Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirty-Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 58].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Pe. 1:1-25, 2:1-10; for Sl. usage, see 1 Pe. 1:1, 2, 10-12, 2:6-10.

1 ¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are sojourners of the diaspora of Pontos, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and of Bithynia, ²elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His great mercy regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, which hath been kept in the heavens for you, ⁵who are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In which ye rejoice now for a little while, if it is needful, though ye have been grieved in diverse temptations, ⁷in order that the testing of your faith, much more precious than perishing gold, though it is being tested by fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory in the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸Whom not having seen, ye love; in Whom though now ye see Him not, but ye believe and are gladdened with a joy unspeakable and glorified, ⁹receiving for yourselves the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. ¹⁰Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched out, who prophesied concerning the grace toward you, ¹¹searching in regard to what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ Who was in them was declaring when He testified beforehand of the sufferings in regard to Christ and the glories after these. ¹²To whom it was revealed that not to themselves, but to you, were they ministering the same things which now were announced to you by those who preached the Gospel to you in the Holy Spirit Who was sent forth from heaven—things into which angels desire to look into.

¹³Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and perfectly hope on the grace which is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ, ¹⁴as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves to the former desires in your ignorance, ¹⁵but according as the One Who called you is holy, do ye also become holy in all manner of behavior, ¹⁶because it hath been written: “Become holy; for I am holy [cf. Lev. 11:44, 19:2, 20:7].” ¹⁷And if ye call upon as Father the One Who without respect of persons judgeth according to the work of each, conduct yourselves during the time of your sojourning in fear, ¹⁸knowing that ye were not ransomed with corruptible things, as silver or gold, from your empty manner of life which was handed down from your fathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, ²⁰Who indeed was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake, ²¹who through Him believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

²²Since ye have purified your souls in obedience to the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another intensely out of a pure heart, ²³which is begotten anew, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Logos of God Who liveth and abideth forever, ²⁴because “all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withereth and its flower falleth out [cf. Is. 40:6-8; Ps. 102(103):13(15)]; ²⁵“but the word of the Lord abideth forever [cf. Is. 40:8].” And this is the word which was preached in the Gospel to you.

2 ¹Having then laid aside from yourselves all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speakings, ²as newborn babes, desire the pure rational milk, that by it ye might grow in regard to salvation, ³if indeed “ye tasted that the Lord is good [cf. Ps. 33(34):8].” ⁴To Whom coming, a living Stone—having indeed been rejected by men, but chosen by God—precious, ⁵ye also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Sion a cornerstone, chosen, precious; and the one who believeth on Him in no wise shall be put to shame [cf. Is. 28:16].” ⁷To you, therefore, who believe, is the honor, but to those who disobey—the “stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner [Ps. 117(118):22],” ⁸and “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense [cf. Is. 8:14]”—they stumble at the word, being disobedient, in regard to that which they also were appointed. ⁹But ye are “a chosen race [Is. 43:20], a royal priesthood, a holy nation [Ex. 19:6, 23:22], a people for a possession [cf. Deut. 7:6, 14:2],” that ye might “tell forth the virtues [cf. Is. 43:21]” of the One Who called you out of darkness into His wondrous light, ¹⁰who once were “not a people,” but now are “a people of God,” who “had not been pitied,” but now “have been pitied [cf. Hos. 1:6, 8, 9, 2:23].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 53]. The Lord said this parable:

12 ¹“A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a trough underneath the winepress, and built a tower. And he let it out to vinedressers and went abroad. ²“And at the season he sent forth a slave to the vinedressers, in order that he might receive from the vinedressers of the fruit of the vineyard. ³“And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty. ⁴“And again he sent forth to them another slave, and that one they stoned, and smote him on the head; and sent him away having suffered dishonor. ⁵“And again he sent forth another, and that one they killed, and many others—some, on the one hand, beating, and others, on the other hand, killing. ⁶“Having yet therefore one son, his own beloved, he also sent him forth to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷“But those vinedressers, having seen him coming, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’ ⁸“And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. ⁹“What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰“Did ye not even read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner; ¹¹“‘this came to be from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes [Ps. 117(118):22, 23; cf. Is. 28:16]’?” ¹²And they were seeking to lay hold of Him, but were afraid of the crowd; for they knew that He spoke the parable against them. And they left Him and went away.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Nativity, and the Virgin-martyr Anysia at Thessalonica, and the Martyr Zotikos, keeper of orphans.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 12th – Civil Calendar
December 30th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Anysia.

