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 Martyr Crescens in Myra of Lycia, and the holy Apostles Aristarchos, Pudens, and Trophimos of the Seventy (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 14th of April), and the Martyrs Vasilissa and Anastasia of Rome, disciples of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 28th – Civil Calendar
April 15th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus.

These were all numbered among the Seventy. Aristarchus was Bishop of Apameia in Syria. The Apostle Paul mentions him several times (Acts 19:29; Col. 4:10; Philem. v.24). He was seized in Ephesus, together with Gaius, by a mob that had risen up against Paul. The apostle wrote to the Colossians: ‘Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner saluteth you,’ and in the Epistle to Philemon, Paul calls Aristarchus ‘my fellow-laborer,’ together with Mark, Demas and Luke. Pudens was an eminent Roman citizen. The Apostle Paul mentions him once (II Tim. 4:21). Pudens’ house was first the refuge of the chief apostles and was then turned into a church dedicated to the Good Shepherd. Trophimus was an Asian (Acts 20:4), and accompanied St. Paul on his journeys. In one place, Paul writes: ‘Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick’ (II Tim. 4:21). During Nero’s persecution, when the Apostle Paul was beheaded, these glorious martyrs were also beheaded.

2. The Holy Martyr Savvas the Goth.

There was a brutal persecution of Christians on the part of the Goths. A Gothic prince came to the village where this devout Savvas lived, and asked the villagers if there were any Christians there. They answered him on their honor that there were none. Then Savvas stood before the prince and the people, and said: ‘Let no one swear an oath on my behalf. I am a Christian.’ The prince, seeing this poor wretch, let him go in peace, saying: ‘This one can do neither harm nor good.’ The next year, just at Pascha, a priest, Sansal, came to the village and celebrated Pascha with Savvas. The pagans, coming to hear of this, descended suddenly on Savvas’ house and began to belabor the men of God without mercy, then, having dragged Savvas naked through thorns, bound them both to trees and tried to force them to eat meat offered to idols. But the men of God, remembering the apostle’s words, would not touch the unclean, diabolical sacrifices. The prince finally sentenced Savvas to death and handed him over to the soldiers. Savvas went to the place of execution full of joy, praising God. Recognising in him a good man, the soldiers sought to set him free on the way, but Savvas was greatly distressed by this and told the soldiers that they were in duty bound to carry out the prince’s command. Then the soldiers brought him to a river, tied a rock round his neck and threw him into the water. His body was cast up onto the bank. Later the Greek commander Ionnios Soranos, in the time of the Emperor Valens, found Savvas’ body during a war with the Goths and took it to Cappadocia. St. Savvas suffered in 372, at the age of 31.

3. The Holy Martyrs Vasilissa and Anastasia.

Two devout Roman women, they gathered the bodies of the apostles’ disciples for burial during Nero’s persecutions. They were arrested for this and imprisoned, and after prolonged torture in which their breasts were cut off and their tongues cut out, they were beheaded.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Gregory of Sinai writes on meditation: ‘We reckon that there are eight main subjects for meditation: first, God, unseen and invisible, without beginning and uncreated, the first Cause of all that is, threefold and one in His divine being; second, the order and state of the angelic powers; third, the structure of visible things; fourth, the incarnation of the Logos; fifth, the general resurrection; sixth, the dreadful Second Coming of the Lord; seventh, eternal torment; eighth, the kingdom of heaven. The first four have already been revealed and belong to the past. The last four have not yet been revealed and belong to the future, although these four are able to be considered by those who, with the help of the grace they have received, acquire a truly pure mind. He who approaches this labor (meditation) without the light of grace, let him know that he is building fantasies, not meditation.’ So writes the great and discerning Gregory of Sinai, whose knowledge came from experience.

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.