Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 198].

1 ¹Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead), ²and all the brethren with me, to the churches of Galatia: ³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.... ²⁰Now the things which I write to you, behold, before the face of God, I lie not. ²¹Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judæa which are in Christ. But they were hearing only that “the one who once persecuted us now preacheth the faith as good tidings which once he used to ravage.” ²³And they were glorifying God in me.

2 ¹Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. ²And I went up according to revelation, and I laid before them the Gospel which I proclaim among the nations, but privately to those who were of repute, lest in any way I should be running, or ran, in vain. ³But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴Now on this account false brethren were introduced privily—who came in secretly to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus—in order that they might bring us into bondage to themselves; ⁵to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, in order that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 19]. At that time:

5 ¹Jesus came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gergesenes. ²And after He came forth out of the ship, straightway there met Him out of the sepulchers a man with an unclean spirit, ³who had his dwelling among the sepulchers; and no one was able to bind him, not even with chains, ⁴because he often had been bound, and the chains had been torn asunder by him, and the fetters had been broken in pieces, and no one was able to tame him. ⁵And throughout the night and day, he was in the mountains and in the sepulchers, crying out and cutting himself to pieces with stones. ⁶But after he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and made obeisance to Him. ⁷And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What is it to me and to Thee, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I adjure Thee by God, do not begin to torment me.” ⁸For He was saying to him, “Come forth, thou spirit, the unclean one, out of the man!” ⁹And He was questioning him, “What is thy name?” And he answered, saying, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” ¹⁰And he was beseeching Him much that He would not send them away outside the country. ¹¹Now there was there toward the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹²And all the demons besought Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we might enter into them.” ¹³And straightway Jesus gave them leave. And the spirits, the unclean ones, went out and entered into the swine (now they were about two thousand); and the herd rushed down the cliff into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴And they who fed the swine fled, and brought back tidings to the city and to the country. And they went out to see what it was that had taken place. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus, and beheld the one who had been possessed by demons and had the legion, sitting and clothed and of sound mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶And they who saw related to them how it happened to the one who had been possessed by demons, and concerning the swine. ¹⁷And they began to beseech Him to depart from their borders. ¹⁸And while He embarked into the ship, the one who had been possessed by demons was beseeching Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹And Jesus did not allow him, but saith to him, “Go to thy house and to thine own, and bring tidings to them how much the Lord did for thee, and pitied thee.” ²⁰And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis how much Jesus did for him; and all were marvelling.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Mamas, and of our venerable Father John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

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.

For the Faster:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 50]. The Lord said to His disciples:

15 ¹“I am the vine, the true one, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²“Every branch in Me which beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch which beareth fruit, He pruneth it, in order that it may bear more fruit. ³“Already ye are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴“Abide in Me, and I in you. Even as a branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, unless ye abide in Me. ⁵“I am the vine, ye are the branches. The one who abideth in Me, and I in him, this one beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye are not able to do anything. ⁶“Unless one abide in Me, he is cast out as the branch and is withered—and they gather them together and cast them into the fire—and is burned. ⁷“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask for yourselves whatever ye will, and it shall come to pass for you. ⁸“In this is My Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit, and shall become disciples to Me. ⁹“Even as the Father loved Me, I also loved you; abide in the love, that which is Mine. ¹⁰“If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept the commandments of My Father, and abide in His love. ¹¹“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be made full.”

For the Faster:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 15th – Civil Calendar
September 2nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Mamas.

He was born in Paphlagonia of eminent Christian parents, Theodotus and Rufina, who were thrown into prison for the name of Christ. In the prison, Theodotus was the first to die, and Rufina, after giving birth to a son, soon followed her husband, and the newborn child was left in the prison beside the bodies of his parents. God the Provider sent His holy angel to a noble widow, Ammia, whom the angel told in a dream to go to the prison and take the child. Ammia asked the city governor’s permission to bury the dead and take the child into her own home. The child was dumb until the age of five, and then his first word was ‘Mama,’ because of which he was given the name Mamas. At school, he showed an unusual brightness, and being brought up at home in a Christian spirit, did not conceal his faith but confessed it before his contemporaries, mocking at the idols. In the time of the Emperor Aurelian, there was a vicious persecution of Christians, and the pagans did not spare even Christian children. Mamas was fifteen years old when he was taken before the emperor. The emperor told him to deny Christ only with his lips. To this Mamas replied: ‘I shall not deny my God and King Jesus Christ either in my heart or with my lips.’ The emperor ordered that he be beaten, burned with torches and finally thrown into the sea, but an angel of God saved him and took him to a high mountain near Caesarea. There he lived in solitude and prayer, and fierce wild beasts were tamed by his holiness. He was eventually found there by the persecutors and put again to torture. Overcoming both the power of fire and the fierceness of wild beasts, holy Mamas was stabbed with a trident by a pagan priest. He thus gave his holy soul to the God to Whom he had remained faithful in all his sufferings. Many of the sick have been healed by his relics.

2. St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople.

St. John is also commemorated on August 30th. He was a goldsmith at first, then, by God’s providence and for his great virtues, was ordained priest. As a young man, St. John was once walking with an old monk from Palestine, Evsevios. Suddenly, a voice came to Evsevios from some invisible source: ‘Father, don’t walk on the right of great John!’ This, the voice of God, was predicting the high service to which John was soon to be called. After blessed Eftychios’ death, John was chosen as Patriarch of Constantinople. He was most unwilling to accept, but was overawed by a heavenly vision and thus gave his consent. He was a great faster, a man of prayer and a wonder-worker right up to his death, entering into rest in 595. After his death, his only possessions were found to be a wooden spoon, a linen shirt and an old cassock. His writings on repentance and confession are well-known.

3. St. Eleazar.

The son of Aaron and second high priest in Israel, he helped Moses to number the Israelites and Jesus the son of Navee to apportion the Promised Land among the twelve tribes. He faithfully guarded the Ark of the Covenant in Shiloh, and died peacefully.

4. Feast of the Miracle of the Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God.

This is recorded in the passage for consideration below.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Orthodox Church has, within her experience, innumerable examples of almighty God’s showing of His power through natural and mortal things, especially through those which serve as signs of the incarnation, life and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ: the Cross, icons of the Mother of God and the saints, holy water, oil, myrrh and so forth. Thus was there wrought a miracle by an icon of the holy Mother of God in 1748, in the house of a boyar, Chitrov, near the town of Kaluga in Russia. Two of the boyar’s serving girls, turning out junk in the attic one day, found a piece of folded linen on which was a beautiful painting of a woman’s face. The face was full of light and devotion. One of these girls was modest and serious, but the other was vain and given to gossip. The former looked at the face on the linen and gave it the name `the abbess,’ but Evdokia, for that was the name of the gossipy one, would not have that, but jeered at her modest companion. To give more force to her words, she spat on the image, and at that moment fell to the ground, her whole body contorted. She became blind and dumb, and began to foam at the mouth. That night, the Mother of God appeared to the parents of the afflicted girl, related to them what had happened to their daughter, and told them to call the priest to pray before the discovered icon and sprinkle the girl with holy water, and she would then be healed. When this had been done, Evdokia was restored to health, and from that time, her character changed and she became serious. Thus it was discovered that this was the miraculous face of the Mother of God. The icon was taken to the church in Kaluga, where it is found today, still working wonders.

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.