Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 173]. Brethren:

3 ⁴We have such trust through Christ toward God: ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to reckon anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, ⁶Who also made us fit ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive. ⁷But if the ministration of death, which in letters was engraved in stones, came into being in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look intently into the face of Moses on account of the glory of his face, which glory is being put to an end, ⁸how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be much more in glory? ⁹For if the ministration of condemnation is glory, much rather the ministration of righteousness aboundeth in glory. ¹⁰For indeed that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, on account of the glory which surpasseth. ¹¹For if that which is being put to an end was in the midst of glory, much rather that which remaineth is in glory.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 96]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

23 ²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the sepulchers of the righteous, ³⁰“and say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹“Therefore ye bear witness against yourselves that ye are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³²“Fill ye up also the measure of your fathers. ³³“Serpents, offspring of vipers! How shall ye flee from the judgment of Gehenna? ³⁴“On this account, behold, I send forth to you prophets, and wise ones, and scribes: and some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵“that upon you should come all the righteous blood which is being poured out upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶“Verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. ³⁷“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that killeth the prophets and stoneth those who have been sent forth to her! How often would I have gathered together thy children, in the way a hen gathereth together her chicks under her wings, and ye would not. ³⁸“Behold, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹“For I say to you, in no wise shall ye see Me henceforth, until ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord [Ps. 117(118):25(26)].’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of righteous Fathers Isaakios, Dalmatos, and Faustos, ascetics of the Dalmaton Monastery at Constantinople, and our venerable Father Anthony the Roman, Abbot and Wonder-worker of Novgorod.

Epistle

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

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 16th – Civil Calendar
August 3rd – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Fathers Isaac, Dalmatos and Faustos.

Isaac is commemorated separately on May 30th. St. Dalmatos was first an officer under the Emperor Theodosios the Great, who held him in great honor, but when his spirit awakened within him, he scorned all that is of this world, abandoning his rank, and took his only son Faustos off to the outskirts of Constantinople, to St. Isaac’s community, where they were both tonsured as monks. Dalmatos consecrated himself utterly to please God in his life, which was a joy to the elder, Isaac (Isaakios). When Isaac came to the hour of death, he installed Dalmatos as abbot in his place, and the community later came to be called after Dalmatos. He sometimes fasted for forty days at a time, conquering by his fasting the invisible power of the demons. He took part in the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, and battled against the Nestorian heresy. Being pleasing to God, he entered peacefully into rest in the 5th century. His son Faustos supported his father in everything, and after a godly life, died peacefully in that community.

2. Our Holy Father Kosmas the Eunuch.

A monk of the monastery of Pharan, he was very learned in the holy Scriptures. He so valued the works of St. Athanasius the Great that he said to his disciples: ‘When you hear something quoted from the writings of St. Athanasius, if you have no paper by you, write them on your handkerchief.’ In old age, he came to Antioch, to Patriarch Gregory (†596), and there ended his days. One particular man often came to Kosmas’ grave, and honoring the saint, prayed there. Asked why he did this, he explained that he had been paralysed for twelve years, and that St. Kosmas had healed him.

3. Our Holy Father Anthony the Roman.

He was born in Rome in 1086 of devout and affluent parents. At that time, the Roman Church broke away from the Eastern Church, and all who remained faithful to the Eastern Church were persecuted by the Roman clergy. Anthony was among those persecuted. He gave away all his goods and became a monk. Standing on a rock in the sea, he lived in asceticism for fourteen months. The rock meanwhile parted from its base, and by a strange providence, floated through the water to Novgorod. In Novgorod, Archbishop Nikita received him with kindness and helped him to build a church to the holy Mother of God, later to become a monastery. Anthony lived long as abbot of this monastery, and revealing great power by the grace of God through many miracles, died peacefully in 1148 and went to the courts of the Lord.

4. St. Salome the Myrrh-bearer.

The mother of the holy Apostles Iakovos and John, the wife of Zebedee and daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the most holy Mother of God, she served the Lord during His earthly life, and was made worthy to be among the first bearers of the tidings of His Resurrection.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Holy souls were wont to read the holy Scriptures with great diligence, considering every word with care and placing themselves before the mirror of the word of God as before the Dreadful Judgement. Their diligence in this was so great that some undertook long journeys to come to some man of spiritual wisdom who would interpret for them some word or sentence in holy Scripture. Wherever it was possible, this took place through correspondence. Hence there remain various collections of letters of the saints, such as those of Ss. Basil, Gregory, Chrysostom, Isidore of Pelusium, Nilus of Sinai and many others. St. Kosmas was pondering one day on the words of the Lord Christ, when, in Gethsemane, He asked His disciples if they had a sword. When His disciples said to Him: ‘Here are two swords,’ He said to them: ‘It is enough’ (Luke 22:38). Being unable to explain these words himself, Kosmas decided to go through the desert to the distant monastery of Pirga, to the famous Abba Theophilus, to ask him. It was only with great difficulty that he reached his goal. Theophilus explained to him: ‘The two swords denote the twofold state of a godly life: labor, and a mind steeped in thoughts of God and in prayer. He who has these two is perfect.’

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.