Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 222]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁹Ye are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, ²⁰who were built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹in Whom every building, being joined together, increaseth to a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in Whom ye also are being built up together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

3 ¹For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of the Christ, Jesus, on behalf of you, the nations— ²if, indeed, ye heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me in regard to you, ³that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (even as I wrote before briefly, ⁴according to which reading ye are able to perceive my understanding in the mystery of the Christ), ⁵which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as now it was revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: ⁶the nations are to be joint-heirs, and fellow members of the body, and joint-partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the Gospel, ⁷of which I became a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the energy of His power.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 11]. At that time:

3 ²³Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began, being, as was supposed, a son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴the son of Matthan, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Joanna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli, the son of Nangai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semei, the son of Josech, the son of Juda, ²⁷the son of Joannan, the son of Resa, the son of Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Joreim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Symeon, the son of Juda, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakeim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Mainan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Booz, the son of Salmon, the son of Naason, ³³the son of Aminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Joram, the son of Esrom, the son of Phares, the son of Juda, ³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Thara, the son of Nachor, ³⁵the son of Saruch, the son of Ragav, the son of Phalek, the son of Ever, the son of Sala, ³⁶the son of Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Sem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Mathusala, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Maleleel, the son of Kainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

4 ¹And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our righteous Father Xenophon and his wife, Mary, and their two sons, Arcadios and John, of Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 8th – Civil Calendar
January 26th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Xenophon and our Mother Maria, and their sons John and Arkadios.

They were rich and respected citizens of Constantinople. Xenophon and Maria lived godly lives, and made every effort to give their sons a Christian upbringing. When the boys were grown, their parents sent them to Beirut to study, but a storm capsized their ship. By God’s providence, both John and Arkadios were somehow saved and thrown onto the shore by the waves; in two separate places, however, so that each thought the other had perished. Out of grief for each other, they became monks in two different monasteries. After two years of mourning, their parents traveled to Jerusalem to venerate the holy places. There, helped by the insight of a holy man, the brothers were first united with each other and then with their parents. Out of gratitude to God, Xenophon and Maria gave away all their goods to the poor and both embraced the monastic state. This touching story of these four holy souls demonstrates clearly how the Lord guides most wonderfully the destinies of those who believe in Him; how He looses on them trials and sorrows, that they may later, yet more greatly strengthened in their faith, experience the greater joy. They lived and died in the fifth century.

2. Our Holy Father Simeon the Ancient.

A friend and companion of St. Palladios, he lived in asceticism in a cave from his early youth right up to his death. He founded two monasteries and entered into rest in the Lord in the year 390. He was named ‘the Ancient’ by St. Simeon the Stylite, who lived somewhat later.

3. St. David, King of Georgia (1089-1130).

He restored and strengthened Georgia as a country. He was a great zealot for the Christian Faith. He built many new churches throughout Georgia, and restored ancient ones. He is regarded as the regenerator of Orthodoxy in Georgia.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The greatest blessing any country can have is that of good and holy men living within it. Compared with this blessing, all other blessings are as nothing. Devout Christian kings regarded holy people in their lands as the greatest blessing from God. The holy Emperor Constantine the Great said: ‘We bless the Lord Jesus Christ that there exists in my day three glorious saints: the blessed Abba Anthony, Abba Elenius and Abba Efchius.’ Before the Battle of Kulikovo, a battle significant for Russia, the devout Prince Dimitri of the Don went off with his chief advisors and commanders to the forest of Radonezh to seek St. Sergius and beg his prayers. And although the prince prepared his armies for the war of liberation from the Tartars, he placed greater confidence in the prayers of one holy man than in a vast army and many weapons.

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.