Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 18]. In those days:

8 ⁵Philip went down into a city of Samaria and was preaching the Christ to them. ⁶And the crowds with one accord were giving heed to the things being said by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he was doing for them. ⁷For of those who had unclean spirits, many were made to come out, shouting with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed and lame were cured. ⁸And there came to be great joy in that city. ⁹But there was a certain man, by name Simon, who previously used magic arts in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, counting himself to be some great one, ¹⁰to whom all were giving heed, from the small to the great, saying, “This one is the power, the great one, of God.” ¹¹And they were giving heed to him because for a considerable time he had amazed them with the magic arts. ¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached as good tidings the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³And Simon himself also believed; and having been baptized, he persisted with Philip; and beholding the works of power and signs being done, he was himself amazed. ¹⁴Now after the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent forth to them Peter and John, ¹⁵who, after they came down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶For He had not yet fallen upon any of them, but only in the name of the Lord Jesus had they been baptized. ¹⁷Then were they laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 20]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

6 ²⁷“Cease working for the meat which perisheth, but for the food which abideth to everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give to you; for this One did God the Father seal.” ²⁸Then they said to Him, “What may we do that we may be working the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that ye should believe in Him Whom that One sent.” ³⁰They said therefore to Him, “What sign doest Thou then, in order that we might see, and believe Thee? What dost Thou work? ³¹“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, even as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of the heaven to eat [cf. Ex. 16:4, 15, 16].’” ³²Then Jesus said to them, “Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses hath not given you the bread out of the heaven, but My Father giveth you the bread, the true one, out of the heavens. ³³“For the bread of God is the One coming down out of the heavens and giving life to the world.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy and all-praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and our venerable Father Arsensios the Great.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 68 B].

1 ¹That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands touched, concerning the Logos of the Life— ²and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and relate to you the Life, the Eternal One, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³that which we have seen and heard we relate to you, in order that ye also may have communion with us; and our communion also is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴And these things we write to you in order that our joy may be made full.

⁵And this is the message which we have heard from Him and we announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we should say that we have communion with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practise the truth; ⁷but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Gospel

For the Apostle:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§§ 61, mid 67]. At that time:

19 ²⁵There had stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶Then Jesus, having seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, saith to His Mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” ²⁷Then He saith to the disciple, “Behold, thy Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home....

21 ²⁴This is the disciple who beareth testimony concerning these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things, which if as much as Jesus did may be written one by one, I suppose even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:

11 ²⁷“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. ²⁸“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. ³⁰“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 21st – Civil Calendar
May 8th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John.

The main commemoration of this great apostle and evangelist is on September 26th, but on May 8th is commemorated a wonderful revelation about his grave. When St. John was more than a hundred years old, he took seven of his disciples, went outside the city of Ephesus and told the disciples to dig a grave in the form of a cross. Then the elder went down alive into the grave, gave up his soul to the Lord, and was buried. When the faithful later opened John’s grave, they did not find the body in it. And on May 8th each year a dust arose from the grave, from which those suffering from many diseases were healed.

2. Our Holy Father Arsenius the Great.

This famous saint was born of a patrician family in Rome, and was well-educated both in secular learning and philosophy and in spiritual wisdom. Abandoning all secular studies, he gave himself to the service of the Church and was deacon in a large church in Rome. Unmarried, retiring, silent and prayerful, Arsenius thought that he would spend his whole life in that way. But, by the providence of God, his life was directed in a different way. The Emperor Theodosios summoned him to bring up and educate his two sons, Arkadios and Honorios, and made him a senator, surrounding him with wealth, honor and luxury. But this was a greater burden than pleasure to the heart of Arsenius. It happened at one time that Arkadios was at fault, and Arsenius punished him for it. The insulted Arkadios thought up a harsh revenge on his teacher, and when Arsenius discovered this, he dressed himself in simple clothing, went to the coast, got into a boat and sailed off to Egypt. When he arrived at the famous Sketis, he became a disciple of John Kolovos and gave himself to asceticism. He considered himself as one dead, and when he was informed that a rich kinsman had died and left him all his goods, he replied: ‘I died before he did. How, then, can I be his heir?’ He retired to a cell in the desert as into a grave, and there he spent his days weaving baskets from palm leaves and his nights in prayer. He fled from men and from every conversation with men. Only on feast days did he leave his cell and come to the church for Communion. In order not to become idle, he often put this question to himself: ‘Arsenius, why did you come into the desert?’ He spent thirty-five years as a hermit, and all that time he was an example to the monks and the glory of monasticism. In all, he lived a hundred years and departed this life peacefully in 448, after long labors and trials voluntarily taken on himself. He went to the kingdom of Christ the Lord, Whom he had loved with all his heart and soul.

3. St. Emilia.

She was the mother of St. Basil the Great. In her youth, she desired to remain a life-long virgin, but was forced to marry. She bore nine children, and so endowed each of them with a Christian spirit that five of them became Christian saints: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebaste, Makrina and Theosevia. She founded a monastery in her old age, where she lived with her daughter Makrina, and where she entered into rest in the Lord on May 8th, 375.

4. Our Holy Father Arsenius the Lover of Labor.

A monk of Kiev, he never gave himself any rest, but worked without pause. He ate only once a day, at sunset. He lived in asceticism and died in the 14th century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A monk complained to St. Arsenius that, while reading the holy Scriptures, he felt neither the power of the words he read nor any sweetness in his heart. To this the great saint replied: ‘My child, just read! I have heard that snake-charmers, when they cast a spell on the snakes, pronounce words that they themselves do not understand; but the snakes, hearing the words spoken, feel their power and are tamed. So with us, when we constantly keep the words of holy Scripture on our lips; even if we cannot feel their power, the evil spirits, hearing these words, flee in terror, for they cannot abide the word of the Holy Spirit. My child, just read. The Holy Spirit, Who wrote the divine words through those He inspired, will hear and understand, and will hasten to your aid; and the demons will hear and understand, and will flee from you. That is: He Whom you summon to your aid will understand, and he whom you want to drive from you will understand, and both goals will be reached.’

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.