Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirty-Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 245]. Brethren:

3 ⁸I suffered the loss of all things, and deem them to be dung, that I might win Christ, ⁹and might be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰to come to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the partaking of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. ¹²Not that I already received, or already have been perfected; but I pursue, if I might also apprehend that for which I also was apprehended by the Christ, Jesus. ¹³Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forth to those things which are before, ¹⁴I pursue toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of this mind; and if ye are otherwise minded in anything, God shall reveal even this to you. ¹⁶Only to what we attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

¹⁷Brethren, keep on becoming imitators together of me and look to those who so walk, as ye have us for an example. ¹⁸For many walk about, of whom I was telling you often, and now tell even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ: ¹⁹whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and who glory in their shame—they who mind earthly things!

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 32].

7 ³¹The Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like? ³²“They are like little children sitting in a marketplace and calling to one another, and saying, ‘We played on the flute to you, and ye danced not; we sang a dirge to you, and ye wept not.’ ³³“For John the Baptist hath come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, ‘He hath a demon.’ ³⁴“The Son of Man hath come eating and drinking, and ye say, ‘Behold, a man, a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ ³⁵“And yet wisdom is justified by all of her children!”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord, and our holy father among the saints, Bucolos, Bishop of Smyrna, and Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Equal-to-the-apostles.

Epistle

For St. Photios:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 19th – Civil Calendar
February 6th – Church Calendar

1. St. Boukolos (Bucolus), Bishop of Smyrna.

He was a disciple of St. John the Theologian, who consecrated him bishop of the city of Smyrna. There were few baptized Christians in Smyrna, and St. Boukolos shone like a lamp in the pagan darkness. He was adorned with all the virtues, especially gentleness and meekness. Before his death, Boukolos named the famous Polycarp as his successor in the episcopate. Then he peacefully departed this life and went to the Lord.

2. The Holy Martyr Fausta.

Suffering for Christ in the reign of the Emperor Maximian (between 305 and 311), she made her torturers marvel by her heroism and brought them to the Christian Faith. These were the eighty-year-old pagan priest Evilasius, and Maximus the Eparch. When the judge threatened Fausta with even harsher tortures, she asked him to have a picture of her made, showing her enduring all the tortures with which he was threatening her. When it was ready and shown to her, holy Fausta said: ‘As this picture feels no torture, so my body does not feel the torture of your punishments, for my soul is established in the Lord.’ The judge cast her into a cauldron of boiling water, where this thirteen-year-old girl departed this life with prayer on her lips, and went to Paradise.

3. The Holy Martyr Dorothea.

She was an eminent and beautiful maiden from Caesarea in Cappadocia. The administrator of the district, Saprikios, gave Dorothea into the care of two pagan sisters, Christina and Kallista, to turn her from Christ. But it happened the other way around: Dorothea succeeded in bringing both sisters to the Christian Faith. Saprikios in fury ordered that the sisters be tied together back to back, cast into a vat of pitch and then set alight. He then condemned Dorothea to death. She listened to the sentence with joy and cried out: ‘I thank Thee, O Christ, Thou Lover of souls, that Thou callest me to Thy Paradise and leadest me to Thy most holy court!’ A nobleman, Theophilus, who was present laughed at these words and called out to Dorothea: ‘Here, you bride of Christ; send me apples and wild roses from your Bridegroom’s paradise!’ ‘Yes; I’ll do that!’ the martyr replied. When Dorothea was at the place of execution, a handsome youth suddenly appeared with three marvelous apples and three red wild roses. This was an angel from God, and it was winter-time. At Dorothea’s bidding, the angel took them to Theophilus and said: ‘Here is what you asked for.’ When Theophilus received the message and saw the gift, he was very much afraid. Everything within him turned topsy-turvy, and he rejected paganism and became a Christian. He was tortured and killed for Christ, and his soul quickly followed Dorothea’s to the Lord’s Paradise.

4. St. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople.

A great light in the Church, he was a kinsman of the emperor and grandson of the famous Patriarch Tarasios. He was reputed to be the wisest and most intelligent person in the empire, and was an instructor of many in Constantinople on subjects that ranged from secular science to the most sublime types of theology. He was a forceful protector of the Church from the power-seeking of the pope and other Roman perverters of the Faith. He passed through all the ranks from layman to patriarch in six days, being made patriarch on the Nativity of Christ in 858. He departed this life in the Lord in about 895.

5. Our Holy Fathers Barsanuphius and John.

Great ascetics from Gaza, gifted with insight and wonder-working power, they left us a well-known book of answers to various questions on the spiritual life. They lived in the sixth century.

6. The Holy Martyrs Martha and Mary and their brother Lycarion.

All three were crucified for Christ, then stabbed to death with a lance.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Barsanuphius, who spent fifty years shut in his cell forbidding himself the sight of a single man, attained through the grace of God gifts of discernment and clairvoyance. Here are some of the thoughts from his book Answers: ‘Every thought that is not preceded by the silence of humility does not originate in God. All that happens with confusion and bustle is of the devil.’ ‘When you pray, and God is slow to hear you, He does this for your good, to help you learn patience.’ ‘Visible robbers are the servants of invisible robbers in the thoughts.’ ‘The Lord Jesus Christ endured all things and finally ascended onto the holy Cross, which brought about the death of the body and the passions, and a holy and perfect rest.’ ‘The Lord desires you to reverence every man more greatly than yourself.’ When the elder was asked if he would use the services of a paid advocate in a dispute in which the monastery was engaged, he replied: ‘If you buy the advocacy of men, God will not be your advocate (lawyer).’

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.