Daily Devotional

Sunday, July 26, 2020 (NS), July 13, 2020 (OS)

No Fasting.

13-19. The Sunday of the Holy Fathers.

According to the Typikon of the Great Church, if the 13^th is a Sunday, we commemorate the holy and God-bearing Fathers of the Fourth Œcumenical Synod at Chalcedon. If the 13^th is not a Sunday, the service is celebrated on the first Sunday following the 13^th, but not later than the 19^th of July.

According to the Typikon of St. Savvas, when it is the 16^th of July, if it should fall on Wednesday or earlier, we celebrate the service to the holy and God-bearing Fathers of the first Six Œcumenical Synods on the preceding Sunday. If the 16^th falls on a Thursday or later, the service is commemorated on the following Sunday.

Sunday of the Seventh Week

Mode Plagal Two — Seventh Eothinon

The commemoration of the Synaxis of the holy Archangel Gabriel, and our venerable Father Stephen of the Monastery of St. Savvas.

Jump to Prologue

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

13-19. The Sunday of the Holy Fathers.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Titus [§ mid 302 A]: Child Titus:

3 ⁸Faithful is the word. And concerning these things I desire thee to be affirming, in order that they who have believed God may give heed to set before themselves good works. These things are good and profitable to men. ⁹But be shunning foolish inquiries, and genealogies, and strifes, and contentions relating to points of the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. ¹⁰A heretical man, after a first and second admonition, be rejecting, ¹¹knowing that such a one hath been perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned.

¹²Whenever I should send Artemas to thee, or Tychikos, hasten to come to me in Nicopolis, for I have decided to winter there. ¹³Send forth with haste Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, in order that nothing may be lacking to them. ¹⁴And let ours also be learning to set before themselves good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful.

¹⁵All those with me salute thee. Greet those who love us in faith.

Grace be with you all. Amen.

for Sl. usage, see [Heb. 13:7-16].

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 [Jn. 17:1-13].

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Seventh Week

Mode Plagal Two — Seventh Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 116]. Brethren:

15 ¹We who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ²For let each of us be pleasing his neighbor for the good, toward building up. ³For even the Christ pleased not Himself; but even as it hath been written: “The reproaches of those who reproach Thee are fallen on Me [Ps. 68(69):12(9)].” ⁴For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our instruction, in order that we through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures may have hope. ⁵Now may the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded among one another according to Christ Jesus, ⁶that with one accord and with one mouth ye may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Wherefore, be receiving one another, even as also the Christ Himself received us to the glory of God.

Gospel

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

9 ²⁷When Jesus passed by from that place, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸And after He came into the house, the blind men came to Him; and Jesus saith to them, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” They say to Him, “Yes, Lord.” ²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith, let it be to you.” ³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus earnestly admonished them, saying, “See to it, let no one know it.” ³¹But they, after they went out, made Him known in all that land. ³²And as they went out, behold, they brought to Him a mute man possessed by a demon. ³³And after the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the crowds marvelled, saying, “It was never so seen in Israel.” ³⁴But the Pharisees were saying, “He casteth out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

³⁵And Jesus was going about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Synaxis of the holy Archangel Gabriel, and our venerable Father Stephen of the Monastery of St. Savvas.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 305]. Brethren:

2 ²If the word spoken by angels was confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, ³how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which received a beginning to be spoken of by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴God also bearing them witness with both signs and wonders, and various works of power, and by distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His will?

⁵For not to angels did He subject the coming inhabited world about which we speak; ⁶but one bore witness somewhere, saying, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him [Ps. 8:4]? ⁷“Thou didst make Him for a short time less than the angels; Thou didst crown Him with glory and honor [Ps. 8:5], ⁸“Thou didst subject all things under His feet [Ps. 8:6].” For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing not subject to Him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to Him. ⁹But we see Jesus, Who for a short time was made less than the angels on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for everyone. ¹⁰For it was becoming to Him, because of Whom are all things and by means of Whom are all things, bringing many sons to glory, to have perfected the originator of their salvation through sufferings.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“The one who heareth you heareth Me, and the one who rejecteth you rejecteth Me, and the one who rejecteth Me rejecteth the One Who sent Me forth.”

¹⁷And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are being made subject to us in Thy name.” ¹⁸And He said to them, “I was beholding Satan as lightning having fallen out of the heaven. ¹⁹“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. ²⁰“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” ²¹In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

Special Commemorations

13-19. The Sunday of the Holy Fathers.

Commemoration of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.

The ecumenical councils (synods) are the greatest duels between Orthodoxy and the heretics. Today, the Church commemorates the first six councils together:

The First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, at which 318 fathers were present. It is commemorated on May 29th and on the 7th Sunday after Pascha. This council refuted the Arian heresy against God the Son.

The Second Council in Constantinople in 381, was attended by 150 fathers. It is commemorated on May 22nd. This council refuted the heresy of Macedonius against God the Holy Spirit.

The Third Council was in Ephesus in 431, with 200 fathers. It is commemorated on September 9th. This council refuted the Nestorian heresy against the Mother of God.

The Fourth Council was in Chalcedon in 451, with 630 fathers present. It is commemorated on July 16th. This council refuted the Monophysite heresy.

The Fifth Council was in Constantinople in 553, with 160 fathers, and is commemorated on July 25th. This council refuted the heresy of Origen.

