Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 74]. Beloved:

4 ²⁰If anyone should say, “I love God,” and be hating his brother, he is a liar; for the one not loving his brother whom he hath seen, how is he able to love God Whom he hath not seen? ²¹And this commandment have we from Him, that the one loving God, be loving his brother also.

5 ¹Everyone who believeth that Jesus is the Christ hath been born of God; and everyone who loveth Him Who begat loveth also him who hath been begotten of Him. ²In this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments. ³For this is the love of God, that we be keeping His commandments. And His commandments are not heavy. ⁴For everything that hath been born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory, the victory having overcome the world—our faith. ⁵Who is the one overcoming the world, if not the one believing that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶This is the One Who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not in the water only, but in the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the One Who beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷For there are three bearing witness in the heaven: the Father, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit; and these Three are One. ⁸And there are three bearing witness in the earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three are for the one. ⁹If we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God which He hath testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰The one believing in the Son of God hath the witness in himself; the one not believing God hath made Him a liar, because he hath not believed in the testimony which God hath testified concerning His Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹²The one having the Son hath the life; the one not having the Son of God hath not the life.

¹³I am writing these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and in order that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God. ¹⁴And this is the boldness which we have toward Him, that if we be asking anything for ourselves according to His will, He heareth us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we may be asking for ourselves, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. ¹⁶If anyone should see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give life to him, for those that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; not concerning that do I say one should make request. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death. ¹⁸We know that everyone who hath been born of God sinneth not, but the one who was born of God keepeth himself, and the evil one doth not take hold of him. ¹⁹We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one. ²⁰But we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, in order that we may know Him Who is true; and we are in the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and Life Eternal.

²¹Little children, guard yourselves from the idols. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 66]. At that time:

15 ¹The chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole sanhedrin, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate. ²And Pilate questioned Him, “Thou art the King of the Jews?” And He answered and said to him, “Thou sayest.” ³And the chief priests were accusing Him of many things, but He answered nothing. ⁴And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “Answerest Thou nothing? Behold how many things they bear witness against Thee.” ⁵But Jesus answered nothing any more, so that Pilate marvelled. ⁶Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whomsoever they were asking for themselves. ⁷And there was one called Barabbas, who had been bound with fellow insurrectionists who had committed murder in the sedition. ⁸And the crowd, having cried out, began to ask him to do even as he always used to do for them. ⁹But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do ye wish that I release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he was perceiving that the chief priests had delivered Him up by reason of envy. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, in order that he should rather release Barabbas to them. ¹²And Pilate answered and said again to them, “What do ye wish then that I should do to Him Whom ye call King of the Jews?” ¹³And they cried out again, “Crucify Him.” ¹⁴But Pilate was saying to them, “Why, what evil did He do?” And they cried out more exceedingly, “Crucify Him.” ¹⁵And Pilate, willing to do that which was satisfactory to the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered up Jesus, after he scourged Him, in order that He might be crucified.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

11. The commemoration of Hieromartyr Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste, and our holy Father Demetri, Wonder-worker of Vologda.

Epistle

For the Hieromartyr:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 311]. Brethren:

4 ¹⁴Having then a great High Priest Who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us be holding fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a High Priest Who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who hath been tempted in all respects according to our likeness, without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore be coming with boldness to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and find grace for help in due season.

5 ¹For every high priest being taken from among men is being appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, ²who is able to feel in due measure with those who are ignorant and led astray, since he himself also is compassed about with weakness. ³And by reason of this he ought, even for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. ⁴And no one taketh the honor to himself, but he who is called by God, even as also Aaron. ⁵Thus also the Christ glorified not Himself to become a high priest, but the One Who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee [Ps. 2:7].” ⁶Even as He saith also in another place, “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek [Ps. 109(110):4].”

For the Wonder-worker:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

For the Hieromartyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 24th – Civil Calendar
February 11th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Vlasios (Blaise), Bishop of Sebaste.

Born in Cappadocia, Vlasios was meek and God-fearing from early childhood. He was chosen for his virtues as bishop of Sebaste, and was a great spiritual and moral light in that pagan town. During a period of violent persecution of Christians, Vlasios encouraged his flock and visited the martyrs in prison, among whom was the famous Efstratios.

When the city of Sebaste was left entirely denuded of Christians—some killed and others fled—Vlasios, by then an old man, retired to the mountain of Argeos and lived there in a cave. Ferocious wild beasts, recognizing a holy man, came to him and he gently tamed them. But the persecutors found the saint in that hidden spot and took him for trial. On the way there, Vlasios healed a boy who had a bone stuck in his throat, and at the petition of a poor widow, made the wolf that had taken her pig return it to her. The benighted judges tortured him, flogging him terribly. By his steadfastness in the Christian Faith, Vlasios brought many unbelievers to the Faith. Seven women and two children were thrown into prison with him; the women were slain first, then Vlasios and the two children. He suffered and was glorified in 316.

Vlasios’ prayers are sought for the health and well-being of domestic animals and for protection from wild beasts. In the West, he is also invoked against sore throats.

2. The Holy Martyr George of Kratovo.

George was a Bulgarian from the town of Kratovo. As a young man, George was a goldsmith; and in his heart and soul a faithful and devout Christian. As soon as he reached the age of eighteen, the Turks tried to convert him to Islam, but George remained as firm as a diamond in the Faith. The Turks then tortured him with many harsh tortures and finally burned him alive at the stake. He suffered for the Christian Faith on February 11th, 1515, in Sofia in the time of Sultan Selim, and was glorified with unfading glory in heaven.

3. St. Theodora.

A Greek empress, she was the wife of the wicked Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast. After the death of Theophilus, Theodora reigned with her son, Michael III, and the veneration of icons was immediately restored at the Council of Constantinople in 842. This was the occasion of the institution of the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which is celebrated to this day on the first Sunday in the Great Fast. This holy woman who gave such service to the Church gave her soul to God on February 11th, 867. By the wonderful providence of God, it was at this time of total triumph of Orthodoxy over all heresies that Saints Kyril and Methodius were sent as missionaries to the Slav peoples.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Matter is not, of itself, evil, as certain Christian heretics (for example, the Manicheans) and some philosophers have asserted. Not only is it not evil; it is not the sole spreader of evil, for the spirit does this just as much as matter does. Every material thing is weighed down and inhibited by the soul of man, but it is not evil. Matter is corruptible, weak and helpless in comparison with the immortal spirit, but it is not itself evil. If it were evil, how could the Lord Jesus have instituted the holy Communion from bread and wine, and how could bread and wine be called His body and blood? If matter were in itself evil, how could people be baptized in water? How could the Apostle Iakovos have ordained that the sick be anointed with oil? How could blessed water stay fresh and have miraculous powers? How could the Cross have power? How could Christ’s robe have borne the healing power of the Savior, from which the woman with the issue of blood was healed? How could the relics of the saints and how could icons have such wonder-working gifts, and such good from the kingdom of blessings befriend man? How, further, could good come to man through evil? No; matter is in no way evil in itself.

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.