Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Third Week

Mode Two — Third Eothinon

Epistle

For the Third Sunday

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 88]. Brethren:

5 ¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through Whom also we have had access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only so, but we boast in afflictions also, knowing that the affliction worketh out patience; ⁴and patience, a tested character; and a tested character, hope. ⁵And the hope doth not put to shame, for the love of God hath been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us. ⁶For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸But God commendeth His own love to us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

For the New-martyrs Under the Turkish Yoke

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99]. Brethren:

8 ²⁸We know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰But whom He foreordained, these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these also He glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He Who indeed spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. ³⁴Who is the one who condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶Even as it hath been written: “For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps. 43(44):23(22)].” ³⁷But in all these things we more than conquer through the One Who loved us. ³⁸For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things coming, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

For the Third Sunday

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 18]. The Lord said:

6 ²²“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be sound, thy whole body shall be full of light. ²³“But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee is darkness, how great is the darkness? ²⁴“No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye are not able to serve God and mammon. ²⁵“On this account I say to you, cease being anxious for your soul, what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink; nor for your body, what ye shall put on. The soul is more than food and the body is more than raiment, is it not? ²⁶“Look at the birds of the heaven, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor do they gather into storehouses; and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Ye much more excel them, do ye not? ²⁷“And which of you, by being anxious, is able to add one cubit onto his stature? ²⁸“And why are ye anxious about raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, nor do they spin. ²⁹“And I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself as one of these. ³⁰“But if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into an oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ³¹“Therefore do not become anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ ³²“For all these things the nations seek after; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all of these things. ³³“But be seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

For the New-martyrs Under the Turkish Yoke:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Methodios, Bishop of Patara.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 3rd – Civil Calendar
June 20th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Methodius, Bishop of Patara,

He devoted himself from his youth to the ascetic life, and like a city set on a hill, was seen and called to the episcopate in the city of Patara in Lycia. Methodius was a learned and eloquent hierarch and wrote against the heresy of Origen. His words, ‘inspired by God, illumine the whole world like lightning’. The pagans rose up against him, tortured him and beheaded him in 311, in Chalkis in Syria.

2. The Holy Martyrs Aristokles, Dimitrianus and Athanasius.

Aristokles was a priest at the cathedral church in the town of Tamasus on Cyprus, and lived a life pleasing to God. Through his great zeal for the Faith, he was made worthy to hear a voice from heaven telling him to go to Salamis to receive the crown of martyrdom. The deacon Dimitrianus and the reader Athanasius joined him. On their arrival in Salamis, these men of God began to preach Christ. The pagans seized them, and after trial by torture, beheaded Aristokles with a sword, but Dimitrianus and Athanasius were cast into the flames. This was in the year 306.

3. Our Holy Father Naum of Ochrid.

His chief festival is on December 23rd, where his life is recorded, but June 20th is his summer feast. A great crowd gathers at the monastery of St. Naum for this summer festival. Many of the sick come or are carried there to receive healing through faith and prayer over the relics of this holy man. Not merely Orthodox, but people of other faiths come seeking help from St. Naum. In 1926, a Moslem from Resna (Resen) went there and donated a bell to the monastery in gratitude to the saint for healing his brother and raising him from his deathbed. The donor was Jemail Zizo, and his brother who was healed was called Suleiman Zizo. Both were eminent citizens of Resna.

4. St. Kallistos I, Patriarch of Constantinople.

He lived the ascetic life for twenty-eight years as a disciple of Gregory the Sinaite on Mount Athos, in the skete of Magoula attached to the monastery of Philotheou. He later founded the community of St. Mamas there. He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 1350. After four years, he left the patriarchal throne to return to Athos, but in the reign of John Palaiologos, he was again called to the throne, where he remained until his death. He died in 1363 on the way to Serres to meet the Serbian Queen Helena, who was seeking help against the Turks. He wrote the Lives of St. Gregory the Sinaite and St. Theodosius of Trnovo, as well as numerous homilies. It is interesting to note how St. Maximus of Kapsokalyvia foretold the death of Patriarch Kallistos. On his way to Serbia, Kallistos called in at the Holy Mountain. St. Maximus saw him and said: ‘This elder will not see his flock again, because I hear behind him the hymn over the grave: “Happy are the blameless in the way...”.’

5. St. Leucius, Bishop of Brindisi.

Born in Alexandria, he entered a monastery young. He was worthy of great revelations and powerful grace, sufficient to raise the dead and drive demons from men. He was at first Bishop of Alexandria, and went to Italy in response to a command from heaven. He baptized the entire pagan city of Brindisi and built a church there to the Mother of God. After intensive and successful work for the Faith, he entered into eternity in the fifth century, in the reign of the Emperor Theodosios II.

6. Blessed Studios.

A famous nobleman and consul in Constantinople, he founded in 463 the Church of St. John the Forerunner near the Golden Gates, and a monastery, named the Studion after him. This monastery became famed for its many great men, spiritual teachers, ascetics and martyrs for the Faith, among whom St. Theodore the Studite is the best-known. The Latin Crusaders destroyed this monastery in 1204, but it was restored in 1293 by the Paleologue Emperor Andronikos II. The church, for some centuries a mosque, is now in ruins.

7. Feast of the Odegetria (Directress) Icon of the Mother of God.

Luke the Evangelist painted this icon on wood himself. When the most holy Mother of God saw it, she was pleased with it and blessed it. St. Luke presented the icon to Theophilus, a state official for whom he wrote the Acts of the Apostles. The icon was later taken from Antioch to Jerusalem, and sent from there by the Empress Evdokia to Constantinople as a gift for Pulcheria, the emperor’s devout sister. Pulcheria placed it in the Church of Vlachernai, which was her own foundation. The most holy Mother of God once appeared to two blind men and led them into the church to her icon and restored the sight of them both. For this reason, the icon has become known as ‘Odegetria’— ‘She who shows the way’. When the armies of the Persian king, Chozroes, and of Kagan, leader of the Scythians, attacked Constantinople, Patriarch Sergios carried the icon around the city ramparts, and the most holy Mother of God saved the Christians from the unbelievers. The forces of the enemy became confused, the sea began to heave about, and the boats began to sink. The enemy soldiers who remained alive saved themselves by fleeing. Ever since then, a commemoration of this miracle wrought by the most holy Mother of God has been held on the Saturday of the Fifth Week of the Great Fast, with the reading of the Akathist. During the iconoclast period, this icon was taken to the monastery of the Pantocrator and sealed up in a wall with a burning lamp hanging before it. It was found later, unharmed by its immuring.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Cyprian writes on immortality: ‘Whenever any famous person promises you something, you trust in his promise and do not think that he will deceive you, since he is always true to his word. But lo, O distrustful man, God Himself speaks to you and you vacillate in doubt! God has promised you immortality when you leave this world, and do you impudently doubt this promise? This means that you do not recognize God at all, it means that you insult Christ our Lord and Teacher with your lack of faith.’ What a strong faith is held by God’s saints! How clear and rational and well-attested it is by simple yet powerful examples! It is not because the unholy are rational that they doubt, but because they are unholy. The holier a man, the more rational, since he sees the truth in the undistorted mirror of his heart.

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.