Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 225]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Eph. 4:14-17; for Sl. usage, see Eph. 4:14-19.

4 ¹⁴We may no longer be infants, tossed to and fro by waves, and carried about with every wind of teaching, by the sleight of men, in craftiness toward the systematizing of error; ¹⁵but speaking the truth in love, we might grow up into Him in all things Who is the head—the Christ, ¹⁶from Whom all the body, being joined and knit together by what every juncture supplieth, according to the energy of every single part in measure, maketh for itself the increase of the body, to the building up of itself in love.

¹⁷This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord: ye are no longer to walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸who have been darkened in thought and alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹who, having become insensible, gave themselves up to licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness with greediness.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 52]. At that time:

11 ²⁷Jesus came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking about in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders come to Him, ²⁸and say to Him, “By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority that Thou mayest be doing these things?” ²⁹And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word; and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things: ³⁰“The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ³²“But if we should say, ‘From men’?”—they were fearing the people; for all held that John was a prophet. ³³And answering, they say to Jesus, “We know not.” And Jesus answered, saying to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation, and our holy father among the saints, Evmenios, Bishop and Wonder-worker of Gortyna.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 1st – Civil Calendar
September 18th – Church Calendar

1. St. Evmenios (Eumenius), Bishop of Gortyna in Crete.

He gave himself to Christ with his whole heart from his youth, freeing himself of two heavy burdens: the burden of riches and the burden of the flesh. He freed himself from the first by giving away all his goods to the poor and needy, and from the latter by strict fasting. He thus healed himself and was able to heal others. Passionless and filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Evmenios shone with a radiance that could not be hidden, as it is written: ‘A city set on a hill cannot be hid’ (Matt. 5:14), and so holy Evmenios could not be hidden from the world. Seeing him, the people chose him as their bishop in Gortyna. As a bishop, he governed Christ’s flock as a good shepherd. He was a father to the poor, riches to the needy, consolation to the sad, healing to the sick and a marvellous wonder-worker. He worked many miracles by his prayers: he killed a poisonous snake, drove out demons, healed many of the sick, and did this not only in his home city but in Rome and in the Thebaid. In the Thebaid, he brought rain from God in a time of drought, and there finally finished his earthly course and entered into the eternal presence of his Lord. He lived and worked in the seventh century.

2. The Holy Martyr Ariadne.

In the town of Promisea in Phrygia in the time of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138), there lived a pagan patrician, Tertullus. The maiden Ariadne was a slave of his, and a Christian. On his son’s birthday, Tertullus ordered a great sacrifice to the idols, in which Ariadne did not take part, staying at home and praying to the true God. Her owner was furious with her for this, and put pressure on her to deny Christ and worship idols. When Ariadne refused to do this, he had her whipped and tortured in other ways, then threw her into prison. He soon released her from prison and drove her from the house, but quickly changed his mind and sent servants to bring her back. Ariadne was already a long way from the town. When she saw her persecutors, she prayed to God beside a great rock, and the rock opened and hid her. The servants were nonplussed at this, quarrelled among themselves and came to blows, and so perished at one another’s hands.

3. The Holy Martyr Bidzini, Prince of Georgia.

He died for the Christian Faith under Shah Abbas II in 1661, together with his kinsmen Elisbar and Shavel.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘Insofar as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me’ (Matt. 25:40), says the Lord. When giving alms, in giving to the poor we give to the living Lord Christ Himself. There was a man in Constantinople who had a rare compassion. Going through the streets of the city, he put his gift into the hands of the poor and immediately went on his way, to avoid hearing their thanks and becoming known. When one of his friends asked him how he had become so compassionate, he replied: ‘One day in church, I heard the priest say that what we give to the poor we give into the hands of the Lord Christ Himself. I didn’t believe this, thinking that it couldn’t be so, Christ being in heaven. Once, though, on the way home, I saw a poor man standing in the beggars’ place—and the face of Christ shining over his head. Someone passed by and gave the beggar a piece of bread, and I saw the Lord stretch out His hand, take the bread and bless the giver. From that moment, I’ve always seen that face over the heads of the beggars, and therefore, with great fear, I give all the alms I can.’

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.