Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Renewal Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 4]. In those days:

2 ¹⁴Peter, having taken his stand with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them, “Men, Jews, and all those who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and hearken to my words. ¹⁵“For these are not drunk, as ye suppose, for it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶“But this is that which hath been spoken by the Prophet Joel, ¹⁷“‘And it shall be in the last days,’ saith God, ‘I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams [cf. Joel 2:28]; ¹⁸“‘and even upon My bondmen and upon My bondwomen in those days I will pour out of My Spirit [cf. Joel 2:29],’ and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹“‘And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke [cf. Joel 2:30]. ²⁰“‘The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come [Joel 2:31]. ²¹“‘And it shall be that everyone, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved [Joel 2:32].’”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 113]. At that time:

24 ¹²Peter arose and ran to the sepulcher; and having stooped to look, he saw the linen cloths lying alone, and departed to his home, wondering at that which had come to pass.

¹³And behold, two of them were going on the same day to a village, being sixty stadia from Jerusalem, which is named Emmaus. ¹⁴And they were conversing with one another about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵And it came to pass, while they conversed and discussed, Jesus Himself drew near and was going together with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were held, so as not to recognize Him. ¹⁷And He said to them, “What words are these which ye exchange with one another, as ye walk and are sad in countenance?” ¹⁸And the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Art Thou sojourning alone as a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which came to pass in it in these days?” ¹⁹And He said to them, “What kind of things?” And they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazaræan, Who was a man, a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰“how both the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to a judgment of death, and crucified Him. ²¹“But we were hoping that He was the One Who was about to redeem Israel; but, beside all these things, this passeth as the third day today since these things took place. ²²“Yea, and certain women from among us astonished us, who were early at the sepulcher. ²³“And not having found His body, they came, declaring also to have seen a vision of angels who say, ‘He is living.’ ²⁴“And certain of those with us went away to the sepulcher, and found it thus, even as also the women said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵And He said to them, “O ye without understanding and slow in heart to believe in all things which the prophets spoke! ²⁶“It was needful for the Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into His glory, was it not?” ²⁷And beginning from Moses and from all of the prophets, He went on interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. ²⁸And they drew near to the village where they were going; and He was making as if to be going further. ²⁹And they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day hath waned.” And He went in to stay with them. ³⁰And it came to pass, as He reclined at table with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and was giving it to them. ³¹And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He disappeared from them. ³²And they said to one another, “Our heart was burning in us as He was speaking to us in the way and as He was opening to us the Scriptures, was it not?” ³³And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those with them, ³⁴saying, “The Lord was raised indeed, and appeared to Simon.” ³⁵And they began relating those things that occurred in the way, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Mother Elisabeth the Wonder-worker of Constantinople, and the Martyr Savvas the General of Rome and 70 soldiers with him.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene

     Archimandrite Raphael, Abbot of the Theotokos Monastery, and Hierodeacon Nicholas, settled on Lesvos (Mytilene) after the Fall of the City. In 1463, Muslims attacked on Great Friday. Archimandrite Raphael was pulled and tugged by his hair and beard along the rock-strewn ground. He was struck with clubs, spears, lances, and swords, while his hands were tied behind his back. He was stabbed all over and cast down paralyzed. His tongue was severed, and he was then suspended upside down from a large walnut tree, repeatedly beaten and whipped for 24 hours. He was cut down from the tree and stripped of his clothing from the waist up. After being positioned on his knees, five savage Muslims took up a saw and began cutting away his lower jaw. Nearly unconscious, he had his head placed on a square icon, where they struck him thrice on his mouth, extracting his lower jaw, thus separating his head from his body on Bright Tuesday, then the 9th of April.
     Deacon Nicholas, bound to a smaller walnut tree, witnessed these terrifying scenes. He, too, was stabbed, but he did not die immediately. It was only after his terror-stricken tender heart had borne the startling sight of his wounds and the punishments of the others, that he suffered cardiac arrest.
     Twelve-year-old Irene was seized and had boiling water poured into her mouth. One of her delicate hands was severed, the limb being tossed before the parents. The stump of her arm was bleeding profusely, as they chopped away one of her little feet. The lass was then pushed down into an earthen jar, where she was burned alive after being doused with flammable liquids and torching her bodice. As she stood trapped in the flaming cask, she lifted up her eyes heavenward and called upon Christ, commending her soul into the hands of the Lord.
     In 1959 and in the early 1960’s miraculous visions of the martyrs were granted to the islanders. The recovery of their relics has been the occasion of countless miracles and pilgrimages.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

May 7th – Civil Calendar
April 24th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Savvas Stratelates.

