Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 72]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:9-22; for Sl. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:10-20, beginning in the middle of verse 10, “My beloved: Everyone who doeth not righteousness....”

3 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. ¹¹Because this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we be loving one another, ¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And on account of what did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother righteous. ¹³Cease marvelling, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed over out of death into life, because we love the brethren. The one not loving his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hateth his brother is a manslayer, and ye know that every manslayer hath not eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶In this we have come to know love, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷But whosoever may have the world’s means of livelihood, and may observe his brother having need, and shutteth up from him his compassion from the inward parts, how doth the love of God abide in him? ¹⁸My little children, let us not be loving in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹And in this we know that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our hearts before Him, ²⁰that if our heart be condemning us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart be not condemning us, we have boldness toward God. ²²And whatsoever we may ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing before Him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 64]. At that time:

14 ¹⁰Judas the Iscariote, one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, in order that he might deliver Him up to them. ¹¹And after they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money; and he was seeking how he might opportunely deliver Him up.

¹²And on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they used to slay the passover, His disciples said to Him, “Where dost Thou wish that we go and prepare, that Thou mightest eat the passover?” ¹³And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith to them, “Go ye into the city, and a man shall meet you bearing an earthenware vessel of water; follow him. ¹⁴“And wheresoever he should enter, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher saith, “Where is the lodging-place, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵“And he will show you a large upper room, which hath been furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” ¹⁶And His disciples went away, and came into the city, and found it even as He said to them; and they made ready the passover. ¹⁷And evening having come to pass, He cometh with the twelve. ¹⁸And as they reclined at table and ate, Jesus said, “Verily I say to you, that one of you who is eating with Me shall deliver Me up.” ¹⁹And they began to be grieved, and to say to Him, one by one, “It is not I, is it?” And another, “It is not I, is it?” ²⁰But He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dippeth with Me in the dish. ²¹“The Son of Man indeed goeth even as it hath been written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is delivered up! Good were it for that man if he had not been born.” ²²And as they ate, Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²³And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them; and they all drank of it. ²⁴And He said to them, “This is My blood, that of the new covenant, which is being poured out for many. ²⁵“Verily I say to you that in no wise will I drink any more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷And Jesus saith to them, “Ye all shall be made to stumble because of Me during this night, for it hath been written: ‘I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad [cf. Zach. 13:7].’ ²⁸“But after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” ²⁹But Peter said to Him, “Though all shall be made to stumble, yet not I.” ³⁰And Jesus saith to him, “Verily I say to thee that today, during the night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” ³¹But he kept on speaking more vehemently, “If it should be necessary for me to die with Thee, in no wise will I deny Thee.” And in like manner also, they all were speaking.

³²And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He saith to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³And He taketh along with Him Peter and Iakovos and John, and began to be amazed and sorely troubled. ³⁴And He saith to them, “My soul is very sad unto death. Tarry here and be watching.” ³⁵And having gone forth a little, He fell upon His face on the ground, and was praying that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. ³⁶And He was saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee. Take away this cup from Me; but not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” ³⁷And He cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith to Peter, “Simon, sleepest thou? Wast thou not able to watch one hour? ³⁸“Be watching and praying that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹And again He went away and prayed, saying the same utterance. ⁴⁰And having returned, He found them again sleeping; for their eyes were weighed down, and they knew not what they should answer Him. ⁴¹And He cometh the third time, and saith to them, “Sleep on for what time remaineth and be taking your rest! It is enough, the hour hath come; behold, the Son of Man is being delivered up into the hands of the sinners. ⁴²“Rouse yourselves, let us be going; behold the one delivering Me up hath drawn near.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Meeting of the Lord, and the holy Martyr Nikephoros of Antioch.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 229]. Brethren:

5 ⁸Be walking as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth— ¹⁰proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹And cease having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for all which is made manifest is light. ¹⁴Wherefore, He saith, “Rouse thyself, thou who sleepest, and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine on thee [cf. Is. 9:2, 26:19, 52:1, 60:1, 2].”

¹⁵Be taking heed then how exactly ye walk, not as unwise ones, but as wise ones, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷On this account cease becoming foolish, but become as ones understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And cease being drunk with wine, in which is prodigality, but keep on being filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 22nd – Civil Calendar
February 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Nikephoros.

The life of this holy martyr demonstrates clearly how God casts down pride and crowns humility and brotherly love with glory. There lived in Antioch two intimate friends, the learned priest Saprikios and the ordinary, simple townsman Nikephoros. Their friendship somehow turned into a terrible mutual hatred. Nikephoros, who feared God, tried many times to establish peace with the priest, but the latter would not respond. When a persecution of Christians broke out, the priest Saprikios was condemned to death and brought to the place of execution. Nikephoros stood in great distress in the path Saprikios was to take, begging him to forgive him before dying, and to part in peace. ‘I pray thee, thou martyr of Christ,’ said Nikephoros, ‘forgive me if I have in any way sinned against thee.’ Saprikios would not turn to his adversary, but calmly and proudly moved on to death. But, seeing the hardness of the priest’s heart, God would not have him receive the gift of martyrdom and the crowning with the wreath, and secretly withdrew His blessing. At the last moment, Saprikios denied Christ before the executioner and declared that he would worship idols. Hatred had blinded him to such an extent! Nikephoros entreated Saprikios not to deny Christ: ‘Oh, my beloved brother, do not do this! Do not deny our Lord Jesus Christ and lose the heavenly crown!’ But all in vain; Saprikios was unmoved. Then Nikephoros cried out to the executioners: I too am a Christian; kill me in Saprikios’ place!’ The executioners reported this to the judge, who ordered them to let Saprikios go and to kill Nikephoros in his place. Nikephoros joyfully laid his head on the block and was beheaded. And thus he was made worthy of the kingdom and crowned with the eternal wreath of glory. This came to pass in 260, in the reign of the Emperor Gallienus.

2. The Hieromartyr Peter of Damascus.

This saint is considered by some to have lived in the eighth century, and by others in the twelfth. This difference of opinion arises from there having been two Peters Damascene. The one about whom we are speaking was a great ascetic. Utterly selfless, he had not one single book of his own, but borrowed them to read. And he read untiringly, gathering wisdom as a bee does honey. He was at some time bishop in Damascus, but spoke out so strongly against Islam and the Manichean heresy that the Arabs cut out his tongue and sent him into exile deep in Arabia. But God gave him the power of speech, so that there in exile he preached the Gospel and brought many to the Christian Faith. He wrote and left to his descendants a precious book on the spiritual life. He died a confessor and a martyr, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Peter of Damascus writes thus of the general and the particular gifts of God: ‘The general gifts are the four elements, and all that come from them, all the wonderful and terrible works of God revealed in the holy Scriptures. But the particular gifts are those which God gives to a man individually; be it wealth for acts of mercy, or poverty for patience with thanksgiving; be it power for right judgement and the strengthening of virtue, or subjugation and slavery for the swift salvation of the soul; be it health for the helping of the infirm or weakness for the crown of patience; be it understanding and skill in gathering wealth for the sake of the virtues, or feebleness and clumsiness for submissive humility. All these, and though they may seem in contrast to one another, they are all, as they are apportioned, very good.’ He says in conclusion that we owe God gratitude for all His gifts, and must bear all infirmities and tribulations with patience and hope, for all that God gives us or brings upon us is for our salvation.

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.