Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second General Epistle of Saint John [§ 75].

1 ¹The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also those who have come to know the truth, ²for the sake of the truth which abideth in us and shall be with us forever: ³Grace, mercy, peace shall be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I was gladdened greatly that I have found some of thy children walking in truth, even as we received a commandment from the Father. ⁵And I now request thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we be loving one another. ⁶And this is the love, that we be walking according to His commandments. This is the commandment, even as ye heard from the beginning, that ye be walking in it. ⁷For many deceivers entered into the world, those not confessing Jesus Christ coming in the flesh; this is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸Keep on looking to yourselves, in order that ye might not lose that which we wrought, but that ye might receive a full reward. ⁹Everyone who transgresseth and abideth not in the teaching of the Christ hath not God; the one abiding in the teaching of the Christ, this one also hath the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone come to you and bring not this teaching, cease receiving him into the house and saying to him fare-thee-well; ¹¹for the one who saith to him fare-thee-well partaketh in his evil works.

¹²Having many things to write to you, I was not willing by means of paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and to speak face to face that our joy may be full. ¹³The children of thine elect sister greet thee. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 68]. At that time:

15 ²⁰The soldiers took Jesus; and they lead Him out in order that they might crucify Him....

²²And they bring Him to a place, Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, Place of a Skull.... ²⁵And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.... ³³And the sixth hour having come to pass, there came to be a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, My God, why didst Thou forsake Me [cf. Ps. 21(22):1]?” ³⁵And some of those standing by, having heard that, were saying, “Behold, He calleth Elias.” ³⁶And one of them ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and was attempting to give Him to drink, saying, “Let be; let us see if Elias is coming to take Him down.” ³⁷And Jesus let out a loud cry, and gave up the spirit. ³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn into two from top to bottom. ³⁹Now after the centurion who stood opposite Him saw that He thus cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly this Man was God’s Son.” ⁴⁰And there were also women looking on from afar off, among whom was also Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of Iakovos the younger and of Joses, and Salome— ⁴¹who also, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and ministering to Him—and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our fathers among the saints, Meletios, Patriarch of Antioch the Great, and Alexis, Metropolitan and Wonder-worker of All Russia.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 25th – Civil Calendar
February 12th – Church Calendar

1. St. Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch.

This great and holy man was an outstanding interpreter and defender of Orthodoxy. The whole of his life was devoted to the fight against the Arian heresy, which did not recognize the Son of God and blasphemed against the Holy Trinity. Originally living in Armenia, he was appointed to shepherd the Church of Antioch. In that place, the struggle between the Orthodox and the heretics was so bitter that the first time St. Meletius preached to the people in church on the divine Trinity in unity, the deacon, a heretic, ran up to the bishop and shut his mouth with his hand. Being unable to preach with words, Meletius preached by signs. Thus, he raised his arms on high, opened three fingers to their fullest extent and showed them to the people, then closed his hand and raised the one fist. He was three times removed from his archiepiscopal throne by the heretics, and driven off into Armenia. He took part in the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, where the Emperor Theodosios showed him especially great honor. At that council, God showed a mystery through His archbishop. When Meletius was propounding the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to the Arians, he first raised three fingers, separated one by one, then brought them together; and at that moment lightning flashed from his hand before the gaze of all present. At that council, Meletius established Gregory the Theologian in the seat of Constantinople. While the council was still in session, St. Meletius finished his earthly course in Constantinople. His relics were taken to Antioch.

2. St. Alexis (Alexei), Metropolitan of Moscow.

St. Alexis was a great hierarch of the Russian Church during a difficult period of Cossack warfare with the Russian people. Once in childhood he went bird hunting, and then went to sleep. In a dream he heard a voice that said, ‘Alexis, why rush around so fruitlessly? I will teach you to catch men!’ He became a monk at the age of twenty, and in time became Metropolitan of Moscow. He twice went among the Cossack Horde: once to sooth the wrath of Verdevir Khan against the Russian people, and the second time at the invitation of Amurat Khan, to cure his wife’s blindness. This woman had been blind for three years, but she was healed and her vision restored when Alexis prayed and anointed her with holy water. After a life of great endeavor and fruitfulness, Alexis entered into rest in 1378 at the age of 85, and went to the court of the Lord.

3. Our Holy Mother Mary (Marius).

Mary was a woman with great courage. After the death of her mother, her father desired to become a monk. Mary would not be separated from him, so they decided to go together to a men’s monastery—Mary with short hair and in man’s raiment as a youth. Her father died, and Mary became a monk and received the name Marius. There was an inn near the monastery, and the innkeeper’s daughter fell in love with the pious monk Marius. After pursuing him without success, she accused Marius of unlawful relations with her, because she had known some other man and borne him a son. Mary did not defend herself and was driven forth with scorn from the monastery. With the strange child in her care, she lived for three years in a grove belonging to the monastery, enduring hunger and hatred, and every sort of hardship and privation. As a result of all this, the innkeeper’s daughter became deranged. A little later, Mary died. Immediately after her death it was discovered that the ‘Monk Marius’ was a woman. As soon as the innkeeper’s daughter touched the relics of St. Mary, she was healed of her insanity and confessed her terrible sin. St. Mary entered into rest and went to eternal joy in 508.

4. St. Anthony, Patriarch of Constantinople.

A man of great compassion, he was at first an ascetic and then patriarch in the time of Emperor Leo the Wise (889-912). He professed his father a monk and built a monastery over the relics of St. Callia.

5. St. Callia.

Callia was generous to the poor from pure Christian compassion, both as a young girl and later as a married woman. Her husband was rich, but he was a hard man. Returning on one occasion from his work, he found that his wife had given away all his wealth to the poor. He thereupon killed her. But God glorified this compassionate soul, in that her relics healed many of the sick. Convinced by this of her sanctity, the holy Patriarch Anthony built a monastery over her relics.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. John Chrysostom quotes the following example from the life of St. Meletius, demonstrating the true nobility of this great hierarch: Meletius was unjustly exiled from Antioch. When the governor got into the coach, seated the saint beside him and then began to drive hurriedly through the square, the citizens rushed from all sides with pebbles, which fell like hail on the governor’s head, the people being loath to part with their archbishop, and being ready to part with life rather than with this saint. But what did the blessed man do? Seeing the stones flying, he covered the governor’s head with his cloak. He thus shamed his enemy by his great meekness and gave his followers a lesson in the goodness we must show to those who insult us; how it is not enough just to do them no evil, but to use our strength to protect them from those dangers that threaten them. On Meletius’ outward appearance, St. Chrysostom writes further: ‘It was truly the greatest delight to see his holy face, and not only when he taught or spoke; when people only looked at him he brought virtue to the soul of the beholder.’

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.