Daily Devotional

Thursday, July 11, 2024 (NS), June 28, 2024 (OS)

Fast Day, but Fish, Wine and Olive Oil Allowed.

Thursday of the Third Week

The commemoration of the translation of the relics of the holy Wonder-workers and Unmercenaries Kyros (Cyrus) and John, and our venerable Fathers Sergius and Herman, Wonder-workers and Abbots of Valaam.

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Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 98]. Brethren:

8 ²²We know that the whole creation groaneth together and travaileth together until now. ²³And not only so, but we ourselves also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴For we were saved by hope. But hope which is seen is not hope; for what anyone seeth, why doth he yet hope? ²⁵But if we hope for what we see not, with patience we eagerly wait. ²⁶And likewise, the Spirit also helpeth us in our weaknesses. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedeth for us with unutterable groanings. ²⁷And the one who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, because according to God he intercedeth for the saints.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 37]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ²³“Whenever they persecute you in this city, flee ye to another; for verily I say to you, in no wise shall ye finish the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man should come. ²⁴“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above his lord. ²⁵“It is enough for the disciple that he should become as his teacher, and the slave as his lord. If they called the Master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of His household? ²⁶“Therefore do not become afraid of them. For nothing is covered which shall not be uncovered, and hidden which shall not be known. ²⁷“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops. ²⁸“And do not become afraid because of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear the One Who is able to send away both soul and body into Gehenna. ²⁹“Two little sparrows are sold for an assarium, are they not? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father. ³⁰“But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹“Therefore do not become afraid; ye excel many sparrows.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

Epistle

For the Unmercenaries:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 151]. Brethren:

12 ⁷To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to the profit of all: ⁸for to one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom; and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹and to another faith in the same Spirit; and to another free gifts of healings in the same Spirit; ¹⁰and to another operations of works of power; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; and to another kinds of tongues; and to another interpretation of tongues; ¹¹but the one and the same Spirit energizeth all these things, distributing to each separately as He will.

for Sl. usage, see [1 Cor. 12:27-13:8].

For the venerable Fathers:

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.

Gospel

For the Unmercenaries:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

For the venerable Fathers:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 11th – Civil Calendar
June 28th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John.

The Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John. These holy martyrs are commemorated on January 31st, and their lives and sufferings are described under that date. Today we commemorate the translation of their relics from Canopus to Menuthis, and the numerous miracles associated with them. St. Kyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, prayed fervently for the extermination of the abominable idolatrous practices at Menuthis, where there was a temple and where the demonic powers held sway. An angel of God appeared to the patriarch and told him that Menuthis would be cleansed of its impurity if he brought the relics of Ss. Cyrus and John to the town. The patriarch did this at once. He brought the relics of the holy martyrs to Menuthis and had a church built there in their honor. Ammonius, the son of the governor of Alexandria, Julian, was healed of scrofula through the martyrs’ relics, and a certain Theodore was healed of blindness. Isidore of Maiuma was healed of a wasting disease of the liver, Theodore’s wife of the effects of poison, a certain Evgenia of dropsy, and a great many others of various diseases and torments. All this took place in the year 412.

2. Our Holy Father Sennuphius the Standard-Bearer.

A great ascetic and wonder-worker of the Egyptian desert, he was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and the Emperor Theodosios the Great. He is called ‘the Standard-Bearer’ because he once helped the Emperor Theodosios to gain a victory over enemy forces by his prayers. When the emperor summoned him to Constantinople, he replied that he was unable to go, but sent his torn and patched monastic schema and his staff. Going out to battle, the emperor put on Sennuphius’ habit and carried his staff in his hand, and returned victorious from the battle.

3. Our Holy Father Paul the Physician.

He was born in Corinth. After completing his studies, he went to a monastery and became a monk. He had a very difficult struggle with the spirit of fornication, and when he had driven it from himself by the power of the Cross, a malicious spirit was angered at his victory and sent a harlot to say that she had borne a child to Paul. Then some heretics came and took him from the monastery, thrust the child into his arms and drove him around the city for the people to spit upon. The child was only a few days old. St. Paul prayed fervently to God, and said to the people: ‘Here, let the child tell you who its father is!’ The child pulled its hand out from the swaddling clothes and pointed to a certain blacksmith, saying: ‘That man is my father, not Paul the monk!’ Paul’s opponents were shamed and repented. God gave to Paul great power of healing, so that he had merely to place his hands on the sick for them to recover. He entered peacefully into rest in great old age, having been pleasing to God in his life on earth. He lived in the seventh century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Protestants have rejected God’s power to work miracles through created matter. They have thought to spiritualise the Christian Faith thereby, but have merely impoverished and deformed it. They have rejected the action of God’s power through icons, through the relics of the saints, through the Cross, and have even, some of them, rejected the power of holy Communion. If we were to follow along this twisted and false path, then we should have to reject the miracles which the Lord Jesus worked through His living body, because His body was also material. Likewise, we would have to reject the miracles performed by the apostles and saints, because these hands were also material; and heaven forbid that we should even talk about the rod of Moses, the robe and girdle of the most holy Mother of God, the towel of St. Paul and so forth. In their rejection of all this, the Protestants stand in opposition to the entire ancient Church. Here is one proof from among thousands that God acts through material things, particularly whenever He wishes to glorify His saints: a tall pillar was erected in Alexandria, carrying a statue of the Emperor Theodosios clad in a monk’s habit and with a monk’s staff in his hand. This was a memorial to the emperor’s victory over the enemy when dressed in St. Sennuphius’ habit and carrying his staff. When God so desires, the simple habit of a saint is sufficient to conquer the mighty forces of the unbelievers. Who would dare to limit the action or the methods by which the almighty Lord acts?

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.