Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Seventh Week - Apodosis of Ascension

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 50A]. In those days:

27 ¹When it was decided that we should sail off to Italy, they were delivering up both Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion, by name Julius, of Augustus’ cohort. ²And having boarded an Adramyttium ship about to sail toward Asian places, we put out to sea. Aristarchos, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. ³And the next day we landed in Sidon. And Julius treated Paul humanely, and permitted him to go to his friends to obtain care. ⁴And after we put out to sea from that place, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. ⁵And after we sailed across the high sea over against Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra of Lycia. ⁶And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and put us on board therein. ⁷And when we sailed slowly for many days, and scarcely came over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete over against Salmone. ⁸And hardly coasting along it, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, which was near a city of Lasæa. ⁹And after considerable time intervened, and the voyage was already precarious, because the fast had gone by, Paul began advising them, ¹⁰saying, “Men, I perceive that the voyage is about to be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and of the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹But the centurion was being persuaded by the steersman and the shipowner, rather than by the things which were spoken of by Paul. ¹²And because the harbor was inconvenient for wintering in, the majority gave counsel to set sail from that place also, if by any means they might be able to winter there after they arrived at Phœnice, a port of Crete, which looks toward the southwest and toward the northwest. ¹³And after a south wind blew gently, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and were coasting along close by Crete. ¹⁴But not long after, a typhonic wind, called Euroclydon, fell against her. ¹⁵And after the ship was caught, and was not able to look the wind in the eye, we gave way, and were being borne along. ¹⁶And running under a certain small island which is called Clauda, we were hardly able to become masters of the skiff, ¹⁷which they hoisted up after they had used helps and undergirded the ship; and fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear and were thus being borne along. ¹⁸And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, on the next day they began making a jettison of the cargo. ¹⁹And on the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. ²⁰And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest was being laid upon us, finally all hope of our being saved began to be taken away. ²¹And since there was much abstinence from food, Paul then stood in their midst and said, “It was needful, indeed, O men, to have hearkened to me, and not to have set sail from Crete and reaped this injury and loss. ²²“And now I advise you to be of good cheer; for not even one life among you shall be lost, except in respect of the ship. ²³“For there stood by me this night an angel of God, Whose I am and Whom I worship, ²⁴“saying, ‘Cease being afraid, Paul; it is needful for thee to stand before Caesar; and behold, God hath granted to thee all those sailing with thee.’ ²⁵“Wherefore, be of good cheer, men, for I believe God that it shall be thus according to the way it hath been spoken to me. ²⁶“But it is needful for us to be cast ashore upon a certain island.” ²⁷Now when it came to be the fourteenth night, as we were tossed about in the Adria, toward the middle of the night the sailors began to surmise some land to be drawing near them. ²⁸And they took soundings, and found it to be twenty fathoms. And after they went a little further, they took soundings again, and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹And fearing lest they should suffer shipwreck in rough places, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and kept on praying for day to come. ³⁰Now as the sailors who sought to flee out of the ship lowered the skiff into the sea with the pretext that they were about to cast out anchors from the prow, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” ³²Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the skiff, and let her fall off. ³³And until day was about to come, Paul kept on beseeching all to partake of food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that ye wait with expectation and continue without food, having taken nothing. ³⁴“Wherefore I beseech you to take food, for this is for your preservation; for not one hair from your head shall fall.” ³⁵And after he said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God before all; and having broken it he began to eat. ³⁶And after they all became of good cheer, they also took food for themselves. ³⁷And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six souls in the ship. ³⁸And after they were satiated with food, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. ³⁹And when it became day, they tried to recognize the land, but could not; but they began to perceive a certain bay having a beach, into which they purposed, if they could, to drive the ship on shore. ⁴⁰And having slipped the anchors, they were leaving them in the sea, at the same time having loosed the yokes of the rudders; and having hoisted the foresail to the blowing wind, they began making toward the seashore. ⁴¹And having fallen into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And on the one hand the prow became fixed and remained unmovable, but on the other hand the stern was being broken by the violence of the waves. ⁴²And the counsel of the soldiers was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any should swim out and escape. ⁴³But the centurion was willing to save Paul, and hindered them of their purpose, and commanded those who were able to swim to cast themselves off first, and to go out on the land, ⁴⁴and the rest, some on the one hand on planks, and some on the other hand on some of the things from the ship. And so it came to pass that all came through safely to the land.

