Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 85]. Brethren:

3 ²⁸We reckon a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law. ²⁹Is He the God of the Jews only? And is He not also of the nations? Yes, of the nations also, ³⁰since it is one God Who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. ³¹Do we then make the law of no effect through faith? May it not be! But we establish the law.

4 ¹What then shall we say that Abraham our father hath found according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath a subject of boasting, but not in reference to God. ³For what saith the Scripture? “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness [Gen. 15:6].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 24]. The Lord said:

7 ²⁴“Everyone who heareth these words of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a prudent man who built his house upon the rock. ²⁵“And the rain came down, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew, and fell upon that house; and yet it fell not, for it had been founded upon the rock. ²⁶“And everyone who heareth these words of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. ²⁷“And the rain came down, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew, and struck against that house; and it fell. And the fall of it was great.”

²⁸And it came to pass, when Jesus had brought these words to an end, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

8 ¹And after He came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him. ²And behold, a leper came and was making obeisance to Him, saying, “Lord, if Thou art willing, Thou art able to cleanse me.” ³And Jesus stretched forth His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be thou cleansed.” And straightway his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴And Jesus saith to him, “See that thou tell no one; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Synaxis of the holy, glorious, and all-praised Twelve Apostles.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 131]. Brethren:

4 ⁹I think that God showed forth us the apostles last, as condemned to death; for we became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are held in honor, but we are dishonored. ¹¹Until the present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are being buffeted, and never at rest. ¹²And we toil working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we bear up; ¹³being evilly spoken of, we beseech. We became as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all until now. ¹⁴I do not write these things shaming you, but admonishing you as my beloved children. ¹⁵For if ye have myriads of tutors in Christ, yet ye have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the Gospel. ¹⁶Therefore, I beseech you, keep on becoming imitators of me.

Gospel

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

9 ³⁶Jesus, having seen the crowds, was moved with compassion for them, because they were wearied and cast down, as sheep not having a shepherd. ³⁷Then He saith to His disciples, “The harvest indeed is great, but the workers are few. ³⁸“Entreat therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth workers into His harvest.”

10 ¹And after He 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. ²Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; Iakovos the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; Iakovos the son of Alphæos, and Lebbæos, who was surnamed Thaddæos; ⁴Simon the Cananite, and Judas the Iscariote, who also delivered Him up. 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 Sl. usage, see [Mk. 3:13-19].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 13th – Civil Calendar
June 30th – Church Calendar

1. The Assembly of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Apostles.

Although each of the Twelve Apostles has his own feast day during the year, the Church has set aside this day for a general feast of all of them together, including St. Paul. The names and feast days of the Twelve are:

Peter—June 29th and January 16th.
Andrew—November 30th.
Iakovos the Son of Zebedee—April 30th.
John the Theologian—September 26th and May 8th.
Philip—November 14th.
Bartholomew—June 11th and August 25th.
Thomas—October 6th.
Matthew the Evangelist—November 16th.
Iakovos the Son of Alphaeus—October 9th.
Thaddeus (or Jude the brother of Iakovos)—June 19th.
Simon the Zealot—May 10th.
Matthias—August 9th.
Paul—June 29th.

Let us also remember here how these most holy and selfless men in the history of the world died and finished their earthly course:

Peter was crucified upside-down.
Andrew was crucified.
Iakovos was beheaded.
John the Theologian died peacefully in a miraculous way.
Philip was crucified.
Bartholomew was crucified, then flayed and beheaded.
Thomas was pierced with five spears.
Matthew was burned by fire.
Iakovos the Son of Alphaeus was crucified.
Thaddeus was crucified.
Simon the Zealot was crucified.
Matthias was stoned, then beheaded with an axe when dead.
Paul was beheaded.

2. Blessed Peter the Heir.

A Tartar by race and the nephew of the Tartar King Berkai, he once listened to a sermon on salvation by Kiril, Bishop of Rostov, and the words embedded themselves deeply in his heart. When he saw the miraculous healing of Berkai’s son by Kiril’s prayers, he secretly left the Cossack (Golden) Horde and ran off to Rostov, where he was baptized and devoted himself heart and soul to the ascetic life and to training himself in faith and devotion. Once he spent the night on the shore of a lake, and the Apostles Peter and Paul appeared to him in his sleep and told him to build a church dedicated to their memory on that spot, giving him the money he would need to accomplish this. Peter built a beautiful church there, and was there made a monk in old age, after the death of his wife. He finished his earthly course peacefully on June 29th, 1290, and his church became and remains the Petrovski monastery.

3. Our Holy Father George the Georgian.

Born in Iberia or Georgia in 1014, he was a kinsman of the Georgian king, Bagrat. He received a good classical education in his early years, but his heart ever drew him towards the spiritual life. He labored in asceticism under the renowned spiritual teacher George on the Black Mountain. He then went off to the Holy Mountain and continued his asceticism in the monastery of Iviron, becoming the abbot of that monastery. With the assistance of the Byzantine emperor, Constantine Monomachus, he restored Iviron and roofed the church with lead. This same leaden roof remains to this day. He translated the holy Scriptures, the Prologue and the books for divine services into Georgian. Bagrat summoned him back to Georgia to teach the people, and he received a royal welcome in his homeland. He travelled far and wide, instructing the clergy and the people. Reaching old age, he desired to depart this life on the Holy Mountain and set out on the road, but death overtook him in Constantinople in 1067. His relics were taken to Iviron. Although he died on May 24th, the Georgians celebrate his memory on June 30th, counting him as equal to the apostles.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Concern for the good of all men. Such concern filled the exalted spirits and noble hearts of the apostles to overflowing. St. John Chrysostom wrote about the Apostle Paul, calling him ‘the father of all the world, as if he himself had given birth to all men, for he was so concerned and strove so greatly to bring all into the kingdom’. ‘Father of all the world’ is indeed a very high title, and if there is anyone, under God, to whom this title should be given, it is the apostles of Christ. Having the concern of a parent for the whole world, they were truly ‘fathers of all the world’. There are many mothers in the world who care less for their own children than did the apostles for the good of their persecutors and adversaries. The Apostle Peter twice saved his most bitter adversary, Simon the Magician, from death; once when the crowd wanted to set fire to him and once when a dog tried to tear him to pieces. Just think of the way that the world paid its debt to these workers of good! As if they were the greatest robbers and evil-doers! How true are St. Cyprian’s words: ‘While we are in the body, we Christians look the same on the surface as pagans. The difference lies in the spirit.’

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.