Daily Devotional

Monday, September 4, 2028 (NS), August 22, 2028 (OS)

No Fasting.

Monday of the Fourteenth Week

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Dormition, and the holy Martyr Agathonikos of Nicomedia, and his companions, Zotikos, Zenonos, Theoprepios, Akindynos, and Severianos, and the holy Martyr Louppos (transferred to this date on account of the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition on the 23^rd of August).

Jump to Prologue

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fourteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 195]. Brethren:

12 ¹⁰I am well pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ’s sake; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have become foolish in boasting! Ye compelled me. For I ought to be commended by you; for I lacked nothing of the exceedingly super apostles, even though I am nothing. ¹²Indeed the signs of the apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and works of power. ¹³For what is it in which ye were less than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong. ¹⁴Behold, I am ready to come to you a third time. And I will not burden you; for I seek not your things, but you. For the children ought not to lay up in store for the parents, but the parents for the children. ¹⁵Now I with the greatest pleasure will spend and will be expended utterly for your souls, even if loving you more abundantly, I am being loved the less. ¹⁶But let it be so, I did not burden you; but being crafty, I took you with guile. ¹⁷I did not take advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent forth to you, did I? ¹⁸I besought Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Titus did not take advantage of you in anything, did he? We walked in the same spirit, did we not? We walked in the same steps, did we not? ¹⁹Again, do ye think that we are making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ; but we do all things, beloved, for your building up.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 16]. At that time:

4 ¹⁰When Jesus was alone, those about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable of the sower. ¹¹And He began to say to them, “To you it hath been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, everything is done in parables, ¹²“that ‘seeing they see and perceive not, and hearing they hear and understand not, lest they should turn again and their sins be forgiven them [cf. Is. 6:9, 10].’” ¹³And He saith to them, “Know ye not this parable? And how will ye know all the parables? ¹⁴“The sower soweth the word. ¹⁵“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; and whenever they hear, Satan straightway cometh and taketh away the word which hath been sown in their hearts. ¹⁶“And these in like manner are the ones who are sown upon the rocky places who, whenever they hear the word, straightway, receive it with joy; ¹⁷“and they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then after affliction or persecution ariseth on account of the word, straightway they are made to stumble. ¹⁸“And these are the ones who are sown in the midst of thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹“and the cares of this age, and the deceit of wealth, and the desires concerning the rest entering in choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. ²⁰“And these are the ones who were sown on the good ground, such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit: one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.” ²¹And He was saying to them, “The lamp doth not come, in order that it might be put under the bushel or under the couch, doth it? It is in order that it might be placed upon the lampstand, is it not? ²²“For nothing is hidden, except that it should be made manifest; nor did a secret thing take place, but that it should come to light. ²³“If anyone hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 4th – Civil Calendar
August 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Agathonikos and Zotikos, and others with them.

St. Agathonikos was a citizen of Nikomedia and a Christian. He turned the Greeks from idolatry with great fervor, and instructed them in the true Faith. The imperial governor, on orders from the Emperor Maximian, was persecuting Christians with great harshness. In this persecution, he seized St. Zotikos in a place called Carpe, crucified his disciples and took him off to Nikomedia, where he also seized and bound Agathonikos, Princeps, Theoprepios, Akyndinos, Severianos, Zeno and many others. They were taken, securely bound, to Byzantium. On the way, Zotikos, Theoprepios and Akyndinos died from exhaustion and of their wounds. Severianos was killed near Chalcedon and Agathonikos and the others were taken to Thrace, to a place called Silybria, where, after torture before the emperor himself, they were beheaded with the sword and entered into eternal life and the joy of their Lord.

2. The Holy Martyr Eulalia.

At the time of a terrible persecution of Christians in Spain, there was a maiden called Eulalia, born of Christian parents in Barcelona. Utterly consecrated to Christ her Bridegroom, and steeped in the holy Scriptures, she applied herself steadfastly to voluntary asceticism of soul and body. When the torturer, Dacian, who was mercilessly slaughtering Christians in Spain, came to Barcelona, Eulalia slipped away from her parents by night, came before the torturer, and in the presence of many of the people, denounced him as a murderer of innocent people, and also pulled down idols, openly confessing her faith in Christ the living Lord. Dacian commanded in fury that she be stripped and beaten with rods, but the holy maiden showed that she did not feel the pain of the torture for her Christ. Then the torturer had her tied to a tree in the form of a Cross, and ordered that her flesh be burned with torches. The torturer asked her, where was her Christ to save her? Eulalia answered: ‘He is here with me, but you cannot see Him because of your impurity.’ Under great torture, Eulalia gave her soul to God, and when she breathed her last, the people saw a white dove emerge from her mouth. Then a sudden snowstorm came and covered the naked body of the martyr like a white garment. On the third day, St. Felix came, and in grief, wept before the hanging body of Eulalia, and a smile appeared on the saint’s dead face. Her parents came, and together with other Christians, buried the body of the holy maiden. She suffered for her Lord and entered into eternal joy at the beginning of the fourth century.

3. The Holy Martyr Anthusa, and others with her.

The daughter of rich, pagan parents in Seleukeia in Syria, Anthusa heard of Christ and believed in Him with all her heart. She went secretly to Bishop Athanasius, who baptized her, and an angel of God appeared at that moment. After that, Anthusa went off to the desert to live in asceticism, not daring to return to her parents. She lived in the desert for thirty-three years, until, while kneeling in prayer on a rock, she gave her soul into God’s hands. She was buried, at her prior request, under this rock. Athanasius and two of Anthusa’s servants, Charismus and Neophytus, were beheaded for their faith in Christ in the time of the Emperor Valerian, in about the year 257. They suffered with honor and were crowned with wreaths.

FOR CONSIDERATION

When once a man has truly repented, he must think no more of the sins committed, lest he fall again into sin. St. Anthony advises: ‘Guard yourself, that your mind be not fouled with the memory of former sins, and that the memory of them be not renewed within you.’ And, in another place, he says: ‘Don’t establish the sins that you have formerly committed in your soul by pondering on them, lest they be renewed in you. Be assured that they are forgiven from the moment that you turn to God in repentance. Be in no doubt about this.’ It was said of St. Ammon that he achieved such perfection that, in his great goodness, he no longer recognized the existence of evil. When he was asked what was the ‘narrow and hard’ way, he replied: ‘It is the curbing of one’s thoughts and the mortifying of one’s own will for the fulfilling of the will of God.’ He who curbs sinful thoughts thinks neither of his own sin nor of another’s, nor of anything corruptible or earthly. The mind of such a man is constantly in heaven, where there is no evil. Thus, little by little, evil is cast out from us, even in our thoughts.

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.