Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 25]. In those days:

10 ²¹Peter went down to the men who were sent forth to him from Cornelius, and said, “Behold, I am he whom ye seek; what is the cause for which ye are come?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one fearing God, and whose character is approved by testimony by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely warned by a holy angel to send for thee to his house, and to hear words from thee.” ²³Then he called them in and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went forth with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴And on the morrow they entered into Cæsarea. And Cornelius was expecting them, and called together to himself his kinfolk and close friends. ²⁵And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and made obeisance. ²⁶But Peter raised him, saying, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.” ²⁷And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many who were gathered together. ²⁸And he said to them, “Ye know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come near to one of another race; but God showed me not to call a person common or unclean. ²⁹“Wherefore, after I was sent for, I also came without gainsaying. I inquire therefore for what reason ye sent for me?” ³⁰And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, ³¹“and said, ‘Cornelius, thy prayer was heard and thine alms were remembered before God. ³²“‘Send therefore to Joppa and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon, a tanner beside the sea, who, after he cometh, shall speak to thee.’ ³³“At once therefore I sent to thee; and thou didst well in coming. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things that have been commanded thee by God.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 25]. At that time:

7 ¹Jesus was walking about in Galilee; for He was not willing to walk about in Judæa, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. ²Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was near. ³His brethren therefore said to Him, “Pass over from this place, and go into Judæa, in order that Thy disciples might see the works which Thou doest; ⁴“for no one doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known in public. Since Thou doest these things, manifest Thyself to the world.” ⁵For not even His brethren were believing in Him. ⁶Then Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. ⁷“The world is not able to hate you; but Me it hateth, because I bear witness concerning it that the works of it are evil. ⁸“Ye go up to the feast; I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time hath not yet been fulfilled.” ⁹And having said these things to them He stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰But when His brethren went up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret. ¹¹Then the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is that One?” ¹²And there was much murmuring among the crowds concerning Him. Some, on the one hand, were saying, “He is good”; but others, on the other hand, were saying, “No, but rather He deceiveth the crowd.” ¹³No one, nevertheless, was speaking openly about Him for fear of the Jews.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Pachomios the Great, founder of cenobitic monasticism, and our holy father among the saints, Achilles, Bishop of Larisa.

Epistle

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

for Sl. usage, see [2 Cor. 4:6-15].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 10]. At that time:

4 ²³Jesus was going around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴And the report of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all those who were ill, constrained by various diseases and torments, and possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and He cured them. ²⁵And great crowds followed Him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judæa, and beyond the Jordan.

5 ¹And seeing the crowds, He went up into the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying:
   ³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ⁴“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
   ⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
   ⁶“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
   ⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
   ⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
   ⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
   ¹⁰“Blessed are they who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
   ¹¹“Blessed are ye whenever they reproach you and persecute you, and say every evil word against you falsely on account of Me.
   ¹²“Be rejoicing and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, with what shall it be salted? For it is no longer good for anything, except to be cast out and to be trampled underfoot by men.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 14:25-35].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 28th – Civil Calendar
May 15th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Pachomios the Great.

He was an Egyptian by birth and was a pagan in his youth. As a soldier, he took part in the Emperor Constantine’s war against Maxentius. After that, learning from Christians about the one God and seeing their devout life, Pachomios was baptized and went to the Tabennisiot desert, to the famous ascetic Palamon, with whom he lived in asceticism for ten years. Then an angel appeared to him in the robes of a monk of the Great Habit at the place called Tabennisi and gave him instructions on the rule of a cenobitic monastery, commanding him to found such a monastery in that place and prophesying to him that many monks would come to it seeking the salvation of their souls. Obeying the angel of God, Pachomios began building many cells, although there was no one in that place but himself and his brother John. When his brother grumbled at him for doing this unnecessary building, Pachomios simply told him that he was following God’s command, without explaining who would live there, or when. But many men soon assembled in that place, moved by the Spirit of God, and began to live in asceticism under the rule that Pachomios had received from the angel. When the number of monks had increased greatly, Pachomios, step by step, founded six further monasteries. The number of his disciples grew to seven thousand. St. Anthony is regarded as the founder of the eremitic life, and St. Pachomios of the monastic, communal life. The humility, love of toil and abstinence of this holy father were and remain a rare example for the imitation of monks. St. Pachomios performed innumerable miracles, and also endured innumerable temptations from demons and men. And he served men as both father and brother. He roused many to set out on the way of salvation, and brought many into the way of truth. He was and remains a great light in the Church and a great witness to the truth and righteousness of Christ. He entered peacefully into rest in 346, at the age of sixty. The Church recognizes many of his followers as saints: Theodore, Job, Paphnutios, Pecusius, Athenodorus, Eponichus, Soutus, Psois, Dionysius, Petronius and others.

2. St. Achillios, Bishop of Larissa.

This great hierarch and wonder-worker was born in Cappadocia. He took part in the First Ecumenical Council, at which he put the heretics to shame, and both by his great learning and his great purity, gave cause for much wonder. Taking up a stone, Achillios called to the Arians: ‘If Christ is a creature of God, as you say, tell oil to flow from this stone.’ The heretics kept silent, amazed at this demand by St. Achillios. Then the saint continued: ‘And if the Son of God is equal to the Father, as we believe, then let oil flow from this stone.’ And oil flowed out, to the amazement of all. St. Achillios entered peacefully into rest in Larissa in the year 330. Samuel, King of Macedonia, when he conquered Thessaly, translated the relics of Achillios to Prespa, to an island in a lake that was named, and is called to this day, Achillios or Ailus.

3. Our Holy Father Silvanos.

He was at first a comedian, mimicking each and all, but then, inflamed by the love of Christ, he became a disciple of St. Pachomios. ‘I would be ready to give my life,’ he said, ‘to receive the forgiveness of my sins.’

FOR CONSIDERATION

When a tyrant exercises tyranny over a righteous man from covetousness, then the tyrant brings both a gain and a loss: a loss for the tyrant and a gain for him who suffers the tyranny. Boris Godunov murdered the eight-year-old Tsarevich Dimitri in order to seize the throne without a rival. The days of his reign were quickly ended, and the tyrant was given over to corruption and damnation; but Dimitri was sanctified. After lying in the grave for fifteen years, Dimitri’s body was found to be incorrupt and wonder-working. There are forty-five miracles of healing recorded over his grave. Whose, then, was the loss and whose the gain from this tyranny? If the tyrant thought that he would, by tyranny, help his opponent to be included in the ranks of the saints and would prepare destruction and damnation for himself, he would change his mind about his planned tyranny. But wrong thinking is the forerunner and companion of tyranny.

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.