Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast, in which we Commemorate St. Mary of Egypt.

Mode One — Ninth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ mid 321]. Brethren:

9 ¹¹Christ, Who came as High Priest of the coming good things, by means of the greater and more perfect tabernacle—not made by hand, that is, not of this creation, ¹²nor by blood of goats and of calves, but by His own blood—entered once for all into the Holies, having Himself obtained eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of bulls and of goats and ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctifieth to the purity of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more shall the blood of the Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works in order to worship the living God?

COMMEMORATION OF SAINT MARY OF EGYPT

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§§ 208, 209]. Brethren:

3 ²³Before faith came, we were being guarded under the law, having been closed up to the faith about to be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law hath become our tutor until Christ, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But faith having come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶For all are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For as many as were baptized into Christ, ye put on Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise.

4 ¹Now I say, as long as the heir is an infant, he differeth nothing from a slave, though he is lord of all; ²but he is under guardians and stewards until the appointed time of the father. ³So we also, when we were infants, were enslaved under the elements of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive what is our due, the adoption as sons.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 47]. At that time:

10 ³²Jesus took aside His twelve disciples, and began to tell them the things that were about to happen to Him, ³³saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death and deliver Him up to the Gentiles. ³⁴“And they shall mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him. And on the third day He shall raise Himself.”

³⁵And Iakovos and John, the sons of Zebedee, go to Him, saying, “Teacher, we wish that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask.” ³⁶And He said to them, “What do ye wish for Me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to Him, “Grant to us that we might sit, one on Thy right and one on Thy left, in Thy glory.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “Ye know not what ye ask for yourselves. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹And they said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup indeed that I drink, ye shall drink, and the baptism with which I am baptized, ye shall be baptized; ⁴⁰“but to sit on My right and on My left is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to those for whom it hath been prepared.” ⁴¹And after the ten heard it, they began to be indignant on account of Iakovos and John. ⁴²But Jesus called them to Himself, and saith to them, “Ye know that those who are accounted to rule over the nations exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³“Yet it shall not be so among you. But whosoever doth wish to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴“and whosoever doth wish to become first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Commemoration of Saint Mary of Egypt

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 33]. At that time:

7 ³⁶A certain one of the Pharisees was asking Jesus that He would eat with him. And He entered into the house of the Pharisee, and reclined at table. ³⁷And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she found out that He was reclining at table in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of perfumed ointment, ³⁸and she stood beside His feet behind Him, weeping; and she began to wet His feet with tears, and was wiping them off with the hairs of her head; and she was kissing His feet ardently and anointing them with the perfumed ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, “This One, if He were a prophet, would know who and of what sort the woman is who toucheth Him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to thee.” And he saith, “Teacher, say it.” ⁴¹“There were two debtors to a certain creditor: the one was owing five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²“But when they had nothing to pay back the debt, he showed himself gracious to both. Say which of them then will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose that he, to whom he showed himself the more gracious.” And He said to him, “Rightly thou didst judge.” ⁴⁴And He turned to the woman, and said to Simon, “Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house; water thou gavest Me not for My feet, but she with tears did wet My feet, and with the hairs of her head wiped them off. ⁴⁵“A kiss thou gavest Me not, but she from the time that I entered did not cease from ardently kissing My feet. ⁴⁶“With oil thou didst not anoint My head, but she anointed My feet with perfumed ointment. ⁴⁷“For which reason I say to thee, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” ⁴⁸And He said to her, “Thy sins have been forgiven.” ⁴⁹And those reclining at table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this Who even forgiveth sins?” ⁵⁰And He said to the woman, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go thy way in peace.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Nikon and his 199 Disciples in Sicily.

No readings given.

Synaxarion Readings

Synaxarion for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent
St. Mary of Egypt

On this day, the fifth Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate the memory of our holy and venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt.

The recorder of the life of this wonderful saint is St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. A hieromonk, the Elder Zossima, had gone off at one time during the Great Fast on a twenty-days’ walk into the wilderness across the Jordan. He suddenly caught sight of a human being with a withered and naked body and with hair as white as snow, who fled in its nakedness from Zossima’s sight. The elder ran a long way, until this figure stopped at a stream and called out, “Father Zossima, forgive me for the Lord’s sake. I cannot turn around to you, for I am a naked woman.” Then Zossima threw her his outer cloak, and she wrapped herself in it and turned around to him. The elder was amazed at hearing his name from the lips of this unknown woman. After considerable pressure on his part, she told him the story of her life.

