Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 95]. Brethren:

7 ¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵For what I work out, I know not. For what I wish, this I practise not; but what I hate, this I do. ¹⁶But if, what I do not wish, this I do, I consent to the law that it is good. ¹⁷Now then, no longer am I working it out, but sin which dwelleth in me. ¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good; for to will lieth beside me, but to work out the good I find not. ¹⁹For what good I wish, I do not; but what evil I wish not, this I practise. ²⁰Now if, what I wish not, this I practise, no longer am I working it out, but the sin dwelling in me. ²¹I find then the law in me, that, when I wish to do the good that the evil lies beside me. ²²For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but on the other hand with the flesh the law of sin.

8 ¹There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 35]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ⁹“Do not begin to procure for yourselves gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, ¹⁰“nor leathern pouch for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the worker is worthy of his food. ¹¹“And into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there remain until ye go out. ¹²“But when ye enter into the house, salute it, saying, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ¹³“And if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye go out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. ¹⁵“Verily I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Theodotos at Ankyra, and the holy five Virgin-martyrs, Martha, Mary, Kyria, Vareria (Valeria), and Markia of Palestine (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 6^th of June).

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 20th – Civil Calendar
June 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ankyra.

This martyr was a secret Christian, and as such, used to help the Church and give burial to the bodies of the martyrs. He buried the bodies of seven young maidens who had suffered for Christ. When the pagans discovered this, they attacked him and he was killed (see May 18th for more about him).

2. The Holy Martyrs Kyria, Valeria and Maria.

All three of these martyrs were from Caesarea in Palestine. When a persecution of Christians arose, they withdrew from the city to a hut, where they prayed unceasingly to God with fasting and tears that the Christian Faith might be spread throughout the entire world and that persecution might cease. As the result of slander, they were brought to trial and tortured, and died under their torments in the year 304. And so these glorious virgins were crowned with the wreath of martyrdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Marcellus, Pope of Rome.

In the reign of the Emperor Maximian, Marcellus was condemned to keep cattle in a certain place. In order to please Diocletian, who had taken him as co-emperor, Maximian began to build the Thermae, the baths in Rome, and forced the Christians to work on them as Pharaoh had once forced the Jews in Egypt. Many Christians perished there. The deacon Kyriakus, who had healed Artemia, Diocletian’s daughter, of an evil spirit (for he had great power over demons), suffered at this time. He had also healed Jovia, the daughter of the Persian king, and had baptized them both. Artemia, the deacon Sisinius, two friends of Kyriakus, Smaragdus and Largius, the deacon Aphronianus and two newly baptized Roman soldiers, Papius and Maurus, the elder Saturninus and Crescentianus, the blessed maidens Priscilla and Lucina, who used their great wealth to have graves made for the Christian martyrs—all these suffered at this time. The holy Pope Marcellus cared for the cattle for a long time, but finally became weakened from hunger and humiliation and the tortures of the soldiers, and surrendered his soul to God.

4. The Hieromartyr Marcellinus, Pope of Rome.

Marcellinus was Pope Marcellus’ predecessor on the Roman throne. When the Emperor Diocletian summoned him and threatened him with torture, he offered sacrifice to idols and was, because of this, rewarded by the emperor with a costly garment. But Marcellinus repented bitterly and began to weep both day and night for his rejection of Christ, even as the Apostle Peter had before him. A synod of bishops was held at that time in Campania, and the pope dressed himself in sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on his head, and going before the synod, confessed his sin and asked them to judge him. The fathers said: ‘Let him judge himself.’ Then he said: ‘I strip myself of the sacerdotal rank of which I am not worthy; and further, let my body not be buried after my death, but let it be thrown to the dogs.’ Having said this, he pronounced a curse on any who should dare to bury him. He then went to the Emperor Diocletian, and casting the precious garment in front of him, confessed his faith in Christ and cursed the idols. The enraged emperor ordered that he be tortured and killed outside the city, together with three other men: Claudius, Cyrinus and Antoninus. The bodies of these three were buried at once, but the pope’s body lay there for thirty-six days. Then St. Peter appeared to Marcellus, the new pope, and told him to bury Marcellinus’ body, saying: ‘Who so humbleth himself shall be exalted.’

5. Our Holy Father Daniel of Sketis.

The abbot of the famous Sketis in Egypt, he was a disciple of St. Arsenius and a teacher of many. Many of his words and teachings are like celestial signposts for monks. Once, when the barbarians were attacking Sketis, the brethren called to him to flee with them, but he replied: ‘If God does not care for me, what reason is there for me to live?’ He also once said: ‘Insofar as your body grows fat, even so does your soul wither away.’ He lived the communal life as an ascetic for forty years, and then in the year 420 took himself off to the desert. He happened to be in Alexandria when an evil man murdered his son’s wife because of her chastity. This was St. Thomaïs (see April 13th), and he buried the martyr with the help of his disciples.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A saint has a very sensitive conscience. What ordinary people may consider a small sin, a saint sees as a great crime. It is said of Abba Daniel that highwaymen attacked him on three occasions and took him off into the mountains. Twice he was rescued, but the third time, in attempting to escape, he struck one of them with a stone and killed him, and then made his escape. That murder lay on his conscience like a lead weight. In perplexity as to what he should do, he went to Timothy, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and asked his advice. The patriarch soothed him, and released him from all penance. But his conscience continued to gnaw at him, and he went to Rome, to the pope. The pope gave him the same reply as had the patriarch. Still dissatisfied, Daniel visited the remaining patriarchs in turn; going to Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem, confessing to each of them and asking for advice. But he could find no peace. So he returned home to Alexandria and declared himself to the authorities as a murderer, and was flung into prison. At his trial before the governor, Daniel told how everything had come about, and pleaded that he might be killed too, that his soul might be saved from eternal fire. The governor was amazed at the whole thing and said to him: ‘Go your way, father, and pray to God for me, even if you kill seven more!’ Still dissatisfied with this, Daniel resolved to take a leper into his cell and care for him until he died, and then find another. He did as he had resolved, and in this way brought peace to his conscience.

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.