Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 83]. Brethren:

2 ²⁸He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹But he is a Jew who is one in that which is hidden; and circumcision is that of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.

3 ¹What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ²Much in every way: for first indeed, because they were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³For what if some did not believe? Their unbelief shall not make the faith of God without effect, shall it? ⁴May it not be! But let God be true and every man a liar; even as it hath been written: “That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and shalt prevail when Thou art judged [cf. Ps. 50(51):4].” ⁵But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not unrighteous Who inflicteth wrath, is He? I speak as a man. ⁶May it not be! Otherwise, how shall God judge the world? ⁷For if in my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? ⁸And why are they not judged—even as we are slandered, and as some affirm we say, “Let us do evil that good may come”—whose condemnation is just?

⁹What then? Are we superior? No, in no wise. For we have before charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰even as it hath been written: “There is none righteous, not even one [cf. Ps. 13(14):1, 2(1); Eccl. 7:21(20)]; ¹¹“there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God [cf. Ps. 13(14):3(2)]. ¹²“They are all turned aside; they are together become useless; there is none that doeth good, not so much as one [Ps. 13(14):4(3)]. ¹³“Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they were using deceit [Ps. 5:9]; the poison of asps is under their lips [Ps. 139(140):3]: ¹⁴“whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness [cf. Ps. 9(10):27(7)]. ¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶“destruction and misery are in their ways [cf. Is. 59:7]; ¹⁷“and the way of peace have they not known [cf. Is. 59:8]. ¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes [cf. Ps. 35(36):1].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§§ 19, mid 20]. The Lord said:

6 ³¹“Do not become anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ ³²“For all these things the nations seek after; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all of these things. ³³“But be seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴“Therefore do not become anxious for the morrow; for the morrow shall be anxious about the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it....

7 ⁹“Or what man is there of you whom, if his son should ask for bread, he will not give him a stone, will he? ¹⁰“And if he should ask for a fish, he will not give him a serpent, will he? ¹¹“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, the One in the heavens, give good things to those who ask Him?”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Leontios, and those with him, Hypatios and Theodoulos.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 29].

12 ¹At that time, Herod the king put forth his hands to maltreat some of those from the Church. ²And he killed Iakovos the brother of John with a sword. ³And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he in addition went on to seize Peter also—and they were the days of unleavened bread— ⁴whom after he laid hold of, he also put in prison, and delivered him up to four sets of four soldiers to guard him, purposing after the passover to bring him forth to the people. ⁵Peter, therefore, on the one hand, was being guarded in the prison, but on the other hand, earnest prayer was being made by the Church to God on his behalf. ⁶And when Herod was about to bring him forth, on that very night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and guards also were before the door keeping the prison. ⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the chamber; and he struck the side of Peter, and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And the chains from his hands fell off of him. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Gird thyself about, and bind on thy sandals.” And so he did. And he saith to him, “Cast about thee thine outer garment, and follow thou me.” ⁹And he went out and kept on following him, and did not know that it was real that which was happening by means of the angel, but he kept on thinking he saw a vision. ¹⁰And after they passed a first guard and a second, they came up to the gate, the iron one, which leadeth into the city, which was opened to them of itself; and having gone out, they advanced one street, and straightway the angel departed from him. ¹¹And after Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know of a truth, that the Lord sent forth His angel, and took me out of the hand of Herod and all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 52]. The Lord said to His disciples:

15 ¹⁷“These things I command you, that ye be loving one another.

¹⁸“If the world hate you, ye know that it hath hated Me before it hath hated you. ¹⁹“If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world—but I chose you for Myself out of the world—therefore the world hateth you. ²⁰“Keep on remembering the word which I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they know not the One Who sent Me. ²²“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no pretext for their sin. ²³“The one who hateth Me hateth My Father also. ²⁴“If I did not do the works among them which no other one hath done, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵“But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled which hath been written in their law: ‘They hated Me without a cause [cf. Ps. 34(35):22, 68(69):5(4)].’ ²⁶“But whenever the Paraclete should come, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the truth Who proceedeth from the Father, that One shall bear witness concerning Me. ²⁷“And ye also are bearing witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

16 ¹“These things I have spoken to you, in order that ye should not be made to stumble. ²“They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea moreover, there cometh an hour that everyone who killeth you should think that he offereth God a service.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 1st – Civil Calendar
June 18th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Leontius.

A Roman military commander in Tripoli in Phoenicia in the reign of the Emperor Vespasian, he was born in Yelada, ‘of great physical stature, powerful, strong and bold in battle’. The imperial governor, Hadrian, sent a military detachment to seize Leontius, Hadrian being a fierce adversary and persecutor of Christians. The commander of the detachment, Hypatius, fell ill on the way with a grave fever and the unit had therefore to slow its pace. One night an angel of the Lord appeared to Hypatius and said to him: ‘If you desire to be healed, you and your soldiers must cry to heaven three times: “O God of Leontius, help me!”’ Hypatius told his companions about this vision, and they all shouted together as the angel had instructed him, and Hypatius was immediately healed. This miracle amazed them all, and especially a certain Theodulus. Then Hypatius and Theodulus went on ahead of the other soldiers to find Leontius. Leontius received them courteously and offered them refreshment. When he had expounded his faith in Christ, their hearts began to burn with love towards the Lord, and a bright cloud descended upon Hypatius and Theodulus, shedding dew over them. In this way the Holy Spirit of God Himself baptized these two converted souls while St. Leontius spoke the words: ‘In the name of the All-holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’ The evil Hadrian discovered that Hypatius and Theodulus had become Christians and ordered that they be beaten without mercy and then beheaded with an axe. In this manner Leontius’ spiritual children died. Then Hadrian ordered a most cruel torture for Leontius, but Leontius remained unwavering in his faith. His entire body was covered with wounds, but he prayed to God unceasingly to remain with him. In the midst of these most vicious torments, an angel of the Lord appeared to comfort and encourage him. At last they threw the martyr onto the ground and flogged him until he gave his soul to God. Leontius’ sufferings were witnessed by a certain Notarius, who recorded all that he saw on tablets and placed them in the martyr’s grave. St. Leontius suffered with honor in the year 73.

2. Our Holy Father Leontius the Clairvoyant.

A Greek from the Peloponnese, he lived the ascetic life for sixty years in the monastery of Dionysiou, and went to his rest in 1605 at the age of eighty-five. It is said of Leontius that he left the monastery only once in all the sixty years: he entered it when he first went to Dionysiou and left it when they carried him out to bury him. He had a miraculous gift of discernment and prophecy, and myrrh flowed from his relics after his death.

FOR CONSIDERATION

We see how carefully a scientist investigates natural phenomena, and we must investigate the appearances and acts of God’s grace with still greater care. Consider what one of our great spiritual teachers, Saint John of Kronstadt, witnesses about the act of Communion: ‘I am amazed at the grandeur and creative power of divine Communion. An old woman, who was spitting blood and was so completely exhausted that she was unable to eat, began to recover on the day she received Communion from me. A young girl close to death began to recover after Communion; to eat, drink and talk, whereas she had been earlier almost at her last breath unconscious, in convulsions and unable to eat or drink anything.’ May every priest ponder and observe the action of holy Communion with the attention of a scientist and the love of a man of prayer, as Saint John did.

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.