Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Sunday After the Theophany

According to the Typikon of the Great Church, if this service coincides with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, these readings are read on January 7th.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ mid 224]. Brethren:

4 ⁷To each of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. ⁸Wherefore, He saith, “Having ascended on high, He led captivity captive” and “gave gifts to men [cf. Ps. 67(68):19(18)].” ⁹Now that He ascended, what is it except that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰The One Who descended is the same also Who ascended above all of the heavens, in order that He might fill all things. ¹¹And He gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, ¹²for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of ministering, to the building up of the body of the Christ, ¹³until we all might come to the unity of the faith, and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 8]. At that time:

4 ¹²After Jesus heard that John was delivered up, He withdrew into Galilee. ¹³And having left Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is beside the sea, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthaleim, ¹⁴in order that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, ¹⁵“O land of Zabulon, and land of Nephthaleim, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations [cf. Is. 9:1], ¹⁶“the people who sit in darkness saw a great light; and to those who sit in the region and shadow of death, light rose up to them [cf. Is. 9:2].” ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Thirty-Second Week

Grave Mode — Tenth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ mid 285 A]. Child Timothy:

4 ⁹Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰For to this end we both toil and are reproached, because we have hoped upon a living God, Who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

¹¹Keep on commanding these things and teaching. ¹²Let no one despise thy youth, but keep on becoming an example of the believers in word, in behavior, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. ¹³While I am coming, be giving attention to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching. ¹⁴Do not neglect the gift of grace in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with laying on of the hands of the presbytery. ¹⁵Keep on meditating upon these things; keep on being in these things, that thy progress may be manifest in all things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 62]. At that time:

15 ²¹Jesus withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a Cananæan woman came out from those borders, and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is badly possessed by a demon.” ²³But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and were beseeching Him, saying, “Dismiss her, for she crieth aloud after us.” ²⁴And He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and kept on making obeisance to Him, saying, “O Lord, help me.” ²⁶And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the little dogs.” ²⁷But she said, “Yes, Lord, indeed even the little dogs eat from the little crumbs which fall from the table of their masters.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is thy faith! Let it be to thee as thou wilt.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of Theophany, and the holy Martyr Polyefktos of Melitene in Armenia, and the holy Metropolitan Philip of Moscow and All Russia, the new confessor.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ 292]. Child Timothy:

2 ¹Be thou empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and the things which thou heardest from me in the midst of many witnesses, commit thou these things to faithful men who shall be competent also to teach others. ³Thou therefore suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No one serving as a soldier is entangled with the affairs of life, in order that he might please the one who enlisted him. ⁵And if anyone also contend as an athlete in the games, he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. ⁶The farmer who laboreth must be first to partake of the fruits. ⁷Be considering what I say; O may the Lord give thee understanding in all things! ⁸Be remembering Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, Who hath been raised from the dead, according to my Gospel, ⁹in which I suffer hardship even to bonds as a malefactor, but the word of God hath not been bound. ¹⁰On this account I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they might also attain salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

For the Hierarch:

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 Mid-feast:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 2]. In those days:

1 ⁹Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And straightway, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹and there came to be a voice out of the heavens, “Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Thee I am well pleased.”

¹²And straightway, the Spirit driveth Him forth into the desert. ¹³And He was there in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time hath been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God hath drawn near; repent ye and believe ye in the Gospel.”

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 36]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

10 ⁹“I am the door; by Me if anyone should enter, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰“The thief cometh not, except that he might steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. ¹²“But the hireling, who indeed is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf seizeth them and scattereth the sheep. ¹³“Now the hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling and careth not about the sheep. ¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are Mine, and am known of those that are Mine. ¹⁵“Even as the Father knoweth Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶“And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also it is needful for Me to bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 22nd – Civil Calendar
January 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Polyefktos (Polyeuctus).

The Armenian town of Melitene was soaked in Christian blood, as was all the land of Armenia. The first blood shed for Christ in that town was that of St. Polyefktos, spilled in about the year 259, during the reign of Valerian. There were in the town two friends who were officers: Nearchos and Polyefktos, the former baptized and the latter unbaptized. When a decree went out from the emperor that all Christians were to be killed, Nearchos prepared himself for death, though with great sorrow at not having brought his friend Polyefktos to the true Faith. When Polyefktos became aware of Nearchos’ sorrow, he promised to become a believer. On the following day, he related to Nearchos a dream that he had: the Lord Himself had appeared to him in light, stripped his old clothing from him, clothed him in new and shining raiment and set him upon the saddle of a winged horse. After relating this dream, Polyefktos went off to the town, tore up the royal decree on the persecution of Christians and smashed many statues of idols. He was tortured and condemned to death. On the way to the place of execution, he caught sight of Nearchos in the crowd and called joyfully to him: ‘O Nearchos, farewell, and remember the pact between us!’ And St. Nearchos later ended a martyr for Christ in the fire. His feast is on April 22nd.

2. Our Holy Father Efstratios.

A native of Tarsus, he was a great ascetic and man of prayer. During seventy-five years of monastic life, he never lay on his left side to sleep, but always on his right. In church, he repeated to himself throughout the service: ‘Lord, have mercy’. He died at the age of 95.

3. St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow.

Born on February 11th, 1507, he was standing one day in church, while still a young man, when he heard the priest read from the Gospel the words: “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). He was filled with awe at these words, as though they were said to him alone, and was enlightened in that same moment. He went off to the monastery of Solovetsky (Solovki), where, after a long and hard novitiate, he received the monastic schema. In time he became abbot, and resplendent as the sun in holiness, became known throughout the land of Russia. Because of this, Tsar Ivan the Formidable, a great ally of the saint, translated him to the vacant See of Moscow as metropolitan in 1566. But soon the Judaizer sect and the nobles plotted against the new metropolitan, slandering him and succeeding in having him deposed and imprisoned at Tver. When Tsar Ivan later began to investigate the lawfulness of this deposition, the Judaizer conspirators, desiring to silence Philip, murdered him in the monastery of his exile on December 23rd, 1569.

After some years, the body of the saint was found to be whole and incorrupt, and giving off a very beautiful fragrance. It was transferred to the monastery of Solovetsky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Orthodox Church, in teaching men perfect love, at the same time teaches them perfect obedience, from which flow both order and harmony among the faithful. The bishops owe obedience to the Lord, the priests to the bishops and the faithful to the one and the other. St. Ignatius writes about this: “It is your duty to obey without hypocrisy; he who would deceive his visible bishop would scorn also the Invisible.... I beg you, take care to fulfill all in the unity of God, under the guidance of your bishops, who occupy the place of God, and the priests, who constitute the assembly of the apostles,...not thinking that whatever may seem to you to be right, that should you do on your own, in isolation.”

[The Orthodox have always accepted this, but when the bishop preaches anything other than true Orthodoxy, the faithful are admonished by the testimony of the apostles, who were contemporaries of St. Ignatius, that they must not be obedient to disobedience. The faithful have, in such instances, ousted the bishop and replaced him with one who is Orthodox.]

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.