Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirtieth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 327]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Heb. 11:8-16; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 11:8, 11-16.

11 ⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into the place which he was about to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he sojourned in the land of the promise, as in a foreign land, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the joint-heirs of the same promise; ¹⁰for he was waiting for the city which hath the foundations of which the artificer and maker is God. ¹¹By faith also Sarah herself received power for the begetting of seed, and she brought forth when she was past age, since she deemed faithful Him Who promised. ¹²Wherefore, even from one, and that of one who hath been deadened, were born so many “even as the stars of the heaven” in multitude, “and as sand which is by the shore of the sea innumerable [cf. Gen. 15:5, 22:17].” ¹³These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar, and having been persuaded, and having embraced them, also confessed that they were “strangers and sojourners on the earth [cf. Gen. 23:4].” ¹⁴For they who say such things make manifest that they are seeking a fatherland. ¹⁵And if indeed they had kept on remembering from where they came out, they would have kept on having opportunity to have returned. ¹⁶But now they themselves are reaching after a better fatherland, that is, a heavenly one. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 41]. At that time:

9 ³³Jesus and His disciples came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house, He was questioning them, “What were ye discussing among yourselves on the way?” ³⁴But they were keeping silent; for on the way they discussed with one another who was greater. ³⁵And He sat down and called the twelve, and saith to them, “If anyone doth wish to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶And He took a little child and set him in their midst. And after He took him into His arms, He said to them, ³⁷“Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in My name, receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but the One Who sent Me forth.”

³⁸And John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who doth not follow us casting out demons in Thy name, and we hindered him, because he doth not follow us.” ³⁹But Jesus said, “Cease hindering him, for there is no one who shall do a work of power in My name, and be able quickly to speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰“For he who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because ye are of Christ, verily I say to you, in no wise shall he lose his reward.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Martyr Boniface at Tarsus in Cilicia, and Righteous Aglais of Rome.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 1st – Civil Calendar
December 19th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Boniface.

Martyrdom for Christ makes sinners into saints. This is shown by the example of St. Boniface. He was at first servant to a wealthy and dissolute woman, Aglaïs, in Rome, and had unclean and unlawful relations with her. Aglaïs evinced the desire to have the relics of some martyr in her house as a blessing so that God would forgive them for their sinful life through the prayers to the martyr, so she sent her servant to Asia to find and buy for her what she desired. Boniface took some slaves with him and a fair amount of money, and at the moment of parting, said to Aglaïs: ‘If I can’t find any martyrs and if they bring you back my body, martyred for Christ, will you receive it with honor?’ Aglaïs rebuked him, saying that this is serious business. Coming to the city of Tarsus, Boniface saw many Christians undergoing torture: some were having their legs cut off, some their hands, others their eyes put out, yet others were dying on the gallows and so forth. Boniface’s heart was changed, and he repented of his sinful life with tears. He called out among the Christian martyrs: ‘I too am a Christian!’ The judge took him for interrogation and ordered that he be harshly flogged, then that boiling lead be poured into his mouth, and as this did him no harm, that he be beheaded. The slaves then took his body back to Rome. An angel of God appeared to Aglaïs and said: ‘Take him who was at one time your servant, but is now our brother and fellow-servant; he is the guardian of your soul and the protector of your life.’ Aglaïs went in wonder to meet them at the dock, took Boniface’s body, built a church for his relics and placed them there. She then repented, gave away all her goods to the poor and withdrew from the world, living a further fifteen years in bitter penitence. St. Boniface suffered in the year 290.

2. St. Gregory, Bishop of Omir.

He was at first a deacon in the church in Mediolanum (Milan), and had many visions. By God’s providence, he was taken to the city of Alexandria, where Patriarch Proterios, in response to a heavenly revelation, consecrated him bishop of the land of Omir in southern Arabia, which the holy King Elesbaan (Oct. 24th) had already freed from the tyranny of Dunaan the Jew. He was a good shepherd and a great wonder-worker. He organized the Church in Omir, with the help of the Christ-loving King Avram, built many churches and baptized a great number of the Jews. He performed great and terrible wonders by his prayers, even bringing about a revelation of Christ the Lord before the unbelieving Jews, which led to their Baptism. Having governed the Church for thirty years, he entered peacefully into eternal life in the late fifth century.

3. St. Boniface the Merciful, Bishop of Ferentino.

He had a rare compassion from childhood, being scolded for this by his mother. But, helped by prayer, he received a hundredfold from the Lord. He died peacefully in Italy in the sixth century.

4. Our Holy Father Elias of Murom.

He was a monk of the Kiev Caves, and died in 1188. His incorrupt relics have wonder-working power. Three fingers of his right hand are to this day raised in prayer, whence it is seen that he died at prayer. This is a commentary on those who do not make the sign of the Cross with three fingers.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Can faith remove mountains (Matt. 17:20)? Yes, undoubtedly, and it can do more than that: faith can move God Himself to compassion towards us sinners. In the Omirian town of Aphar, the majority of the inhabitants were Jews. St. Gregory strove to bring them to the Christian Faith. Then the Jews suggested to him and to King Avram that they should have a debate on faith, with the assurance that, if they were defeated, they would all embrace the Christian Faith. The debate lasted several days, in the presence of several thousand people, both Jews and Christians. The Jews, seeing that they would be defeated by the irrefutable reasons and proofs brought by Gregory, demanded that he in some way show them Christ alive, that they might see Him with their own eyes, and they would then believe. Having utter confidence in the Lord because of the purity of his heart, St. Gregory knelt, facing east, before them all and prayed to God. When he had finished his prayer, the earth quaked and there was a clap of thunder, and the heavens opened to eastward. A luminous cloud appeared from the east, aflame with brilliant rays, and slowly descended to earth at the spot where the people were gathered. In the midst of the cloud stood a Man of unspeakable beauty, with a radiant face and raiment like lightning. He walked across the cloud till He stood above Bishop Gregory. All saw Him in unsurpassable glory and beauty, and fell on their faces in fear. Gregory cried out: ‘One only is holy, One only is Lord: Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen!’ At this, there came a voice to the Jews from the Lord’s glory: ‘For the sake of the bishop’s prayers, the Crucified heals you of the unbelief of your forefathers,’ and the cloud slowly disappeared as it had come. The Jews were then baptized.

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.