Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Holy and Great Monday

Epistle

There is no Epistle Reading this day because of Holy Week.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 84]. At that time:

21 ¹⁸As Jesus returned into the city, He hungered. ¹⁹And having seen a single fig tree in the way, He came to it and found nothing on it, except leaves only, and said to it, “Let there be no more fruit from thee forever.” And forthwith the tree was withered. ²⁰And after the disciples saw it, they wondered, saying, “How was the fig tree withered forthwith?” ²¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily I say to you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do that which was done to the fig tree, but even if ye should say to this mountain, ‘Be thou taken away, and be thou cast into the sea,’ it shall come to pass. ²²“And all things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

²³And after He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He taught, saying, “By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority?” ²⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will question you for one word, which if ye tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵“The baptism of John—from what place was it? From heaven or from men?” And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’ ²⁶“But if we should say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet.” ²⁷And they answered and said to Jesus, “We know not.” And He said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁸“But what think ye? A certain man had two children, and he came to the first and said, ‘Child, go today and work in my vineyard.’ ²⁹“And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he felt regret and went forth. ³⁰“And he came to the second and spoke in like manner. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir’; and he went not forth. ³¹“Which of the two did the will of the father?” They say to Him, “The first.” Jesus saith to them, “Verily I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. ³²“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and ye, having seen, felt no regret afterward in order to believe him.

³³“Hear another parable: There was a certain man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a wine-vat in it in which to press grapes, and built a tower. And he let it out to vinedressers, and went abroad. ³⁴“And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent forth his slaves to the vinedressers to receive his fruits. ³⁵“And the vinedressers took his slaves, and indeed beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶“Again he sent forth other slaves, more than the first; and they did to them in like manner. ³⁷“But afterwards he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸“But after the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us gain possession of his inheritance.’ ³⁹“And they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. ⁴⁰“Whenever the lord, therefore, of the vineyard should come, what shall he do to those vinedressers?” ⁴¹They say to Him, “He will evilly destroy those evil men, and will let out the vineyard to other vinedressers who shall render to him the fruits in their seasons.” ⁴²Jesus saith to them, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner; this came to be from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes [Ps. 117(118):22, 23; cf. Is. 28:16]’? ⁴³“On this account I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”

In the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 98]. At that time:

24 ³As Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the completion of the age?” ⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “Be taking heed, lest anyone lead you astray. ⁵“For many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’; and they shall lead astray many. ⁶“But ye are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars; keep on looking out and cease being clamorous; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷“For nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines, and plagues, and earthquakes, in place after place. ⁸“But all these are a beginning of birth pangs. ⁹“Then they shall deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated by all the nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰“And then many shall be made to stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹“And many false prophets shall be raised up, and shall lead astray many. ¹²“And because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the multitude shall grow cold. ¹³“But the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved. ¹⁴“And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the inhabited world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end come. ¹⁵“Whenever ye therefore see ‘the abomination of the desolation [cf. Dan. 9:27, 12:11],’ which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”—the one who readeth, let him understand— ¹⁶“then let those in Judæa flee to the mountains. ¹⁷“The one on the housetop, let him not come down to take away anything out of his house. ¹⁸“And the one in the field, let him not return back to take up his clothes. ¹⁹“And woe to those who are with child and to those who give suck in those days. ²⁰“But be praying that your flight might not take place in winter, neither on a sabbath. ²¹“For then there shall be great affliction, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until the present, no, nor ever shall be. ²²“And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ²³“Then if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁴“For false christs and false prophets shall be raised up, and they shall produce great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶“If then they should say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the desert,’ do not begin to go forth; ‘Behold, He is in the secret chambers,’ do not begin to believe it. ²⁷“For even as the lightning cometh forth from the east and appeareth as far as the west, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸“For wheresoever the corpse may be, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹“And straightway after the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. ³⁰“And then shall the sign of the Son of Man appear in the heaven, and then the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory. ³¹“And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the heavens unto their extremities. ³²“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch at once should become tender and put forth leaves, ye know that the summer is near. ³³“Thus also ye, whenever ye see all these things, know ye that it is near, even at the doors. ³⁴“Verily I say to you, in no wise shall this generation pass away until all these things shall have taken place. ³⁵“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass away.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Claudius, Diodoros, Victor, Victorinos, Pappias, Nikephoros, and Serapion, and the holy Martyrs Theodoulos, Agathopodes, and those with them.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 18th – Civil Calendar
April 5th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Agathopous and Theodulus.

