Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 265].

2 ⁹Brethren, ye remember our toil and travail; for laboring night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. ¹⁰Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and blamelessly we were with you who believe; ¹¹even as ye know how I was to each one of you, as a father doth his own children, exhorting, and comforting, ¹²and testifying to you to walk worthily of God Who calleth you to His own kingdom and glory. ¹³For this we also give thanks to God unceasingly, that, after ye received word of the report of God from us, ye received it not as a word of men, but even as it is truly, God’s word, which also energizeth itself in you who believe. ¹⁴For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus. For ye also suffered the same things by your own countrymen, even as they have by the Jews.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 62]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

11 ⁴⁷“Woe to you! For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸“So then ye bear witness and consent to the works of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. ⁴⁹“On this account the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send forth to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰“that the blood of all the prophets, which is being poured out from the foundation of the world, might be required of this generation, ⁵¹“from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the temple. Yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. ⁵²“Woe to you, the doctors of the law! For ye took away the key of knowledge; ye yourselves entered not, and those trying to enter ye hindered.” ⁵³And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to hold it against Him terribly and to interrogate Him concerning many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for Him, seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.

12 ¹In the meantime, after myriads of the populace were gathered together, insomuch that they trampled upon one another, He began to say to His disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Ioannikios the Great of Bithynia, and Hieromartyrs Nikander, Bishop of Myra, and Hermas the presbyter.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 188]. Brethren:

9 ⁶The one who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and the one who soweth with blessing shall also reap with blessing. ⁷Let each give even as he purposeth in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all self-sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work, ⁹even as it hath been written: “He dispersed, he gave to the poor; his righteousness abideth forever [Ps. 111(112):9].” ¹⁰Now the One Who supplieth seed to the sower and bread for eating, may He provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹being enriched in everything to all open-handedness, which worketh out through us giving of thanks to God.

for Sl. usage, see [Gal. 5:22-6:2].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 10]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Mt. 4:23-5:13; for Sl. usage, see Mt.4:25-5:13.

4 ²³Jesus was going around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴And the report of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all those who were ill, constrained by various diseases and torments, and possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He cured them. ²⁵And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judæa, and beyond the Jordan.

5 ¹And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying:
   ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ⁴“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
   ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
   ⁶“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
   ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
   ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
   ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
   ¹⁰“Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ¹¹“Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.
   ¹²“Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, with what shall it be salted? For it is no longer good for anything, except to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 17th – Civil Calendar
November 4th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Ioannikios (Joannicius) the Great.

This great spiritual light was born in the village of Marykata in the province of Bithynia, of his father Myritrices and his mother Anastasia. He was a shepherd as a youth. Whilst tending his sheep at pasture, he would often retreat into solitude and remain in prayer the whole day, having encircled his flock with the sign of the Cross so that it should not wander off and get lost. After that, he was called into the army, and caused men to marvel at his courage, particularly in the wars against the Bulgarians. After his military service, Ioannikios withdrew to Olympus in Asia Minor, where he became a monk and gave himself entirely over to asceticism, persevering in it till his death in great old age. He labored in the ascetic life for over fifty years in various places, and had from God most abundant gifts of wonder-working: he healed all sicknesses and pains, drove out demons, tamed wild beasts, possessing a particular power over snakes; he walked dryfoot through water, became invisible to men when he so desired and foretold future events. He was distinguished by an outstanding humility and meekness. In outward appearance, he was like a giant, huge and strong. He took an active part in the destiny of God’s Church, for, during the iconoclast period he was at first deluded, but then tore himself away and became an ardent defender of reverence towards the icons. He had a great friendship with Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople. Ioannikios lived for ninety-four years, and entered peacefully into rest in the Lord in 846. He was a great wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death.

2. The Hieromartyrs Nikander, Bishop of Myra, and Hermas the Priest.

Both were ordained by the Apostle Titus. They were distinguished by their great zeal for the Faith and their great labors in winning pagans for Christ the Lord. Because of this, a complaint was brought against them before a certain magistrate, Libanus, and he gave them over to fierce torture. They were stoned and dragged over stones; they underwent imprisonment and suffered hunger, and endured many other tortures which no mortal man could endure without God’s special aid. The Lord appeared to them in various ways, and when they were thrown into a fiery furnace, sent them His angel to soothe the flames for them. They were finally buried alive by their soulless tormentors and covered with earth. But it is in vain that men put others to death when the Lord gives life, and they dishonor in vain those whom the Lord glorifies.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Mercy is a fruit of faith. Where there is true faith, there is true mercy. St. Ioannikios was walking one day past a women’s monastery in which, among the sisterhood, there lived a certain two nuns, a mother and her daughter. An evil spirit of fleshly temptation had fallen upon the daughter and inflamed the vice of lust in her to such an extent that she desired to leave the monastery and marry. In vain did her mother urge her to remain; her daughter would not listen to her. When the mother saw St. Ioannikios, she begged him to advise her daughter not to leave the monastery and expose her soul to perdition. Ioannikios summoned the girl and said to her: ‘My daughter, put your hand on my neck’. The girl did so. Then the compassionate Ioannikios prayed to God in his heart that He would deliver the girl from temptation and transfer her bodily passion to him. And so it came to pass: the girl became completely calm and remained in the monastery, and the saint of God went on his way. As he went, a passionate vice fell on him and his blood began to boil as though on fire. He desired to die rather than let the passion enter his will, so, seeing a dragon, he ran to it in the hope that it would bite him and he would die. He began to provoke it, but as soon as he touched it, it died and the flame of lust 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.