Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The commemoration of the holy New-martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Land.

     If the 25^th of January falls on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, chant the service of the New-martyrs on the preceding Sunday. If the 25^th of January falls on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, chant the service on the following Sunday. If the 25^th of January falls on Sunday, chant the service for the New-martyrs that day, and the service to St. Gregory the Theologian on the 27^th of January, in conjunction with that of St. John Chrysostom; in which case the hymns to St. Gregory precede those of St. John's. Thus the service can occur as early as the 22^nd of January or as late as the 28^th of that month.

     If the service coincides with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, or with that of the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, or with Meatfare Sunday, the service of the New-martyrs is then chanted in conjunction with the Triodion and its Prokeimenon.

     If a service to a major saint should fall on the same Sunday, we chant the service to the major saint on the closest Saturday, or on some other day.

     If the church's feast day should fall on such a Sunday, chant the church's feast day in conjunction with the Triodion, with no further alteration. The service of the New-martyrs is then moved to the following Sunday.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99]. Brethren:

8 ²⁸We know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰But whom He foreordained, these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these also He glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He Who indeed spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. ³⁴Who is the one who condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶Even as it hath been written: “For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps. 43(44):23(22)].” ³⁷But in all these things we more than conquer through the One Who loved us. ³⁸For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things coming, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Fifth Period
Sunday of the Thirty-Fourth Week or Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Mode Two — Second Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 135]. Brethren:

6 ¹²All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God shall bring to nought both this and these. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us by His own power. ¹⁵Ye know that your bodies are members of Christ, do ye not? Having taken up then the members of Christ, shall I make them members of a harlot? May it not be! ¹⁶Or know ye not that he that is joined to the harlot is one body? For, “The two,” saith He, “shall be into one flesh [Gen. 2:24].” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ¹⁸Keep on fleeing fornication. Every sin whatsoever a man might do is outside the body, but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. ¹⁹Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom ye have from God, and ye are not your own? ²⁰For ye were bought with a price; glorify then God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 79]. The Lord said this parable:

15 ¹¹“A certain man had two sons. ¹²“And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give to me the portion of the property which falleth to me.’ And he divided to them his means of living. ¹³“And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered all together, went abroad into a distant land, and there scattered his property, living profligately. ¹⁴“But after he spent all, there arose a severe famine throughout that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵“And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that land; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶“And he was longing to fill his belly from the husks, which the swine were eating; and no one was giving to him. ¹⁷“But having come to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger! ¹⁸“‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, ¹⁹“‘“and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.”’ ²⁰“And he rose up and went to his father. But when he was yet far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and ardently kissed him. ²¹“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son.’ ²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Bring forth the robe, the chief one, and clothe him, and provide a ring for his hand and sandals for the feet. ²³“‘And bring the calf, the fattened one, and slay it; and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴“‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; and he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. ²⁵“Now his son, the elder one, was in a field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶“And he summoned one of his servants, and began inquiring what these things may be. ²⁷“And he said to him, ‘Thy brother is come, and thy father slew the calf, the fattened one, because he received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸“But he was angry and not willing to go in. Then his father went out and besought him. ²⁹“And he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I am serving thee, and never did I transgress thy commandment, and never didst thou give a kid to me, in order that I might make merry with my friends; ³⁰“‘but when this thy son came, the one who devoured thy means of living with harlots, thou didst slay for him the calf, the fattened one.’ ³¹“And he said to him, ‘Child, thou art always with me, and all that is mine is thine. ³²“‘But to make merry and to rejoice was fitting, because this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Apostle Timothy of the Seventy, and the holy Martyr Anastasios the Persian.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy [§ mid 290]. Child Timothy:

1 ³I have gratitude toward God, Whom I worship from my forefathers in a pure conscience, as without ceasing I have the remembrance of thee in mine entreaties night and day, ⁴longing to see thee, having been reminded of thy tears, in order that I might be filled full of joy, ⁵when I am put in remembrance of the unhypocritical faith in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Evnike, and I have been persuaded that it is in thee also. ⁶For which cause I remind thee to rekindle the gracious gift of God which is in thee by the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God gave us not a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ⁸Therefore do thou not become ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me His prisoner, but suffer hardship with the Gospel, according to God’s power, ⁹Who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§§ 38, mid 79]. The Lord said to his disciples:

10 ³²“Everyone who shall confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father Who is in the heavens. ³³“But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Who is in the heavens.... ³⁷“The one who loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸“And whosoever taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me.”...

19 ²⁷Peter answered and said to Him, “Behold, we left all things and followed Thee; what then shall be for us?” ²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Verily I say to you, that ye who followed Me, in the regeneration, whenever the Son of Man shall have taken His seat upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹“And everyone who leaveth houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, on account of My name, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit life everlasting. ³⁰“But many who are first shall be last, and the last first.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 10:1-15].

Synaxarion Readings

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

If anyone be a prodigal as I, take courage and turn back; for the gates of God’s mercies are opened to all.

On this day we celebrate the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, dedicated as the second service of the Triodion by the divine fathers for the following reason. There are some who recognize much in themselves that is unbecoming, who live a life of great dissipation from their youth, whose lives are full of drunkenness and immorality, who having fallen thus into the depths of evil, become despondent, giving birth to pride, from whence they have no desire to advance to any of the virtues, preferring their bondage to evil and falling ever deeper into evil. Having a fatherly love for even these individuals, and desiring to lead them out of their despair, the holy fathers prescribed this parable for the second preparatory Sunday in order to tear up the passion of despair by the roots, to lead them to acceptance of the virtues, and to demonstrate to sinners the abundance of God’s compassion upon sinners and prodigals in His great goodness and love for mankind. For there is no sin which cannot be overcome by the knowledge of His love for mankind, and this is what is presented in this parable of Christ.

