Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Twenty-Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 271]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see 1 Thess. 4:18-5:10; for Sl. usage, see 1 Thess. 5:1-8.

4 ¹⁸Keep on comforting one another with these words.

5 ¹But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need for me to be writing to you; ²for ye yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief at night. ³For whenever they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction standeth over them, even as the pangs of childbirth to her who is with child; and in no wise shall they escape. ⁴But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵Ye are all sons of light and sons of day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ⁶So then, let us not be sleeping, as also the rest, but let us be fully awake and sober. ⁷For they who sleep, sleep by night; and they who get drunk, get drunk by night. ⁸But let us who are of the day be sober, having put on a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹For God did not appoint us for wrath, but for gaining possession of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰Who died for us, that whether we be awake or asleep, we should live together with Him.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 62]. The Lord said to those Jews who had come to Him:

11 ⁴⁷“Woe to you! For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸“So then ye bear witness and consent to the works of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. ⁴⁹“On this account the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send forth to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰“that the blood of all the prophets, which is being poured out from the foundation of the world, might be required of this generation, ⁵¹“from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the temple. Yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. ⁵²“Woe to you, the doctors of the law! For ye took away the key of knowledge; ye yourselves entered not, and those trying to enter ye hindered.” ⁵³And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to hold it against Him terribly and to interrogate Him concerning many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for Him, seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.

12 ¹In the meantime, after myriads of the populace were gathered together, insomuch that they trampled upon one another, He began to say to His disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Persian Martyrs Akepsimas the bishop, Joseph the presbyter, and Aeithalas the deacon, and the dedication of the Church of the Great-martyr George in Lydda, where his precious relics are interred.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 220]. Brethren:

2 ⁴God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with the Christ—by grace have ye been saved— ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, ⁷that He might show forth Himself in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of His grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, in order that we should walk in them.

for Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 63]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ²“There is nothing which hath been covered up which shall not be uncovered, nor hidden which shall not be known. ³“Wherefore, whatsoever ye said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye spoke in the ear in the closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. ⁴“And I say to you, My friends, do not become afraid because of those who kill the body, and after these things are not able to do anything more. ⁵“But I will show you Whom ye should fear: fear the One Who after the killing hath power to cast into Gehenna; yea, I say to you, this One fear. ⁶“Five sparrows are sold for two assaria, are they not? And not one of them is forgotten before the face of God. ⁷“Yea, even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Therefore cease being afraid; ye excel many sparrows. ⁸“But I say to you, everyone who shall confess in Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess in him before the angels of God. ⁹“But the one who denieth Me before the face of men shall be denied before the face of the angels of God. ¹⁰“And everyone who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but to the one who blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. ¹¹“And whenever they bring you in before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, cease being anxious how or what ye should speak in defense, or what ye should say; ¹²“for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what things it is needful to say.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 21:12-19].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

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

1. The Hieromartyr Akepsimas, Bishop of Naeson, and others with him.

The eighty-year-old Akepsimas, filled with every Christian virtue, was sitting one day in his house with his guests when a child, filled with the Spirit of God, ran up to the aged bishop, kissed him on the head, and said: ‘Blessed is this head, for it will be martyred for Christ!’ This prophecy was soon fulfilled. King Sapor raised a fierce persecution of Christians throughout Persia, and St. Akepsimas was seized and taken before a prince who was also a pagan priest. When the bishop had been arrested and bound, he was approached by one of his household, who asked him what he wanted done about his house. The saint replied: ‘It’s no longer my house; I’m going to a higher home, and shall not return.’ After long interrogation, he was thrown into prison, whence, the next day, were brought a seventy-year-old priest called Joseph and a deacon, Aeithalas. After three years’ imprisonment and many sufferings, Akepsimas was beheaded, and Joseph and Aeithalas were buried up to the waist in the ground, being stoned by a group of men who were without mercy towards Christians. Joseph’s body, by God’s providence, disappeared that night, and above Aeithalas’ body there grew a tree, which healed all manner of disease and pain. Five years passed, then the wicked and jealous pagans cut down this tree. These soldiers of Christ suffered in Persia in the fourth century, in the time of the pagan King Sapor.

2. The Holy and Great Martyr George.

On this day we celebrate the translation of St. George’s relics from Nikomedia to the city of Lydda in Palestine, where he suffered in the time of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305). The sufferings of this wonderful saint are recorded on April 23rd. At the time of his death, St. George asked his servant to take his body and carry it to Palestine, to the place where his mother was born, and where he had much land that he had given away to the poor. His servant did this. In the time of the Emperor Constantine (305-337), a beautiful church was built in Lydda by devout Christians. On the occasion of the consecration of that church, the saint’s relics were translated and buried there. Innumerable miracles have been wrought by the relics of St. George, Christ’s great martyr.

3. Our Holy Father Elias of Egypt.

He lived in asceticism near Antinoë the capital of the Thebaid. He spent seventy years on arid and inaccessible rocks in the wilderness. He ate only bread and dates, and as a young man, fasted whole weeks at a time. He healed all manner of pains and weaknesses. He became very shaky in old age, and entered into rest at the age of 110, going to the joy of his Lord. ‘Keep your mind from malicious thoughts of your neighbors,’ he said, ‘knowing that such thoughts are hurled by diabolical power, to keep your mind from your own sins and from seeking God’.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Among many miracles of St. George, this one is recorded: on the island of Mytilene, there was a church dedicated to St. George the great and victorious martyr. The inhabitants of the whole island flocked to this church on the saint’s annual feast. Learning of this, Cretan Saracens descended one year on the island, laying it waste and enslaving the inhabitants, and then returned to Crete. On that occasion, a handsome young man was taken captive, and was presented by the pirates to their prince in Crete. The prince took him and made him his butler. The boy’s parents were in great distress for their son, and when a year had passed and St. George’s Day came round again, the grieving parents, following the ancient custom, prepared their table and entertained many guests. Remembering her son, the poor mother went to the icon of the saint, fell to the ground and began to beg St. George to release her son from slavery. The mother then returned to her guests at table. The host raised his glass and drank to St. George, and at that moment their son appeared among them bearing a decanter in his hands. When they all asked him, in wonder and fear, whence and how he had come there, the young man replied that, just as he was about to serve his owner with wine in Crete, a knight on horseback appeared before him, lifted him onto the horse and carried him in a flash to his parents’ home. All were amazed and glorified God, and this wonderful saint, George the victorious commander.

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.