Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday After the Exaltation of the Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ mid 125].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Cor. 1:26-2:5; for Sl. usage, see 1 Cor. 1:26-29.

1 ²⁶Brethren, ye see your calling, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many well-born. ²⁷But God chose for Himself the foolish things of the world, that He may put to shame the wise; and God chose for Himself the weak things of the world, that He may put to shame the mighty things. ²⁸And God chose for Himself the low-born of the world and the despised, and the things that are nothing, that He might make of no effect the things that are, ²⁹so that no flesh should boast before Him. ³⁰But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, even as it hath been written: “He that boasteth, in the Lord let him boast [cf. Jer. 9:23, 24].”

2 ¹And I, brethren, having come to you, came not according to excellency of speech or of wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God. ²For I decided not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, even this One Who was crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 30]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

8 ²¹“I am going away, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin. Where I am going, ye are not able to come.” ²²Then the Jews were saying, “He will not kill Himself, will He, because He saith, ‘Where I am going, ye are not able to come’?” ²³And He said to them, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above. Ye are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴“I said therefore to you that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye do not come to believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” ²⁵Then they were saying to Him, “Thou, Who art Thou?” And Jesus said to them, “Altogether that which even I am saying to you. ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but the One Who sendeth Me is true; and what I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.” ²⁷They knew not that He was speaking to them of the Father. ²⁸Then Jesus said to them, “Whenever ye lift up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am, and I do nothing of Myself; but even as the Father taught Me, these things I speak. ²⁹“And the One Who sent Me is with Me. The Father did not leave Me alone, for I always do the things pleasing to Him.” ³⁰As He spoke these things, many believed in Him.

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Seventeenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 156].

14 ²⁰Brethren, cease becoming children in your minds, but be ye infants in malice; and keep on becoming mature in your minds. ²¹In the law it hath been written: “By other tongues and by other lips will I speak to this people; and not even thus will they hear Me [cf. Is. 28:11, 12],” saith the Lord. ²²Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelievers; and prophecy is not for the unbelievers, but to those who believe. ²³If therefore the whole church should come together in the same place, and all be speaking with tongues, and those who are unlearned or unbelievers should come in, will they not say that ye are mad? ²⁴But if all be prophesying, and some unbeliever or one unlearned should come in, he is reproved by all, he is examined by all. ²⁵And thus are the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling upon his face, he will make obeisance to God, reporting that God is verily among you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 104]. The Lord said this parable:

25 ¹“The kingdom of the heavens shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. ²“And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. ³“Those who were foolish took lamps for themselves and took no oil with them; ⁴“but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵“But while the bridegroom tarried, they all dozed and went on sleeping. ⁶“But in the middle of the night, there came to pass a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!’ ⁷“Then all those virgins were wakened and trimmed their lamps. ⁸“And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹“But the prudent answered, saying, ‘Peradventure there might not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰“But while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they who were ready went in with him to the wedding festivities; and the door was shut. ¹¹“And afterwards the remaining virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²“But he answered and said, ‘Verily I say to you, I know ye not.’ ¹³“Be watching then, for ye know not the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation, and the holy Martyr Sophia, and her daughters, the Martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 30th – Civil Calendar
September 17th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love, and their mother Sophia.

They lived and suffered in Rome in the time of the Emperor Hadrian. The wise Sophia (as her name—Sophia—wisdom, indicates) was left a widow, and as a Christian, steeped herself and her daughters in the Christian Faith. At the time that Hadrian’s persecuting hand stretched out over the virtuous house of Sophia, Faith was twelve, Hope ten and Love nine. The four of them were brought before the emperor, with their arms entwined ‘like a woven wreath,’ humbly but firmly confessing their faith in Christ the Lord and refusing to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. At the moment of their passion, the mother urged her valiant daughters to endure to the end. ‘Your heavenly Lover, Jesus Christ, is eternal health, inexpressible beauty and life eternal. When your bodies are slain by torture, He will clothe you in incorruption and the wounds on your bodies will shine in heaven like the stars.’ The torturers inflicted harsh torture on Faith, Hope, and Love one by one. They beat them, stabbed them and threw them into fire and boiling pitch, and finally beheaded them one after the other. Sophia took the dead bodies of her daughters out of the town and buried them, and stayed by their grave in prayer for three days and nights, then gave her soul to God, hastening to the heavenly company where the blessed souls of her daughters awaited her.

2. The Holy Martyr Agathokleia.

She was a servant of one Nicholas and his wife Paulina, who were at first Christians but forsook Christianity and turned again to idol-worship. Holy Agathokleia refused to follow the example of her masters, and for this was harshly tortured both by them and by the judge. Finally, her mistress killed her by pouring burning coals on her neck, but God glorified His handmaid in His heavenly kingdom.

3. The 156 Holy Martyrs of Egypt.

They were all Egyptians, and suffered for Christ the Lord in 310, some by the sword and some by fire. Among them were two old bishops, Peleus and Nilus, a priest, Zeno, and two renowned men, Patermuthius and Elias. With them also suffered Bishop Silvanus and an eminent, blind old man, John, who knew the Scriptures by heart and recited them to gatherings of Christians. They were all crowned with wreaths and entered into the eternal kingdom of Christ.

4. The Holy Martyr Theodota.

She endured eight years of harsh torture on the part of the governor, Simplicius, who finally went out of his mind. She was beheaded with the sword in the time of the Emperor Alexander Severus, in about 230.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A God-fearing and faithful ruler is a blessing from heaven on his whole people. King Vatslav (Wenceslas) of the Czechs was such a ruler. His zeal for the holy things of the Faith and his strictness of life are reminiscent of the ancient ascetics. He devoted his days to administrative work and his nights to prayer, and he often prepared and cooked the holy bread, most especially when he himself was to receive holy Communion. He was concerned in the building of many churches, in which daily services were celebrated, and gave especial care to the poor and needy. He was a lover of peace, although a great and fearless hero. When the neighboring prince, Radislav, invaded the Czech lands, Vatslav sent him a letter, asking him what had roused him to make war against him. Radislav replied haughtily that he was after the whole of the Czech lands and Vatslav’s throne. Then Vatslav gathered together a large army and marched against his enemy. Then, seeing the two great armies, he mourned the coming loss of life and sent the following message to Radislav: ‘The quarrel is between the two of us. You want to conquer this land, and I refuse to let you. Let us settle this matter by single combat. What purpose would be served by a bloody conflict between our two armies?’ Prince Radislav agreed to single combat, and being overcome by Vatslav, begged his forgiveness on his knees.

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.