Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Twelfth Week

Mode Three — First Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 158].

15 ¹Brethren, I make known to you the Gospel which I preached as good tidings to you, which also ye received, and in which also ye stand, ²by which also ye are being saved, in what word I myself preached as good tidings to you, if ye hold fast, unless ye believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you in the first place what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He hath been raised the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that He appeared to Kephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Afterward He appeared to over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the majority remain until now, but some also fell asleep. ⁷Then He appeared to Iakovos, then to all the apostles. ⁸And last of all He appeared to me also, as it were one untimely born. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was toward me did not become void; but I toiled more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach and so ye believed.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 79]. At that time:

19 ¹⁶A certain young man came to Jesus, and knelt down to Him, and said, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” ¹⁷And He said to him, “Why callest thou Me good? No one is good, except One: God. But if thou art willing to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸He saith to Him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “‘Thou shalt not murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness [Ex. 20:15, 13, 14, 16]; ¹⁹“‘be honoring thy father and thy mother [Ex. 20:12]’; and, ‘thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself [Lev. 19:18].’” ²⁰The young man saith to Him, “All these I kept for myself from my youth; what lack I yet?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If thou art willing to be perfect, go and sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and keep on following Me.” ²²But after the young man heard the saying, he went away being grieved; for he had many possessions. ²³And Jesus said to His disciples, “Verily I say to you, that a rich man, with difficulty, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens. ²⁴“And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁵And after His disciples heard this, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, “Who then is able to be saved?” ²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Dormition, and the holy Martyr Agathonikos of Nicomedia, and his companions, Zotikos, Zenonos, Theoprepios, Akindynos, and Severianos, and the holy Martyr Louppos (transferred to this date on account of the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition on the 23^rd of August).

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 4th – Civil Calendar
August 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Agathonikos and Zotikos, and others with them.

St. Agathonikos was a citizen of Nikomedia and a Christian. He turned the Greeks from idolatry with great fervor, and instructed them in the true Faith. The imperial governor, on orders from the Emperor Maximian, was persecuting Christians with great harshness. In this persecution, he seized St. Zotikos in a place called Carpe, crucified his disciples and took him off to Nikomedia, where he also seized and bound Agathonikos, Princeps, Theoprepios, Akyndinos, Severianos, Zeno and many others. They were taken, securely bound, to Byzantium. On the way, Zotikos, Theoprepios and Akyndinos died from exhaustion and of their wounds. Severianos was killed near Chalcedon and Agathonikos and the others were taken to Thrace, to a place called Silybria, where, after torture before the emperor himself, they were beheaded with the sword and entered into eternal life and the joy of their Lord.

2. The Holy Martyr Eulalia.

At the time of a terrible persecution of Christians in Spain, there was a maiden called Eulalia, born of Christian parents in Barcelona. Utterly consecrated to Christ her Bridegroom, and steeped in the holy Scriptures, she applied herself steadfastly to voluntary asceticism of soul and body. When the torturer, Dacian, who was mercilessly slaughtering Christians in Spain, came to Barcelona, Eulalia slipped away from her parents by night, came before the torturer, and in the presence of many of the people, denounced him as a murderer of innocent people, and also pulled down idols, openly confessing her faith in Christ the living Lord. Dacian commanded in fury that she be stripped and beaten with rods, but the holy maiden showed that she did not feel the pain of the torture for her Christ. Then the torturer had her tied to a tree in the form of a Cross, and ordered that her flesh be burned with torches. The torturer asked her, where was her Christ to save her? Eulalia answered: ‘He is here with me, but you cannot see Him because of your impurity.’ Under great torture, Eulalia gave her soul to God, and when she breathed her last, the people saw a white dove emerge from her mouth. Then a sudden snowstorm came and covered the naked body of the martyr like a white garment. On the third day, St. Felix came, and in grief, wept before the hanging body of Eulalia, and a smile appeared on the saint’s dead face. Her parents came, and together with other Christians, buried the body of the holy maiden. She suffered for her Lord and entered into eternal joy at the beginning of the fourth century.

3. The Holy Martyr Anthusa, and others with her.

The daughter of rich, pagan parents in Seleukeia in Syria, Anthusa heard of Christ and believed in Him with all her heart. She went secretly to Bishop Athanasius, who baptized her, and an angel of God appeared at that moment. After that, Anthusa went off to the desert to live in asceticism, not daring to return to her parents. She lived in the desert for thirty-three years, until, while kneeling in prayer on a rock, she gave her soul into God’s hands. She was buried, at her prior request, under this rock. Athanasius and two of Anthusa’s servants, Charismus and Neophytus, were beheaded for their faith in Christ in the time of the Emperor Valerian, in about the year 257. They suffered with honor and were crowned with wreaths.

FOR CONSIDERATION

When once a man has truly repented, he must think no more of the sins committed, lest he fall again into sin. St. Anthony advises: ‘Guard yourself, that your mind be not fouled with the memory of former sins, and that the memory of them be not renewed within you.’ And, in another place, he says: ‘Don’t establish the sins that you have formerly committed in your soul by pondering on them, lest they be renewed in you. Be assured that they are forgiven from the moment that you turn to God in repentance. Be in no doubt about this.’ It was said of St. Ammon that he achieved such perfection that, in his great goodness, he no longer recognized the existence of evil. When he was asked what was the ‘narrow and hard’ way, he replied: ‘It is the curbing of one’s thoughts and the mortifying of one’s own will for the fulfilling of the will of God.’ He who curbs sinful thoughts thinks neither of his own sin nor of another’s, nor of anything corruptible or earthly. The mind of such a man is constantly in heaven, where there is no evil. Thus, little by little, evil is cast out from us, even in our thoughts.

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.