Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday Before the Theophany

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 284]. Child Timothy:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Tim. 3:13-4:5; for Sl. usage, see 1 Tim. 3:14-4:5.

3 ¹³They who have served well as deacons acquire a good degree for themselves and much boldness in faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee more quickly. ¹⁵But if I delay, I write in order that thou mayest know how one ought to be conducting oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, pillar and stay of the truth. ¹⁶And confessedly, great is the mystery of piety: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

4 ¹Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, ²speaking lies in hypocrisy, having been branded as to their own conscience, ³forbidding to marry, bidding to abstain from foods, which God created for partaking with giving of thanks by the faithful and those who have fully known the truth. ⁴For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be cast away, if it is received with giving of thanks; ⁵for it is sanctified by the word of God and intercessory prayer.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 5]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, read only Mt. 3:1-6, hereunder; for Sl. usage, see Mt. 3:1-11, hereunder.

3 ¹John the Baptist came forth proclaiming in the wilderness of Judæa, ²and saying, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.” ³For this is he who was spoken of by Esaias the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; be making His paths straight [cf. Is. 40:3].’” ⁴And John himself was having his raiment of camel hairs, and a leathern belt about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the country round about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and were being baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

In Sl. usage, Gospel Reading continues with Mt. 3:7-11.

⁷But after he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “O offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸“Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹“and think not to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for a father’; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰“And even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree which produceth not good fruit is being cut out and cast into the fire. ¹¹“I indeed baptize you in water toward repentance, but the One Who cometh after me is mightier than I, of Whom I am not fit to bear His sandals. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 249].

For Gk. usage, see Col. 1:1-6; for Sl. usage, see Col. 1:3-6.

1 ¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, ²to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossæ: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴after we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have toward all the saints, ⁵on account of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel, ⁶which is come to you, even as it is also in all the world, and is bearing fruit and increasing, as also in you, from the day in which ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 84]. The Lord said:

17 ³“Be taking heed to yourselves. Now if thy brother should sin against thee, rebuke him; and if he should repent, forgive him. ⁴“And if seven times in the day he should sin against thee, and seven times in the day he should return to thee, saying, ‘I repent,’ thou shalt forgive him.” ⁵And the apostles said to the Lord, “Add faith to us.” ⁶But the Lord said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard, ye would say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted out and be planted in the sea’; and it should obey you. ⁷“But which of you, having a slave plowing or shepherding, will say to him when he cometh in from out of the field, ‘straightway, come forth and recline at table’? ⁸“But will he not say to him, ‘Make ready what I might sup on, and gird thyself, and be serving me while I eat and drink; and after these things thou shalt eat and drink’? ⁹“He doth not have gratitude toward that slave because he did the things which were commanded him, doth he? I think not. ¹⁰“Thus also ye, whenever ye have done all things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable slaves, for we have done that which we were bound to do.’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and our holy father among the saints, Basil the Great.

Epistle

For the Feast:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians [§ 254]. Brethren:

2 ⁸Be wary lest there shall be anyone who leadeth you captive through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the divinity bodily, ¹⁰and ye are made full in Him, Who is the head of all principality and authority, ¹¹in Whom also ye were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ, ¹²having been buried with Him in the baptism, in which also ye were raised with Him through faith in the energy of God, Who raised Him from the dead.

For the Hierarch:

For Sl. usage, see [Heb. 7:26-8:2].

Gospel

For the Feast:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§§ 6, mid 8]. At that time:

2 ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God over all the things which they heard and saw, even as it was spoken to them.

²¹And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the little Child, then His name was called Jesus, which He was called by the angel before He was to be conceived in the womb....

⁴⁰And the little Child was growing and showing Himself strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

⁴¹And His parents were going year by year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. ⁴²And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³And after they fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the Child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His Mother did not know it. ⁴⁴But they, supposing Him to be in the company, went a day’s journey; and they were searching for Him among their kinfolk and among their acquaintances. ⁴⁵And not having found Him, they turned round about to Jerusalem seeking Him. ⁴⁶And it came to pass, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them and questioning them. ⁴⁷And all those who heard Him were beside themselves at His comprehension and answers. ⁴⁸And after they saw Him, they were amazed; and His Mother said to Him, “Child, why didst Thou do thus to us? Behold, Thy father and I were seeking Thee suffering distress.” ⁴⁹And He said to them, “Why is it that ye were seeking Me? Ye know that it is necessary for Me to be in the things of My Father, do ye not?” ⁵⁰And they understood not the saying which He spoke to them. ⁵¹And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was being subject to them. And His Mother was keeping all these sayings in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus kept on advancing in wisdom and stature, and in grace in the presence of God and men.

For the Hierarch:

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 14th – Civil Calendar
January 1st – Church Calendar

1. The Circumcision of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

On the eighth day after His birth, the divine Child was taken to the temple and duly circumcised according to the Jewish law that had been observed from the time of Abraham. At this time He was given the name Jesus, the name announced to the most holy Virgin by the Archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:31).

The Baptism of the New Covenant was prefigured in the Circumcision of the Old Covenant. The Lord’s Circumcision shows that He took true human flesh upon Himself, not its semblance as heretics later taught of Him. The Lord was truly circumcised, desiring thus to fulfill all the law, which He Himself had given through our forefathers and the prophets. Fulfilling all the ordinances of the law, He superseded them by Baptism in His Church, for, as the apostle declares: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:15). (In the Church Calendar, this feast of the Lord has neither forefeast nor after-feast.)

2. St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea.

St. Basil was born in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, in about 330. While still unbaptized, he spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and other contemporary secular disciplines. Among his fellow-students were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, later the apostate emperor. When already of mature years, he was baptized in the Jordan together with his former tutor Evulios. He was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and died at the age of fifty.

A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and zeal for the Faith, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of the Church of God, Basil fully deserved his title “the Great”. In the Office for his feast, he is referred to as a bee of the Church of Christ, bringing honey to the faithful but stinging those in heresy. Many of the writings of this father of the Church have survived—theological, apologetic, on asceticism and on the canons. There is also the Liturgy that bears his name. This Liturgy is celebrated ten times in the year: on January 1st, on the Eves of the Nativity of Christ and the Theophany, on every Sunday in the Great Fast with the exception of Palm Sunday, and on the Thursday and Saturday in Holy Week.

St. Basil departed this life peacefully on January 1st, 379, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Why must one obey the Church and not some man whose thinking is opposed to that of the Church, eminent or intellectually gifted though that man may be? Because the Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and is guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Also because “the Church” signifies the community of the saints, an orchard of choice, fruit-bearing trees. If a man remains opposed to the community of the saints, that means that he is unholy. Why, therefore, listen to him? “The Church is an enclosure”, says the wise Chrysostom. “If you are within, the wolf cannot enter, but if you stray outside, the wild beasts will get you.... Do not wander from the Church; there is nothing more impregnable than the Church. She is your hope and your salvation. She is higher than the heavens, firmer than rock, wider than the world; she never grows old, but is forever renewing her youth.”

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.