Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Fifth Period
Sunday of the Thirty-Fourth Week or Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Mode Two — Second Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 135]. Brethren:

6 ¹²All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God shall bring to nought both this and these. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us by His own power. ¹⁵Ye know that your bodies are members of Christ, do ye not? Having taken up then the members of Christ, shall I make them members of a harlot? May it not be! ¹⁶Or know ye not that he that is joined to the harlot is one body? For, “The two,” saith He, “shall be into one flesh [Gen. 2:24].” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸Keep on fleeing fornication. Every sin whatsoever a man might do is outside the body, but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. ¹⁹Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom ye have from God, and ye are not your own? ²⁰For ye were bought with a price; glorify then God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 79]. The Lord said this parable:

15 ¹¹“A certain man had two sons. ¹²“And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give to me the portion of the property which falleth to me.’ And he divided to them his means of living. ¹³“And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered all together, went abroad into a distant land, and there scattered his property, living profligately. ¹⁴“But after he spent all, there arose a severe famine throughout that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵“And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that land; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶“And he was longing to fill his belly from the husks, which the swine were eating; and no one was giving to him. ¹⁷“But having come to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger! ¹⁸“‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, ¹⁹“‘“and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.”’ ²⁰“And he rose up and went to his father. But when he was yet far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and ardently kissed him. ²¹“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son.’ ²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Bring forth the robe, the chief one, and clothe him, and provide a ring for his hand and sandals for the feet. ²³“‘And bring the calf, the fattened one, and slay it; and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴“‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; and he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. ²⁵“Now his son, the elder one, was in a field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶“And he summoned one of his servants, and began inquiring what these things may be. ²⁷“And he said to him, ‘Thy brother is come, and thy father slew the calf, the fattened one, because he received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸“But he was angry and not willing to go in. Then his father went out and besought him. ²⁹“And he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I am serving thee, and never did I transgress thy commandment, and never didst thou give a kid to me, in order that I might make merry with my friends; ³⁰“‘but when this thy son came, the one who devoured thy means of living with harlots, thou didst slay for him the calf, the fattened one.’ ³¹“And he said to him, ‘Child, thou art always with me, and all that is mine is thine. ³²“‘But to make merry and to rejoice was fitting, because this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy fathers and œcumenical teachers, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, and our holy father among the saints, Hippolytos, Pope of Rome, and those with him.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 334]. Brethren:

13 ⁷Be remembering those who lead you, who spoke to you the word of God, whose faith keep on imitating, observing attentively the end of their conduct: ⁸Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and to the ages. ⁹Cease being carried about by various and strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods, in which those walking therein were not profited. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those serving the tabernacle have no authority to eat; ¹¹for the bodies of those animals, “whose blood is being brought into the holies for sins” by the high priest, “are being burned outside of the encampment [cf. Lev. 16:27].” ¹²Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside of the gate. ¹³Let us be going forth therefore to Him outside of the encampment, bearing His reproach; ¹⁴for we have no abiding city here, but we seek the coming one. ¹⁵Through Him, then, let us be offering up a “sacrifice of praise [Lev. 7:2(12)]” continually to God, that is, “the fruit of the lips [cf. Hos. 14:3(2); Is. 57:19],” giving thanks to His name. ¹⁶But cease being forgetful of doing good and of contributing; for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

Synaxarion Readings

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

If anyone be a prodigal as I, take courage and turn back; for the gates of God’s mercies are opened to all.

On this day we celebrate the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, dedicated as the second service of the Triodion by the divine fathers for the following reason. There are some who recognize much in themselves that is unbecoming, who live a life of great dissipation from their youth, whose lives are full of drunkenness and immorality, who having fallen thus into the depths of evil, become despondent, giving birth to pride, from whence they have no desire to advance to any of the virtues, preferring their bondage to evil and falling ever deeper into evil. Having a fatherly love for even these individuals, and desiring to lead them out of their despair, the holy fathers prescribed this parable for the second preparatory Sunday in order to tear up the passion of despair by the roots, to lead them to acceptance of the virtues, and to demonstrate to sinners the abundance of God’s compassion upon sinners and prodigals in His great goodness and love for mankind. For there is no sin which cannot be overcome by the knowledge of His love for mankind, and this is what is presented in this parable of Christ.

