Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Seventeenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 226]. Brethren:

4 ¹⁷This I say and testify in the Lord: ye are no longer to walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸who have been darkened in thought and alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹who, having become insensible, gave themselves up to licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰But ye have not thus learned the Christ— ²¹if indeed ye heard Him and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus: ²²to put off from yourselves the old man, with respect to the former manner of life, who is being corrupted according to the desires of the deceit, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new man, who, according to God, was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵Wherefore, having put off the falsehood, “Be speaking truth each one with his neighbor [cf. Zach. 8:16].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 14]. At that time:

4 ²²The crowds were wondering at the words of grace which were proceeding out of Jesus’ mouth, and were saying, “This is the Son of Joseph, is it not?” ²³And He said to them, “No doubt, ye will say this parable to Me, ‘Physician, heal thyself; as much as we heard was done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.’” ²⁴And He said, “Verily I say to you that not one prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵“But in truth I say to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine arose over all the land; ²⁶“and to not even one of them was Elias sent, except to Sarepta of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷“And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisaios the prophet, and not one of them was cleansed, except Neman the Syrian.” ²⁸And all in the synagogue were filled with anger when they heard these things. ²⁹And they rose up and cast Him outside of the city; and they led Him up to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down headlong. ³⁰But He, having passed through the midst of them, kept going on His way.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the miracle of the most holy Theotokos "of the Myrtle Tree" in Kythera, and holy First-martyr and Equal-to-the-apostles Thekla.

Epistle

For the Theotokos:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 240]. Brethren:

2 ⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶Who, existing in the form of God, deemed it not a prize to be seized to be equal with God; ⁷but He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, and came to be in the likeness of men. ⁸And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even to death—indeed, the death of a cross. ⁹Wherefore God also exalted Him exceedingly, and freely gave to Him a name that is above every name, ¹⁰that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; ¹¹and every tongue should confess for itself that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For the Proto-martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 296]. Child Timothy:

3 ¹⁰Thou hast closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, patience, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra—what persecutions I endured! And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹²Yes, and all those who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. ¹³But evil men and cheats shall advance to the worse, leading astray and being led astray. ¹⁴But thou, keep on abiding in what thou didst learn and wast assured of, knowing from whom thou didst learn, ¹⁵and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings, which are able to make thee wise in regard to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 104]. The Lord said this parable:

25 ¹“The kingdom of the heavens shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ²“And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. ³“Those who were foolish took lamps for themselves and took no oil with them; ⁴“but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵“But while the bridegroom tarried, they all dozed and went on sleeping. ⁶“But in the middle of the night, there came to pass a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!’ ⁷“Then all those virgins were wakened and trimmed their lamps. ⁸“And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹“But the prudent answered, saying, ‘Peradventure there might not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰“But while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they who were ready went in with him to the wedding festivities; and the door was shut. ¹¹“And afterwards the remaining virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²“But he answered and said, ‘Verily I say to you, I know ye not.’ ¹³“Be watching then, for ye know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 7th – Civil Calendar
September 24th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Protomartyr Thekla, Equal to the Apostles.

Thekla was born in Iconium of eminent pagan parents. She was betrothed at the age of eighteen to a young man, at the time that the Apostle Paul came to Iconium with Barnabas to preach the Gospel. Listening to Paul for three days and nights, Thekla turned utterly to the Christian Faith and vowed to live in virginity. Her mother, seeing that she shunned her betrothed and thought no more of marriage, first talked to her and then beat her and starved her. Finally, she gave her over to the judges and demanded, wicked mother that she was, that Thekla be burned. The judge threw her into the flames, but God preserved her unharmed. Thekla then became a follower of the Apostle Paul, and went with him to Antioch. Attracted by Thekla’s beauty, an elder of the city attempted to take her by force, but Thekla tore herself out of his grasp. The elder denounced her to the governor as a Christian who was averse to marriage. The governor condemned her to death and threw her to the wild beasts, but the animals would not touch the body of this holy virgin. Amazed at this, the governor asked: ‘Who are you, and what is the power that you have in you, that nothing can do you harm?’ Thekla replied: ‘I am a servant of the living God.’ Then the governor let her go free, and she began to preach the Gospel and succeeded in bringing many to the true Faith, among whom was an eminent and honored widow, Tryphena. After this, St. Thekla, with the blessing of the Apostle Paul, withdrew to a solitary place near Seleukeia. She lived a long time there in asceticism, healing the sick with miraculous power and in this way bringing many to Christianity. The doctors in Seleukeia were jealous of her and sent some young men to assault her, hoping that, in losing her virginity, she would lose also her miraculous power. Thekla fled from these insolent young men, and when she saw that they would catch her, prayed to God for help in front of a rock, and the rock opened and hid the holy maiden and bride of Christ. This rock was her hiding place and her tomb. St. Chrysostom says of this wonderful Christian heroine and saint: ‘I seem to see this blessed virgin going to Christ with virginity in one hand and martyrdom in the other.’

2. St. Stefan (Stephen), King of Serbia, the First-Crowned (Simon the Monk).

Crowned king at Žiča, his foundation, by his brother and spiritual father, St. Sava, he was a devout Christian and a wise and peace-loving ruler. Stefan, together with St. Sava, raised Orthodoxy to great heights among his people. At his desire, St. Sava made him a monk at the time of his death, giving him the name Simon. He entered into rest in the Lord on September 24th, 1224, and his relics are preserved at Studenica.

3. St. David (formerly Prince Dimitrije)

Son of Vukan, Stefan’s brother, he built the monastery at Lim, at which he himself became a monk.

4. The Holy Prince Vladislav.

Son of King Stefan, he built the monastery of Mileševa, whither he took St. Sava’s relics from Trnovo. He was distinguished by a rare compassion for the poor. On the coinage of his time, he had inscribed: ‘The servant of God Vladislav’.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Every saint is close to the place where he is invoked for help, or where his holiness is commemorated and glorified. Those who are gifted with insight see them; those who lack this gift believe somehow and will see them in due time. St. Kosmas of Zographou, while still a young monk, was a clairvoyant. Once, on the Annunciation, he went to Vatopedi for the feast with some other monks. Both during the service in church and during the meal in the refectory, Kosmas saw a woman of heavenly beauty and majesty, who was organising, directing and herself serving with authority. He saw her for a long time, not just for a moment, both in the church and in the refectory. Kosmas was deeply perplexed and not a little appalled at this sight, for he felt it scandalous to see a woman in a monastery of the Holy Mountain. When he recounted his vision to his elder at Zographou, saying how unseemly it was for a woman to be on the Holy Mountain, his elder told him that it must have been the Queen of the Holy Mountain, the most holy Mother of God herself. In heartfelt wonder, Kosmas was filled with great joy.

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.