This famous Savvas lived in Rome in the time of the Emperor Aurelian, and held a general’s rank. He was of a noble Gothic family. He often visited Christians in prison, helping them from his abundance. Through his great purity and fasting, God gave him power over unclean spirits. When he was charged with being a Christian, he stood courageously before the emperor, cast his officer’s belt before him and publicly confessed Christ the Lord. He was tortured in various ways: flogged, flailed with iron rods, burned with torches. But he did not succumb to these deadly tortures, and was seen to be alive and well. His comrades, the soldiers, seeing clearly that God was helping Savvas, accepted the Christian Faith, and seventy of them were immediately beheaded at the emperor’s command. Christ the Lord Himself appeared to Savvas in the prison in great light, and strengthened His martyr. Then Savvas was condemned to death by drowning. He was thrown into a deep river, where he gave his soul to God in the year 272. And his soul went to the Lord to Whom he had remained faithful under many tortures.

2. Our Holy Mother Elisabeth

She embraced monasticism in early youth in the monastery of Ss. Kosmas and Damian in Constantinople, and took on herself a heavy asceticism for the sake of Christ the Lord and of her soul. She regarded herself as the bride of Christ, and this world as illusory. From her great love for God flowed a great compassion for people, especially for the sick and suffering. By the gift she had received from God, she healed many diseases and much distress among the people. At her nightly prayers she was seen all illuminated with heavenly light. And after her death, her relics had the power of healing, and many of the sick and suffering have come to her grave through the ages. She entered peacefully into rest and went to the eternal joy of her Lord in the year 540.

3. The Holy Martyrs Evsevios, Neon, Leontios and Longinos.

These four were army comrades of St. George. Seeing the courageous endurance and marvels of the saint, they became Christians and were consequently beheaded.

4. The Holy Martyrs Pasikratees and Valention.

When the judge urged Pasikratees (Pasicrates), and also the martyr’s brother, Papianos (who had fallen away from Christ through fear of torture) to offer sacrifice to idols, Pasikratees put his hand into the fire and cried: ‘The body is dead and burned by fire, but the soul is immortal and does not feel visible torture.’ His mother upheld him and greatly encouraged him to endure to the end. He was beheaded along with Valention (Valentine), and they both went to the kingdom of Christ in about 302.

5. Our Holy Father Thomas the Fool for Christ.

Whenever, in his monastic work, he had to go into the city of Antioch, Thomas feigned madness for the sake of Christ. A certain Anastasios, refusing to give him the requested alms for the monastery, gave him a blow instead. Then Thomas prophesied: ‘From now on, I shall receive nothing from Anastasios, nor will Anastasios be able to give anything.’ One day later, Anastasios died; and Thomas also, about to return to the monastery, gave up the spirit. And so the prophecy of this holy man was fulfilled. St. Thomas departed this life in Laphnis near Antioch, in the time of Patriarch Domnos (546-560).

6. The Holy New-Martyrs Luke and Nicholas

The young man Luke (or Doukas), a tailor by profession, suffered for Christ in 1546, and Nicholas in 1776.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Exhorting Christians to come to church for prayer, St. John Chrysostom says: ‘If a messenger brings an imperial or princely document to a subject citizen, the citizen does not examine the life of the bearer, whether he is rich or poor, righteous or sinful, but listens carefully to what he reads. If anyone has not heard him, he asks someone who has. So, if you have such enormous respect for an earthly ruler, how necessary it is to listen to us priests, here where the Creator of the heavenly powers speaks through us sinners.’ And, indeed, what are the holy Scriptures but documents of the King of heaven? How can it not interest us every day and every hour, that unique and saving document, when the least decree of the lowest authority in the state interests us? St. Anthony says: ‘Let all that you do be justified in holy Scripture.’ But how can you have justification from holy Scripture if you do not know the Scriptures?

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.