Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Philippians [§ 238]. Brethren:

1 ²⁰In nothing shall I be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, also now Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I live on in the flesh, this to me is the fruit of labor; and what I shall choose I know not. ²³For I am being constrained by the two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better; ²⁴but to abide in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. ²⁵And having been persuaded of this, I know that I shall stay and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶in order that the basis for your boasting might abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my presence with you again. ²⁷Only be conducting yourselves worthily of the Gospel of the Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I might hear of the things concerning you, that ye stand in one spirit, with one soul striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 31]. At that time:

7 ¹⁷The report concerning Jesus went forth in all Judæa and in all the country round about.

¹⁸And His disciples brought tidings to John concerning all these things. ¹⁹And John called to himself a certain two of his disciples, and sent them to Jesus, saying, “Art Thou the coming One, or do we look for another?” ²⁰And after the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist hath sent us to Thee, saying, ‘Art Thou the coming One, or do we look for another?’” ²¹And in the same hour He cured many of diseases and plagues, and of evil spirits; and to many blind He graciously gave the power of sight. ²²And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what ye saw and heard: the blind are recovering their sight, the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised, the poor are being preached the Gospel; ²³“and happy is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” ²⁴And after the messengers of John departed, He began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What have ye gone out into the wilderness to behold? A reed being shaken by the wind? ²⁵“But what have ye gone out to see? A man who hath been clothed in soft garments? Behold, those in glorious garments and in luxury are in the palaces. ²⁶“But what have ye gone out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷“This is he concerning whom it hath been written: ‘Behold, I send forth My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee [cf. Mal. 3:1].’ ²⁸“For I say to you, among those born of women, no one is a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹And all the people who heard Him—even the tax collectors—justified God and were baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the doctors of the law, who were not baptized by him, set aside the counsel of God in regard to themselves.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

7. The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus.

Epistle

For Gk. usage, see [Heb. 11:33-12:2]. For Sl. usage, see [Heb. 11:33-40].

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§§ 330, 331]. Brethren:

11 ³³All the saints through faith struggled against kingdoms, wrought righteousness, attained to promises, stopped mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the power of fire, escaped the edges of the sword, were empowered out of weakness, became strong in battle, turned back encampments of aliens. ³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection. And others were tortured, not accepting release, that they might attain a better resurrection. ³⁶And others received trial of mockings and of scourgings, and, moreover, of bonds and of imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted; they died, murdered by the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in need, afflicted, ill-treated— ³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They were made to wander in deserts, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth. ³⁹And these all, having been approved by testimony through faith, received not for themselves the promise, ⁴⁰God having foreseen some better thing concerning us, that they should not be made perfect without us.

12 ¹Therefore we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses which is set around us, and having laid aside every weight and sin that is easily circumvented, let us by means of patience be running the course which is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the originator and accomplisher of our faith, Who, in exchange for the joy set before Him, endured a cross, having despised the shame, and hath sat down on the right of the throne of God.

Gospel

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.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 20th – Civil Calendar
October 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus.

These holy and wonderful martyrs and heroes of the Christian Faith were at first nobles at the court of the Emperor Maximian. The emperor himself valued them greatly for their courage, wisdom and zeal, but when he heard that these great nobles of his were Christians, his love for them turned to fury. And once, when there was a great offering of sacrifices to idols, the emperor summoned Sergius and Bacchus to offer sacrifice together with him, and they openly refused to obey him in this. Beside himself with anger, the emperor ordered that their robes, rings and marks of eminence be stripped from them and they be dressed in women’s clothing. He then put iron yokes on their necks and led them thus through the streets of Rome, to be mocked by each and all. The emperor then sent them to Asia, to Antiochus the governor, for torture. Antiochus had achieved his distinguished rank with the help of Sergius and Bacchus, who had at one time recommended him to the emperor. When Antiochus began to urge them to deny Christ and save themselves from dishonorable suffering and death, the two saints replied: ‘Both honor and dishonor, both life and death—all are one to him who seeks the heavenly kingdom.’ Antiochus threw Sergius into prison and ordered that Bacchus be tortured first. The servants took turns in beating holy Bacchus until his whole body was broken into fragments. His holy spirit went forth from his broken and bloodstained body and was borne to the Lord by angels. St. Bacchus suffered in the town of Varvallis. Then holy Sergius was led out. Iron shoes studded with nails were put on his feet, and he was driven out into the Syrian town of Resapha, and there beheaded with the sword. His soul went to Paradise where, together with his friend Bacchus, he received the wreath of immortal glory from Christ his King and Lord. These two glorious knights suffered for the Christian Faith in about 303.

2. The Holy Martyr Polychronios.

Born in the district of Gampnanitus of peasant parents, he worked as a young man in the vineyard of a Constantinopolitan man, giving himself to fasting and prayer day and night. Seeing his way of life, angelic in its purity and restraint, the overseer was amazed and gave him far higher wages than they had agreed. St. Polychronios used the money to build a church. At the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Polychronios was a reader and showed such zeal in the defence of Orthodoxy against the Arians that he was ordained priest. Later, these wicked heretics, out of revenge, fell on St. Polychronios in the church itself and cut him to pieces. Thus suffered this great defender of the truth and purity of Orthodoxy, and received the wreath of glory from his most glorious Lord.

In the Greek Synaxarion there are also commemorated today the ninety-nine ascetics of Crete. It is said that the hundredth never joined them, which was interpreted as meaning that the hundredth was Christ the Lord Himself, their Leader. The most renowned among them was St. John, a great man of prayer and a wonder-worker. He prayed so much kneeling that he was in the end unable to stand, but moved around on his knees. Seeing him going about like this, a woodcutter thought that he was a wild beast and shot him with an arrow. Then a very great wonder was wrought, for all the rest of the ninety-nine ascetics breathed their last on the selfsame day. It is not known when they lived.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A vision of St. Andrew: Once holy Andrew was sitting with his disciple Epiphanios and talking with him of the salvation of the soul. At that time, a demon came to Epiphanios and began to set a trap for him, to turn his thoughts in another direction, but he dared not approach Andrew. Andrew then cried to him in fury: ‘Get away from here, you impure adversary!’ The devil recoiled and replied wickedly: ‘You’re the greatest enemy I have in the whole of Constantinople!’ Andrew did not drive him away at once, but let him speak. And the devil began: ‘I feel that the time is coming when my trade will be destroyed. At that time, men will be worse than I am now, and children more adept at wickedness than those who are full-grown. And I shall then take my rest and shall do nothing more to men, for they will do my will of themselves.’ Andrew asked him. ‘At what sins do your people most rejoice?’ The devil replied: ‘The service of idols, slander, evil against one’s neighbor, the Sodomite sins of drunkenness and love of money—these give us most joy.’ Andrew asked again: ‘And how do you bear it when someone who has served you denies you and your works?’ The devil replied: ‘You know that better than I do. We find it hard to bear, and do our utmost to bring him back, for many who have denied us and turned to God have come back to us.’ When the evil spirit had said this and much else, holy Andrew breathed on him and he disappeared.

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.