Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 198].

1 ¹Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead), ²and all the brethren with me, to the churches of Galatia: ³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.... ²⁰Now the things which I write to you, behold, before the face of God, I lie not. ²¹Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judæa which are in Christ. But they were hearing only that “the one who once persecuted us now preacheth the faith as good tidings which once he used to ravage.” ²³And they were glorifying God in me.

2 ¹Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. ²And I went up according to revelation, and I laid before them the Gospel which I proclaim among the nations, but privately to those who were of repute, lest in any way I should be running, or ran, in vain. ³But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴Now on this account false brethren were introduced privily—who came in secretly to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus—in order that they might bring us into bondage to themselves; ⁵to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, in order that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 19]. At that time:

5 ¹Jesus came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gergesenes. ²And after He came forth out of the ship, straightway there met Him out of the sepulchers a man with an unclean spirit, ³who had his dwelling among the sepulchers; and no one was able to bind him, not even with chains, ⁴because he often had been bound, and the chains had been torn asunder by him, and the fetters had been broken in pieces, and no one was able to tame him. ⁵And throughout the night and day, he was in the mountains and in the sepulchers, crying out and cutting himself to pieces with stones. ⁶But after he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and made obeisance to Him. ⁷And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What is it to me and to Thee, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I adjure Thee by God, do not begin to torment me.” ⁸For He was saying to him, “Come forth, thou spirit, the unclean one, out of the man!” ⁹And He was questioning him, “What is thy name?” And he answered, saying, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” ¹⁰And he was beseeching Him much that He would not send them away outside the country. ¹¹Now there was there toward the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹²And all the demons besought Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we might enter into them.” ¹³And straightway Jesus gave them leave. And the spirits, the unclean ones, went out and entered into the swine (now they were about two thousand); and the herd rushed down the cliff into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴And they who fed the swine fled, and brought back tidings to the city and to the country. And they went out to see what it was that had taken place. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus, and beheld the one who had been possessed by demons and had the legion, sitting and clothed and of sound mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶And they who saw related to them how it happened to the one who had been possessed by demons, and concerning the swine. ¹⁷And they began to beseech Him to depart from their borders. ¹⁸And while He embarked into the ship, the one who had been possessed by demons was beseeching Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹And Jesus did not allow him, but saith to him, “Go to thy house and to thine own, and bring tidings to them how much the Lord did for thee, and pitied thee.” ²⁰And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus did for him; and all were marvelling.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Moses the Ethiopian of Scete, and the venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves, whose incorrupt relics rest in the Far Cave, and the venerable God-bearing wonder-worker, Abbot Job of Pochaev.

Epistle

For the venerable Fathers:

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

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)

September 10th – Civil Calendar
August 28th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Moses the Black.

An Ethiopian, he was at first a robber and the leader of a robber band, but he then became a penitent and a great ascetic. As a slave, Moses escaped from his owner and became a robber. Because of his great physical strength and recklessness, the robbers chose him as their leader. Suddenly his conscience was filled with remorse and repentance for the crimes he had committed. He left the band, went to a monastery and gave himself entirely to obedience to his spiritual father and to the rule of the monastery. He made great use of the teaching of Saints Makarios, Arsenius and Isidore. Later, he withdrew to solitude in a cell, where he gave himself utterly to physical labor, prayer, vigils—and pondering on God. Tormented by the demon of lust, he confessed to his spiritual father, Isidore, and received from him the advice to fast as much as possible, and never to eat his fill. When this proved to be of no help, he, at the elder’s advice, began to keep night-vigils and to pray standing; he then got into the way of carrying water from a distant well for the older monks. After six years of terrible striving, St. Isidore finally healed him miraculously of the lustful thoughts, imaginings and dreams visited on him by the demon. He was ordained priest in old age. He founded a monastery of his own, and had seventy-five disciples, himself living to the age of seventy-five. He foresaw his own death, and one day told his disciples to flee, as barbarians were coming to attack the monastery. When his disciples urged him to flee as well, he told them that he must perish in the attack, for he had himself at one time done violence, according to the words: ‘All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword’ (Matt. 26:52). So he stayed, with six of his brethren. The barbarians came and ran them through. One of the brethren, hiding nearby, saw seven shining wreaths descend upon the seven martyrs.

2. Our Holy Father Sava of Pskov and Krypetsk.

A Serb by birth, he lived first in asceticism in the monastery of the holy Mother of God in Pskov, and was abbot of that monastery. But he was praised, so he fled from the glory of men and withdrew to an island in the lake of Krypetsk, where he founded a new community dedicated to St. John the Theologian. However, he was not able there, either, to hide from praise and eminence. Prince Yaroslav of Pskov visited him with his wife. Sava would not allow the woman to enter the monastery, but blessed her and prayed for her outside it, healing her of an infirmity. This godly saint entered into rest in 1495, and his relics had wonder-working power. Of those he received at Krypetsk, Abbot Dositheus is the best-known.

FOR CONSIDERATION

True Christians flee the praise of men. They not only flee it; they have a real fear of it. St. Sava of Pskov left his abbacy, the monastery and the good brethren in it, and went to a barren region, only to escape the praise of men. For the praise of men steals our hearts. A devout prince, hearing of the ascetic feats of St. Moses the Black, set off to the desert with his retinue to see him. Moses was informed that the prince was coming to his monastery. He ran out quickly, to escape and hide somewhere, but unexpectedly came on the noble visitors. ‘Where is Abba Moses’ cell?’ asked the prince’s servant, not suspecting that this was Moses himself. Moses opened his mouth and said: ‘What can he do for you? He is a foolish man, given to lying, and of unclean life.’ The visitors were amazed at these words, and went on their way. When they arrived at Moses’ cell, they asked for the elder and were told that he was not there. The visitors then related what a monk had told them on the way about Moses. The monks were greatly saddened, then asked: ‘What was he like, this old man who spoke such scurrilous words about the holy man?’ When they said that he was very dark-skinned, tall and poorly-clad, the monks exclaimed aloud: ‘That was Abba Moses!’ This incident was of great spiritual help to the prince, and he went home rejoicing.

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.