Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 223]. Brethren:

3 ⁸To me, the one who is less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach the Gospel of the unsearchable wealth of the Christ among the nations, ⁹and to enlighten all as to what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from the ages in God, Who created all things through Jesus Christ, ¹⁰in order that now the much-variegated wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and to the authorities in the heavenlies through the Church, ¹¹according to the purpose of the ages which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹²in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. ¹³Wherefore I ask you not to be fainthearted at mine afflictions on behalf of you, which is your glory. ¹⁴For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵from Whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named, ¹⁶that He would grant you, according to the wealth of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷that the Christ might dwell in your hearts through faith, having been rooted and founded in love, ¹⁸in order that ye might be able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, ¹⁹and to know the love of the Christ which surpasseth knowledge, that ye might be filled to all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to Him Who is able to do exceedingly above all things that we ask for ourselves or think, according to the power which energizeth itself in us, ²¹to Him be the glory in the Church in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 12]. At that time:

4 ¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness, ²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing; and they having been brought to an end, afterwards He became hungry. ³And the devil said to Him, “If Thou art God’s Son, command this stone that it become bread.” ⁴And Jesus gave answer to him, saying, “It hath been written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God [cf. Deut. 8:3].’” ⁵And the devil, having brought Him up into a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. ⁶And the devil said to Him, “To Thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them; for to me it hath been delivered up, and to whomsoever I may wish to give it. ⁷“Thou, therefore, if Thou wilt make obeisance before me, all shall be Thine.” ⁸And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan. For it hath been written: ‘Thou shalt make obeisance to the Lord thy God, and Him alone shalt thou worship [cf. Deut. 6:13].’” ⁹And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him upon the wing of the temple, and said to Him, “If Thou art God’s Son, cast Thyself down from this place. ¹⁰“For it hath been written: ‘He shall enjoin His angels concerning Thee, to keep Thee [Ps. 90(91):11],’ ¹¹“and, ‘Upon their hands shall they take Thee up, lest ever Thou strike Thy foot against a stone [Ps. 90(91):12].’” ¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It hath been said, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God [Deut. 6:16].’” ¹³And after the devil brought to an end every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a common report concerning Him went out throughout all the country round about. ¹⁵And He was teaching in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the translation of the relics of our father among the saints, John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.

Epistle

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 9th – Civil Calendar
January 27th – Church Calendar

1. St. John Chrysostom, the Golden Mouth of Orthodoxy.

The Church celebrates the memory of this saint on November 13th and January 30th, but on this day is celebrated the translation of his honored relics from the Armenian village of Comana, where he died in exile in 407, to Constantinople where earlier, as patriarch, he had governed the Church. Thirty years after his death, Patriarch Proklos made a speech in memory of his spiritual father and mentor, and by this speech so roused the love of the people and the emperor, Theodosios the Younger, towards the great saint that they all wanted the relics of St. Chrysostom to be translated to Constantinople. It is related that the coffin containing the relics could not be shifted from its place until the emperor had written a letter to St. Chrysostom, begging his forgiveness (for Theodosios’ mother, Evdoxia, was guilty of having persecuted the saint) and appealing to him to return to Constantinople, his former residence. When this repentant letter was placed on the coffin, the latter became light in weight. Before the translation, many of the sick, on touching the coffin, were healed. When the relics arrived at the capital, the emperor again begged forgiveness over them in his mother’s name, as though it were she herself speaking: ‘While I lived in this temporal life, I acted in malice towards thee; but now that thou livest in eternal life, be thou of help to my soul. My glory passes and there is nought to help me; help me, father, in thy glory; help me before I come to be condemned before the judgment of Christ.’ When the saint was carried into the Church of the Holy Apostles and placed on the patriarchal throne, the assembled throng heard these words from his mouth: ‘Peace be unto all!’ The translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom was carried out in the year 438.

2. Our Holy Father Titus of the Kiev Caves.

He was at first a soldier, but receiving a wound in the head in battle, he retired from the world to the monastery of the Caves in Kiev, there to be healed and to receive the monastic schema. He spent his time in ceaseless mourning over his former sins. Before his death he was shown by a heavenly vision that all his sins had been forgiven. His relics lie in the caves of Theodosius.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Fasting is a great thing, but love is greater. If it is by fasting that devils are driven out, passions tamed, the body calmed, the spirit steadied, it is by love that God makes His abode with men. The Lord Himself emphasized fasting as necessary, but proclaimed love as the greatest commandment. In the first half of last century, Jeladin Bey, a Turk, ruled over Ochrid. He was a rebel against the sultan and an independent governor. At that time the Church was ruled by Metropolitan Kalinik. Jeladin and Kalinik, although of different faiths, were very good friends and often visited each other. It happened that Jeladin Bey condemned twenty-five Christians to death by hanging, and the execution was to take place on Great Friday. The metropolitan, deeply distressed by this event, went to Jeladin and besought him to mitigate the sentence. While they were talking, the hour of the midday meal arrived, and the bey invited the metropolitan to eat with him. A dish of lamb had been prepared for the meal. The metropolitan excused himself, as the fast (of the monastic rule, as well as of Holy Friday) prevented him from remaining to eat, and prepared to leave. The bey was angered and said to him: ‘Choose; either you eat with me and free twenty-five people from hanging, or you refrain and they hang.’ The metropolitan crossed himself and sat down to lunch, and Jeladin freed the people from the death sentence.

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.