Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Seventh Week or Saturday Before Pentecost or Saturday of Souls

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 51A]. In those days:

28 ¹After Paul and those with him were brought through safely, then they found out that the island was called Melita. ²And the barbarians were showing no common philanthropy to us; for they kindled a fire and took in all of us, because of the rain that came on and because of the cold. ³And after Paul gathered a great number of dry sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ⁴And when the barbarians saw the beast hang itself from his hand, they were saying to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath come through safely from out of the sea, justice doth not suffer to live.” ⁵He indeed then shook off the beast into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶But they were expecting that he was about to become inflamed or to suddenly fall down dead. But when for a long time they expected and saw nothing out of place happen to him, they changed their minds and were declaring him to be a god. ⁷Now in the parts surrounding that place there were lands belonging to the chief of the island, by name Publius, who received us and lodged us for three days in a kindly manner. ⁸And it came to pass that the father of Publius, being constrained by fevers and dysentery, was lying down, to whom Paul, after he entered and prayed, laid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹Then after this took place, the rest who had infirmities in the island were coming and being cured. ¹⁰They also honored us with many honors; and when we put out to sea, they themselves laid on us the things for our need.

¹¹And after three months we put out to sea in a ship which had wintered in the island, an Alexandrian with an ensign, the Twin Brothers. ¹²And having landed at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. ¹³From that place, having gone around, we arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind came on; and on the second day we came to Puteoli, ¹⁴where, having found brethren, we were besought to tarry with them seven days. And thus we came to Rome. ¹⁵And from that place, the brethren, having heard the things concerning us, came out to meet us as far as Appius Forum and Three Taverns, whom Paul, having seen, gave thanks to God and took courage. ¹⁶And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the military commander; but Paul was permitted to lodge by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called together those who were chiefs of the Jews; and having come together, he began to say to them, “Men, brethren, though I did nothing contrary to the people or to the customs of the fathers, yet was I delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, ¹⁸“who, after they examined me, were willing to release me, because there was not even one cause of death in me. ¹⁹“But when the Jews contradicted it, I was compelled to appeal to Cæsar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. ²⁰“For this cause therefore I invited you, to see you and to speak to you; for on account of the hope of Israel I have around me this chain.” ²¹And they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judæa concerning thee, nor did any of the brethren that came report or speak anything evil concerning thee. ²²“But we deem it fitting to hear from thee what thou thinkest; for indeed concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.” ²³And after they themselves appointed him a day, more were coming to him in the lodging, to whom he set forth and testified the kingdom of God, trying to persuade them concerning the things of Jesus, from both the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning until evening. ²⁴And some on the one hand were persuaded by the things which were spoken, but some on the other hand kept on disbelieving. ²⁵And when they were dissonant toward one another, they dismissed themselves, after Paul spoke one word, “Well spoke the Holy Spirit by Esaias the prophet to our fathers, ²⁶“saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “Hearing ye shall hear, and in no wise shall understand; and seeing ye shall see, and in no wise shall perceive [Is. 6:9]; ²⁷“‘“for the heart of this people was made fat; and with their ears they heard heavily; and their eyes they closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and be converted; and I shall heal them [cf. Is. 6:10].”’ ²⁸“Be it known therefore to you that this salvation of God was sent forth to the nations, and they will hear.” ²⁹And after he said these things, the Jews departed having much discussion among themselves.

³⁰And Paul stayed two whole years in his own hired house, and kept on receiving all those who came in to him, ³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all freedom of speech, without hindrance.

For the Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 270].

4 ¹³Brethren, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not be grieving, even as the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. ¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the ones remaining over until the coming of the Lord, in no wise shall precede those who fell asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. ¹⁷Then we the living, the ones remaining over, shall be carried off together with them in clouds to a meeting of the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 67]. At that time:

