Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 25]. In those days:

10 ²¹Peter went down to the men who were sent forth to him from Cornelius, and said, “Behold, I am he whom ye seek; what is the cause for which ye are come?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one fearing God, and whose character is approved by testimony by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely warned by a holy angel to send for thee to his house, and to hear words from thee.” ²³Then he called them in and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went forth with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴And on the morrow they entered into Cæsarea. And Cornelius was expecting them, and called together to himself his kinfolk and close friends. ²⁵And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and made obeisance. ²⁶But Peter raised him, saying, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.” ²⁷And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many who were gathered together. ²⁸And he said to them, “Ye know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come near to one of another race; but God showed me not to call a person common or unclean. ²⁹“Wherefore, after I was sent for, I also came without gainsaying. I inquire therefore for what reason ye sent for me?” ³⁰And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, ³¹“and said, ‘Cornelius, thy prayer was heard and thine alms were remembered before God. ³²“‘Send therefore to Joppa and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon, a tanner beside the sea, who, after he cometh, shall speak to thee.’ ³³“At once therefore I sent to thee; and thou didst well in coming. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things that have been commanded thee by God.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 25]. At that time:

7 ¹Jesus was walking about in Galilee; for He was not willing to walk about in Judæa, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. ²Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was near. ³His brethren therefore said to Him, “Pass over from this place, and go into Judæa, in order that Thy disciples might see the works which Thou doest; ⁴“for no one doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known in public. Since Thou doest these things, manifest Thyself to the world.” ⁵For not even His brethren were believing in Him. ⁶Then Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. ⁷“The world is not able to hate you; but Me it hateth, because I bear witness concerning it that the works of it are evil. ⁸“Ye go up to the feast; I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time hath not yet been fulfilled.” ⁹And having said these things to them He stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰But when His brethren went up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret. ¹¹Then the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is that One?” ¹²And there was much murmuring among the crowds concerning Him. Some, on the one hand, were saying, “He is good”; but others, on the other hand, were saying, “No, but rather He deceiveth the crowd.” ¹³No one, nevertheless, was speaking openly about Him for fear of the Jews.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Virgin-martyr Pelagia of Tarsus.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 17th – Civil Calendar
May 4th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Pelagia of Tarsus.

Born in the town of Tarsus of pagan but noble and wealthy parents, she heard about Christ and the salvation of the soul from Christians, became inflamed with love for the Savior and was a Christian in her soul. There was at that time a terrible persecution of Christians. It happened that the Emperor Diocletian himself stopped in Tarsus and that, during the time of his stay in the town, his son, the heir, fell deeply in love with Pelagia and wanted to make her his wife. Pelagia replied through her mother—a wicked woman—that she was already promised to her betrothed husband, Christ the Lord. Fleeing from the foul heir and her wicked mother, Pelagia sought and found Bishop Linus, a man renowned for his holiness. He instructed her in the Faith and baptized her. Then Pelagia gave away her luxurious clothing and great wealth, returned home and confessed to her mother that she was already baptized. Hearing of this, the emperor’s son, losing all hope of getting this holy maiden as his wife, ran himself through with a sword and died. Then the wicked mother denounced her daughter to the emperor and she was taken for trial. The emperor marveled at the girl’s beauty, and forgetting his son, burned with an impure passion for her. But when Pelagia remained unfaltering in her faith, the emperor condemned her to be burned in a metal ox heated by fire. She entered the ox with prayers of thanksgiving to God on her lips, and received a crown of martyrdom. She suffered with honor in 287. Diocletian bid that her remains be cast out of the city for wild beasts to devour, but God preserved her relics intact. Bishop Linus took her relics and buried them honorably. In the time of the Emperor Constantine Kopronymos (741-775), a beautiful church was built on that site in honor of this holy virgin and martyr Pelagia, who was sacrificed for Christ to reign eternally with Him.

2. The Hieromartyr Silvanos, Bishop of Gaza.

He was at first in military service, but later, urged by the strength of his faith, he transferred to spiritual service. Accused of bringing many pagans to Christianity, he was at first brutally tortured then beheaded with forty other soldiers in 311, and thus became a citizen of heaven.

3. Our Holy Father Nikephoros the Hesychast.

He was at first a Roman Catholic, but then became Orthodox. He lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain as a monk, with the wise Theoleptos. He was a teacher of St. Gregory Palamas and wrote a work on mental prayer. He went peacefully to the Lord in the 14th century. He taught: ‘Gather your mind and compel it to enter into your heart and remain there. When your mind is firmly in your heart, it must not remain empty, but must incessantly make the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!” And it must never fall silent. Through this the whole string of the virtues: love, joy, peace and the others, will make their abode in you, by which, then, every request of yours to God will be fulfilled.’

FOR CONSIDERATION

A young man, inexperienced in the spiritual struggle, makes a show to everyone of his good works with self-congratulation. But a soldier experienced in skirmishes with the passions and with demons belittles each work of his and intensifies his prayer for the help of God. Abba Matoes said: ‘The closer a man is to God, the more clearly he knows himself a sinner.’ And, again, he said: ‘When I was young, I thought that I might be able to do some good thing; but now that I am old, I see that I have not done a single good work.’ Did not the Lord say: ‘None is good, but the one God’? If, then, the one God alone is good and the fount of all good, how can a good work be done that is not of God? And how can anyone who performs a good work attribute it to himself and not to God? And, if this is so, by what can a dead man be praised? By nothing but God and the goodness of God.

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.