Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

The Wednesday of the Mid-Pentecost

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 34]. In those days:

14 ⁶The apostles fled for refuge to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the country round about; ⁷and there they were preaching the Gospel.

⁸And a certain man in Lystra, disabled in his feet, who was lame from his mother’s womb and who never had walked, was sitting. ⁹This same one heard Paul speaking, who, having looked intently on him and perceiving that he had faith to be made well, ¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on thy feet.” And he leaped and was walking about. ¹¹And after the crowds saw what Paul did, they lifted up their voice in Lycaonian, saying, “The gods, having become like men, came down to us.” ¹²And they indeed began calling Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the leader of the discourse. ¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was before their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gateways, and was intending to sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴But the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, after they heard this, tore their garments and rushed into the crowd, crying out, ¹⁵and saying, “Men, why do ye these things? We also are men of like feelings with you, preaching the Gospel to you to turn you from these vanities to the living God, Who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all the things in them, ¹⁶“Who in the generations which have gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways. ¹⁷“And yet indeed, He left not Himself without witness, doing good, giving rain from heaven to us and fruit-bearing seasons, filling our hearts with food and good cheer.” ¹⁸And saying these things, they scarcely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 26].

7 ¹⁴It now already being the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵And the Jews were wondering, saying, “How knoweth this One letters, since He hath not learned?” ¹⁶Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but of the One Who sent Me. ¹⁷“If anyone be willing to do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸“The one who speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory; but the One Who seeketh the glory of the One Who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him. ¹⁹“Moses hath given you the law, hath he not? And yet not one of you doeth the law. Why do you seek to kill Me?” ²⁰The crowd answered and said, “Thou hast a demon; who seeketh to kill Thee?” ²¹Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and ye all wonder on this account. ²²“Moses hath given you circumcision—not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers—and on a sabbath ye circumcise a man. ²³“If a man receive circumcision on a sabbath, in order that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye bilious because I made a whole man sound on a sabbath! ²⁴“Cease judging according to appearance, but judge the righteous judgment.” ²⁵Then some of those from Jerusalem were saying, “This is the One Whom they seek to kill, is it not? ²⁶“But behold, He speaketh boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Can it be that the rulers indeed came to know that this is truly the Christ? ²⁷“But we know from what place this One is; but the Christ, whenever He may be coming, no one knoweth where He is from.” ²⁸Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “Ye both know Me, and ye know from what place I am; and I have not come of Myself, but the One Who sent Me is true, Whom ye know not. ²⁹“But I know Him; for I am from Him, and that One sent Me forth.” ³⁰Then they began seeking to lay hold of Him; but no one laid his hand upon Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Paphnutios of Jerusalem, and our venerable Father John of the Ancient Caves in Palestine.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 2nd – Civil Calendar
April 19th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father John of the Ancient Caves.

He labored in asceticism in the Ancient Caves or Lavra of Chariton the Great in Palestine. He came to love Christ the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind, and in his youth began travelling around all the holy places to seek the instruction and advice of holy men. He finally settled in Chariton’s cave, where he undertook a rigorous ascetic life, spending his days in fasting, prayer and vigils, constantly meditating on death and teaching himself humility. Like a well-ripened fruit, he was taken by death and entered into Paradise. He lived and died in the eighth century.

2. The Holy Martyrs Christopher, Theonas and Antonios.

These three were young officers under the Emperor Diocletian. When St. George the Great Martyr was being tortured, they witnessed his sufferings and the miracles that were performed at that time. Having seen all this, they came to the emperor, threw down their arms, removed their soldiers’ belts and courageously confessed the name of the Lord Jesus. They were subjected to many tortures and finally thrown into the fire, where their bodies were burned while their souls ascended to the one Lord in eternal joy. They suffered in Nikomedia in 303.

3. St. Tryphon, Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Emperor Romanos, who ruled Byzantium at the beginning of the 10th century, had a son, Theophylact, who was sixteen years old when Patriarch Stephen died. The emperor wished his own son to become patriarch, because he had been promised to a spiritual calling right from a small boy, but because of his youth he was timid about this. Tryphon, a simple, chaste and honorable old man, occupied the patriarchal throne and held that position for three years. When the emperor’s son attained his twentieth year, the emperor had it in mind to remove Tryphon and replace him with his own son as patriarch. St. Tryphon would not relinquish his throne voluntarily, considering it a great scandal for such a young man to be elected to so responsible and difficult a position as that of patriarch. The signature of the innocent Tryphon was obtained on a blank piece of paper through the scheming of an evil bishop, and a false resignation was written above his signature in the imperial court. The emperor announced his resignation, and a difficult time of unrest began in the Church, since the people and the clergy took the side of Tryphon, the man of God. Then the emperor deposed the old patriarch by force and placed him in a monastery, raising his own son, Theophylact, to the patriarchate. St. Tryphon lived in the monastery as an ascetic for two years and five months, and went to the Lord in 933.

4. Our Holy Father Agathangelos.

From Thrace, his worldly name being Anastasios, he was a slave to some Turks, and they compelled him to embrace Islam in Smyrna. As a penitent, he was tonsured at the monastery of Esphigmenou on the Holy Mountain. Tormented by his conscience, he desired to wash his sins in his own blood, so he went to Smyrna, where he showed a Cross and an icon of Christ’s Resurrection to the Turks. He was beheaded on April 19th, 1819, at the age of nineteen. He appeared to his spiritual father, Germanos, after his death.

5. Our Holy Father Simeon the Barefoot.

He labored in asceticism on the Holy Mountain and was abbot of Philotheou for a short time. He strengthened Christians in many Balkan countries in the Faith, and is renowned as a wonder-worker.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A spiritual guide and elder once said: ‘Remain indoors, speak with yourself alone; work, O body, that you may be fed; be vigilant, O soul, that you may be saved and inherit the kingdom.’ These are not mere idle words; rather, they have been the rule of many thousands of monks through the centuries, the daily rule of their lives. They fed themselves by their labor and were vigilant in prayer. But why only monks? Why should it not be the rule for every follower of Christ? Has not Christ Himself provided us with a clear example of bodily labor and unceasing vigilance in prayer?

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.