21 ¹⁴Jesus was made manifest to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When therefore they ate breakfast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” He saith to Him, “Yes, Lord, Thou knowest that I have affection for Thee.” He saith to him, “Be feeding My little lambs.” ¹⁶He saith to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?” He saith to Him, “Yes, Lord, Thou knowest that I have affection for Thee.” He saith to him, “Be shepherding My sheep.” ¹⁷He saith to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonas, hast thou affection for Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Hast thou affection for Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I have affection for Thee.” He saith to him, “Be feeding My sheep. ¹⁸“Verily, verily, I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou used to gird thyself and walk about where thou wouldest; but whenever thou growest old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and bring thee where thou wouldest not.” ¹⁹But this He said signifying by what kind of death he shall glorify God. And having said this, He saith to him, “Follow thou Me.” ²⁰And Peter, having turned about, seeth the disciple, whom Jesus loved, following—who also leaned back on His breast at the supper—and said, “Lord, who is the one who is delivering Thee up?” ²¹After Peter saw him, he saith to Jesus, “But Lord, this man—what?” ²²Jesus saith to him, “If I wish him to tarry while I am coming, what is that to thee? Do thou be following Me.” ²³Then this saying went out among the brethren that “that disciple dieth not”; and yet Jesus did not say that “he dieth not,” but, “If I wish him to tarry while I am coming, what is that to thee?”

²⁴This is the disciple who beareth testimony concerning these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things, which if as much as Jesus did may be written one by one, I suppose even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

For the Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

5 ²⁴“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. ²⁵“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. ²⁶“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, ²⁸“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, ²⁹“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. 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.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Symeon of the Wondrous Mountain.

Epistle

No reading given.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mt. 11:27-30].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 6th – Civil Calendar
May 24th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Simeon the Stylite of the Wondrous Mountain.

This wondrous and holy man was born in Antioch in 521, in the reign of the Emperor Justin I the Elder. His father perished in an earthquake and he was left alone with his mother, Martha. When he was six years old, he went away into the desert to John, a spiritual teacher there, and under his guidance, gave himself to a strict asceticism of fasting and prayer, to the wonderment of all who saw him. Whilst enduring fearful demonic trials, he received great comfort and grace from the Lord and His angels. Christ the Lord appeared to him in the form of a handsome youth, and after this vision, Simeon’s heart was inflamed with great love for Christ. He spent many years on a pillar, praying and singing psalms. Led by God, he took himself off to the mountain called ‘Wondrous’ by the Lord Himself, and is known as ‘of the Wondrous Mountain’ because of this. The measure of his love for God was such that rare grace was given him, by the help of which he was able to heal every sort of illness, tame wild beasts and perceive the most distant regions of the earth and the hearts of men. He was taken to see the heavens, conversed with angels, harried the demons, prophesied, spent thirty days at a time without sleep and even longer without food, receiving nourishment at the hands of angels. The words of the Savior: ‘He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do’ (Jn 14:12), were completely fulfilled in him. In the year 596, at the age of seventy-five, Simeon went to the Lord, to the eternal enjoyment of the vision of the face of God in the company of the angels.

2. The Holy Martyr Meletius Stratelates, with 1218 soldiers and their wives and children.

Accused of the destruction of a pagan temple in the reign of the Emperor Antoninus, Meletius gave forth his holy soul nailed to a tree. Many solders under his command, who refused to deny Christ their Lord, suffered with honor in the second century, and went to the kingdom of Christ our God.

3. Our Holy Father Nikita the Stylite.

He lived an unrestrained and vicious life as a youth. When once he happened to enter a church, he heard the words of the Prophet Isaias: ‘Wash you (your sins), make you clean’ (1:16). The words penetrated deeply into his soul, and effected a complete change in his life. Nikita left his home, his wife and his land and entered a monastery close to Pereyaslavl, where he labored until his death in strict asceticism. He enveloped his body in chains and shut himself up in a pillar, being therefore known as a stylite. God granted him great grace, and he healed people afflicted with various torments. He healed Michael, Prince of Chernigov, of palsy. One day some evildoers saw the chains on him, and seeing them gleam, thought them to be silver, so they killed him one night, took the chains off him and carried them away. This happened on May 16th, 1186. He appeared to a certain elder, Simeon, after his death and told him to place the chains, when they were found, in the grave beside his body.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘To the pure, all things are pure,’ says the apostle. The food that a man eats cannot be called unclean in itself; however, some foods may evoke impure thoughts and desires in a man. St. Simeon the Stylite pondered beautifully on this in a conversation with his elder, John. The elder said: ‘A man cannot make either food or drink impure, because the Lord says in the Scriptures: “Even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Gen. 9:3)’. Holy Simeon replied: ‘Although food cannot make a man impure, it can cause impure thoughts to arise and darken the mind; it can give birth to the passions and flesh them out, transforming a spiritual man into a carnal, and turning his thoughts to earthly desires.’ Is not the water that falls from a cloud pure? But when too much rain falls, the crops rot because of it. Likewise, strong food brings about the corruption of a man’s spiritual and moral being.

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.