Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 27]. In those days:

10 ⁴⁴While Peter still spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those hearing the word. ⁴⁵And the faithful who were of the circumcision were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because also upon the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Peter then answered, ⁴⁷“No one is able to forbid the water, is he, so that these should not be baptized who received the Holy Spirit even as we?” ⁴⁸And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to tarry some days.

11 ¹And the apostles and the brethren who were in Judæa heard that the Gentiles also received the word of God. ²And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, they who were of the circumcision were taking issue with him, ³saying, “Thou wentest to men having uncircumcision, and thou didst eat with them.” ⁴But Peter, having made a beginning, was expounding the matter to them in order, saying, ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and I saw in a state of ecstasy a vision, a certain vessel descending as a great sheet being let down by four corners from out of the heaven—and it came even to me— ⁶“into which, after I looked intently, I was considering, and saw the quadrupeds of the earth, and the beasts, and the creeping things, and the birds of the heaven. ⁷“And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter, slay and eat.’ ⁸“But I said, ‘Not at all, Lord; for never did anything common or unclean enter into my mouth.’ ⁹“And a voice answered me for the second time out of the heaven, ‘What God cleansed, cease thou making common.’ ¹⁰“And this took place thrice; and all were drawn up again into the heaven.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 30]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

8 ²¹“I am going away, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin. Where I am going, ye are not able to come.” ²²Then the Jews were saying, “He will not kill Himself, will He, because He saith, ‘Where I am going, ye are not able to come’?” ²³And He said to them, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above. Ye are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴“I said therefore to you that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye do not come to believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” ²⁵Then they were saying to Him, “Thou, Who art Thou?” And Jesus said to them, “Altogether that which even I am saying to you. ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but the One Who sendeth Me is true; and what I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.” ²⁷They knew not that He was speaking to them of the Father. ²⁸Then Jesus said to them, “Whenever ye lift up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am, and I do nothing of Myself; but even as the Father taught Me, these things I speak. ²⁹“And the One Who sent Me is with Me. The Father did not leave Me alone, for I always do the things pleasing to Him.” ³⁰As He spoke these things, many believed in Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Januarius, Bishop of Benevento, and those with him, and Hieromartyr Theodore of Perge in Pamphylia and those with him, and our venerable Father Anastasios of Sinai (commemorated on Sl. calendar on the 20^th of April).

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 4th – Civil Calendar
April 21st – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Januarius, and those with him.

This saint was Bishop of Benevento in Italy. In the time of a persecution under Maximian, he was brought before the judge and tormented with various tortures, which he endured patiently. When they threw him into the flames, they were cooled by an invisible dew and the martyr stood uninjured in it and sang the praises of God. Then they flayed his body with iron flails until the bones showed white, but the martyr patiently endured all. His deacon, Faustus, and his reader, Desiderius, were watching the torture and wept for their spiritual father. Then they too were bound and taken with their bishop to the town of Puteoli (Pozzuoli), and cast into prison. There were in the same prison for the sake of Christ the Puteolian deacons Proclus and Sossus and two simple, Christian men, Eutychius and Acutius. All seven were thrown next day to the wild beasts, but the beasts would not touch them. They were all then beheaded, and the Christians of the city of Naples secretly took the body of St. Januarius to their city and buried it in the church where they work miracles to those who approach with faith. One among many remembered is this: a poor widow, whose only son had died, took the icon of St. Januarius out of the church and laid it on her dead son, weeping and imploring the saint’s aid, and her son was restored to life. St. Januarius suffered with honor in 305.

2. The Holy Martyr Theodore, and others with him.

He suffered for the Christian Faith in Perga of Pamphylia in the time of the Emperor Antoninus. Theodore was young and fair of face. When the governor of that district chose him, along with several other young men, for service at the imperial court, Theodore refused and declared himself to be a Christian. Because of this, he was tortured in various ways and then thrown into the flames, but water gushed from the earth and put out the fire. The governor ascribed this to some magic of Theodore’s, but the martyr said to him: ‘This is not the work of any power of mine, but of Christ my God; and if you want to test the power of your gods, light another fire and throw in one of your soldiers—then I hope you will understand the strength and almighty power of my God.’ The governor really wanted to throw in one of the soldiers, but they, in terror, begged him to throw in the pagan priest, Dioscoros, in their place. The priest begged him to throw in only the idol of Zeus and the other idols, for, he said, if they were gods they would easily save themselves. Dioscoros spoke thus because he had already in his heart turned to Christ, having seen the marvel wrought concerning Theodore. Discovering this, the governor condemned Dioscoros to death by burning. He also delivered Theodore and two soldiers, Socrates and Dionysius, and Theodore’s mother Philippa, to death. Theodore was crucified, and breathed his last on the cross only on the third day. Socrates and Dionysius were run through with spears and Philippa was beheaded. They were all crowned with wreaths of glory in the kingdom of Christ.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘Guard your hearts!’—said experienced ascetics of old. And Saint John of Kronstadt, in our day, says the same: ‘The heart is fine, spiritually light and heavenly in nature. Guard it; do not burden it; do not bring it low; be extremely abstinent in eating and drinking and especially in bodily comforts. The heart is the temple of God, and “he who defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy” (I Cor. 3:17).’ Spiritual experience in olden times and spiritual experience in our day are identical—on the condition that the confession of faith is identical. The heavenly knowledge to which the ancient ascetics came, in no way differs from the heavenly knowledge to which modern ascetics come. For, as Christ is the same today as yesterday, so also is human nature. And, what is most important, the heart of man is the same, and nothing can satisfy it but the glory and power and richness 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.