Agathopous, adorned with the white hairs of age, was a deacon and Theodulus, with the chastity of youth, was a reader in the Church in Thessalonica. In the time of Diocletian’s hunting of Christians, these two were summoned for trial. They went there joyfully, and each holding the other by the hand, went in crying: ‘We are Christians!’ The whole court’s urging them to deny Christ and worship idols was in vain. After long imprisonment and starvation, they were condemned to death by drowning in the sea. Their hands were bound behind them and a large stone tied to their necks, and they were taken off to be drowned. When they went to throw Agathopous into the depths, he cried out: ‘Lo, by second Baptism we are washed from all our sins, and will go cleansed to Christ Jesus!’ The sea quickly threw their drowned bodies onto the shore, and Christians gave them burial. St. Theodulus appeared to his friends in the form of a shining angel in white raiment and commanded them to distribute all his remaining goods to the poor. These great soldiers of Christ suffered with honor under the Emperor Diocletian and Faustinus the governor of Thessalonica, in the year 303.

2. Our Holy Father Mark of Trache.

He is also known as ‘the Athenian’ because Athens was his birthplace. When he had finished his higher schooling in Athens, his parents died. He pondered within himself on the inevitability of death, and that one must prepare in good time for a holy departure from this world. He gave his goods away to the poor and seated himself on a plank in the sea, with profound faith in God’s help and the prayer that God would lead him wherever He desired. And, by the providence of God, he was kept safe and taken to Libya (or Ethiopia), to a mountain called Trache. Mark lived in asceticism on that mountain for ninety-five years, seeing neither man nor beast. For thirty whole years he had an intense struggle with evil sprits, and was tormented by hunger and thirst, cold and heat. He ate earth and drank sea-water. After thirty years of the most intense sufferings, the conquered demons fled from him and angels of God started bringing him food every day in the form of bread, fish and fruit. St. Serapion visited him just before his death, and later recorded the wonderful life of this saint. Mark was asking Serapion if there were in the world any Christians who could say to the mountain they were on: ‘Get up and cast yourself into the sea,’ and it would do so. At that moment the mountain began to move like a wave. But Mark raised a hand and quieted it, such being the miraculous power of this man of God. At the time of his death, he prayed for the salvation of all men and gave his soul into God’s hands. St. Serapion saw an angel bearing Mark’s soul, and a hand extended from heaven to receive it. St. Mark lived for a hundred and thirty years and entered into rest in about 400.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘Live as though you were out of this world, and you will have peace.’ Thus St. Anthony spoke to his disciple. This is a strange teaching, but a true one. We experience the greatest trouble and unease in ourselves when we feel ourselves more and more to be in this world. But, the more a man withdraws from the world, the more often he contemplates this world as existing without him and the more strongly, in his thoughts, he ponders on the utter needlessness of his presence in this world, so much the closer will he stay to God and so much the deeper will be the spiritual peace that he will have. ‘I die daily’ (I Cor 15:31), says the Apostle Paul. That is, I feel every day that I am not in this world. But, because of this, he feels himself every day in spirit a citizen of heaven. When the torturer Faustinus asked St. Theodulus: ‘Isn’t life better than a harsh death?’ St. Theodulus replied: ‘Indeed, I bear in mind that life is better than death; and have therefore decided to scorn this mortal and transitory life on earth that I might be a partaker of life immortal.’

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.