Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday Before The Exaltation of The Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 126]. Brethren:

2 ⁶We speak wisdom among the perfect, but a wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nought. ⁷But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, which hath been hidden and which God foreordained before the ages to our glory, ⁸which not one of the rulers of this age hath known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of the glory. ⁹But even as it hath been written: “Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God prepared for those who love Him [cf. Is. 64:4].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 39]. The Lord said:

10 ³⁷“The one who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸“And whosoever taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹“The one who findeth his life shall lose it; and the one who loseth his life on account of Me shall find it. ⁴⁰“The one who receiveth you receiveth Me, and the one who receiveth Me receiveth the One Who sent Me forth. ⁴¹“The one who receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²“And whosoever shall give to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, in no wise shall he lose his reward.”

11 ¹And it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, He passed over from that place to teach and preach in their cities.

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 146]. Brethren:

10 ²³All things are lawful to me, but not all things are expedient; all things are lawful to me, but not all things build up. ²⁴Let no one seek that of his own, but each one that of the other. ²⁵Keep on eating everything that is sold in a market, examining nothing for the sake of conscience: ²⁶for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof [Ps. 23(24):1].” ²⁷And if any of the unbelievers invite you, and ye wish to go, be eating everything set before you, examining nothing for the sake of conscience. ²⁸If anyone should tell you, “This is a sacrifice to idols,” cease eating, on account of that one who informed, and for the sake of conscience; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof [Ps. 23(24):1].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 101]. The Lord said:

24 ³⁴“Verily I say to you, in no wise shall this generation pass away until all these things shall have taken place. ³⁵“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass away. ³⁶“But concerning that day and hour, no one knoweth, not even the angels of the heavens, except My Father only. ³⁷“But even as the days of Noah were, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸“For even as in the days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark— ³⁹“and they knew not until the flood came and took all away—so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰“Then two shall be in the field: the one is taken and the one is left. ⁴¹“Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one is taken and one is left. ⁴²“Be watching then, for ye know not in what hour your Lord cometh. ⁴³“But know ye this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴“On this account, ye also keep on becoming ready, for in what hour ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Forefeast of the Cross, and the dedication of the Church of the Holy Resurrection of Christ our God.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 307].

3 ¹Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, ²Who was faithful to the One Who made Him, as also was “Moses in all His house [cf. Num. 12:7].” ³For this One hath been deemed worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as the one who built the house hath more honor than it. ⁴For every house is built by someone; but the One Who hath built all things is God.

Gospel

For the Cross:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ mid 42]. The Lord said:

12 ²⁵“The one who loveth his life shall lose it; and the one who hateth his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. ²⁶“If anyone serve Me, let him keep on following Me; and where I am, there My servant shall be also. And if anyone serve Me, the Father shall honor him. ²⁷“Now My soul hath been troubled; and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’; but on this account I came to this hour. ²⁸“Father, glorify Thy name.” Then a voice came out of the heaven: “I both glorified it and will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd then that stood by and heard it was saying that thunder had occurred; others were saying, “An angel hath spoken to Him.” ³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice hath not occurred for My sake, but for your sakes. ³¹“Now is a judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. ³²“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Myself.” ³³But He was saying this, signifying by what manner of death He was about to die. ³⁴The crowd answered Him, “We heard out of the law that the Christ abideth forever; and how sayest Thou, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵Then Jesus said to them, “Yet a little while is the light with you. Be walking while ye have the light, that darkness might not overtake you; and indeed the one who walketh in the darkness knoweth not where he goeth. ³⁶“While ye have the light, keep on believing in the light, that ye might become sons of light.” Jesus spoke these things, and departed, and was hidden from them.

