was no longer walking openly among the Jews, but went away from that place into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there He stayed with His disciples.

Sl. usage adds Jn. 11:55-57.

⁵⁵And the passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the passover, in order that they might purify themselves. ⁵⁶Then were they seeking Jesus and were speaking with one another, as they stood in the temple, “What think ye, that He will come to the feast?” ⁵⁷Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone should know where He is, he should make it known, in order that they might lay hold of Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Prophet Esaias, and the Great-martyr Christopher, and the translation of the precious relics from Myra to Bari of our holy father among the saints and wonder-worker, Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 20^th of May).

Epistle

For the Prophet:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 266].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Thess. 2:14-20; for Sl. usage, see 1 Thess. 2:14-19.

2 ¹⁴Brethren, ye became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus. For ye also suffered the same things by your own countrymen, even as they have by the Jews, ¹⁵who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, ¹⁶forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to the end that they fill up their sins always. But the wrath came upon them to the uttermost.

¹⁷But we, brethren, having been made orphans from you for an hour’s time—in person, not in heart—endeavored more abundantly to see your face with great desire. ¹⁸Wherefore we wished to come to you, indeed I Paul, both once and twice, and yet Satan hindered us. ¹⁹For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? Are not also ye before our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? ²⁰For ye are our glory and joy.

For the Hierarch:

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

For the Prophet:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 14]. At that time:

4 ²² The crowds were wondering at the words of grace which were proceeding out of Jesus’ mouth, and were saying, “This is the Son of Joseph, is it not?” ²³And He said to them, “No doubt, ye will say this parable to Me, ‘Physician, heal thyself; as much as we heard was done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.’” ²⁴And He said, “Verily I say to you that not one prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵“But in truth I say to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine arose over all the land; ²⁶“and to not even one of them was Elias sent, except to Sarepta of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷“And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisaios the prophet, and not one of them was cleansed, except Neman the Syrian.” ²⁸And all in the synagogue were filled with anger when they heard these things. ²⁹And they rose up and cast Him outside of the city; and they led Him up to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down headlong. ³⁰But He, having passed through the midst of them, kept going on His way.

For the Hierarch:

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)

May 22nd – Civil Calendar
May 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Prophet Isaias (Isaiah).

This great prophet was of royal birth. He was born in Jerusalem of Amoz the brother of Amaziah, King of the Jews. By the great grace of God that was within him, Isaias was made worthy to see the Lord of Sabaoth on His heavenly throne, surrounded by six-winged seraphim which cried unceasingly: ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth’ (Is. 6). Isaias prophesied many things, both to individuals and to nations. Once he walked for three years naked through the streets of Jerusalem, prophesying the imminent fall of the city to the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, and warning the king and the leaders of the people not to seek help from Egypt and Ethiopia, because they too would shortly be over-run by the same Sennacherib, but to seek the aid of the all-seeing God. And this prophecy, like all the rest, was literally fulfilled (37:31-35). But his most important prophecies were on the incarnation of God, on the conception of the most pure Mother of God, on John the Baptist and on many events in the life of Christ. This clairvoyant, because of his pure heart and zeal for God, also received the gift of working miracles. Thus, when the besieged city of Jerusalem was suffering from thirst, he prayed to God and water flowed out from beneath the hill of Sion. This water was named Siloam (‘sent’), and it was to that water that, later, the Lord sent the man born blind, to wash himself and receive his sight (Is. 8:6; Jn 9:7). In the time of King Manasseh, when Isaias thundered against the pagan practices of the king and the leaders of the people, comparing that generation with Sodom and Gomorrah, the anger of the leaders and the people was lifted up against this great prophet, and he was seized, taken out of Jerusalem and sawn in half. He lived and prophesied seven hundred years before Christ.

2. St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker of Myra in Lycia.

On this day is commemorated the translation of his relics. In the time of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Patriarch Nicholas Grammatikos, in 1087, the body of this saint was taken from Myra in Lycia to the town of Bari in Italy. This came to pass because of a Moslem attack on Lycia. The saint appeared to a priest in Bari and commanded that his relics be taken there. At that time, the town of Bari was Orthodox and under the administration of an Orthodox patriarch. At the translation of the saint’s relics, many miracles were wrought on those who touched them, and a healing myrrh flowed in abundance from them. Also on this day is commemorated the miracle worked by St. Nicholas on Stefan of Dečani, King of Serbia. This was when the saint restored the sight of the blind King Stefan.

3. The Holy Martyr Christopher.

A great wonder-worker, he is especially venerated in Spain. His help is invoked particularly against infectious illnesses and great pestilence. He was martyred for Christ and glorified in 249.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Every Christian can take on himself some martyrdom for his Faith, both in times of persecution of the Faith and in times of peace. Abba Athanasius says: ‘Be tortured by your conscience, die to sin, be as a dead man on earth, and you will be a martyr by desire. They fought aforetime with kings and princes; you have the king of sin—the devil—and the princes, the demons. Formerly there were idols, heathen temples and those who sacrificed to idols. And these remain as thoughts in the soul. He who is a slave to lust bows down before the idol of Aphrodite. He who is in anger and fury bows down to the idol of Ares. He who is avaricious and blind to the trouble of his neighbor bows down to the idol of Hermes. But if you restrain yourself from all this, and keep yourself from the passions, you have conquered the idols, turned from evil and false belief and become a martyr for the Faith.’ And so, a man does not need to yearn for persecution and martyrdom. Every man in every age can endure martyrdom for the sake of Christ and His Gospel.

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.