Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 37]. In those days:

15 ³⁵Paul and Barnabas were spending time in Antioch, teaching and preaching as good tidings the word of the Lord, with many others also. ³⁶And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return now and visit our brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are holding fast.” ³⁷And Barnabas determined to take with them John, who is called Mark. ³⁸But Paul kept on thinking it not meet to take along that one, since he withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. ³⁹Then a sharp contention arose, so as to separate them from one another: and Barnabas, having taken Mark, sailed away to Cyprus; ⁴⁰and Paul, having chosen for himself Silas, went forth, having been commended to the grace of God by the brethren. ⁴¹And he passed through Syria and Cilicia, rendering more firm the churches.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 38]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

10 ²⁷“The sheep, those that are Mine, hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸“And I give them eternal life, and in no wise shall they ever perish, and neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹“My Father, Who hath given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰“I and the Father are one.” ³¹Then the Jews took up stones again that they might stone Him. ³²Jesus answered them, “Many good works I showed you from My Father. For what kind of work among these are ye trying to stone Me?” ³³The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we are not about to stone Thee, but for blasphemy, and because Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.” ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “Ye are gods [Ps. 81(82):6]”’? ³⁵“If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came to pass—and the Scripture is not able to be broken— ³⁶“do ye say of Him, Whom the Father sanctified and sent forth into the world, ‘Thou blasphemest,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷“If I do not the works of My Father, cease believing Me. ³⁸“But if I do, even if ye believe Me not, believe the works, that ye might come to know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Pachomios the Great, founder of cenobitic monasticism, and our holy father among the saints, Achilles, Bishop of Larisa.

Epistle

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Cor. 4:6-15].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 10]. At that time:

4 ²³Jesus was going around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴And the report of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all those who were ill, constrained by various diseases and torments, and possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He cured them. ²⁵And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judæa, and beyond the Jordan.

5 ¹And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying:
   ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ⁴“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
   ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
   ⁶“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
   ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
   ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
   ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
   ¹⁰“Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ¹¹“Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.
   ¹²“Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, with what shall it be salted? For it is no longer good for anything, except to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 14:25-35].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 28th – Civil Calendar
May 15th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Pachomios the Great.

He was an Egyptian by birth and was a pagan in his youth. As a soldier, he took part in the Emperor Constantine’s war against Maxentius. After that, learning from Christians about the one God and seeing their devout life, Pachomios was baptized and went to the Tabennisiot desert, to the famous ascetic Palamon, with whom he lived in asceticism for ten years. Then an angel appeared to him in the robes of a monk of the Great Habit at the place called Tabennisi and gave him instructions on the rule of a cenobitic monastery, commanding him to found such a monastery in that place and prophesying to him that many monks would come to it seeking the salvation of their souls. Obeying the angel of God, Pachomios began building many cells, although there was no one in that place but himself and his brother John. When his brother grumbled at him for doing this unnecessary building, Pachomios simply told him that he was following God’s command, without explaining who would live there, or when. But many men soon assembled in that place, moved by the Spirit of God, and began to live in asceticism under the rule that Pachomios had received from the angel. When the number of monks had increased greatly, Pachomios, step by step, founded six further monasteries. The number of his disciples grew to seven thousand. St. Anthony is regarded as the founder of the eremitic life, and St. Pachomios of the monastic, communal life. The humility, love of toil and abstinence of this holy father were and remain a rare example for the imitation of monks. St. Pachomios performed innumerable miracles, and also endured innumerable temptations from demons and men. And he served men as both father and brother. He roused many to set out on the way of salvation, and brought many into the way of truth. He was and remains a great light in the Church and a great witness to the truth and righteousness of Christ. He entered peacefully into rest in 346, at the age of sixty. The Church recognizes many of his followers as saints: Theodore, Job, Paphnutios, Pecusius, Athenodorus, Eponichus, Soutus, Psois, Dionysius, Petronius and others.

2. St. Achillios, Bishop of Larissa.

This great hierarch and wonder-worker was born in Cappadocia. He took part in the First Ecumenical Council, at which he put the heretics to shame, and both by his great learning and his great purity, gave cause for much wonder. Taking up a stone, Achillios called to the Arians: ‘If Christ is a creature of God, as you say, tell oil to flow from this stone.’ The heretics kept silent, amazed at this demand by St. Achillios. Then the saint continued: ‘And if the Son of God is equal to the Father, as we believe, then let oil flow from this stone.’ And oil flowed out, to the amazement of all. St. Achillios entered peacefully into rest in Larissa in the year 330. Samuel, King of Macedonia, when he conquered Thessaly, translated the relics of Achillios to Prespa, to an island in a lake that was named, and is called to this day, Achillios or Ailus.

3. Our Holy Father Silvanos.

He was at first a comedian, mimicking each and all, but then, inflamed by the love of Christ, he became a disciple of St. Pachomios. ‘I would be ready to give my life,’ he said, ‘to receive the forgiveness of my sins.’

FOR CONSIDERATION

When a tyrant exercises tyranny over a righteous man from covetousness, then the tyrant brings both a gain and a loss: a loss for the tyrant and a gain for him who suffers the tyranny. Boris Godunov murdered the eight-year-old Tsarevich Dimitri in order to seize the throne without a rival. The days of his reign were quickly ended, and the tyrant was given over to corruption and damnation; but Dimitri was sanctified. After lying in the grave for fifteen years, Dimitri’s body was found to be incorrupt and wonder-working. There are forty-five miracles of healing recorded over his grave. Whose, then, was the loss and whose the gain from this tyranny? If the tyrant thought that he would, by tyranny, help his opponent to be included in the ranks of the saints and would prepare destruction and damnation for himself, he would change his mind about his planned tyranny. But wrong thinking is the forerunner and companion of tyranny.

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.