For the Church of the Resurrection:

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

16 ¹³After Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi, He began to ask His disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, and others Elias, and others Jeremias or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He saith to them, “But ye, whom do ye say that I am?” ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, the living One.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said to him, “Happy art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood did not reveal this to thee, but My Father Who is in the heavens. ¹⁸“And I say also to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against her.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 26th – Civil Calendar
September 13th – Church Calendar

1. The Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

When the holy Empress Helena found the Lord’s Cross in Jerusalem, she stayed longer in the city and built churches in Gethsemane, in Bethlehem, on the Mount of Olives and in other places that commemorated the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. On Golgotha, where she found the Precious Cross, she began to build an enormous church, under whose roof would be the places both where the Lord was crucified and where He was buried, the holy empress wanting to bring under one roof the places of His suffering and His glory. But Helena went to the Lord before this magnificent church was completed. It was finished in the same year in which Constantine completed thirty years on the throne, and so the consecration of the church and the emperor’s Jubilee were fixed for the same day, September 13th, 335. At that time, a local council of bishops was meeting in Tyre. These bishops, with many others, made their way to Jerusalem, to the solemn consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. It was then instituted that this day, as a day of victory and triumph for the Church of Christ, should be celebrated every year.

2. The Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion.

A Roman and an officer in Palestinian Caesarea, he was baptized by the Apostle Peter after a heavenly vision (Acts 10:1), and was the first pagan to enter the Church of God. Until then, some thought that the Church of Christ was only for the Jews and for those who received Jewish circumcision. Being baptized, Cornelius left everything and followed the Apostle Peter. The apostle later made him bishop and sent him to the pagan town of Skepseis, where holy Cornelius suffered much humiliation and pain for the sake of Christ. But, by the power of God, he destroyed the temple of Apollo and baptized the prince of that town, Demetrius, and two hundred and seventy seven pagans. Forewarned by God of the day of his death, he gathered all the Christians together, gave them counsel, prayed to God and peacefully went to his Lord full of years. In time, his grave was forgotten and neglected, but the saint appeared to Silvanos, the Bishop of Troas, and showed him the whereabouts of his grave, commanding him to build a church there. The bishop did so, with the help of a wealthy citizen, Evgenios. Many miracles have been performed over his relics.

3. The Holy Martyrs Macrobius and Gordian.

From Pamphlagonia, they were at first imperial cup-bearers, but when they revealed that they were Christians, the emperor exiled them to Sceta, where they were cast into the flames in a place called New Danube, in the year 320.

4. The Holy Martyr Ketevana, Queen of Georgia.

She suffered as a Christian under Shah Abbas I, in 1624. By order of the Shah, a white-hot helmet was placed on her head. Her son Taymuraz, King of Georgia, laid her relics under the throne in the church at Alaverdsk in Georgia.

5. Our Holy Father Hierotheos.

Born in the Peloponnese in the village of Kalamata, he lived in asceticism in the monastery of Iviron on the Holy Mountain. He was distinguished by great secular learning and by strict monastic asceticism, and was at pains to fulfill the rule of St. Arsenius: ‘It is enough for a monk to sleep one hour out of the twenty-four.’ He entered into rest in 1745 on the island of Varos, and his relics have wonder-working power. Of these relics, his head is preserved in the monastery of Iviron. On touching his holy relics in Constantinople, a blind woman received her sight.

FOR CONSIDERATION

What happens to the persecutors of Christ’s Church? Ask Saul, the persecutor of the Church, what happened to him. ‘It is hard for thee to kick against the goads’ (Acts 9:5), said the Lord to Saul, and Saul was baptized and became Paul. What happened to Herod, the first persecutor of Christians? What happened to Julian the Apostate! They died an evil death, and their struggle against Christ dispersed into nothing, like smoke. And so throughout history: some persecutors became Christians and others had an evil end. The efforts of the one and the other against Christianity dispersed into nothing, like smoke. The Emperor Hadrian, attacking Jerusalem, meant to be revenged not only on the Jews but also on the Christians, making no distinction between the two. He scattered the Jews throughout the world, and in the place where Solomon’s Temple had been, built a temple for idol-worship. He also re-named Jerusalem Aelia, after his own name, and forbade anyone to call it Jerusalem. He built a temple on Golgotha to the foul Venus, a temple to Zeus over the Lord’s tomb and a temple to Adonis in Bethlehem. How distressed the Christians of that time must have been, seeing their holy places defiled in such a way! But what happened in the end? The Emperor Hadrian died an evil death, and the pagan temples were pulled down in the time of the Empress Helena and the Emperor Constantine, who in their place built beautiful churches, some of which remain to this day. ‘It is hard to kick against the goads.’ Oh, what a hopeless despair is the lot of all who struggle against Christ!

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.