Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The first Sunday in November: The Synaxis of the holy Unmercenary Physicians

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 153]. Brethren:

12 ²⁷Ye are the body of Christ, and members severally.

²⁸And God set for Himself some in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then works of power, then free gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues. ²⁹All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All do not have works of power, do they? ³⁰All do not have free gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? ³¹All do not interpret, do they? But keep on desiring earnestly the better gifts of grace. And yet I show you a more surpassing way.

13 ¹If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophecy, and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains from one place to another, but I have not love, I am nothing. ³And if I dole out all of my goods, and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but I have not love, I am being profited nothing. ⁴Love is long-suffering, is kind; love is not jealous; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; ⁵doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; ⁷covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Love never falleth away.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Twenty-Third Week

Mode Plagal Two — First Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 220]. Brethren:

2 ⁴God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with the Christ—by grace have ye been saved— ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, ⁷that He might show forth Himself in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, in order that we should walk in them.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 39]. At that time:

8 ⁴¹A certain man came to Jesus, whose name was Jairos, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell at the feet of Jesus and besought Him to come into his house, ⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He was going, the crowds were pressing closely upon Him. ⁴³And a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who expended her whole living on physicians and could not be cured by anyone, ⁴⁴came behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment. And immediately the flow of her blood stanched. ⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” But when all denied it, Peter said, and those with him, “Master, the crowds compass Thee and press Thee tightly, and sayest Thou, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?’” ⁴⁶And Jesus said, “Someone touched Me; for I know that power went forth from Me.” ⁴⁷And after the woman saw that she did not escape notice, she came trembling; and having fallen down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people for what cause she touched Him, and how she was healed immediately. ⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good courage; thy faith hath made thee well. Go thou in peace.” ⁴⁹While He is yet speaking, someone cometh from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Thy daughter hath died; do not be troubling the Teacher.” ⁵⁰But after Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Cease being afraid; only keep on believing, and she shall be made well.” ⁵¹And after He entered into the house, He did not allow anyone to go in, except Peter and Iakovos and John, and the father and the mother of the girl. ⁵²And all were weeping and beating their breasts. But He said, “Cease weeping; she did not die, but sleepeth.” ⁵³And they kept on laughing scornfully at Him, knowing that she did die. ⁵⁴But He put them all outside and took hold of her hand and called, saying, “Girl, arise.” ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that something be given to her to eat. ⁵⁶And her parents were amazed. And He gave orders to them to tell no one what took place.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the 33 Martyrs in Melitene, and our venerable father among the saints, Lazarus, the Wonder-worker and ascetic of Mt. Galesios.

Epistle

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.

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 20th – Civil Calendar
November 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Hieron with his Companions.

He was born in the Cappadocian city of Tijane of a good and God-fearing mother, Stratonica, who was blind. Hieron was a very zealous Christian, and cared for his blind mother with a truly filial love. Because of both his faith and his mother, he refused to go into the army, and fended off and drove away those who were sent to take him, for he was loath to leave his helpless, blind mother and be forced as a soldier to bow down and offer sacrifice to idols. Finally, Hieron was seized and taken before the governor of the city of Melitene, along with other Christians. While they were on the road, a man in white apparel appeared one night to Hieron and said to him: ‘Behold, Hieron, I reveal to thee thy salvation: thou shalt not wage war for any earthly king, but shalt engage in a battle for the King of heaven, and quickly shalt thou come to Him and receive from Him both honor and glory.’ Hieron’s heart was filled with ineffable joy at these words. When they reached Melitene, they were all thrown into prison, where Hieron strengthened them all in their faith with great ardor, exhorting them that not one should fall away but that all should freely give their bodies over to torment and death for Christ. To a man, they all confessed their faith in Christ the Lord before the judge, except for one kinsman of Hieron’s called Victor, who repudiated his faith. Hieron’s hands were cut off, then he was flogged and tortured in various ways, until he was finally beheaded with the sword together with the others. Going out to the place of execution, the thirty-three martyrs sang the psalm: ‘Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, and walk in the law of the Lord’ (Ps. 1:1). Let us remember by name these honorable martyrs, who are inscribed in the Book of Life: Hesychius, Nicander, Athanasius, Mamas, Barachius, Callinicus, Theogenes, Nikon, Longinus, Theodore, Valerius, Xanticus, Theodulus, Callimachus, Eugene, Theodochus, Ostrichius, Epiphanius, Maximian, Ducitius, Claudian, Theophilus, Gigantius, Dorotheus, Theodotus, Castrichius, Anicetas, Themilius, Eftychios, Hilarion, Diodotus and Amonitus. A certain man called Chrysanthus found Hieron’s severed head and gave it burial, and he later built over it a church in honor of St. Hieron. One of the martyr’s hands was taken to his blind mother. St. Hieron suffered with his companions in 298, and entered into the glory of Christ.

2. The Holy Martyr Thessalonica, with Auctus and Taurion.

This maiden was the daughter of Cleon, a pagan priest, a rich and arrogant man. Because of her faith in Christ, her father drove her from the house and the city. Two respected citizens, Auctus and Taurion by name, reproached Cleon for his inhuman treatment of his daughter, and Cleon thereupon denounced them as Christians. They were savagely tortured and beheaded for Christ, and the maiden Thessalonica was tortured and killed soon after. They suffered in the Macedonian city of Amphipolis, near present-day Kavala, and so these martyrs were found worthy, by their sufferings, of the immortal kingdom.

3. Our Holy Father Lazarus of Mount Galesios.

A pillar of light appeared above the house where he was born. He left his village in Magnesia and went to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to the holy places, becoming a monk there in the monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified. After ten years, he settled on Mount Galesios and toiled in asceticism upon a pillar as a stylite, and was a wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death. The Emperor Constantine Monomachus had great respect for him. St. Lazarus entered into his eternal home at the end of the eleventh century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

There are decisive moments in life, on which depend a man`s eternal life or eternal death. We do not know when such a decisive moment is upon us—it may come today, for which reason we must be constantly vigilant. A nephew of St. Hieron’s, Victor, was arrested with him. On the eve of the day of their martyrdom, Victor was frightened of the coming torments and went to the governor of the prison, begging him to remove his, Victor’s, name from among the condemned and let him go, promising to give him his own land. The governor crossed him off and let him go. On returning home, Victor suddenly died—died a natural death at the same moment as St. Hieron and his companions died in torment for Christ. Thus Victor turned in vain from the moment of decision, lost his land, lost his friends and lost his life, both in this world and the world to come. But Hieron, in that decisive moment, gained all. No one vied for Victor’s body, but many vied for the body of Hieron. When Christians were seeking Hieron’s head from the governor, he demanded gold to the measure of its weight. Chrysanthus, a rich and devout man, paid the required amount of gold for the martyr’s precious head. Anthony and Matronian concealed one of Hieron’s severed hands from the governor and took it to his blind mother, and she took hold of her son’s hand, lamenting bitterly: ‘O my beloved son, I bore the whole of you, and now have only this one little bit!’

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.