Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 230]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Eph. 5:20-25; for Sl. usage, Eph. 5:20-26.

5 ²⁰Keep on giving thanks always for all things to the God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹subordinating yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

²²Wives, be subordinating yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is head of the wife, as also the Christ is head of the Church, and is Himself Savior of the body. ²⁴But even as the Church subordinateth herself to the Christ, so also the wives to their own husbands in everything. ²⁵Husbands, be loving your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶in order that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her in the laver of the water with the word.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 11]. At that time:

3 ²³Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began, being, as was supposed, a son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴the son of Matthan, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Joanna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli, the son of Nangai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semei, the son of Josech, the son of Juda, ²⁷the son of Joannan, the son of Resa, the son of Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Joreim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Symeon, the son of Juda, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakeim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Mainan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Booz, the son of Salmon, the son of Naason, ³³the son of Aminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Joram, the son of Esrom, the son of Phares, the son of Juda, ³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Thara, the son of Nachor, ³⁵the son of Saruch, the son of Ragav, the son of Phalek, the son of Ever, the son of Sala, ³⁶the son of Kainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Sem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Mathusala, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Maleleel, the son of Kainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

4 ¹And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation, and the holy Great-martyr Efstathios and those with him.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

October 3rd – Civil Calendar
September 20th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Efstathios (Eustace), the General Placidus.

He was a great Roman military leader in the time of the Emperors Titus and Trajan. Although a pagan, Placidus (for that was his pagan name) was a righteous and merciful man, like the centurion Cornelius, who was baptized by the Apostle Peter (Acts 10). Going hunting one day, he found a stag. By the providence of God, a shining Cross appeared among the stag’s antlers and the voice of God came to Placidus, telling him to go to a Christian bishop and be baptized. Placidus was baptized, along with his wife and two sons. At his Baptism, he received the name Efstathios, his wife the name Theopiste and their sons the names Agapius and Theopistus. After his Baptism, Efstathios went back to the very place where the revelation through the stag had occurred, and thanked God on his knees that he had brought him to the truth. At that, the voice of God came to him again, foretelling suffering for His name and strengthening him. Then Efstathios secretly left Rome with his family, with the intention of hiding among simple people and serving God in an unknown and humble way. Arriving in Egypt, he was immediately beset by trials. Some wicked barbarian carried off his wife, and his two sons were seized by wild beasts. But the barbarian quickly came to a bad end, and a herdsman saved the boys from the wild beasts. Efstathios settled in the Palestinian village of Vadisis, and there lived as a village hireling for fifteen years. After this, the barbarians descended on the Roman Empire, and the Emperor Trajan was sorry that his brave commander Placidus, who had been victorious wherever he had fought, was not with him. The emperor sent his officers to seek the great general throughout the empire. By God’s providence, these officers, who had been friends of Efstathios, came to this village of Vadisis, found him and took him to the emperor. Efstathios gathered the army together and defeated the barbarians. On the way back to Rome, Efstathios went and found his wife and sons. When he arrived in Rome, the Emperor Trajan had died and the Emperor Hadrian was on the throne. When Hadrian summoned Efstathios to offer sacrifice to idols, Efstathios told him that he was a Christian. The emperor put him to torture, together with his wife and sons. When the wild beasts did them no harm, he threw them into a white-hot metal ox. On the third day, they took out their bodies, dead but untouched by the fire. Thus this glorious general gave to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s, and entered into the eternal kingdom of Christ our God.

2. The Hieromartyr Hypatios, Bishop of Ephesus, and Andrew the Priest.

Two childhood friends, born in Lycia, they both gave themselves with their whole souls to the service of God when they grew up, Hypatios as a strict monk and ascetic, and Andrew as a priest among the people and a preacher of the word of God. For his great virtues, Hypatios was made Bishop of Ephesus, and Andrew was made priest in the same city. They both suffered in the time of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian. After terrible tortures for Orthodoxy, they were beheaded in 730, and both went from this transitory world to eternal life.

3. The Holy Prince Michael and his Counselor Theodore.

Prince Michael (Mikhail) of Chernigov went to the Tartar horde with his counselor, Theodore (Fedor), at the invitation of their ruler, Bati. When they refused to follow the Tartar custom of passing through fire and worshiping idols on being received by Bati, they were beheaded, in 1244. Their relics, the witnesses of their death by martyrdom for the sake of Christ, are preserved in the Church of the Archangel in Moscow.

4. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Hilarion

A monk of the Holy Mountain, he suffered voluntarily for the Christian Faith at the hands of the Turks in Constantinople on September 20th, 1804. His wonder-working relics are preserved in the Church of the Transfiguration on the island of Proti.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Suicide is a sin against the Holy Spirit, Who gives life. Suicide is a much graver sin than murder, as a man can yet repent of murder, while there is no repentance for the sin of suicide. Here are two examples of the greatest misfortune, in which a man of little soul would have committed suicide, but in which holy men of God showed themselves heroic. St. Efstathios found himself one day in this predicament: he had left one of his sons on one bank of the river while he carried the other to the opposite bank and returned for the second. Coming to the middle of the river, he looked on one bank and saw a lion seize the son that was there and carry him off; he looked at the other bank and saw a wolf grab hold of his son and carry him off. One little of soul would, in such a situation, have drowned himself in the river and made an end. Efstathios, filled with grief, did not kill himself, but with hope in God, lived for fifteen years as a hireling and waited with patience to see his two sons again. And God rewarded his faith and patience.

St. Hilarion was constrained as a young man to embrace Islam, but his conscience began to torment him and he had no peace. He returned to the Christian Faith, became a monk and gave his body to strict fasting and the harshest asceticism, but spiritual peace did not return to him. Therefore, he went to Constantinople with his spiritual father, Vissarion, and not only confessed his faith in Christ openly at the sultan’s court, but also counseled Bash Agha to go to Russia and be baptized. After ridicule and torture, this brave young man was beheaded, and God glorified him in heaven and on earth. His holy relics have wonder-working power to this day. But where is the glory of the suicide? Where are his relics?

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.