Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 13]. In those days:

5 ¹A certain man, by name Ananias, with Sapphire his wife, sold a property, ²and appropriated for themselves part of the price, his wife also being privy to it. And he brought a certain part, and laid it at the feet of the apostles. ³But Peter said, “Ananias, why did Satan fill thy heart for thee to deceive the Holy Spirit, and to appropriate part of the price of the land? ⁴“While it remained, it did remain thine own, did it not? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own authority? Why didst thou put this thing in thy heart? Thou didst not lie to men, but to God.” ⁵And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and expired. And great fear came to be upon all who heard these things. ⁶And the younger men rose up and wrapped him round, and carried him out, and buried him. ⁷And there came to pass an interval of about three hours, and his wife, who knew not what had happened, entered. ⁸And Peter began to speak to her, “Tell me whether ye yourselves sold the land for so much?” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹And Peter said to her, “Why was it agreed together by you to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.” ¹⁰And immediately she fell down at his feet and expired. And the young men entered and found her dead. And they carried her out and buried her by her husband. ¹¹And great fear came to be upon the whole church and upon all those who heard these things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 17]. The Lord said to the Jews having come to Him:

5 ³⁰“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father. ³¹“If I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is not true. ³²“It is Another Who beareth witness concerning Me, and I know that the testimony which He beareth witness to concerning Me is true. ³³“Ye have sent away to John, and he hath borne witness to the truth. ³⁴“But I receive not testimony from man. But I say these things that ye might be saved. ³⁵“That one was the lamp that burneth and shineth, and ye became willing to rejoice for an hour in his light. ³⁶“But I have the testimony greater than that of John; for the works which the Father gave to Me in order that I should finish them, the very works which I do, bear witness concerning Me that the Father hath sent Me forth. ³⁷“And the Father Who sent Me, Himself hath borne witness concerning Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor have seen His form. ³⁸“And ye have not His word abiding in you, for He Whom that One sent forth, this One ye believe not. ³⁹“Keep on searching the Scriptures, for in them ye think to have eternal life; and these are they which testify concerning Me. ⁴⁰“And yet ye are not willing to come to Me in order that ye may have life. ⁴¹“I receive not glory from man. ⁴²“But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³“I have come in the name of My Father, and ye receive Me not; if another should come in his own name, that one ye will receive. ⁴⁴“How are ye able to believe, who receive glory from one another, and seek not the glory which is from the only God? ⁴⁵“Cease thinking that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuseth you—Moses, in whom ye have hoped. ⁴⁶“For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for concerning Me that one wrote. ⁴⁷“But if ye believe not the writings of that one, how shall ye believe My words?”

6 ¹After these things Jesus went away across the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ²And a great crowd was following Him, because they had been seeing the signs which He brought about upon those who were sick.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father John, disciple of St. Gregory the Decapolite.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 1st – Civil Calendar
April 18th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father John.

He was a disciple of St. Gregory of Decapolis. In the time of the iconoclast heresy, the Emperor Leo the Armenian put John to torture, together with his teacher, Gregory, and Joseph the Hymnographer. When Gregory finished his earthly course, John became abbot of the Decapolite monastery in Constantinople. Becoming abbot, he intensified his asceticism for the sake of the kingdom of God. He died peacefully in about 820. After his death, St. Joseph buried him near the grave of St. Gregory.

2. The Holy Martyr John the New of Ioannina.

He was born in Ioannina, the ancient capital of King Pyrrhus. When his poor parents died, the young John went to Constantinople and there continued his trade, for he was a craftsman. The Turks had occupied Constantinople not long before this, and many Christians had, out of fear, denied Christ and accepted Islam. St. John had his workshop right in the midst of these men who had become Turks. The more inflamed St. John became with love for Christ, the more outwardly apparent this became to these apostates. He began to dispute with them about the Faith, and to reprimand them for their betrayal of Christ. They dragged him before the judge and falsely accused him of having earlier accepted Islam and having returned to Christianity. For this he was tortured—beaten and flogged with iron flails—and then cast into prison. On the second day, which was the day of Pascha, they brought him out for further torture, and John emerged full of joy and singing: ‘Christ is risen from the dead!’ He spoke courageously to his torturers, saying: ‘Do what you will to me, and send me as quickly as possible from this transient life into life eternal. I am Christ’s servant; I follow Christ, and I die for Christ that I may live with Him!’ After that, John was bound in chains and taken to the place of burning. Seeing the great flames prepared for him, John ran forward and leapt into them. But his torturers, seeing how he sought death in the fire, pulled him out of it and sentenced him to be beheaded. When they had cut off his head, they threw it and his body into the fire. Later, Christians gathered the ashes and some of his precious and wonder-working relics and buried them in the Great Church in Constantinople. Thus he died a martyr’s death and received the glorious wreath of martyrdom on April 18th, 1526.

3. The Holy Martyrs Victor, Zotikos, Zeno, Akyndios and Severian.

They were all martyred under the Emperor Diocletian. They were pagans until they witnessed the martyrdom of St. George the Great Martyr. Then, seeing the sufferings and courage of this glorious martyr and the many miracles that were wrought at that time, they embraced the Christian Faith. For this Faith they soon suffered, and were crowned with glory.

4. The Holy Martyr Apollonius.

He was a Roman senator. Denounced for his faith, he confessed it before the entire senate, for which he was beheaded in the year 186.

FOR CONSIDERATION

In one description of the Christian martyrs under the Persian King Sapor, it is said: ‘Swords become blunt, sword-bearers fall and sword-makers tire—but the Cross is ever higher and higher upraised and burnished with the blood of Christ’s martyrs.’ Times without number the persecutors of Christians have said complacently to themselves that they have done away with Christianity for good. In the event, their lives came to an end while Christianity sprouted and flowered anew. However, in the teeth of this experience, some of our contemporaries reckon that the Christian Faith can be uprooted forcibly. But—they do not say how. And they forget that this has already been attempted again and again without success. It was with reason that Tertullian cried to the pagans: ‘You are spilling our blood in vain; the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity!’

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.