She had been born in Egypt and had lived as a prostitute in Alexandria from the age of twelve, spending seventeen years in this way of life. Urged by the lustful fire of the flesh, she one day boarded a ship that was sailing for Jerusalem. Arriving at the Holy City, she attempted to go into one of the churches to venerate the Precious Cross, but some unseen power prevented her from entering. In great fear, she turned to an icon of the Mother of God that was in the entrance and begged her to let her go in and venerate the Cross, confessing her sin and impurity and promising that she would then go wherever the most pure one led her. She was then allowed to enter the church. After venerating the Cross, she went out again to the entrance, and standing in front of the icon, thanked the Mother of God. Then she heard a voice saying, “If you cross the Jordan, you will find true peace.” She immediately bought three loaves of bread and set off for the Jordan, arriving there the same evening. She received Holy Communion the following morning in the monastery of St. John the Baptist, and then crossed the river. She spent the next forty-eight years in the wilderness in the greatest torments, in terror, in struggles with passionate thoughts like gigantic beasts, feeding only on plants.

Later, when she was standing in prayer, Zossima saw her lifted up in the air. She begged him to bring her Holy Communion the next year on the bank of the Jordan, and she would come to receive it. The following year, Zossima came with the holy Gifts to the bank of the Jordan in the evening and stood in amazement at the following sight. He saw her coming in the moonlight and, arriving on the opposite bank, make the sign of the Cross over the river. She then walked across it as though it were dry land. When she had received Holy Communion, she begged him to come again the following year to the same place where they had first met. The next year Zossima went and found her dead body there on that spot. Above her head in the sand was written: “Abba Zossima, bury in this place the body of the humble Mary. Give dust to dust. I passed away on April 1st, on the very night of Christ’s Passion, after Communion of the divine Mysteries.” For the first time, Zossima learned her name and also the awe-inspiring marvel that she had instantly arrived at that streambed the previous year on the night of the same day on which she had received Holy Communion—a place that he had taken twenty days to reach. And thus Zossima buried the body of the wonderful saint, Mary of Egypt. When he returned to the monastery, he recounted the whole story of her life and the wonders to which he had been an eyewitness. Thus the Lord glorifies repentant sinners. She entered into rest in about the year 530.

St. Mary is remembered today, as we reach the end of the Great Fast, to arouse the energy of the slothful and to urge sinners to repentance, imitating her example. She is also commemorated on April 1. The Righteous Zossima, who buried St. Mary, is commemorated on April 4.

O Christ our God, through the intercessions of our venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Translated from Triodion, siest ‘Tripesnets: Triod’ Postnaya, Moscow, 1904, by Robert Parent.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 5th – Civil Calendar
March 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Nikon.

Born in Naples of a pagan father and a Christian mother, he was an officer in the Roman army in Naples. He was not baptized, although his mother, unbeknown to his father, had instructed him in the Christian Faith. Once, when he was setting off with his company to war, his mother advised him that if he were in trouble, to make the sign of the Cross and call on Christ to help him. And so, when Nikon’s company was surrounded during the battle and close to final extermination, Nikon made the sign of the Cross and began to call upon Christ. At that moment he was filled with exceptional strength and rushed upon his opponents, killing some and putting the others to flight. Returning home, Nikon could not stop exclaiming in wonder: ‘Great is the God of the Christians!’ After he had brought joy to his mother with his report of the victory by the aid of Christ’s Cross, he set sail in secret for Asia, where the Bishop of Kyzikos, Theodosios, baptized him. After his Baptism, he shut himself up in a monastery and devoted himself to study and to asceticism. However, Bishop Theodosios had a vision before his death, in which he was told to consecrate Nikon as his successor. The aged Theodosios summoned Nikon immediately and ordained him deacon, and then priest and bishop. By divine providence Nikon came soon after this to Neapolis, where he found his mother still alive. On her death, he went to Sicily with nine disciples, one-time comrades in battle, and there devoted himself to preaching the Gospel. There was a terrible persecution of Christians at that time, and Prince Quintianus seized Nikon and his companions and gave them over to great torture. One hundred and ninety of his disciples and friends were slain. The torturer tied Nikon to the tails of horses, threw him from a high cliff into a ravine, beat him and flayed him, yet Nikon survived all these tortures. He was finally slain with the sword and his body was abandoned in a field for the birds to eat, but a shepherd boy, possessed by a raging evil spirit, fell on the dead body of Christ’s martyr, took hold of it, and was immediately healed. He spread the news about Nikon’s body, and Christians came and buried it. St. Nikon suffered and went to the Lord in the reign of the Emperor Decius.

2. Our Holy Father Nikhon of the Kiev Caves.

Nikhon was a friend of St. Anthony of the Caves and the spiritual father of our holy father Theodosius. After the tonsuring of the Boyar Varlaam and the eunuch Ephraim he was threatened by Prince Izyaslav, but the princess turned the prince’s anger to godly fear and holy Nikhon was left in peace. Desiring to beautify the Church with icons, Nikhon prayed for assistance, and through his prayers some Greek iconographers suddenly arrived in Kiev from Constantinople. St. Anthony and St. Theodosius had appeared to them in a vision and sent them to Nikhon in Kiev. He was glorified for his daring asceticism and his spiritual wisdom. He became abbot of the Monastery of the Caves against his will in old age, and went to the Lord in 1066. His incorrupt relics are preserved in the Kiev Caves.