Now the sons of man—that is, of the Logos, God and Man—are two: the righteous and the sinful. It is the eldest who abides ever in God’s blessings, following His commandments and remaining always by Him. But the younger son, having become attached to sin and renouncing his closeness to God through shameful deeds, has wasted God’s love for mankind and for him and has lived as a prodigal. For having completely rejected Him after Whose image he was created, and having followed an evil demon, willingly enslaving himself to this demon’s pleasure, he was unable to fulfill his desire. For sin is an unsatisfying thing that becomes a habitual source of only temporary pleasure. It may be compared to the husks that are fed to swine. At first it seems that they might be something tasty, but they turn out to be very dry and are much like weeds, which is how sin takes possession. For the prodigal son had hardly come to his senses when, perishing from hunger for virtue, he comes to his father, saying, “Father, I have sinned before heaven and before thee, and I am not worthy to be called thy son.” Yet the father receives him in repentance, not reproaching him but embracing him and kissing him in a display of divine and fatherly love. And he clothes him, a symbol of Baptism, putting a ring on his finger, a symbol of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. He also puts sandals on his feet, not so much as a protection from some serpent or scorpion that might sting him on his path to God, but rather as a means of crushing the heads of those creatures. And then in a tremendous display of joy he slaughters the fatted calf for him, his only-begotten Son, and the Father grants him communion of His body and blood. Now the elder son expresses his amazement at his father’s limitless mercy. But the lover of mankind exhorts him to silence with loving and kind words of humility, saying, “Thou art ever with me, and it was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for my son was formerly dead in his sin and is alive again, having repented of the foolish things he has done. He was lost, since he was far from me in his licentious habits, and he was found by me, suffering in my compassion and calling him back in my mercy.” This parable may be applied to us as well, which is why the holy fathers have prescribed it for today. We who have sinned as the prodigal are encouraged to weed out despair and fear through repentance, confession, and good works. For this is a great aid and a powerful weapon against the assaults of the adversary.

In Thine ineffable love for mankind, O Christ our God, have mercy upon us. Amen.

Translated from Triodion, siest ‘Tripesnets: Triod’ Postnaya, Moscow, 1904, by Robert Parent.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 12th – Civil Calendar
January 30th – Church Calendar

1. The Three Great Hierarchs: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

Each has his personal feast day in the month of January; Basil on the 1st, Gregory on the 25th and Chrysostom on the 27th. The common feast we celebrate today was instituted in the 11th century, in the time of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos. At one time there was a dispute among the people about who was the greatest of the three. Some gave St. Basil the pre-eminence for his purity and courage; others St. Gregory for the unfathomable depth and height of his theological mind; others still St. Chrysostom for the wonderful beauty of his speech and the clarity of his presentation of the Faith. So the first were called Basilians, the second Gregorians and the third Johannites. But, by the providence of God, this dispute was resolved to the benefit of the Church and the yet greater glory of the three saints. The Bishop of Efchaita, John (June 14th), had a vision in his sleep, in which each of these saints appeared to him in great glory and indescribable beauty, and then all three together. They then said to him: ‘We are one in God, as you see, and there is no dispute among us;...neither is there among us a first or a second.’ The saints also advised Bishop John to compile a common feast for them and to set aside for them a day of common commemoration. The quarrel was settled as indicated by the wonderful vision, January 30th being set aside for the common commemoration of the three hierarchs. The Greeks regard this feast not only as a Church festival, but as their greatest national and scholastic holiday.

2. The Hieromartyr Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome.

He suffered for the Faith in the time of Claudius. When, in Rome, the virgin Chrysa was being martyred for Christ, St. Hippolytus stood up for her before her torturers and denounced them. Because of this protest, he was brought to trial and condemned to death after prolonged torture. They bound his hands and feet and cast him into the sea. Twenty other martyrs suffered with him and Chrysa in about 236.

3. The Holy Martyr Theophilus the New.

As commander-in-chief under the Emperor Constantine and Empress Irene, he was enslaved by the Hagarenes and held four years in prison. When he withstood all the Moslems’ insistence that he repudiate the Christian Faith, he was beheaded with the sword in the year 784, and went to the Lord.

4. St. Peter, King of Bulgaria.

He was the son of Simeon, and a great admirer of St. John of Rila. He made the Bulgarian Church independent of Constantinople and defended Orthodoxy in Bulgaria against the Bogomils. He died in 967 at the age of 56, after an unsuccessful war against the Hungarians and Russians.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Here is an example of how kings seek counsel of the saints, of how saints flee from vanity and riches, and how they counsel kings. The Orthodox King Peter of Bulgaria set off with his retinue to the mountain of Rila, urged by the irresistible desire to see St. John of Rila and benefit from his instruction. The king sent men on ahead, to let the saint know. But the saint would not agree to see the king. The saddened king sent other men with some food, a fair amount of gold and the request that the saint would commit to writing some advice for him. St. John received the food and returned the gold, refusing to touch it, and replied to the king: ‘If you desire the heavenly kingdom, be merciful as is your heavenly Father. Do not give yourself to injustice and be not greedy; be meek, quiet, accessible to all. Do not listen to praise from your nobles. May your royal purple shine with all the virtues. Let the remembrance of death never leave your soul. Humble yourself before the feet of Mother Church; bow your head before her greatest saints, so that the King of kings, seeing your devotion, may give you such blessings as have never entered into the heart of man.’ Receiving this letter, the king kissed it, and later referred to it frequently.

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.