Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 326]. Brethren:

10 ³⁵Do not begin to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].” ³⁹But we are not of those who draw back to destruction, but of those who are of faith to the saving of the soul.

11 ¹Now faith is the subsistence of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. ²For by this the elders were approved by testimony. ³By faith we perceive with the mind the ages to have been put in order by a word of God, so that the things which are seen have not come into being out of things which appear. ⁴By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater in quality than Cain, by which he was borne witness to as being righteous, God bearing witness upon his gifts; and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. ⁵By faith Enoch was translated, so as not to see death, “and was not found, because God translated him [Gen. 5:24]”; for before his translation he hath been borne witness to have well pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for it is needful for him who draweth near to God to have believed that He is, and that He becometh a rewarder to those who seek Him out. ⁷By faith Noah, after he was divinely warned concerning the things not yet seen, was moved to be wary and prepared an ark to the salvation of his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness according to faith.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 45]. At that time:

10 ¹⁷When Jesus went forth into the way, one ran up and knelt down to Him, and was questioning Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why callest thou Me good? No one is good except One: God. ¹⁹“Thou knowest the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, be honoring thy father and thy mother [cf. Ex. 20:13, 15, 14, 16, 12].’” ²⁰And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these I kept for myself from my youth.” ²¹And Jesus looked at him, and loved him, and said to him, “One thing thou lackest: if thou art willing to be perfect, go thy way and sell as much as thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and keep on following Me.” ²²But he, having a gloomy, lowering look at that saying, went away being grieved; for he had many possessions. ²³And Jesus looked round about, and saith to His disciples, “How with difficulty shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus, having answered again, saith to them, “Children, how difficult it is for those who have trusted in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵“It is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were exceedingly amazed, saying to themselves, “And who is able to be saved?” ²⁷And Jesus, looking at them, saith, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Ten Martyrs of Crete, and the holy Nahum, Equal-to-the-apostles and Wonder-worker of Okhrid.

Epistle

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

For the Wonder-worker:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Martyrs:

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.”

For the Wonder-worker:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 5th – Civil Calendar
December 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete.

They suffered for Christ the Lord during Decius’ persecution, in the year 250. Their names were: Theodulus, Saturninus, Evporus, Gelasius, Evnikian, Zoticus, Pompey, Agathopous, Basilides and Evaristus. They were all honored and eminent citizens, the cream of the cream. When they were taken to the scaffold, they were filled with joy and discussed among themselves who would be the first to be beheaded, because each wanted to be the first to go to his beloved Christ. Then they prayed: ‘O Lord, forgive Thy servants and accept our outpoured blood on our own behalf and that of our kinsfolk and friends and all our fatherland, that all may be released from the darkness of ignorance and come to know Thee, the true light, O eternal King!’ They were beheaded and entered into the kingdom of glory, to eternal rejoicing.

2. St. Niphon the Wonder-worker.

Born in Paphlagonia, he was brought up in Constantinople at the court of a great commander. Falling into low company, the young Niphon became dissolute and gave himself to great sin and vice. Because of his sin, he could not even pray to God. By the mercy of the most holy Mother of God, he was brought back to the way of righteousness and became a monk. He had innumerable visions of the heavenly world and waged a four-year war with the demons, who whispered to him incessantly: ‘There is no God! There is no God!’ but when the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to him alive on an icon, Niphon received great power over the evil spirits and was freed from these heavy temptations. He had such insight that he saw angels and demons around men as clearly as he saw the people themselves, and he could discern men’s thoughts. He often spoke with angels and disputed with demons. He built a church to the most holy Mother of God in Constantinople, gathered many monks together and saved many souls. Alexander, the Archbishop of Alexandria, through a heavenly revelation, consecrated him bishop of the town of Constantia on Cyprus. Niphon was already old by that time, and governing the Church of God well for a short period, entered into Christ’s eternal kingdom. St. Athanasius the Great visited him at the time of his death, being then archdeacon of the church in Alexandria, and he saw Niphon’s face shine like the sun.

3. Our Holy Father Naum, the Wonder-worker of Ochrid.

He was a disciple of Ss. Kyril and Methodius, and one of the Five Followers—those zealous fellow-workers with these apostles of the Slavs. St. Naum traveled to Rome, where he was renowned both for his wonder-working power and his great learning. He knew many languages. At the time of his return from Rome, he settled, with the help of the Emperor Boris-Michael of Bulgaria, on the shores of Lake Ochrid. While St. Clement was working in Ochrid as bishop, St. Naum built a monastery on the southern shore of the lake. This monastery adorns that shore till this day, as the name of St. Naum adorns the history of Slav Christianity, and has been through the ages a fount of strength and recourse for the sick and the wretched. Many monks from all over the Balkans gathered around St. Naum, who was a wise teacher, a strict ascetic, a wonder-worker and a man of prayer. A tireless worker, St. Naum labored especially to translate the holy Scriptures from Greek into Slavonic. He worked wonders both during his lifetime and after his death, and his wonder-working relics to this day perform many miracles, particularly healing from grave illness and from madness. He entered into rest in the first half of the tenth century, and went to the joy of his beloved Christ.

In the Greek Synaxarion, Ss. Clement and Naum are called the new Moses and Aaron, and this marvel is recorded of them: heretics in Germany bound them and threw them into prison, but by God’s power, the prison shook, the chains fell off them, the doors of the prison opened and they went out freely.

FOR CONSIDERATION

While still in the flesh, the saints had great revelations from God and visions both from heaven and of the infernal powers. All the visions and revelations they had confirmed the Orthodox Faith in all its tenets. The saints are thus a very great joy to the faithful. St. Niphon saw the Mother of God and the Lord Christ alive in glory; he saw men’s souls leaving their bodies and their guardian angels meeting them. He spoke with angels in visions and disputed with demons. The Church teaches that sincere repentance on the part of a sinner, even at the eleventh hour, saves the soul of the penitent. St. Niphon saw the soul of one such sinner repenting at the last moment; he saw how an angel defended it from the bullying demons and carried it to Paradise. The Church teaches that suicide is a mortal sin; St. Niphon saw the soul of a suicide being dragged down to Hades by the devil, while the guardian angel of this soul went off, weeping bitterly. That was the soul of a servant who had committed suicide because his master was merciless and he was not willing to endure to the end and be saved.

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.