Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 73].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:21-4:11; for Sl. usage, see 1 Jn. 3:21-4:6.

3 ²¹Beloved, if our heart be not condemning us, we have boldness toward God. ²²And whatsoever we may ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing before Him. ²³And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and be loving one another, even as He gave us commandment. ²⁴And the one keeping His commandments abideth in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit Whom He gave to us.

4 ¹Beloved, cease believing every spirit, but keep on putting the spirits to the test, if they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²In this know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ hath come in the flesh is of God; ³and every spirit which confesseth not that Jesus Christ hath come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of the antichrist, which ye have heard that it is coming, and now already it is in the world. ⁴Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one in the world. ⁵They are of the world; therefore they speak of the world, and the world heareth them. ⁶We are of God: the one knowing God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷Beloved, let us be loving one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loveth hath been born of God and knoweth God. ⁸The one who loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. ⁹In this was manifest the love of God among us, because God hath sent forth His only-begotten Son into the world, in order that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He Himself loved us, and sent forth His Son to be an expiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 65]. At that time:

14 ⁴³While Jesus spoke to the disciples, there came up Judas the Iscariote, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴And the one who delivered Him up had given a signal to them, saying, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, it is He Himself; lay hold of Him and lead Him away safely.” ⁴⁵And having come, straightway, he went to Him and saith, “Hail, Rabbi!” and ardently kissed Him. ⁴⁶And they laid their hands upon Him and seized Him. ⁴⁷And a certain one of those who stood by drew the sword and struck the slave of the high priest, and took off his ear. ⁴⁸And Jesus answered and said to them, “As against a robber ye came out with swords and clubs to arrest Me. ⁴⁹“Daily I was with you in the temple teaching, and ye did not lay hold of Me. But it is that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰And having left Him, they all fled. ⁵¹Now a certain young man was following Him, having a linen cloth thrown about over his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, ⁵²but he left behind the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

⁵³And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and there came together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. ⁵⁴And Peter followed Him from afar, even to inside the court of the high priest. And he was sitting together with the servants, and warming himself by the light of the fire. ⁵⁵And the chief priests and the whole sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus, in order to put Him to death; and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶For many were bearing false witness against Him, but their testimonies were not alike. ⁵⁷And some rose up and were bearing false witness against Him, saying, ⁵⁸“We heard Him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple, the one made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹And not even so was their testimony alike. ⁶⁰And the high priest stood up in the midst and questioned Jesus, saying, “Answerest Thou nothing? What is it which these bear witness against?” ⁶¹But He was silent, and answered nothing. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saith to Him, “Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” ⁶²And Jesus said, “I am; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right of the power, and coming on the clouds of the heaven.” ⁶³And the high priest, having torn his tunics, saith, “What need have we still of witnesses? ⁶⁴“Ye heard the blasphemy; what doth it appear to you?” And they all condemned Him to be liable to the penalty of death. ⁶⁵And some began to spit upon Him, and to cover His face all around, and to buffet Him, and to say to Him, “Prophesy to us: Who is the one that smote Thee?” And the servants were striking Him with slaps on the face with the palms of their hands.

⁶⁶And as Peter was in the court below, there cometh one of the young maidservants of the high priest. ⁶⁷And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “Thou also wast with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor even understand what thou sayest.” And he went forth outside to the forecourt, and a cock crowed. ⁶⁹And the young maidservant, having seen him again, began to say to those standing by, “This is one of them.” ⁷⁰And again he kept on denying it. And a little after, again, they who stood by were saying to Peter, “Truly thou art one of them; for thou art also a Galilæan, and thy mode of speech is like one.” ⁷¹But he began to curse and to swear, saying, “I know not this Man of Whom ye speak.” ⁷²And for the second time a cock crowed. And Peter was reminded of the word which Jesus said to him, “Before a cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” And having thought thereon, he began to weep.

15 ¹And straightway in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole sanhedrin, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the finding at the Gate of Evgenios of sacred relics of holy martyrs, including the Apostles Andronikos and Junia.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

March 7th – Civil Calendar: Non-Leap Year
March 6th – Civil Calendar: Leap Year
February 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Maurice and the 70 soldiers with him.

There was a great persecution of Christians in the time of the Emperor Maximian. Maurice was in charge of the local army in the town of Apameia in Syria, and pagans reported him to the emperor as a Christian and a spreader of Christianity among the soldiers. The emperor himself came and took him for questioning. Seventy soldiers were brought before the emperor with Maurice, among them his son, Photinus. The emperor was unable to make the heroes waver either with flattery or with threats. To them, they replied: ‘O emperor, there is no fear in the wise and strong souls of those who love the Lord.’ When the emperor ordered that their military belts and clothing be stripped from them, they said: ‘Our God will clothe us with raiment and girdles that are incorrupting, and with eternal glory’. When the emperor rebuked them for holding in contempt the military status he had given them, they replied: ‘Thine honor is dishonorable, for thou hast forgotten God, Who gave thee this royal power.’ Then the emperor ordered that Maurice’s son be slain before his eyes, that he might thus intimidate the father and the others. But Maurice said: ‘Thou hast fulfilled our desire, O torturer, and sent Photinus the soldier of Christ on before us.’ Then the emperor sentenced them to a most inhuman death: he had them taken to a marshy place, stripped, bound to trees and smeared with honey, for the mosquitoes, wasps and hornets to eat. They gave their souls to God in terrible torment after ten days, and went to eternal rejoicing with the holy angels in heaven. Christians secretly took their bodies and buried them. These courageous soldiers of Christ suffered in about 305.

2. The Many Martyrs of Evgenios, near Constantinople.

In the time of the Emperor Arkadios, the relics of many Christian martyrs were excavated, among which were those of the Apostle Andronicus and his helper, Junia (Rom. 16:7). These relics were discovered by a revelation from God to a cleric, Nicholas Calligraphos. ‘God alone knows their names, and He has written them in the Book of Life in heaven.’ Emperor Andronikos the First built a fine church over the relics of his namesake in the 12th century.

3. Our Holy Fathers Thalassios and Limnaeos.

Syrian hermits, one of their special ascetic practices was of silence. After the death of St. Thalassios in 440, Limnaeos joined St. Maron and lived with him on a mountaintop beneath the open sky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Anthony teaches about ceaseless abiding with God: ‘Let your soul be with God at all times, and your body be as some statue on earth. Stand always straight before the face of God. Have the fear of God always before your eyes, as also the remembrance of death and withdrawal from all worldly things. Die daily, that you may live; for he who fears God will live forever. Be always alert, that you fall not into laziness and idleness. Hate all that is of this world and flee from self, for otherwise it will separate you from God. Hate all that brings harm to your soul. Do not depart from God for the sake of transient things. Do not take the example of him that is weaker than you, but that of him who is more perfect. Be attentive to the example of those who have loved the Lord with all their hearts and performed good works. Above all, pour forth constant prayer and give God grateful thanks for all that happens to you. Fulfil all that is commanded, and you will receive the inheritance which the “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” (I Cor. 2:9).’

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.