Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Pascalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Twenty-Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 315]. Brethren:

7 ¹Melchisedek, king of Salem, priest of God the Most High—who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ²to whom also Abraham divided a tenth of all—which indeed is first interpreted “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” which is, “king of peace,” ³without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but having been made like the Son of God, remaineth a priest in perpetuity. ⁴Now be considering how great this one was, to whom even the Patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. ⁵And indeed those of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithe of the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they came forth out of the loins of Abraham; ⁶but he who hath no genealogy traced from them hath taken tithe of Abraham and hath blessed him who hath the promises.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 39]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Mk. 9:10-15; for Sl. usage, see Mk. 9:10-16.

9 ¹⁰The disciples kept the saying of Jesus, discussing among themselves what is it to rise from the dead. ¹¹And they were questioning Him, saying, “Why are the scribes saying that it is necessary for Elias to come first?” ¹²And He answered and said to them, “Elias indeed, having come first, restoreth all things. And how hath it been written concerning the Son of Man, that He should suffer many things and be set at nought? ¹³“But I say to you that Elias also hath come, and they did to him as much as they wished, even as it hath been written concerning him.”

¹⁴And having come to the disciples, He saw a great crowd around them, and scribes disputing with them. ¹⁵And straightway all the crowd, after they saw Him, were amazed; and running to Him, they were greeting Him. ¹⁶And He questioned the scribes, “What are ye disputing with them?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable father among the saints, Spyridon the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Trimython, and our venerable Father Herman, Wonder-worker of Alaska, and with him the first Martyrs of the American land, Hieromartyr Juvenaly and Peter the Aleut.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 229]. Brethren:

5 ⁸Be walking as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth— ¹⁰proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹And cease having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for all which is made manifest is light. ¹⁴Wherefore, He saith, “Rouse thyself, thou who sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine on thee [cf. Is. 9:2, 26:19, 52:1, 60:1, 2].”

¹⁵Be taking heed then how exactly ye walk, not as unwise ones, but as wise ones, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷On this account cease becoming foolish, but become as ones understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And cease being drunk with wine, in which is prodigality, but keep on being filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord.

for Sl. usage, see [Heb. 13:17-21].

For the Wonder-worker of Alaska:

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

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ mid 35]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

10 ¹“Verily, verily, I say to you, the one who entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but goeth up from another place, that one is a thief and a robber. ²“But the one who entereth by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. ³“To this one the doorkeeper openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. ⁴“And whenever he should put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵“But a stranger in no wise will they follow, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.” ⁶This parable Jesus spoke to them; but they understood not what it was which He spoke to them. ⁷Then said Jesus to them again, “Verily, verily, I say to you that I am the door of the sheep. ⁸“All, as many as came before Me, are thieves and robbers; but the sheep heard them not. ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture.”

For the Wonder-worker of Alaska:

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)

December 25th – Civil Calendar
December 12th – Church Calendar

1. St. Spiridon the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Trimythous.

The island of Cyprus was both the birthplace of this famous saint, and the place in which he spent his life in the service of the Church. He was of simple farming stock, and remained simple and humble to the end of his days. He married young and had children, but when his wife died, he devoted himself entirely to the service of God. He was chosen for his devotion as Bishop of Trimythous, and even as a bishop did not change his simple style of life, taking charge of his cattle himself and tilling his own land. He consumed very little of his own produce, giving the greater part to the poor. He performed great wonders by God’s power, making rain fall in a drought, stopping the course of a river, raising several of the dead, healing the Emperor Constans of a grave sickness, seeing and hearing angels, foreseeing future events and penetrating the secrets of the human heart. He turned many to the true Faith, and did much else. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, and by his simple and clear expositions of the Faith, as well as by convincing miracles, brought back many heretics to Orthodoxy. He dressed so simply that once, when he was invited by the emperor to the imperial court, a soldier took him for a beggar and struck him a blow. The meek and guileless Spiridon turned him the other cheek. He glorified God with many miracles, and was of great aid both to individuals and to the whole Church of God. He entered into rest in the Lord in 348, and his wonder-working relics now lie on the island of Corfu and continue to glorify God with many wonders.

2. The Hieromartyr Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem.

He was at first bishop in Cappadocia, but during the persecution under Severus in 203, was thrown into prison and then exiled. After that, he accepted the see of Jerusalem, and there founded a famous library that was of great use to Eusebius when he was writing his Ecclesiastical History. He was tortured in various ways during the reign of Decius, and was thrown to the wild beasts. Alive and unharmed, he was cast back into prison, where he finished his earthly course and went to the Lord in the year 251.

3. The Holy Martyr Synesius.

He boldly preached the truth of Christ as a young reader in Rome, and denounced the idolaters. He was beheaded for his outspokenness during the reign of Aurelian, towards the end of the third century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Nothing will help us if we are not generous and forgiving towards human weakness in others. If we do not forgive others, how can we hope that God will forgive us? St. Spiridon once sold a merchant a hundred goats at a given price, and told the buyer to produce the money. Knowing that Spiridon himself would never count it, he put down enough for ninety-nine goats and secreted the money for the hundredth. Spiridon then counted out a hundred goats for him, but when the merchant and his servant started driving them away, one of them returned bleating. It was driven off again, and again returned. It kept returning to the flock, and would not go with the other goats. The saint then whispered into the merchant’s ear: ‘You know, my son, that animal is not acting like this without a reason. Have you, perhaps, withheld the price?’ The merchant was ashamed and acknowledged his sin, and as soon as he had paid the full amount, the goat immediately went off and joined the rest of the flock.

On another occasion, some thieves went into St. Spiridon’s pasture. When they had seized as many rams as they wanted, they tried to leave the field, but an invisible force riveted them to the earth and they could not move from the spot. At dawn, the bishop came to the pasture, and seeing the thieves, reproached them mildly and told them to try, in the future, to live by their own labor and not by thieving. He then caught a ram and gave it to them, saying: ‘Take this, so that your trouble and night vigil should not have been in vain,’ and he sent them away in peace.

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.