Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 9]. In those days:

3 ¹⁹Peter said to the people, “Repent and turn again, in order to blot out your sins, so that times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰“and that He might send forth the One, Jesus Christ, Who hath been appointed to you before, ²¹“Whom it is needful indeed for heaven to receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets from of old. ²²“For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God shall raise up for you a Prophet, like me, from among your brethren; Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever He might say to you [cf. Deut. 18:15, 18]. ²³“‘And it shall be that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed utterly from among the people [cf. Deut. 18:19].’ ²⁴“And indeed all the prophets, from Samuel and those subsequent, as many as spoke, also announced beforehand these days. ²⁵“Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God Himself made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And all the families of the earth shall be blessed in thy seed [cf. Gen. 22:18].’ ²⁶“To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away each one of you from your wickedness.”

Gospel

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

2 ¹A marriage took place in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there. ²And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. ³And after they fell short of wine, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴Jesus saith to her, “What is it to Me and to thee, woman? Mine hour is not yet come.” ⁵His Mother saith to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith to you, do it.” ⁶And there were standing there six stone waterpots, according to the purification of the Jews, containing two or three measures each. ⁷Jesus saith to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the top. ⁸And Jesus saith to them, “Draw out now, and bear it to the master of the feast.” And they brought it. ⁹Now when the master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, and knew not from what place it was—but the servants who had drawn the water knew—the master of the feast called the bridegroom, ¹⁰and saith to him, “Every man first setteth forth the good wine, and whenever they have drunk freely, then the inferior. As for thee, thou hast kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹This did Jesus in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of the signs, and it made manifest His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Paphnutios of Jerusalem, and our venerable Father John of the Ancient Caves in Palestine.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 2nd – Civil Calendar
April 19th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father John of the Ancient Caves.

He labored in asceticism in the Ancient Caves or Lavra of Chariton the Great in Palestine. He came to love Christ the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind, and in his youth began travelling around all the holy places to seek the instruction and advice of holy men. He finally settled in Chariton’s cave, where he undertook a rigorous ascetic life, spending his days in fasting, prayer and vigils, constantly meditating on death and teaching himself humility. Like a well-ripened fruit, he was taken by death and entered into Paradise. He lived and died in the eighth century.

2. The Holy Martyrs Christopher, Theonas and Antonios.

These three were young officers under the Emperor Diocletian. When St. George the Great Martyr was being tortured, they witnessed his sufferings and the miracles that were performed at that time. Having seen all this, they came to the emperor, threw down their arms, removed their soldiers’ belts and courageously confessed the name of the Lord Jesus. They were subjected to many tortures and finally thrown into the fire, where their bodies were burned while their souls ascended to the one Lord in eternal joy. They suffered in Nikomedia in 303.

3. St. Tryphon, Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Emperor Romanos, who ruled Byzantium at the beginning of the 10th century, had a son, Theophylact, who was sixteen years old when Patriarch Stephen died. The emperor wished his own son to become patriarch, because he had been promised to a spiritual calling right from a small boy, but because of his youth he was timid about this. Tryphon, a simple, chaste and honorable old man, occupied the patriarchal throne and held that position for three years. When the emperor’s son attained his twentieth year, the emperor had it in mind to remove Tryphon and replace him with his own son as patriarch. St. Tryphon would not relinquish his throne voluntarily, considering it a great scandal for such a young man to be elected to so responsible and difficult a position as that of patriarch. The signature of the innocent Tryphon was obtained on a blank piece of paper through the scheming of an evil bishop, and a false resignation was written above his signature in the imperial court. The emperor announced his resignation, and a difficult time of unrest began in the Church, since the people and the clergy took the side of Tryphon, the man of God. Then the emperor deposed the old patriarch by force and placed him in a monastery, raising his own son, Theophylact, to the patriarchate. St. Tryphon lived in the monastery as an ascetic for two years and five months, and went to the Lord in 933.

4. Our Holy Father Agathangelos.

From Thrace, his worldly name being Anastasios, he was a slave to some Turks, and they compelled him to embrace Islam in Smyrna. As a penitent, he was tonsured at the monastery of Esphigmenou on the Holy Mountain. Tormented by his conscience, he desired to wash his sins in his own blood, so he went to Smyrna, where he showed a Cross and an icon of Christ’s Resurrection to the Turks. He was beheaded on April 19th, 1819, at the age of nineteen. He appeared to his spiritual father, Germanos, after his death.

5. Our Holy Father Simeon the Barefoot.

He labored in asceticism on the Holy Mountain and was abbot of Philotheou for a short time. He strengthened Christians in many Balkan countries in the Faith, and is renowned as a wonder-worker.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A spiritual guide and elder once said: ‘Remain indoors, speak with yourself alone; work, O body, that you may be fed; be vigilant, O soul, that you may be saved and inherit the kingdom.’ These are not mere idle words; rather, they have been the rule of many thousands of monks through the centuries, the daily rule of their lives. They fed themselves by their labor and were vigilant in prayer. But why only monks? Why should it not be the rule for every follower of Christ? Has not Christ Himself provided us with a clear example of bodily labor and unceasing vigilance in prayer?

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.