Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 79].

1 ¹Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, who hath been set apart for the Gospel of God, ²which He announced before through His prophets in holy Scriptures, ³concerning His Son Who came to be of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴and Who was marked out to be Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead—Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵by Whom we received grace and apostleship to an obedience of faith among all the nations in behalf of His name, ⁶among whom are ye also called of Jesus Christ, ⁷to all those who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.... ¹³But I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I proposed to myself to come to you, but was hindered until the present, in order that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the remaining nations. ¹⁴I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and the unintelligent. ¹⁵Thus, as far as I am concerned, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you who are in Rome also. ¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of the Christ; for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believeth, both to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in it God’s righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, even as it hath been written: “But the just shall live by faith [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

Gospel

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

For Gk. usage, see Mt. 4:23-5:13; for Sl. usage, see Mt. 4:25-5:13.

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.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Thallelaios, the unmercenary healer, at Aegae in Cilicia, and his companions, the Martyrs Alexander and Asterios, and the opening of the relics of our father among the saints, Aleksii, Metropolitan of Moscow and Wonder-worker of All Russia.

Epistle

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99]. Brethren:

8 ²⁸We know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰But whom He foreordained, these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these also He glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He Who indeed spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. ³⁴Who is the one who condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶Even as it hath been written: “For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps. 43(44):23(22)].” ³⁷But in all these things we more than conquer through the One Who loved us. ³⁸For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things coming, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ mid 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁹“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. ²⁰“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” ²¹In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 2nd – Civil Calendar
May 20th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Thallaleus (Thalelaios).

He was born in Lebanon. His father’s name was Berucius and his mother’s was Romylia. He was an eighteen-year-old youth, handsome and well-grown and with ginger hair. A doctor by profession, he suffered for Christ in the reign of Numerian. When he courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord before the judge, the latter commanded the two executioners, Alexander and Asterios, to bore through his knees, pass a rope through the pierced bone and hang him from a tree. But the executioners, as though the unseen power of God had deprived them of sight, bored through a plank and hung it on the tree. When the judge discovered this, he thought that the executioners had done it deliberately, and ordered that they be flogged. Then Alexander and Asterios cried out under the flogging: ‘The Lord is alive to us; from now on, we are become Christians. We believe in Christ, and suffer for Him.’ Hearing this, the judge ordered that they be beheaded. Then the judge took the awl, to bore through Thallaleus’ knees himself, but his hand was paralysed and he had to ask Thallaleus to heal him, which the kindly martyr, with Christ’s aid, did by his prayers. Then he was thrown into water, but showed himself alive to the judge (for Thallaleus was praying within himself that God would not have him die at once, but would let his tortures continue). When he was thrown to the wild beasts, they licked his feet and rubbed tamely round him. He was finally beheaded and entered into eternal life in 284.

2. The Holy Martyr Asklas.

He suffered in Antionus, a town in Egypt, in the time of Diocletian. He was flogged, flayed and burned with torches, but remained to the end steadfast in the Faith. When the torturer, Arrianos, was crossing the Nile by boat, Asklas, by his prayers, stopped the boat and would not let it move again until Arrianos had put in writing that he believed in Christ as the one, almighty God. But, dismissing that wonder as magic, Arrianos the torturer forgot all that he had written and continued to torture the man of God even more harshly. At last, Asklas had a stone tied around his neck and he was thrown into the Nile. But, on the third day, Christians found his body on the bank, with the stone still round his neck (as the martyr had foretold to them before his death), and gave him burial, in 287. The holy martyr Leonidas suffered together with him. Their torturer, Arrianos, repented later, came to believe in Christ with his whole heart and began to proclaim his faith publicly before the heathen. They then killed him also; and thus Arrianos, the sometime torturer of Christians, became worthy of the martyr’s wreath for Christ.

3. Our Holy Father Stefan of Piperi.

This saint was of the tribe of Nikšić, from the village of Župa, of poor and devout parents, Radoje and Yacima. To learn the ascetic life, he lived first in the monastery of Morača, where he became abbot. The Turks drove him out of there, and he settled in Rovaski Turmanj, in the place now called Celište. After that, he moved again and settled in a cell at Piperi, where he remained to his death in toil and godly asceticism. He entered peacefully into rest in the Lord on May 20th, 1697. His relics are preserved there to this day, and glorify Christ our God and Stefan the man of God by their many wonders.

FOR CONSIDERATION

When a man acquires a Christian conscience, he strives with zeal to set his life aright and to be pleasing to God. All else becomes for him of lesser value. We have examples of such men, not only among the great ascetics and spiritual teachers, but also among mighty kings. The Emperor Theodosios the Great offers us one such example. He at one time fell into heresy, but afterwards repented. In his funeral oration over Theodosios’ body, St. Ambrose said: ‘I loved this man, who, stripping himself of all imperial symbols, publicly bewailed his sin in church, and with sighs and tears, begged for forgiveness. That which a poor man might be ashamed to do was not shame to the emperor. After gaining a glorious victory over the enemies of the empire, he vowed not to receive holy Communion until the return of his sons, because his enemies had been killed in battle.’

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.