Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Thirty-Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second General Epistle of Saint Peter [§ 64].

1 ¹Symeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who obtained as their portion a faith equal in honor to us in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. ²Grace to you and peace be multiplied in a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord:

³Inasmuch as His divine power hath freely given to us all the things for life and piety, through the full knowledge of Him Who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴by which He hath freely given to us the very great and precious promises, that through these ye might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by desire. ⁵But also for this very thing, besides having brought in all diligence, supply virtue in your faith, and knowledge in virtue, ⁶and self-control in knowledge, and patience in self-control, and piety in patience, ⁷and brotherly affection in piety, and love in brotherly affection. ⁸For if these things are in you and abounding, they render you neither barren nor unfruitful in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For to whom these things are not present he is blind, being shortsighted, having forgotten the purification of old of his sins. ¹⁰Wherefore, brethren, rather give the more diligence to make sure for yourselves your calling and election; for if ye do these things, in no wise shall ye ever stumble.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 58]. At that time:

13 ¹As Jesus went forth out of the temple, one of His disciples saith to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what manner of buildings!” ²And Jesus answered and said to him, “Seest thou these great buildings? By no means shall a stone be left upon a stone which surely shall not be put down.” ³And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and Iakovos and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when all these things are about to be completed?” ⁵And Jesus, answering them, began to say, “Be taking heed, lest anyone should lead you astray. ⁶“For many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they shall lead astray many. ⁷“But whenever ye hear of wars and reports of wars, cease being clamorous; for it must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁸“For nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be earthquakes in place after place, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of birth pangs.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Theophany of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Titus [§ 302]. Child Titus:

2 ¹¹The grace of God which bringeth salvation appeared to all men, ¹²instructing us that, after we deny impiety and worldly lusts, we should live in the present age soberly and righteously and piously, ¹³waiting for the happy hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴Who gave Himself for us, in order that He might ransom us for Himself from all lawlessness and might purify to Himself a people for a private possession, zealous of good works....

3 ⁴But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared— ⁵not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy—He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷that having been justified by the grace of this One, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 2]. In those days:

1 ⁹Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And straightway, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹and there came to be a voice out of the heavens, “Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Thee I am well pleased.”

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 6]. At that time:

3 ¹³Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John was trying to hinder Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is becoming for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitteth Him. ¹⁶And Jesus, having been baptized, went up straightway from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him. ¹⁷And behold, there came to be a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 19th – Civil Calendar
January 6th – Church Calendar

1. The Theophany.

When the Lord Jesus had lived for thirty years from His birth in the flesh, He began His teaching and saving work. He marked this very beginning of the beginning by His Baptism in the Jordan. St. Kyril of Jerusalem says: ‘The beginning of the world—water; the beginning of the Gospel—the Jordan.’ At the Baptism of the Lord in the water, that mystery was revealed to the world that was predicted in the Old Testament—the mystery of the Holy Trinity of God. The Father revealed Himself to the sense of hearing, the Spirit to the sense of sight and the Son, further beyond these, to the sense of touch. The Father gave His testimony of the Son, the Son was baptized in the waters and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, hovered over the waters. And when John the Baptist bore witness of Christ and said: ‘Behold the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world’ (Jn. 1:29), and when he immersed the Lord in the Jordan and baptized Him, there were thus revealed both the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation. That is to say: Christ takes upon Himself the sin of the whole human race. He dies under it (the immersion) and rises again (the coming up out of the water), and we must die to the old, sinful man and rise again, cleansed, renewed and reborn. Here is the Savior and here is the way of salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Lights. The word “Theophany” means “the revelation of God”.

FOR CONSIDERATION

In some periods the fables of heretics vexed the Church of God, but now she is vexed by the fables of unbelievers. By endurance in the Faith, by diligent prayer, by witness and even by martyrdom—only by these things will this new vexation be brought to naught. And the Church of God, the vessel of the truth of God, will triumph in the end, for the enemy will lose his weapons (Ps. 9:6). He who falls into heresy wanders through a dry desert, forsaking the one, true God. Separated from God, he seeks water in the arid wastes and moves into an uninhabited and thirsty land. The same can be said today of many who, studying hypotheses and theories, are guided by figments of their own imagination and not by the truth of God.

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.