3. The Holy Virgin-martyr Basil of Mangazeya, Protector Against Homosexuality.

St. Basil was born in 1587 in Yaroslavl, and as a very small boy, he used to go to the church every time he could. He loved God’s house and he wanted to be there more than any other place. Because his father, Theodore, was a poor merchant and his family often had very little food, Basil agreed to become an apprentice for a merchant in the faraway Siberian town of Mangazeya. The young Basil was a very good and careful worker, and soon he was given a more responsible job in the company. Siberia was a very dangerous place, full of wild animals, warlike native tribes, and lawless men. There were almost no women in Siberia. Thus, some perverse men used to commit homosexual acts with young men and boys. Soon after the saint had arrived in Mangazeya, his boss tried to entice the youth into homosexual relations, first with flattery and bribes and finally with threats and punishments. Basil, however, rejected the depraved man and continued to fast and pray and ask God to help him remain pure. The boss hated Basil for his meek and humble personality and for his devout religious life. Yet no matter how much he persecuted and mistreated the innocent lad, Basil continued to perform all his duties faithfully and honestly.

During the Paschal Matins, thieves robbed the merchandise house in which Basil worked. Discovering the theft, the boss went to the governor and reported the theft, accusing Basil of the crime. Thus, on the day of Christ’s Bright Pascha, when the holy Church calls all people to peace and love, this innocent, God-fearing boy was betrayed by a false witness, just as Christ had been betrayed by false witnesses. The governor did not even investigate the charges but immediately sent officers to arrest St. Basil and drag him out of the church. The governor and Basil’s boss began to torture the boy in order to force a confession from him. In spite of all the fierce tortures, the blessed one would only reply meekly, “I am innocent.” The pain from the tortures became so unbearable that the youth fainted for a while. His meekness and patient endurance enraged the evil merchant even more, so he finally, in a demonic frenzy, struck the innocent virgin on the head with a heavy chain of keys. The righteous Basil fell to the floor, sighed heavily, and gave up his pure soul into the hands of the Lord, on the day of Christ’s radiant Pascha, 1600. He was thirteen years old.

In order to hide their foul crime, the governor and the passion-crazed merchant placed the body of the holy martyr into a rough coffin and lowered it into a nearby marsh, weighted down with stones. Fifty-two years later, God willed to reveal the glory of His holy virgin-martyr, and many wondrous events began to occur in the area around Mangazeya. Several pious people had dreams in which a beardless youth appeared to them, and many ill people were healed by this holy boy. A strange light was seen over the marsh and unseen voices were heard chanting nearby. Then, the coffin of this saint rose slowly to the top of the mud. A pious archer, Steven Shiryaev, noticed the coffin but did not approach it until St. Basil appeared to him in a dream and told him to open the coffin. Then the whole story of St. Basil’s martyrdom became known, and his relics, whole and incorrupt, were retrieved from the swamp. A chapel was built for the relics, and many people received healings through the prayers of the young martyr.

Author’s note: In the Greek Synaxarion and the Athonite Patrology, the New-Martyr Luke from Jedrene is commemorated on this day. He was taken to Constantinople by the Turks as a child and circumcised. He was greatly troubled in his conscience because of this, regarding his circumcision as the devil’s seal upon him, which he could destroy only by suffering martyrdom for Christ. He became a monk on the Holy Mountain and went with his elder, Vissarion, to Mytilene. There he was murdered by the Turks on March 23rd, 1802. Hanging in the air, the martyr’s body gave forth a fragrant myrrh.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Paphnutios prayed to God to reveal to him whom he (Paphnutios) resembled, and he heard a voice that said to him: ‘You are like a merchant seeking goodly pearls: get up, and don’t be lazy!’ But God could not say to all of us that we are like merchants seeking goodly pearls. For many of us do not seek pearls but bury ourselves under thicker and thicker layers of worthless dust. It is not only pearls that a fishing-net brings up from the bottom of the sea, but also mud and sand. An ignoramus grabs at the mud and sand as at the pearl. Only a merchant who can recognize a true pearl throws the net into the sea innumerable times, sifting out the mud and sand until he finds one seed pearl. Why did God compare Paphnutios to a merchant? Because Paphnutios had given all his goods and devoted all his efforts and his time in order somehow to find that one, true seed-pearl. That one pearl is a heart purified from passions and evil thoughts, and inflamed with love for God. Get up, man, and don’t be lazy! The day of your marketing is nearing its twilight.

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.