Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Thirty-Fifth Week or Meatfare Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 71]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Jn. 2:18-3:8; for Sl. usage, see 1 Jn. 2:18-3:10.

2 ¹⁸It is the last hour; and even as ye heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, from which we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from among us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but that they might be made manifest that they are all not of us. ²⁰And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. ²¹I did not write to you because ye do not know the truth, but because ye do know it, and because every lie is not of the truth. ²²Who is the liar, except the one denying, saying that “Jesus is not the Christ”? This is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. ²³Everyone who denieth the Son, neither doth he have the Father. ²⁴As for you, therefore, what ye heard from the beginning, let it keep on abiding in you. If what ye heard from the beginning should abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is the promise which He Himself promised us—the Life, the Eternal One. ²⁶These things did I write to you concerning those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷But the anointing which ye received from Him abideth in you, and ye have no need that anyone be teaching you; but as the same anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and even as it taught you, ye shall abide in Him. ²⁸And now, little children, keep on abiding in Him, that whenever He should be made manifest, we may have boldness, and not be made to shrink away in shame from Him in His coming. ²⁹If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that everyone who doeth righteousness hath been born of Him.

3 ¹Behold of what manner of love the Father hath given to us, that we should be called children of God. On this account the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. ²Beloved, now are we children of God, and it was not yet made manifest what we shall be; but we know that if He should be made manifest, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is. ³And everyone who hath this hope upon Him purifieth himself, even as that One is pure. ⁴Everyone who doeth sin also doeth lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. ⁵And ye know that He was made manifest that He might take away our sins, and sin is not in Him. ⁶Everyone who abideth in Him sinneth not; everyone who sinneth hath not seen Him, and knoweth Him not. ⁷Little children, let no one be leading you astray. The one doing righteousness is righteous, even as that One is righteous. ⁸The one doing sin is of the devil; for the devil hath been sinning from the beginning. For this the Son of God was made manifest, that He might undo the works of the devil. ⁹Everyone who hath been born of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him; and he is not able to sin, because he hath been born of God. ¹⁰In this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil. Everyone who doeth not righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who loveth not his brother.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 49]. At that time:

11 ¹When Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, toward the Mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His disciples, ²and saith to them, “Go ye into the village, the one opposite you; and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt which hath been tied, on which no man hath sat. Loose it and bring it. ³“And if anyone should say to you, ‘Why do ye do this?’ say, ‘The Lord hath need of it’; and straightway he will send it here.” ⁴And they departed, and found the colt which was tied at the door outside in the street; and they loose it. ⁵And some of those who stood there began saying to them, “What are ye doing, loosing the colt?” ⁶And they spoke to them even as Jesus commanded them; and they permitted them. ⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments upon it, and He sat upon it. ⁸And many spread their garments in the way; and others were cutting leafy branches from the trees and strewing them in the way. ⁹And those going before and those following were crying out, saying, “‘Hosanna, blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord [cf. Ps. 117(118):25(26)].’ ¹⁰“Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, which cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.” ¹¹And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And after He looked about for Himself at all things, as it was already the evening hour, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the holy and Great-martyr Theodore the General, and the Prophet Zacharias.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 220]. Brethren:

2 ⁴God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with the Christ—by grace have ye been saved— ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, ⁷that He might show forth Himself in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, in order that we should walk in them.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Tim. 2:1-10].

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 36]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Become therefore wise as the serpents and guileless as the doves. ¹⁷“But continue being on guard against men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸“And also ye shall be brought before governors and kings on account of Me, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹“But whenever they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what ye should speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. ²⁰“For ye are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father Who is speaking in you. ²¹“Now a brother shall deliver up a brother to death, and a father a child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death. ²²“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake; but the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 21st – Civil Calendar
February 8th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates.

There are martyrdoms that are more than costly. The costliness of a martyrdom depends on the greatness of the good things of this world that a Christian gives up, receiving suffering in its place; and it depends also on the greatness of the suffering which he endures for the sake of Christ. St. Theodore, a Roman commander in the army of the Emperor Licinius and governor of the city of Heraklea, scorned his youth, his good looks, his military status and the goodwill of the emperor; and in place of all this received terrible tortures for the sake of Christ. Firstly Theodore was flogged, receiving 600 lashes on the back and 500 on the stomach; then he was crucified and pierced through with arrows. Finally he was slain with the sword. Why all this? Because St. Theodore loved Christ more than anything else in the world. He scorned the foolish idol-worship of the superstitious emperor, shattered the silver and gold idols, giving the pieces to the poor, brought many to the Christian Faith and urged the emperor himself to reject idolatry and believe in the one God. During the whole of his torture, Theodore repeated unceasingly: ‘Glory to Thee, my God, glory to Thee!’ He suffered on February 8th, 319, at three o’clock in the afternoon, and entered into the kingdom of Christ. He is regarded as the protector of soldiers, who turn to him for help. His wonder-working relics were taken from Efchaita to Constantinople and buried in the Church at Vlachernai.

2. The Holy Prophet Zacharias (Zechariah).

The eleventh of the Minor Prophets, he worked together with the Prophet Haggai to persuade Prince Zerubbabel to restore the temple in Jerusalem. He prophesied the solemn entry of Christ into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass, and Judas’ betrayal for thirty pieces of silver: ‘They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver,’ and the forsaking of Christ by His apostles at the time of His Passion: ‘Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.’ He entered into rest in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystapes, in about 520 B.C.

3. St. Sava the Second, Archbishop of Serbia.

He was the son of King Stefan the First-Crowned and nephew of St. Sava the First. Before becoming a monk, he was called Predislav. Following the example of his great uncle, he became a monk and gave himself zealously to the ascetic life. Chosen to be Archbishop of Serbia after St. Arsenius, and taking the name Sava II, he governed the Church with great devotion and love. He entered into rest in 1268, and his relics lie in the monastery at Peć.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Seraphim of Sarov writes on despair: ‘As the Lord works for our salvation, so the devil, that killer of men, works to lead man into despair.’ Judas the betrayer was little of soul and untested in battle, and therefore the devil, seeing him in despair, attacked him and forced him to suicide. But Peter, the firm rock, when he fell into great sin in the testing time of battle, did not despair nor lose the presence of the Spirit, but wept bitterly from a full heart, and the devil seeing this, fled from him as from a flaming fire. And, my brethren, St. Antiochus teaches that when despair descends upon us, we must not surrender to it, but strengthened and protected by our holy Faith, say resolutely to the wicked spirit: ‘What hast thou to do with us, thou who hast fallen away from God, thou fugitive from heaven and slave of wickedness? Thou darest in no wise do us harm, for Christ the Son of God has dominion over us and over all. But thou, O thou murderer, get thee away from us! Strengthened by His precious Cross, we trample upon thy serpent head!’

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.