Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Saturday of the Third Week of the Great Fast

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 325]. Brethren:

10 ³²Remind yourselves of the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great contest of sufferings: ³³partly, being made a show of both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, having become partners of those who conducted themselves thus. ³⁴For ye also sympathized with those in bonds and ye yourselves accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and abiding possession. ³⁵Do not begin therefore to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

Another Reading for Saturday of the Third Week of the Great Fast in Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 270].

4 ¹³Brethren, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not be grieving, even as the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. ¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the ones remaining over until the coming of the Lord, in no wise shall precede those who fell asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. ¹⁷Then we the living, the ones remaining over, shall be carried off together with them in clouds to a meeting of the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Gospel

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

2 ¹⁴As Jesus passed by, He saw Levi, the son of Alphæos, sitting at the custom-house, and saith to him, “Follow thou Me.” And he rose up and followed Him. ¹⁵And it came to pass, as He was reclining at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners also were reclining together at table with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶And after the scribes and the Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they were saying to His disciples, “Why is it that He eateth and drinketh with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And Jesus, having heard it, saith to them, “They who are strong have no need of a physician, but they who are ill; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Commemoration of the Departed

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

5 ²⁴“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. ²⁵“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. ²⁶“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, ²⁸“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, ²⁹“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. ³⁰“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Forefeast of the Annunciation, and our holy father among the saints, Artemon, Bishop of Seleucia of Pisidia, and our venerable Father Zacharias the Recluse.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 6th – Civil Calendar
March 24th – Church Calendar

1. St. Artemon, Bishop of Seleukeia.

He was born and educated in Seleukeia. When the Apostle Paul came to that city, he saw Artemon, confirmed him yet more strongly in the Christian Faith and made him bishop of the city. Artemon guided Christ’s flock with love and zeal as a physician to the souls and bodies of his people, and entered into eternity in great old age.

2. Our Holy Father Iakovos the Confessor.

He suffered for the sake of the holy icons under the Emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). He was a monk and a brother of the Studite monastery. When the great Theodore of the Studion was sent into exile, Iakovos was given over to great tortures to force him to renounce the veneration of icons. But he remained steadfast and faithful to Orthodoxy to the end. They returned him to his monastery, beaten and tortured, when the evil Emperor Leo had made a bad end. He died of his grievous injuries there in the monastery, and entered into the company of the citizens of heaven.

3. The Hieromartyr Parthenios, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Born on the island of Mytilene, he was Bishop of Chios for a long time, and was later chosen as patriarch. But because of false allegations that he was working against the state, the Turks at first tried to force him to embrace Islam, and when he refused decisively, hanged him in 1657.

4. Commemoration of the Miracle at the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev.

Two friends, John and Sergius, swore brotherhood before the icon of the holy Mother of God in this monastery. John was a rich man with a five-year-old son, Zachariah. John fell ill, and at his death commended his son to the care of Sergius, and left in Sergius’ keeping a large sum of silver and gold for him to hand over to Zachariah when he had grown up. When Zachariah came of age, however, Sergius denied receiving anything from the deceased John. Then Zachariah said: ‘Let him swear before the same icon of the most holy Mother of God, in front of which he accepted brotherhood with my late father, that he received nothing from John, and then I will seek nothing more from him.’ Sergius agreed, but when he had sworn this and went up to kiss the icon, some force held him back and would not allow him to come near. Then, tormented all at once by a demon, he began to cry out: ‘Holy fathers Anthony and Theodosius, do not let this merciless angel destroy me!’ The demon had attacked him by God’s permission. He then told them of all the money which John had left. But when they opened the box, they found double the amount. Taking it, Zachariah gave it to the monastery and was himself tonsured as a monk. He lived a long time and was worthy of God’s great gifts, entering peacefully into eternity.

5. Our Holy Father Zacharias.

He was the son of Carion the Egyptian, who left wife and children to become a monk. The father took Zacharias with him, since his mother was unable to provide for him. Although younger than many of the elders in Sketis, he received greater gifts of grace than many of them. He felt as if his whole interior was aflame with the grace of God. Zacharias replied to the question of St. Makarios, ‘Who is a true monk?’ saying: ‘He who constantly restrains himself in order to fulfill God’s commandments.’ And to the question of Abba Moses: ‘What does it mean to be a monk?’ Zacharias took off his hat and trod it underfoot, saying: ‘If a man be not so broken, he cannot be a monk.’ He was a great light among the monks in the desert, and went to his peace in the Lord at an early age.

FOR CONSIDERATION

One time, Abba Daniel and Abba Ammon were journeying together. Abba Ammon asked: ‘When shall we come to a cell, father?’ (i.e. to be able to pray to God). Abba Daniel replied: ‘Who is depriving us of God right at this moment? God is in the cell and outside the cell—the same God.’ By this we are taught the uninterruptedness of prayer, meditation on God and pondering on His works in us and around us. A church building facilitates and strengthens prayer, as also withdrawal and solitude, in their way, facilitate and strengthen it. But he who does not want to pray will not be tied by either church or cell. Nor will he who has tasted the sweetness of prayer be able to separate either his nature or his journeyings from prayer.

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.