Now the sons of man—that is, of the Logos, God and Man—are two: the righteous and the sinful. It is the eldest who abides ever in God’s blessings, following His commandments and remaining always by Him. But the younger son, having become attached to sin and renouncing his closeness to God through shameful deeds, has wasted God’s love for mankind and for him and has lived as a prodigal. For having completely rejected Him after Whose image he was created, and having followed an evil demon, willingly enslaving himself to this demon’s pleasure, he was unable to fulfill his desire. For sin is an unsatisfying thing that becomes a habitual source of only temporary pleasure. It may be compared to the husks that are fed to swine. At first it seems that they might be something tasty, but they turn out to be very dry and are much like weeds, which is how sin takes possession. For the prodigal son had hardly come to his senses when, perishing from hunger for virtue, he comes to his father, saying, “Father, I have sinned before heaven and before thee, and I am not worthy to be called thy son.” Yet the father receives him in repentance, not reproaching him but embracing him and kissing him in a display of divine and fatherly love. And he clothes him, a symbol of Baptism, putting a ring on his finger, a symbol of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. He also puts sandals on his feet, not so much as a protection from some serpent or scorpion that might sting him on his path to God, but rather as a means of crushing the heads of those creatures. And then in a tremendous display of joy he slaughters the fatted calf for him, his only-begotten Son, and the Father grants him communion of His body and blood. Now the elder son expresses his amazement at his father’s limitless mercy. But the lover of mankind exhorts him to silence with loving and kind words of humility, saying, “Thou art ever with me, and it was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for my son was formerly dead in his sin and is alive again, having repented of the foolish things he has done. He was lost, since he was far from me in his licentious habits, and he was found by me, suffering in my compassion and calling him back in my mercy.” This parable may be applied to us as well, which is why the holy fathers have prescribed it for today. We who have sinned as the prodigal are encouraged to weed out despair and fear through repentance, confession, and good works. For this is a great aid and a powerful weapon against the assaults of the adversary.

In Thine ineffable love for mankind, O Christ our God, have mercy upon us. Amen.

Translated from Triodion, siest ‘Tripesnets: Triod’ Postnaya, Moscow, 1904, by Robert Parent.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 4th – Civil Calendar
January 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle Timothy.

One of the Seventy, he was born in Lystra of Lykaonia of a Greek father and a Jewish mother. His mother and grandmother were praised by the Apostle Paul for their sincere faith (2 Tim. 1:4-5). He met the great apostle for the first time in Lystra, and was the only witness of Paul’s healing of the man lame from birth. Later, Timothy was an almost constant travelling companion of Paul’s, visiting Achaia, Macedonia, Italy and Spain with him. A great zealot for the Faith, a superb preacher and of a gentle spirit, Timothy contributed greatly to the spreading and establishing of the Christian Faith. St. Paul called him his own son in the faith (I Tim. 1:2). After Paul’s martyrdom, Timothy had St. John the Evangelist as his teacher. But when the Emperor Domitian exiled John from Ephesus to the island of Patmos, Timothy remained in Ephesus as bishop. At the time of an idolatrous feast called Katagogium, pagans wearing masks, resentful of the Christians, made a merciless attack on St. Timothy and killed him, in about the year 93. His honored relics were later taken to Constantinople and buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles by the graves of St. Luke the Evangelist and St. Andrew the First-Called.

2. Our Holy Father, the Martyr Anastasius.

He was a Persian by birth, with the pagan name of Magundat. When the Emperor Herakleios waged war against the Persians, Magundat deserted to the Christians and went to Jerusalem. There he was baptized and given the name Anastasius. It was not enough for him to be baptized; he also became a monk in order to give himself entirely to the service of God. Among other ascetic practices, he very early read the lives of the holy martyrs, and reading this, wetted the book with his tears, greatly yearning for martyrdom himself. The Lord finally crowned him with the wreath of martyrdom. He lay long in prison and was horribly tortured until King Chozroes condemned him to death. After this condemnation, Anastasius was drowned, then taken out of the water and beheaded by the executioner, who sent his head to the king. Anastasius suffered on January 22nd, 628, in the town of Bethsaloe near Nineveh.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The Orthodox Church possesses an inexhaustible treasure in the evidence of life after death. To note one example among many, one which at the same time witnesses that the spirit of man lives after bodily death and that voluntary obedience brings blessed immortality: when St. Theodosios the Great had founded a monastery, he had at first only seven monks. To establish them well in remembrance of death, he ordered them to dig a grave. When the grave was ready, Theodosios stood over it, gathered the seven of them together and said: ‘Well, my children; the grave is now ready! Is there among you one who is ready for death, to be buried in this grave?’ One of them, a priest called Basil, fell to his knees and besought Theodosios’ blessing to die. Theodosios ordered that the memorial services be held for Basil on the third, ninth and fortieth day, as is the custom for the departed. When the fortieth memorial was finished, Basil, in full health, lay down and died. And he was buried in the new grave. On the fortieth day after his burial, Basil appeared in the morning among the brethren in church and sang with them. At first only Theodosios saw him, but he prayed to God that He would open the eyes of the others. Then all the brethren looked and saw Basil among them. One of the brethren, Letius, joyfully spread his arms wide, intending to embrace Basil, but the latter disappeared. Basil’s voice was heard: ‘Save yourselves, my fathers and brethren, save yourselves!’

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.