Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Thirty-First Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Iakovos (James) [§ 50 B].

1 ¹Iakovos, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the diaspora: Rejoice.

²My brethren, deem it all joy whenever ye fall into diverse temptations, ³knowing that the testing of your faith worketh out patience. ⁴But let patience keep on having a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. ⁵But if any of you lack wisdom, let him keep on asking from God Who giveth to all liberally, and reproacheth not, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But let him keep on asking in faith, doubting nothing; for he who doubteth is like a billow of the sea being driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For let not that man be supposing that he shall receive anything from the Lord. ⁸A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. ⁹But let the brother of low degree be boasting in his high estate, ¹⁰and the rich man in his low estate, because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹For the sun ariseth with its burning heat, and drieth up the grass, and its flower falleth, and the comeliness of its appearance perisheth. Thus also the rich man shall wither in his ways. ¹²Happy is the man who endureth temptation; because having become approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. ¹³Let no one when he is tempted be saying, “I am tempted of God”; for God is incapable of being tempted of evils, and He Himself tempteth no one. ¹⁴But each is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then after he conceiveth the desire, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, after it is fully formed, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶Cease being led astray, my beloved brethren; ¹⁷every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with Whom is no alternation or a shadow cast by turning. ¹⁸Having willed it, He brought us forth by the Logos of truth, for us to be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 44]. The Lord said:

10 ¹¹“Whosoever shall divorce his wife and marry another committeth adultery against her; ¹²“and if a woman shall divorce her husband and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”

¹³And they were bringing to Him little children, in order that He should touch them; but the disciples were rebuking those who brought them. ¹⁴But after Jesus saw it, He was displeased, and said to them, “Let alone the little children to come to Me, and cease hindering them; for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁵“Verily I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, in no wise shall he enter into it.” ¹⁶And having taken them in His arms, He was fervently blessing them, laying His hands upon them.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Virgin-martyr Julianna of Nicomedia, and all those with her, and our holy father among the saints, Peter, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia.

Epistle

For the Hierarch:

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

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

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.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 24]. At that time:

6 ¹⁷Jesus stood upon a level place. And there was a crowd of His disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judæa and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases— ¹⁸even those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and they were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd was seeking to touch Him, for power was coming forth from Him and healing all. ²⁰And He lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to say:
   “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
   ²¹“Blessed are ye who hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh.
   ²²“Blessed are ye whenever men hate you, and whenever they separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.
   ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 3rd – Civil Calendar
December 21st – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Juliana, and the 630 martyrs with her.

This glorious virgin martyr was born in Nikomedia of pagan parents. Hearing the Gospel preached, she turned to Christ with all her heart and began to live in exact observance of the Lord’s commandments. A certain senator, Eleusius, was her betrothed. In order to free herself from him, Juliana told him that she would not marry him unless he became eparch of that city. She said this thinking that the young man would not be in the least likely to attain to such a high position, but Eleusius worked at it, and by flattery and bribes, gained the post of Eparch of Nikomedia. Juliana then revealed to him that she was a Christian, and could not enter into marriage with him unless he accepted her faith, saying: ‘What would it profit us to be united physically but divided in spirit?’ Eleusius was exasperated, and denounced her to her father. Her furious father poured scorn on her and whipped her, and then handed her over to the eparch for torture. The eparch ordered that she be harshly beaten; then she was thrown into prison all torn and bleeding. But the Lord healed her in the prison, and she appeared before the eparch whole and unharmed. He then put her into a glowing furnace, but the fire did not burn her. Seeing this wonder, many came to believe in Christ the Lord. Five hundred men and a hundred thirty women were converted. The eparch condemned them all to death, and ordered that they be beheaded with the sword, and their souls entered into Paradise. Then the wicked judge condemned holy Juliana to be beheaded with the sword. Rejoicing in spirit, Juliana went out to the scaffold, prayed on her knees to God and laid her head on the block. Her head was cut off, and her soul went to Christ’s eternal kingdom of light, in the year 304. God’s punishment quickly fell on Eleusius: sailing over the sea, his ship broke up and he fell into the water. He did not find death in the waves, but swam to an island, where the dogs tore him to pieces and devoured him.

2. St. Peter the Wonder-worker, Metropolitan of Russia.

Born in the province of Volinsk, he received the monastic schema at the age of twelve. He was a great ascetic and an icon-painter. He founded a monastery on the River Rata, and became its abbot. He was made Metropolitan of Kiev against his will, and consecrated in Constantinople by Patriarch Athanasius. As metropolitan, he suffered a great deal at the hands of the envious and of heretics, governing the Church for eighteen years as a good and zealous pastor. During his lifetime, he built himself a tomb in the Church of the Dormition, where his holy and wonder-working relics are preserved to this day. He entered into rest in 1326, and went to his true homeland.

3. The Holy Martyr Themistocles.

As a herdsman, the young Themistocles kept sheep in a field near Myra in Lycia. At that time, the persecutors of the Christians were seeking St. Dioscorides, and came upon Themistocles, asking him if he knew where Dioscorides was hiding. Themistocles, although he knew, refused to say, and declared himself a Christian. He was tortured and beheaded in the time of Decius, in 251.

FOR CONSIDERATION

He who sets his sights on Christ’s kingdom will have to encounter obstructions, and these obstructions are manifold and varied. They are mostly the evil workings of demons. Therefore every man zealous for the spiritual life must be on his guard not to take every shining vision from the other world as a divine revelation. That the adversary is able to appear as an angel of light is shown in the life of the holy martyr Juliana. When this holy maiden was lying in prison, the adversary appeared to her in angelic light, smiled at her, and counseled her to offer sacrifice to idols and so avoid torture. The frightened Juliana asked: ‘Who are you?’ The adversary replied: ‘I am an angel of God. God is greatly concerned for you, and has therefore sent me with the message that you should obey the eparch, that your body may not be covered in wounds. The Lord is gracious, and will forgive you for the weakness of your body.’ The martyr was horrified at these words, and confused, and fell to prayer with tears, begging God to show her who it was who had spoken with her. Then she heard a voice from heaven: ‘Be brave, Juliana; I am with you, giving you power and authority over the one who has come to you, and by this you will know who he is.’ And the devil was bound, and forced to reveal that he was the same who tempted Eve in Paradise, who told Cain to kill Abel and Herod to kill the children in Bethlehem, the Jews to stone Stephen, Nero to crucify Peter upside down and behead Paul, and so forth. Thus this holy maiden, fortified by God’s strength, did not give herself to delusion from the evil spirit, but by her vigilant and ardent prayer, overcame him.

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.