Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Third Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 95]. Brethren:

7 ¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵For what I work out, I know not. For what I wish, this I practise not; but what I hate, this I do. ¹⁶But if, what I do not wish, this I do, I consent to the law that it is good. ¹⁷Now then, no longer am I working it out, but sin which dwelleth in me. ¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good; for to will lieth beside me, but to work out the good I find not. ¹⁹For what good I wish, I do not; but what evil I wish not, this I practise. ²⁰Now if, what I wish not, this I practise, no longer am I working it out, but the sin dwelling in me. ²¹I find then the law in me, that, when I wish to do the good that the evil lies beside me. ²²For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but on the other hand with the flesh the law of sin.

8 ¹There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 35]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ⁹“Do not begin to procure for yourselves gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, ¹⁰“nor leathern pouch for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the worker is worthy of his food. ¹¹“And into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there remain until ye go out. ¹²“But when ye enter into the house, salute it, saying, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ¹³“And if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye go out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. ¹⁵“Verily I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Isaakios, Abbot of the Dalmaton Monastery at Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 12th – Civil Calendar
May 30th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Isaac (Isaakios) the Confessor.

In the time of the Emperor Valens, the Arians persecuted Orthodoxy fiercely with the emperor’s encouragement. Isaac, a hermit somewhere in the East, heard of the persecution, left his desert and went to Constantinople to encourage the faithful and denounce the heretics. Valens arrived in the north at that very time with his army, to meet the Goths who had come down from the Danube into Thrace. Isaac went out and stood before him, saying: ‘Open the churches to those of the true Faith, O emperor, and God will bless thy path,’ but the emperor turned a deaf ear to the elder and went on his way. Isaac spoke out before the emperor on the next day also, repeating his warning, and the emperor almost hearkened to him, but one of his advisors, a follower of the Arian heresy, thwarted him. Isaac spoke before the emperor again on the third day, seizing the emperor’s horse by the reins and pleading with him to grant freedom to the Church of God and to escape divine punishment by acceding to his request. The enraged emperor ordered that the elder be thrown into a briar patch full of thorns and mud, but three angels appeared and pulled him out from his affliction. St. Isaac appeared before the emperor on the fourth day, and foretold a terrible death if he did not give the Orthodox freedom: ‘I tell thee, my emperor, that thou shalt lead thy troops out upon the barbarians, but thou shalt not be able to withstand them. Thou shalt flee before them, but shalt thyself be taken captive and burned alive.’ And so it all came to pass. The barbarians mowed the Greek force down like grass, and the emperor fled with his Arian counselor, and hid in a barn. The barbarians arrived at the spot and realized where the emperor was hiding. They surrounded the barn and set fire to it, burning both the emperor and his counselor. The Emperor Theodosios the Great then came to the throne. He heard of Isaac and of the prophecy that had been fulfilled, and sending for him, prostrated himself before him. And so peace came to reign in the Church and the Arians were banished. Isaac desired to return to his desert, but he was persuaded to remain in Constantinople. A certain influential citizen, Saturninos, built him a monastery where the elder labored in asceticism until his death, performing many wonders. The community overflowed with monks and became a great monastery. Before his death, Isaac appointed a pupil of his, Dalmatos (after whom the monastery was later named), as abbot. The elder Isaac, who had found such favor with God, entered into eternity in the year 383, to rejoice forever in the vision of the face of God.

2. St. Makrina.

The grandmother of St. Basil the Great, she was outstanding for her intellect and piety. She was a disciple of St. Gregory the Wonder-worker of Neocaesarea. In the reign of Diocletian, she abandoned her home and hid in the forests and desert places with her husband, Basil. Although their home was confiscated, they felt no pangs of regret. Stripped of everything except their love for God, they settled in an ancient forest and spent seven years there. By God’s providence, goats would come down from the mountains and provide them with food. They both died peacefully in the fourth century, after great sufferings for the Christian Faith.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The word of God is food for the soul. The word of God is both strength and light for the soul. Whoever reads the word of God provides his soul with food and strength and light. He who can read ought to read the word of the Lord in the holy Scriptures, and he who cannot read ought to listen to what is read. All the saints emphasised the necessity of reading the holy Scriptures. St. Seraphim of Sarov says: ‘The soul must keep itself nourished with the word of God; because the word of God is, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, the bread of angels that feeds the soul that is hungry for God. But, most of all, we must read the New Testament and the Psalms. The understanding is enlightened by these. It is a very good thing to read the word of God in solitude, and to read the entire Bible with understanding. God gives a man His mercy for undertaking this exercise more than for other good deeds, and He fills him with the gift of comprehension. When a man nourishes his soul with the word of God, then he is filled with the understanding of good and evil.’

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.