Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 134]. Brethren:

5 ⁹I wrote to you in the epistle not to be associating with fornicators; ¹⁰and yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or rapacious, or idolaters, for otherwise then ye are obliged to go out of the world. ¹¹But now I am writing to you not to be associating with anyone, if called a brother, who is a fornicator, or coveter, or idolater, or reviler, or drunkard, or ravener—with such a one not even to eat. ¹²For what is it to me to judge also those outside? Ye judge those inside, do ye not? ¹³But God judgeth those outside. “And ye shall remove the evil one from among yourselves [cf. Deut. 17:7].”

6 ¹Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? ²Ye know that the saints shall judge the world, do ye not? And if the world is being judged in you, are ye unworthy of the smallest judgments? ³Ye know that we shall judge angels, do ye not? Not to mention the things of this life? ⁴If then indeed ye be holding courts of judgment pertaining to this life, appoint those who are of no account in the Church. ⁵For to your shame I speak. Is it so that there is not one wise one among you, not even one, who shall be able to decide between a brother and his brother? ⁶But brother goeth to law with brother, and this before unbelievers? ⁷Already indeed then there is altogether a loss among you that ye have lawsuits among yourselves. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸But ye do wrong and defraud, and these things to your brethren. ⁹Or do ye not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Cease being led astray; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor masturbators, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor raveners shall inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And such were some of you. But ye washed yourselves, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and in the Spirit of our God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 56]. At that time:

13 ⁵⁴After Jesus came into His own country, He was teaching the crowds in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished and said, “From what place hath this One this wisdom and the works of power? ⁵⁵“This is the carpenter’s Son, is it not? His Mother is called Mariam, is she not, and His brothers, Iakovos, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶“And His sisters are all with us, are they not? From what place then hath this One all these things?” ⁵⁷And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.” ⁵⁸And He did not do many works of power there because of their unbelief.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Proclos and Hilarion, and our venerable Father Michael of Maleinos.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 25th – Civil Calendar
July 12th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Proklos and Hilarion.

These martyrs were born in Kallippi in Asia, Proklos being Hilarion’s uncle. They suffered in the time of Trajan. The judge asked Proklos: ‘Of what race are you?’ Proklos replied: ‘I am of the race of Christ, and my hope is in my God.’ When the judge threatened him with torture, he said: ‘When you are afraid to transgress the emperor’s commands and risk falling into temporal punishment, how much more do we Christians fear to transgress against God’s commands and fall into eternal torment!’ While Proklos was being tortured, Hilarion came up to the judge and said: ‘I too am a Christian!’ After many tortures, the two of them were condemned to death, Proklos being crucified and Hilarion beheaded with the sword. They both entered into the joy of their Lord.

2. Our Holy Father Michael Maleinos.

He was a wealthy man of noble birth. Scorning worldly goods in his youth, he withdrew to Mount Kyminas in Bithynia, where he lived in asceticism, purifying his heart by fasting and prayer. He later had many disciples, of whom the best-known is St. Athanasius the Athonite. He died peacefully in the middle of the tenth century.

3. St. Veronica.

This is the woman with the issue of blood, whom the Lord healed (Matt. 9:20). In gratitude to the Lord, her healer, Veronica caused a statue of the Lord Jesus to be made, before which she prayed to God. By tradition, this statue was preserved up to the time of Julian the Apostate, when it was altered to become a statue of Zeus. This is one of the very rare occasions that a statue has been used in the Eastern Church. St. Veronica remained faithful to Christ till death, and entered peacefully into rest.

4. The Holy Martyrs Theodore and John.

Father and son, they settled after their Baptism in the pagan city of Kiev. The infuriated pagans pulled their house down about their ears, and the two of them perished for the sake of Christ. Their relics are preserved in St. Anthony’s caves. The barren and women who miscarry pray especially to them.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The fabric of righteousness is finer than silk, but is enduring and indestructible and embraces both worlds, while the fabric of unrighteousness and violence is thick and easily rent. In the time of the Kievan Prince Vladimir, there lived in Kiev only one Christian family, Theodore and his son John. When there was a wicked, idolatrous festival, the pagans of Kiev, urged on by demons, plotted to offer John, Theodore’s son, as a sacrifice to the idols. When some of them went to Theodore to demand his son in the name of their ‘gods,’ he said to them: ‘If your gods are alive, let them come themselves and take my son!’ The furious pagans rushed to Theodore’s house, destroyed it and left the bodies of the godly Theodore and his son John in the ruins. Thus far did the fabric of unrighteousness extend. But the fabric of righteousness went further: Prince Vladimir was baptized soon after this, and also baptized the nation, and on the very spot where the house and grave of Theodore and John had been, the church of the most holy Mother of God was built.

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.