The Sixth Council was in Constantinople in 691, with 170 fathers. It is commemorated on January 23rd. This council refuted the Monothelite heresy.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council, held in 787 with 367 fathers present, is not commemorated on this occasion, but on its own on October 11th. This council refuted the iconoclast heresy.

At these councils, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, all heresies were condemned and the Orthodox Faith defined and confirmed for all time.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

July 26h – Civil Calendar
July 13th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Archangel Gabriel.

The Holy Archangel Gabriel. This great archangel of God is commemorated on March 26th. On this day his appearances and marvels through the whole history of the salvation of mankind are commemorated. It is reckoned that this observance was first instituted on the Holy Mountain in 982, during the patriarchate of Nicholas Chrysoverges (979-91), and was occasioned by the Archangel’s appearing in a cell near Karyes, where, with his finger, he wrote the hymn to the Mother of God: ‘Axion Estin’ (It Is Verily Worthy). As a result of this occurrence, the cell was named, and is called to this day, ‘Axion Estin’. Linked with this, other appearances of the Archangel Gabriel are commemorated, such as his appearing to Moses when he revealed to this great man, chosen by God, how the world was created and all the rest that Moses later wrote down in the Book of Genesis; his appearing to Daniel and the imparting of the mystery of the kingdoms to come and the coming of the Savior; his appearing to St. Anna and the promise of a daughter, the most blessed and pure Virgin Mary; his appearing to the holy Virgin while she was living in the Temple in Jerusalem; his appearing to Zacharias the high priest and the news of the birth of John the Forerunner, and the punishing of the same with dumbness because he did not believe the angel’s words; his appearing once again to the holy Virgin in Nazareth, and the annunciation of the conception and birth of the Lord Jesus Christ; his appearing to righteous Joseph, to the shepherds near Bethlehem, to the Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane when he strengthened the Lord, as Man, before His Passion: his appearing to the myrrh-bearing women, and his other appearances.

2. St. Julian, Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans).

Some think that he is none other than that Simon the Leper whom the Lord healed. The Apostle Peter made him bishop and sent him to pagan Gaul, where St. Julian endured great privation, but succeeded in bringing many of the people to the Christian Faith. When the prince, Defenson, was baptized, many of his subjects embraced the true Faith. By the grace of God, Julian worked many miracles: healing the sick, driving out demons and raising the dead. He departed this life peacefully, and at the time of his death, appeared to Prince Defenson in full daylight, while the latter was at lunch.

3. The Holy Martyr Golinduc.

A Persian, she married a Persian noble and lived three years in wedlock. She then had a vision of an angel, who revealed the other world to her: the torment of sinners and unbelievers and the joy of the righteous. She left her husband and received Baptism, being given the name Maria. As a result of her husband’s persecution, she was condemned to lifelong imprisonment and spent eighteen years in prison, being steadfast in the Faith. She was then thrown into a pit, but was saved by God; then before a venomous snake, but the snake did not harm her. When some wicked youths were sent to her to defile her, God made her invisible to their eyes. Amazed at her sufferings, many Persians were converted to the Christian Faith. She visited Jerusalem, where she denounced the Severian heresy which taught that Christ’s divinity suffered, and therefore recited the Trisagion in this form: ‘Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Who was crucified for us, have mercy on us.’ Preaching the true Faith up to the end of her life, she died peacefully near the town of Nisibis in 587.

4. Our Holy Father Stephen of St. Sava’s.

Nephew to St. John Damascene, he lived in asceticism in the monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified, and is therefore known as ‘of St. Sava’s’. He was a great imitator of the life of St. Sava and a resplendent star among the monks of Palestine. He entered into rest in the Lord in 794, at the age of sixty-nine.

5. Our Holy Mother Sarah the Egyptian.

She embraced asceticism as a young girl, and thus spent sixty years on the bank of the Nile not far from Alexandria. By her example, she drew many women to the monastic life. She entered into rest in the Lord in 370.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A man adorns simple clothing, but magnificent clothing adorns a man. Simple clothing attracts attention to the man, but magnificent clothing attracts attention only to itself. A passion for magnificent clothing simply dries up and consumes a man’s soul. This is the reason why the Church has always stood against magnificence in dress and urged simplicity. Among the innumerable horde of Christian saints, there is not one commemorated who was helped to sanctity by the magnificence of his apparel. Many great and wise kings, Christian and pagan alike, have loved simplicity of dress. Thus, it is said of the Emperor Augustus Octavius, during whose reign the Lord Jesus was born, that he wore one single garment, woven by his wife, his sister or his daughter. Of the Emperor Charles V it is said that he wore such simple clothing that ordinary citizens, his subjects, were better-dressed. The famous Greek general, Philopomenes, was once invited to lunch by some man, into whose house he had never previously been. Philopomenes arrived rather early. His host had not yet arrived, and his hostess, not knowing him personally and seeing this man in such simple garb, thought that he must be one of Philopomenes’ servants whom he had sent ahead to warn the household of his coming with his host. She therefore set him to chop wood. Philopomenes obeyed willingly, and began to chop the wood. When his host arrived and saw his honored guest thus employed, he was horrified, and asked him: ‘Who ventured to give such a task to Philopomenes?’ The general replied quietly: ‘My clothes.’

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.