Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Saturday of the Second Week of the Great Fast

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 309].

3 ¹²Brethren, be taking heed, lest ever there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in apostatizing from the living God; ¹³but be exhorting one another every day, as long as it is being called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceit of sin. ¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we should hold fast the first principle of our subsistence firm even to the end, ¹⁵while it is being said, “Today, if ye will hear His voice, do not go on hardening your hearts as in the provocation [Ps. 94(95):8(7, 8)].” ¹⁶For who, having heard, did provoke? But was it not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?

Another Reading for Saturday of the Second Week of the Great Fast in Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 270].

4 ¹³Brethren, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not be grieving, even as the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. ¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the ones remaining over until the coming of the Lord, in no wise shall precede those who fell asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. ¹⁷Then we the living, the ones remaining over, shall be carried off together with them in clouds to a meeting of the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 6]. At that time:

1 ³⁵Jesus, having risen up very early at night, went out and departed into a desolate place, and was praying there. ³⁶And Simon and those with him followed hard after Him. ³⁷And having found Him, they say to Him, “All are seeking Thee.” ³⁸And He saith to them, “Let us be going into the neighboring village-towns, in order that I might preach there also; for it was for this I have come forth.” ³⁹And He was preaching in their synagogues in all Galilee, and casting out the demons.

⁴⁰And a leper cometh to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If Thou art willing, Thou art able to cleanse me.” ⁴¹And Jesus, having been moved with compassion, stretched forth His hand and touched him, and saith to him, “I am willing; be thou cleansed.” ⁴²And after He spoke, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³And having sternly admonished him, forthwith He sent him away, ⁴⁴also saying to him, “See that thou say nothing to anyone; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

5 ²⁴“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. ²⁵“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. ²⁶“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, ²⁸“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, ²⁹“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. ³⁰“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy 42 Martyrs of Amorium in Phrygia, including Theodore, Constantine, Kallistos, Theophilos, Vassoe, and those with them.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

March 19th – Civil Calendar
March 6th – Church Calendar

1. The Forty-two Holy Martyrs of Ammoria.

These were all generals under the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus. When the emperor lost the struggle against the Saracens around the town of Ammoria, the Saracens took the town and enslaved many Christians, with these generals among them. The remaining Christians they either killed or sold into slavery, but threw these generals into prison, where they remained for seven years. Moslem leaders came many times, urging them to accept the Mohammedan faith, but the generals refused to do so. When the Saracens told the generals that Mohammed was a true prophet and Christ was not, the generals asked them: ‘If two men were to quarrel about a field, with one saying: “It’s mine!” and the other saying: “No; it’s mine!” and one had many witnesses that it was his field and the other had not a single witness but himself, what would you say? Whose field was it?’ The Saracens replied: ‘His, of course, who had the many witnesses.’ ‘You have judged right,’ the generals answered them. ‘So it is with Christ and Mohammed. Christ has many witnesses: the ancient prophets, whom you also recognize, from Moses to John the Baptist, witnessed to Him; but Mohammed only witnesses to himself that he is a prophet, and has no other witness.’ The Saracens were confounded, but attempted then to defend their faith thus: ‘That our faith is better than Christianity is seen in this: that God has given us victory over you, that He gives us the best lands on earth and an empire much greater than the Christian.’ To this the generals replied: ‘If that were so, then the idol-worship of Egypt and Babylon, and of Greece and Rome, and the fire-worship of Persia, would have been true faiths, for at some time each of these peoples has conquered others and governed them. It is obvious that your victory and power and wealth do not prove the truth of your faith. We know that God sometimes gives victory to Christians, and sometimes leaves them in torture and suffering to correct them and bring them to repentance and cleansing from sin.’ After seven years they were beheaded, in 845. Their bodies were cast into the Euphrates, but they floated to the other bank where Christians collected them and gave them burial.

2. Blessed Job.

He was born in Moscow in 1635, and was drawn to the Church by the beauty of the singing and of the services. He became the confessor of Tsar Peter, but because of some slander, withdrew to the monastery of Solovetsk where he lived in strict asceticism. He entered into rest in the Lord in 1720, at the age of 85. As his death drew near, he cried out: ‘Blessed is the God of our fathers!—and as He is thus, I have no fear, but go from the world with joy!’

3. The Holy Martyrs Conon, Father and Son.

The father was already an old man, and the son a youth of seventeen, when they were sawn in half for their faith in Christ, and were glorified in the Church on earth and in heaven. They suffered with honor in 275.

FOR CONSIDERATION

While you are on earth, regard yourself as a guest of the Host, that is, of Christ. If you are at table, He honors you thus. If you breathe the air, you breathe His air. If you bathe, you bathe in His water. If you travel, you travel around His earth. If you accumulate goods, you accumulate what is His; if you squander them, you squander what is His. If you are influential, you are so by His permission. If you are in company with others, you are with His other guests. If you are in the countryside, you are in His garden. If you are alone, He is present. If you set off anywhere, He sees you. If you do anything, He has it in mind. He is the most careful Host Whose guest you have ever been. And be, in your turn, careful towards Him. A good host merits a good guest. These are all simple words, but they speak a great truth to you. All the saints knew this truth, and ordered their lives accordingly. Therefore the immortal Host rewarded them with eternal life in heaven and with glory on earth.

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.