Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Cheesefare

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Jude [§ 78]. Beloved:

¹¹Woe to the impious! For they went in the way of Cain, and were poured out in the error of Balaam for a reward, and destroyed themselves in the gainsaying of Kore.

¹²In your love feasts these are hidden rocks in the sea, when they feast with you, shepherding themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds being carried about by winds; fruitless autumnal trees which twice died and were uprooted; ¹³wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shameful things; wandering stars, to whom hath been kept the blackness of darkness forever. ¹⁴And to these also, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came amidst myriads of His saints, ¹⁵“to do judgment against all, and to convict all the impious among them for all their works of impiety which they did impiously, and for all the hard things which impious sinners spoke against Him.” ¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking according to their desires; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, showing respect to persons for the sake of advantage. ¹⁷But ye, beloved, be reminded of the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸that they were saying to you, that in the last time there shall be mockers walking according to their own desires of impieties. ¹⁹These are they who cause divisions by separating themselves, material-minded ones, not having the Spirit. ²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves by your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life eternal. ²²And to some, on the one hand, be showing mercy, who are in doubt; ²³but to some, on the other hand, be saving in fear, snatching them out of the fire, hating even the garment which hath been stained by the flesh.

²⁴Now to Him Who is able to guard you from stumbling, and to make you stand before the presence of His glory blameless in exceeding joy, ²⁵to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, might and authority, both now and to all the ages. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 110]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Lk. 23:1-31, 33, 44-56; for Sl. usage, see Lk 23:2-34, 44-56.

23 ¹The chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people led Jesus before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this One perverting the nation, and hindering the giving of tribute to Cæsar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” ³And Pilate questioned Him, saying, “Thou art the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “Thou sayest.” ⁴And Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I do not find even one charge in this Man.” ⁵But they kept waxing stronger, saying, “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all of Judæa, beginning from Galilee even to here.” ⁶And having heard Galilee named, Pilate inquired whether the Man were a Galilæan. ⁷And having come to know that He was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem during those days. ⁸And Herod, having seen Jesus, was gladdened exceedingly; for he was wishing for a considerable time to see Him, because he had heard many things concerning Him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by Him. ⁹And he kept on questioning Him with many words, but He answered nothing. ¹⁰And the chief priests and the scribes had stood by, vigorously accusing Him. ¹¹And Herod with his troops, having treated Him with contempt and having mocked Him, threw around Him bright raiment, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹²And on that same day Herod and Pilate became friends with one another; for before they were at enmity between themselves. ¹³And after Pilate called together to himself the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴he said to them, “Ye brought to me this Man, as one who turneth away the people. And behold, having examined Him before your face, I did not find even one charge in this Man of which ye bring as an accusation against Him. ¹⁵“No, not even did Herod, for I sent you up to him; and behold, nothing worthy of death hath been done by Him. ¹⁶“Therefore, after I chastise Him, I will release Him.” ¹⁷Now of necessity he had to release one to them at the feast. ¹⁸And all together they cried out, saying, “Go on taking this One away, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹who, on account of a certain sedition taking place in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison. ²⁰Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, addressed them again. ²¹But they kept calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him.” ²²And a third time he said to them, “Why, what evil did this One do? Not one cause of death did I find in Him. Therefore, after I chastise Him, I will release Him.” ²³But they were being urgent with loud voices, asking for Him to be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests were prevailing. ²⁴And Pilate adjudged their request to be done. ²⁵And he released to them him—the one who on account of sedition and murder was cast into the prison—whom they were asking for themselves; but he delivered up Jesus to their will.

²⁶And as they led Him away, they laid hold of Simon, a certain Cyrenian, who was coming from a field, and laid the Cross upon him, to bear it behind Jesus. ²⁷And there was following Him a great multitude of people, and of women who were beating their breasts and lamenting Him. ²⁸And Jesus, having turned to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, cease weeping for Me, but be weeping for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹“For behold, days are coming, in which they shall say, ‘Happy are the barren, and the wombs which bore not, and the breasts which gave not suck.’ ³⁰“Then ‘they shall begin to say to the mountains, “Fall upon us”; and to the hills, “Cover us [Hos. 10:8; Is. 2:19; Rev. 6:16, 9:6].”’ ³¹“For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall take place in the dry?” ³²And two others, malefactors, were also being led with Him to be put to death.