Born in Thessalonica of wealthy and eminent parents, she was brought up in the Christian Faith. She was orphaned young, and gave herself over to pondering on God and prayer in her own home. Fired with the love of Christ, she often said: ‘Oh, how false is the life of youth, for you either create scandal or are scandalized. Better is age, but oh, I am seized with sorrow at the length of time that separates us from heaven!’ She sold her goods and gave away the proceeds to the poor, and herself lived from the labor of her own hands. She kept strict fasts, slept very little and always wept in prayer. When sleep overtook her, she said to herself: ‘It is dangerous to sleep while the enemy keeps vigil.’ At that time, the wicked Emperor Maximian issued a decree that any man was free to kill Christians when and where he came across them, without trial or sentence. This holy maiden once went out into the street to go to church. It was the day of a pagan festival of the sun. A soldier saw her fairness of face and went up to her with impure lust, asking her name. She made the sign of the Cross and said to him: ‘I am Christ’s handmaid, and I’m going to church.’ After the impudent soldier came closer and began to speak as one deranged, he forcibly took her to the temple of the idols and attempted to compel her to offer sacrifice, but Anysia pushed him away and spat in his face. The soldier aimed a blow at her with his sword, and ran her through under the rib. This holy maiden suffered in 298 and was buried by Christians, and was crowned with a wreath of glory by God in the heavenly kingdom. A church was built over her grave.

2. The Holy Apostle Timon.

One of the seven deacons (Acts 6:5), and of the Seventy Apostles, he was made bishop of Bostra in Arabia and there preached the Gospel, enduring much ill-treatment at the hands of the pagans. He was thrown into fire, but remained unharmed. He finally died by crucifixion, and entered into the kingdom of Christ.

3. Our Holy Mother Theodora of Caesarea.

After strict asceticism in the monastery of St. Anna, she entered peacefully into rest in 755.

4. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Gideon.

A Greek by birth, of very poor parents, he was forced to embrace Islam as a youth. In remorse, he fled to the Holy Mountain, where, in the monastery of Karakallou, he received the monastic schema. Desiring martyrdom for Christ, he received the blessing of his spiritual father and went to the place where he had been forced into Islam, and there, openly before the Turks, confessed the Christian Faith and denounced Mohammed as a false prophet. The Turks shaved his head, placed him backwards on a donkey and led him through the town. He rejoiced at this ridicule for the sake of Christ. They then chopped off all his fingers and toes with an axe, as they had once done to St. Iakovos the Persian (Nov. 27th), and finally threw him into a place of excrement, where he gave his holy soul to God in the year 1818, in Turnovo in Thrace. His wonder-working relics are preserved in the Church of the Holy Apostles in the village of Turnovo, and a part of them is to be found in his monastery of Karakallou.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Here are two more examples of how our merciful God helps those who, in their trouble, hope in Him with faith. Blessed Theodora of Caesarea was born into a noble house and given to the monastery of St. Anna for education. Theodora was not only educated there: she also lived in asceticism, preparing herself to receive the monastic schema. The Emperor Leo the Isaurian took her from the monastery by force and betrothed her to one of his commanders. Theodora resisted the marriage with all her soul, but was as powerless as a lamb in a wolf’s claws. She lamented and prayed constantly to God in her heart that He would not forsake her. On the very day of the marriage, while the guests were feasting, news arrived from the emperor that the Scythians had invaded the empire, with a summons for the commander to set out at once with the army against them. The commander went, and never returned, being killed in battle. Thus, by God’s help, Theodora was freed, and as a pure maiden, returned to her monastery, where she received the habit, and as a nun, became known for her rare asceticism.

A second example: in the monastery of the ‘Unsleeping Ones,’ there was great want during a year of famine. St. Markellos, the abbot, welcomed some poor men one day and entertained them, then wanted to give them some money for their journey. He asked the monastery’s treasurer how much money they had altogether, and he replied that they had ten silver pieces. The abbot told him to give all ten coins to the poor men, but the treasurer did not give them all ten. He gave them nine and kept one for the monastery’s needs, as the situation was becoming acute. A rich man suddenly visited the monastery, and brought the abbot ninety talents of gold. Then the discerning Markellos summoned the treasurer and said to him: ‘Behold, God had intended to send us a hundred talents through this devout man, but as you disobeyed me and kept back one silver piece, the Provider of all has kept back ten talents.’

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.