Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 86]. Brethren:

4 ⁴To him who worketh, the reward is reckoned not according to grace, but according to debt. ⁵But to him who worketh not, but believeth on Him Who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness, ⁶even as David also declareth the pronounced blessing of the man to whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works: ⁷“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered [Ps. 31(32):1]. ⁸“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord in no wise shall reckon sin [Ps. 31(32):2].” ⁹Doth this pronounced blessing then come upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. ¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while in uncircumcision, in order for him to be the father of all those who believe while in uncircumcision, so that righteousness be reckoned to them also, ¹²and the father of circumcision to those not of the circumcision only, but to those who walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while in uncircumcision.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 22]. The Lord said:

7 ¹⁵“Be on guard against the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but within they are rapacious wolves. ¹⁶“From their fruits ye shall fully know them. They do not gather a bunch of grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, do they? ¹⁷“Thus, every good tree produceth good fruits, but the rotten tree produceth bad fruits. ¹⁸“A good tree is not able to produce bad fruits, nor is a rotten tree able to produce good fruits. ¹⁹“Every tree which produceth not good fruit is cut off and cast into the fire. ²⁰“Then surely by their fruits ye shall fully know them.

²¹“Not everyone who saith to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one who doeth the will of My Father in the heavens.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the translation of the relics of the Great-martyr Theodore the General.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 220]. Brethren:

2 ⁴God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with the Christ—by grace have ye been saved— ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, ⁷that He might show forth Himself in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, in order that we should walk in them.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Tim. 2:1-10].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 36]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Become therefore wise as the serpents and guileless as the doves. ¹⁷“But continue being on guard against men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸“And also ye shall be brought before governors and kings on account of Me, for a testimony to them and to the nations. ¹⁹“But whenever they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what ye should speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. ²⁰“For ye are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father Who is speaking in you. ²¹“Now a brother shall deliver up a brother to death, and a father a child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death. ²²“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake; but the one who endureth to the end, this one shall be saved.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 21st – Civil Calendar
June 8th – Church Calendar

1. St. Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch.

During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasios, Ephraim was governor of the eastern regions. He was famed for his great piety and compassion, and was much esteemed for these virtues. When the rebuilding of Antioch, which had been destroyed by earthquake and fire, was put in hand, the emperor ordered Ephraim to oversee the work. Ephraim performed this work with diligence and love. There was among the ordinary workers a certain bishop who had left his see for unknown reasons and was working as a laborer. Not a soul knew that the man was a bishop. One day he lay down to take a rest from the exhausting work with the other laborers, and fell asleep. Ephraim glanced at him, and saw a flaming pillar rising above the man and reaching up to heaven. Amazed and frightened, Ephraim summoned him and bound him under oath to reveal who he was. The man hesitated a long time, but finally admitted that he was a bishop and foretold that Ephraim would shortly be consecrated Patriarch of Antioch (the patriarchal throne having been empty since the old patriarch, Ephrasios, perished in the earthquake). Ephraim was indeed elected and consecrated as patriarch. For his goodness, purity and zeal for Orthodoxy, a great gift of wonder-working was given him by God. Once, in order to convince some heretic that Orthodoxy is the true Faith, he placed his omophorion in the flames and prayed to God. The omophorion remained unharmed in the fire for three hours. When the heretic saw this, he was afraid and cast his heresy aside. Ephraim entered peacefully into rest in 546.

2. Our Holy Father Zosimas of Phoenicia.

This saint was born in Synda, in the neighborhood of Tyre, and labored in asceticism in his monastery nearby. Having not the shadow of a cloud on his conscience, he could prophesy, see far into distant things and behold what was happening in the world. In this way he was able to witness the fall of Antioch during the earthquake, and weeping bitterly, he prostrated himself on the ground and prayed to God that the city should not be completely destroyed. It once happened that a lion met him on a path and killed and ate his mule. The saint commanded the lion to serve him in the mule’s place, and to carry the load. The lion became as meek as a lamb, took the load upon itself and carried it to the gates of Caesarea, where Zosimas gave it back its liberty and let it go. St. Zosimas entered peacefully into rest in the sixth century.

3. The Holy and Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates.

This saint is commemorated on February 8th, and his life is recounted there. However, June 8th commemorates the translation of his relics from Heraklion to Efchaita. St. Theodore’s last request to his servant Varus before his martyrdom was: ‘Bury my body on the estate of my ancestors at Efchaita.’ St. Anastasios of Mount Sinai has recorded the following miracle by an icon of St. Theodore: At a place called Karsat, close to Damascus, there was a church dedicated to St. Theodore. When the Saracens conquered Damascus, a party of them, with their wives and children, turned the church into their lodging. There was a fresco of St. Theodore on the wall, and one of the Saracens let fly an arrow and struck the image of St. Theodore in the face. At once blood flowed from it. Soon after that, the entire group of Saracens in that church died. St. Anastasios says that he had been in that church himself, and had seen the traces of blood on the saint’s face on the wall.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Fear of suffering and fear of an absence of suffering—this is one and the same fear, and is the fear of a spiritual man that God has departed from him. When St. Katharine was enduring many terrible torments, the Lord appeared to her and she asked Him: ‘Where wast Thou, Lord, until now, to comfort me in my great sufferings?’ and the Lord replied to her: ‘I was here, in thy heart.’ But as great a fear may overtake a spiritual man when no sufferings come his way for a long time. A monk came to a church in Alexandria and saw a woman kneeling before an icon of the Savior, weeping and crying out to God: ‘Thou hast abandoned me, O Lord; have mercy on me, O merciful One.’ When her prayer was finished, the monk asked the woman: ‘Who has so wronged you, that you are complaining so bitterly to God?’ The woman answered: ‘Until now, no one has wronged me; and for that very reason I am weeping, since God has abandoned me and has not visited me with any suffering for three years. During this time, neither I nor my son has fallen ill, neither has anything befallen my cattle or poultry.’

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.