Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The first Sunday in November: The Synaxis of the holy Unmercenary Physicians

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 153]. Brethren:

12 ²⁷Ye are the body of Christ, and members severally.

²⁸And God set for Himself some in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then works of power, then free gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues. ²⁹All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All do not have works of power, do they? ³⁰All do not have free gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? ³¹All do not interpret, do they? But keep on desiring earnestly the better gifts of grace. And yet I show you a more surpassing way.

13 ¹If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophecy, and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains from one place to another, but I have not love, I am nothing. ³And if I dole out all of my goods, and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but I have not love, I am being profited nothing. ⁴Love is long-suffering, is kind; love is not jealous; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; ⁵doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; ⁷covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Love never falleth away.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Twenty-Fourth Week

Grave Mode — Second Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 221]. Brethren:

2 ¹⁴Christ is our peace, the One Who made the both one, and broke down the middle wall of the hedge, ¹⁵having abolished by ordinances the enmity—the law of the commandments—in His flesh, in order that He might create in Himself the two into one new man, making peace, ¹⁶and might thoroughly reconcile them both in one body to God through the Cross, having slain the enmity by it. ¹⁷And He came and preached the good tidings, peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then ye are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, ²⁰who were built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹in Whom every building, being joined together, increaseth to a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in Whom ye also are being built up together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 39]. At that time:

8 ⁴¹A certain man came to Jesus, whose name was Jairos, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell at the feet of Jesus and besought Him to come into his house, ⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He was going, the crowds were pressing closely upon Him. ⁴³And a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who expended her whole living on physicians and could not be cured by anyone, ⁴⁴came behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment. And immediately the flow of her blood stanched. ⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” But when all denied it, Peter said, and those with him, “Master, the crowds compass Thee and press Thee tightly, and sayest Thou, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?’” ⁴⁶And Jesus said, “Someone touched Me; for I know that power went forth from Me.” ⁴⁷And after the woman saw that she did not escape notice, she came trembling; and having fallen down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people for what cause she touched Him, and how she was healed immediately. ⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good courage; thy faith hath made thee well. Go thou in peace.” ⁴⁹While He is yet speaking, someone cometh from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Thy daughter hath died; do not be troubling the Teacher.” ⁵⁰But after Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Cease being afraid; only keep on believing, and she shall be made well.” ⁵¹And after He entered into the house, He did not allow anyone to go in, except Peter and Iakovos and John, and the father and the mother of the girl. ⁵²And all were weeping and beating their breasts. But He said, “Cease weeping; she did not die, but sleepeth.” ⁵³And they kept on laughing scornfully at Him, knowing that she did die. ⁵⁴But He put them all outside and took hold of her hand and called, saying, “Girl, arise.” ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that something be given to her to eat. ⁵⁶And her parents were amazed. And He gave orders to them to tell no one what took place.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ mid 318]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Heb. 8:1-6; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 8:3-6.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man. ³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is necessary for this One to have something also which He might offer. ⁴For if, indeed, He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, ⁵who worship a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses had been divinely warned when he was about to execute the tabernacle; for, “See,” saith He, “that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shown to thee in the mount [cf. Ex. 25:40].” ⁶But now He hath attained a more excellent liturgy, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 64]. The Lord said to His disciples:

12 ⁸“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.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 19th – Civil Calendar
November 6th – Church Calendar

1. St. Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople.

When the blessed Patriarch Alexander was lying on his deathbed, the lamenting faithful asked him whom he would leave to follow him as chief pastor of the flock of Christ. Then the sick patriarch said to them: ‘If you want to have a shepherd who will teach you and whose virtues will illumine you, choose Paul; but if you want a suitable man as a figurehead, choose Macedonius.’ The people chose Paul. This was not acceptable to the Arian heretics, nor to the Emperor Constantius, who was at that time in Antioch, and so Paul was quickly deposed and fled to Rome together with St. Athanasius the Great. There, both Pope Julian and the Emperor Constans gave them a warm welcome and upheld them in their Orthodoxy. The emperor and the pope sent letters which restored Paul to his episcopal throne, but after the death of Constans, the Arians raised their heads again and drove the Orthodox Patriarch off to Cucusus in Armenia. While Paul was celebrating the Liturgy one day in exile, he was set on by the Arians and strangled with his pallium. This was in the year 351. In the time of the Emperor Theodosios, in 381, his relics were translated to Constantinople, and in 1236, to Venice, where they still lie.* His beloved priests and secretaries, Markianos and Martyrios, suffered soon after their patriarch, on October 25th, 355 (see their lives on that day).

* A small piece of their relics is kept at the Russian Cathedral in London. —Tr.

2. Our Holy Father Varlaam of Chutinsk, the Wonder-worker.

Born and brought up a Christian in Novgorod the Great, he became a monk on the death of his parents and devoted himself to strict asceticism. He founded a monastery on the bank of the Volkhov River, on a site shown to him by a heavenly light. He was a great wonder-worker both during his lifetime and after his death, being able to penetrate human secrets, to drive out unclean spirits and to heal all sicknesses. A servant of Prince Vasily Vasilievitch was taken seriously ill, and he asked to be carried to the grave of St. Varlaam, and further asked that, if he should die on the way, they should take his dead body to the saint. And so it came to pass: he died on the road, and they brought him dead into the monastery, where he was restored to life, stood up, and prostrated himself before the tomb of the saint. In 1471, Tsar Ivan the Formidable gave orders that the saint’s relics be translated. As soon as his men began to open the tomb, a flame sprang from the grave and blazed along the walls of the church. The tsar was so frightened that he fled from the church, and in his haste, forgot his staff, which is kept to this day beside the saint’s tomb. In commemoration of this wonder, St. Varlaam is also remembered on the Friday after the Sunday of All Saints.

3. Commemoration of the falling of ash from the air.

This occurred in Constantinople in 472 (or 475, according to the Greek Synaxarion), during the reign of the Emperor Leo the Great and Patriarch Gennadios.

FOR CONSIDERATION

If God can bring water from a rock to sustain men, He can also call down fire from heaven as a punishment. The outcome of Sodom and Gomorrah presents a classic example of God’s punishment of incorrigible sinners. That God can repeat this punishment in other places, He demonstrated over Constantinople in the time of Leo the Great and Patriarch Gennadios, in 472. On November 6th, at mid day, the sky suddenly became darkened by thick, dark clouds, which caused darkness to cover the land. These clouds glowed now and then like live coals, and then became dark again, and this phenomenon remained over Constantinople for a full forty days. The terrified people fell to repentance and prayer, and together with the emperor and the patriarch, went in procession through the streets from church to church, praying to God with tears and lamentations. On the final day, hot black ash began to fall from the clouds, and fell from noon till midnight, when it ceased. The following day was clear and fresh, but a hand-high layer of ash lay all over the ground. The people worked to clear their houses and streets of this sooty ash, but all their crops were destroyed. All who had understanding recognized God’s punishment in this event—a gentle punishment because of the speedy repentance of the people before the Lord God. If this had not been so, who knows what would have happened in Constantinople in those days? But timely repentance on the part of sinners, and the prayers of the most holy Mother of God together with the numberless saints and martyrs of Constantinople, greatly mitigated the punishment.

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.