28 ¹And having come through safely, then they found out that the island was called Melita.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 57]. At that time Jesus lifted up His eyes to the heaven and said:

17 ¹⁸“Even as Thou didst send Me forth into the world, I also sent them forth into the world. ¹⁹“And on behalf of them I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰“And I do not make request for these only, but also for those who shall believe on Me through their word; ²¹“in order that all may be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world might believe that Thou didst send Me forth. ²²“And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, in order that they may be one, even as We are one: ²³“I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that Thou didst send Me forth, and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me. ²⁴“Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold the glory, that which is Mine, which Thou gavest Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵“O righteous Father, indeed the world did not know Thee, but I knew Thee, and these knew that Thou didst send Me forth. ²⁶“And I made known to them Thy name, and will make it known, in order that the love with which Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our fathers among the saints, Epiphanios, Bishop of Cyprus, and Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

May 25th – Civil Calendar
May 12th – Church Calendar

1. St. Epiphanios, Bishop of Cyprus.

He was born a Jew, but seeing the power of the Christian Faith, was baptized together with his sister, Kallithrope. He became a monk at the age of twenty-six, in the monastery of St. Hilarion. He later founded a monastery of his own, and became famed throughout Palestine and Egypt for his asceticism, his spiritual wisdom and the wonders he worked. Fleeing the praise of men, he went off to Egypt. On the way, he met Paphnutios the Great, who prophesied that he would be a hierarch on the island of Cyprus. And indeed, many years later, by God’s providence, Epiphanios came to Cyprus, where he was unexpectedly chosen as bishop. He became bishop of the town of Salamis at the age of fifty, and governed the Church of God for thirty-six years. In all, he lived nearly ninety years on this earth, and entered into rest from this life to live eternally in the kingdom of Christ. Before his death, he was invited to Constantinople by the Emperor Arkadios and his wife, Evdoxia, for the council of bishops which was forced, at the desire of the emperor and empress, to condemn St. John Chrysostom. Arriving in Constantinople, he came to the emperor’s court, where the emperor and empress talked with him at great length, endeavoring to make him declare against Chrysostom. The citizens and St. Chrysostom heard that Epiphanios had agreed with the emperor against him. Chrysostom therefore wrote him a letter: ‘My brother Epiphanios, I hear that you have advised the emperor that I should be banished: know that you will never again see your episcopal throne.’ To this, Epiphanios wrote in return: ‘John, my suffering brother, withstand insults, but know that you will not reach the place to which you are exiled.’ And these two prophecies of the two saints soon came about. Refusing to agree with the emperor on the exile of Chrysostom, Epiphanios took ship and set off for Cyprus, but died on the voyage. The emperor sent St. Chrysostom into exile in Armenia, but the saint died on the road. Saint Epiphanios entered into rest in the year 403. Of his many writings the best-known is his ‘Medicine Chest,’ in Greek, in which he explains and refutes eighty heresies.

2. St. Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople.

He was the son of the head of the imperial senate, who was killed by the Emperor Constantine Pogonatos. This same wicked emperor castrated the senator’s son, this Germanos, and drove him by force into a monastery. As a monk, Germanos shone like a star by his life of good works. Because of this, he was chosen first as Bishop of Kyzikos (Cyzicus) and then, when Anastasios II became emperor in 715, as Patriarch of Constantinople. As patriarch, he baptized the infamous Kopronymos who, at the time of his Baptism, fouled the water with filth, and the patriarch prophesied that, when he became emperor, he would bring some foul heresy into the Church. And this came to pass. When Kopronymos became emperor, he restored the iconoclast heresy. Leo III the Isaurian, Kopronymos’ father, began the persecution of icons, and when Patriarch Germanos opposed him, the furious Leo cried: ‘I am emperor and priest!’ then deposed Germanos from his throne and sent him into exile to a monastery, where the saint spent ten further years until God called him to Himself in the kingdom of heaven, in 740.

3. The Holy Martyr Pancratius.

He came from Phrygia to Rome, where, as a boy of fourteen, he was martyred for Christ in 304. This saint is much revered in the West. There is a church in Rome dedicated to his name, and his holy relics are preserved there.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Clement of Alexandria quotes a horrible barbaric custom. When they took their enemies captive, he says, they bound them each back-to-back with a dead man, and left the two together thus until the living and the dead rotted together. We might say: ‘Thank God that this barbaric custom has ceased.’ In fact it has not ceased, but holds sway today with undiminished strength. Everyone who binds his living soul to a dead body, a body deadened by passions, is just as barbaric as those who bound a living man to a corpse and left them to rot.

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.