³³And when they came upon the place which is called Skull, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right and the other one on the left. ³⁴And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And when they divided His garments among themselves, they cast a lot.... ⁴⁴And it was about the sixth hour, and there came to be a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵while the sun failed, and the veil of the temple was torn in the midst. ⁴⁶And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And having said these things, He gave up the spirit. ⁴⁷Now after the centurion saw that which took place, he kept on glorifying God, saying, “Verily this Man was righteous.” ⁴⁸And all the crowds that came together to see this sight, when they beheld the things which took place, beat their breasts and were turning back. ⁴⁹And all His acquaintances, and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

⁵⁰And behold, there was a man, by name Joseph, being a counselor, who was a good man and just ⁵¹(this one had not been in agreement with the counsel and their deed), from Arimathæa, a city of the Jews, who himself also was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for himself the body of Jesus. ⁵³And having taken it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a sepulcher hewn out of stone, in which no one was ever yet laid. ⁵⁴And it was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was dawning.

⁵⁵And the women also, who had come with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶And they returned and prepared aromatic spices and perfumed ointments. And indeed they rested during the sabbath according to the commandment.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Haralampos, Bishop of Magnesia in Thessaly.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 23rd – Civil Calendar
February 10th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Haralambos (Charalampus).

This great saint was a priest in Magnesia, and suffered for Christ at the age of 113. When a violent persecution broke out under Emperor Septimus Severus, the aged Haralambos did not hide from his persecutors, but freely and openly preached the Christian Faith. He endured all tortures as though not in the body, and when they flayed the living flesh from him, the godly saint said to the emperor’s soldiers: ‘Thank you, my brethren, for scraping off the old body and renewing my soul for new and eternal life.’ He performed many wonders and brought many to the Faith. Even the emperor’s daughter, Gallina, repudiated the paganism of her father and became a Christian. Condemned to death and led to the place of execution, St. Haralambos raised his arms to heaven and prayed for all men, that God would give them bodily health and salvation of soul, and that He would grant them the fruits of the earth in abundance: ‘Lord, Thou knowest that men are flesh and blood; forgive them their sins and pour out Thy blessing on all.’ After praying thus, the saintly elder gave his soul to God before the executioner had laid his sword to his neck. He suffered in 202. Gallina took his body and buried it.

2. Our Holy Father Prochorus the Orach-Eater.

A wonder-worker of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, he was named the Orach-eater because the whole time he lived in the monastery he never tasted bread, but fed himself on orach prepared according to his own particular method as a sort of bread. When he gave someone some of this bread with his blessing, it was as sweet as honey, but if anyone stole some, it was as bitter as wormwood.

Once, when there was a dearth of salt in Russia, Prochorus distributed ashes to the people for salt. The ashes that he distributed with his blessing became salt; however, ashes that anyone took for himself remained ordinary ashes. Prince Svyatopolk ordered that all the ashes from Prochorus’ cell be brought to the court without his permission, let alone his blessing. When the ashes were brought there, it was obvious to everyone that they were ashes and not salt. Then Prochorus told all the people who came to him for salt to go to the prince’s court, and when the prince threw the ashes away, to take them and use them as salt. This they did, and the ashes again became salt. The prince himself, learning of this, was filled with a deep respect and love for him. When Prochorus died in 1107, Prince Svyatopolk placed him with his own hands in a grave near the great Russian Saints Anthony and Theodosius.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Many of the great infirmities to which man is subject have their origin, known or unknown, in his past. The origins of these great infirmities, such as madness for example, are none other than violations of the moral law of God. While St. Haralambos was undergoing martyrdom, the royal torturer learned of his wonder-working power and ordered that a madman be brought before him, to find out if Haralambos could heal him. The devil had tormented this man for 35 years, driving him into the deserts and mountains and casting him into mires and abysses. When this madman drew near to Haralambos, the demon smelled the fragrance of the holy man and cried out: ‘I beg thee, O servant of God, do not torment me before the time, but order me and I will come out; and if thou desirest, I will tell thee how I entered into the man.’ And the saint ordered him to speak. The demon said: ‘This man desired to rob his neighbor, and thought within himself: “If I don’t first kill the man, I shall not be able to take all his goods.” So he went and killed his neighbor. Catching him in such an act. I entered into him and have been residing here these 35 years.’ Hearing this, the saint of God ordered the demon to come out of the man at once and leave him in peace, and the man was healed and became calm.

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.