Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 45]. In those days:

21 ⁸We who were Paul’s companions, after we finished our voyage from Tyre, came to Cæsarea and entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹And this same man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰And as we tarried there more days, a certain prophet, by name Agavos, came down from Judæa. ¹¹And having come to us, he also took up the belt of Paul, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus saith the Holy Spirit, ‘Thus shall the Jews bind in Jerusalem the man whose belt this is, and shall deliver him up into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹²And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³But Paul answered, “What are ye doing, weeping and breaking in pieces my heart? For I not only hold myself in readiness to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴And when he would not be persuaded, we held our peace and said, “The will of the Lord be done.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 49]. The Lord said to His disciples:

14 ²⁷“Let not your heart continue being troubled, nor being fearful. ²⁸“Ye heard that I said to you, ‘I go away’ and ‘I come to you.’ If ye loved Me, ye would have rejoiced that I said, ‘I am going to the Father’; for My Father is greater than I. ²⁹“And now I have told you before it should come to pass, in order that whenever it should come to pass, ye might believe. ³⁰“No longer will I talk much with you; for the ruler of this world is coming, and hath nothing in Me. ³¹“But that the world might know that I love the Father, and even as the Father enjoined Me, thus I do. Arise, let us be going from this place.

15 ¹“I am the vine, the true one, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²“Every branch in Me which beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch which beareth fruit, He pruneth it, in order that it may bear more fruit. ³“Already ye are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴“Abide in Me, and I in you. Even as a branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, unless ye abide in Me. ⁵“I am the vine, ye are the branches. The one who abideth in Me, and I in him, this one beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye are not able to do anything. ⁶“Unless one abide in Me, he is cast out as the branch and is withered—and they gather them together and cast them into the fire—and is burned. ⁷“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask for yourselves whatever ye will, and it shall come to pass for you.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy and all-praised Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and our venerable Father Arsensios the Great.

Epistle

The Reading is from the First General Epistle of Saint John [§ 68 B].

1 ¹That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands touched, concerning the Logos of the Life— ²and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and relate to you the Life, the Eternal One, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³that which we have seen and heard we relate to you, in order that ye also may have communion with us; and our communion also is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴And these things we write to you in order that our joy may be made full.

⁵And this is the message which we have heard from Him and we announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we should say that we have communion with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practise the truth; ⁷but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Gospel

For the Apostle:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§§ 61, mid 67]. At that time:

19 ²⁵There had stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶Then Jesus, having seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, saith to His Mother, “Woman, behold thy son.” ²⁷Then He saith to the disciple, “Behold, thy Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home....

21 ²⁴This is the disciple who beareth testimony concerning these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵And there are also many other things, which if as much as Jesus did may be written one by one, I suppose even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 43]. The Lord said to His disciples:

11 ²⁷“All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And no one doth fully know the Son, except the Father; nor doth anyone fully know the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him. ²⁸“Come to Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹“Take up My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. ³⁰“For My yoke is good and My burden is light.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 21st – Civil Calendar
May 8th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John.

The main commemoration of this great apostle and evangelist is on September 26th, but on May 8th is commemorated a wonderful revelation about his grave. When St. John was more than a hundred years old, he took seven of his disciples, went outside the city of Ephesus and told the disciples to dig a grave in the form of a cross. Then the elder went down alive into the grave, gave up his soul to the Lord, and was buried. When the faithful later opened John’s grave, they did not find the body in it. And on May 8th each year a dust arose from the grave, from which those suffering from many diseases were healed.

2. Our Holy Father Arsenius the Great.

This famous saint was born of a patrician family in Rome, and was well-educated both in secular learning and philosophy and in spiritual wisdom. Abandoning all secular studies, he gave himself to the service of the Church and was deacon in a large church in Rome. Unmarried, retiring, silent and prayerful, Arsenius thought that he would spend his whole life in that way. But, by the providence of God, his life was directed in a different way. The Emperor Theodosios summoned him to bring up and educate his two sons, Arkadios and Honorios, and made him a senator, surrounding him with wealth, honor and luxury. But this was a greater burden than pleasure to the heart of Arsenius. It happened at one time that Arkadios was at fault, and Arsenius punished him for it. The insulted Arkadios thought up a harsh revenge on his teacher, and when Arsenius discovered this, he dressed himself in simple clothing, went to the coast, got into a boat and sailed off to Egypt. When he arrived at the famous Sketis, he became a disciple of John Kolovos and gave himself to asceticism. He considered himself as one dead, and when he was informed that a rich kinsman had died and left him all his goods, he replied: ‘I died before he did. How, then, can I be his heir?’ He retired to a cell in the desert as into a grave, and there he spent his days weaving baskets from palm leaves and his nights in prayer. He fled from men and from every conversation with men. Only on feast days did he leave his cell and come to the church for Communion. In order not to become idle, he often put this question to himself: ‘Arsenius, why did you come into the desert?’ He spent thirty-five years as a hermit, and all that time he was an example to the monks and the glory of monasticism. In all, he lived a hundred years and departed this life peacefully in 448, after long labors and trials voluntarily taken on himself. He went to the kingdom of Christ the Lord, Whom he had loved with all his heart and soul.

3. St. Emilia.

She was the mother of St. Basil the Great. In her youth, she desired to remain a life-long virgin, but was forced to marry. She bore nine children, and so endowed each of them with a Christian spirit that five of them became Christian saints: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebaste, Makrina and Theosevia. She founded a monastery in her old age, where she lived with her daughter Makrina, and where she entered into rest in the Lord on May 8th, 375.

4. Our Holy Father Arsenius the Lover of Labor.

A monk of Kiev, he never gave himself any rest, but worked without pause. He ate only once a day, at sunset. He lived in asceticism and died in the 14th century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A monk complained to St. Arsenius that, while reading the holy Scriptures, he felt neither the power of the words he read nor any sweetness in his heart. To this the great saint replied: ‘My child, just read! I have heard that snake-charmers, when they cast a spell on the snakes, pronounce words that they themselves do not understand; but the snakes, hearing the words spoken, feel their power and are tamed. So with us, when we constantly keep the words of holy Scripture on our lips; even if we cannot feel their power, the evil spirits, hearing these words, flee in terror, for they cannot abide the word of the Holy Spirit. My child, just read. The Holy Spirit, Who wrote the divine words through those He inspired, will hear and understand, and will hasten to your aid; and the demons will hear and understand, and will flee from you. That is: He Whom you summon to your aid will understand, and he whom you want to drive from you will understand, and both goals will be reached.’

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.