Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 83]. Brethren:

2 ²⁸He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹But he is a Jew who is one in that which is hidden; and circumcision is that of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.

3 ¹What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ²Much in every way: for first indeed, because they were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³For what if some did not believe? Their unbelief shall not make the faith of God without effect, shall it? ⁴May it not be! But let God be true and every man a liar; even as it hath been written: “That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and shalt prevail when Thou art judged [cf. Ps. 50(51):4].” ⁵But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not unrighteous Who inflicteth wrath, is He? I speak as a man. ⁶May it not be! Otherwise, how shall God judge the world? ⁷For if in my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? ⁸And why are they not judged—even as we are slandered, and as some affirm we say, “Let us do evil that good may come”—whose condemnation is just?

⁹What then? Are we superior? No, in no wise. For we have before charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰even as it hath been written: “There is none righteous, not even one [cf. Ps. 13(14):1, 2(1); Eccl. 7:21(20)]; ¹¹“there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God [cf. Ps. 13(14):3(2)]. ¹²“They are all turned aside; they are together become useless; there is none that doeth good, not so much as one [Ps. 13(14):4(3)]. ¹³“Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they were using deceit [Ps. 5:9]; the poison of asps is under their lips [Ps. 139(140):3]: ¹⁴“whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness [cf. Ps. 9(10):27(7)]. ¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶“destruction and misery are in their ways [cf. Is. 59:7]; ¹⁷“and the way of peace have they not known [cf. Is. 59:8]. ¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes [cf. Ps. 35(36):1].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§§ 19, mid 20]. The Lord said:

6 ³¹“Do not become anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ ³²“For all these things the nations seek after; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all of these things. ³³“But be seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴“Therefore do not become anxious for the morrow; for the morrow shall be anxious about the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it....

7 ⁹“Or what man is there of you whom, if his son should ask for bread, he will not give him a stone, will he? ¹⁰“And if he should ask for a fish, he will not give him a serpent, will he? ¹¹“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, the One in the heavens, give good things to those who ask Him?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Isaakios, Abbot of the Dalmaton Monastery at Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 12th – Civil Calendar
May 30th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Isaac (Isaakios) the Confessor.

In the time of the Emperor Valens, the Arians persecuted Orthodoxy fiercely with the emperor’s encouragement. Isaac, a hermit somewhere in the East, heard of the persecution, left his desert and went to Constantinople to encourage the faithful and denounce the heretics. Valens arrived in the north at that very time with his army, to meet the Goths who had come down from the Danube into Thrace. Isaac went out and stood before him, saying: ‘Open the churches to those of the true Faith, O emperor, and God will bless thy path,’ but the emperor turned a deaf ear to the elder and went on his way. Isaac spoke out before the emperor on the next day also, repeating his warning, and the emperor almost hearkened to him, but one of his advisors, a follower of the Arian heresy, thwarted him. Isaac spoke before the emperor again on the third day, seizing the emperor’s horse by the reins and pleading with him to grant freedom to the Church of God and to escape divine punishment by acceding to his request. The enraged emperor ordered that the elder be thrown into a briar patch full of thorns and mud, but three angels appeared and pulled him out from his affliction. St. Isaac appeared before the emperor on the fourth day, and foretold a terrible death if he did not give the Orthodox freedom: ‘I tell thee, my emperor, that thou shalt lead thy troops out upon the barbarians, but thou shalt not be able to withstand them. Thou shalt flee before them, but shalt thyself be taken captive and burned alive.’ And so it all came to pass. The barbarians mowed the Greek force down like grass, and the emperor fled with his Arian counselor, and hid in a barn. The barbarians arrived at the spot and realized where the emperor was hiding. They surrounded the barn and set fire to it, burning both the emperor and his counselor. The Emperor Theodosios the Great then came to the throne. He heard of Isaac and of the prophecy that had been fulfilled, and sending for him, prostrated himself before him. And so peace came to reign in the Church and the Arians were banished. Isaac desired to return to his desert, but he was persuaded to remain in Constantinople. A certain influential citizen, Saturninos, built him a monastery where the elder labored in asceticism until his death, performing many wonders. The community overflowed with monks and became a great monastery. Before his death, Isaac appointed a pupil of his, Dalmatos (after whom the monastery was later named), as abbot. The elder Isaac, who had found such favor with God, entered into eternity in the year 383, to rejoice forever in the vision of the face of God.

2. St. Makrina.

The grandmother of St. Basil the Great, she was outstanding for her intellect and piety. She was a disciple of St. Gregory the Wonder-worker of Neocaesarea. In the reign of Diocletian, she abandoned her home and hid in the forests and desert places with her husband, Basil. Although their home was confiscated, they felt no pangs of regret. Stripped of everything except their love for God, they settled in an ancient forest and spent seven years there. By God’s providence, goats would come down from the mountains and provide them with food. They both died peacefully in the fourth century, after great sufferings for the Christian Faith.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The word of God is food for the soul. The word of God is both strength and light for the soul. Whoever reads the word of God provides his soul with food and strength and light. He who can read ought to read the word of the Lord in the holy Scriptures, and he who cannot read ought to listen to what is read. All the saints emphasised the necessity of reading the holy Scriptures. St. Seraphim of Sarov says: ‘The soul must keep itself nourished with the word of God; because the word of God is, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, the bread of angels that feeds the soul that is hungry for God. But, most of all, we must read the New Testament and the Psalms. The understanding is enlightened by these. It is a very good thing to read the word of God in solitude, and to read the entire Bible with understanding. God gives a man His mercy for undertaking this exercise more than for other good deeds, and He fills him with the gift of comprehension. When a man nourishes his soul with the word of God, then he is filled with the understanding of good and evil.’

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.