Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 105]. Brethren:

11 ²God did not thrust away His people whom He foreknew. Or do ye not know what saith the Scripture in the case of Elias, how he pleadeth with God against Israel, saying, ³“Lord, they killed Thy prophets and dug down Thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life [cf. 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 19:10, 14]”? ⁴But what saith the divine answer of God to him? “I left to Myself seven thousand men, who bowed not a knee to Baal [cf. 3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 19:18].” ⁵So then, also in the present time there hath come to be a remnant according to an election of grace. ⁶And if by grace, it is no longer of works; otherwise grace no longer becometh grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise the work is no longer work. ⁷What then? What Israel seeketh for, this it did not obtain; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened. ⁸Even as it hath been written: “God gave them a spirit of stupefaction, eyes so as not to see, and ears so as not to hear, unto this day [cf. Is. 29:10].” ⁹And David saith, “Let their table be for a snare, and for a trap, and for a stumbling block, and for a recompense to them [cf. Ps. 68(69):27]. ¹⁰“Let their eyes be darkened, so as not to see, and bow down their back continually [Ps. 68(69):28].” ¹¹I say then, they did not stumble that they should fall, did they? May it not be! But by their falling away, salvation is come to the nations, so as to provoke them to jealousy. ¹²Now if their falling away is the wealth of the world, and their loss the wealth of the nations, how much more their fullness?

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 42]. At that time:

11 ²⁰The Lord began to reproach the cities in which the most works of His power took place, because they repented not. ²¹“Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! For if the works of power which have taken place in you took place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²²“But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. ²³“And thou, Capernaum, which hath been lifted high unto the heaven, shalt be brought down as far as Hades; for if the works of power which took place in thee took place in Sodom, it would have remained until today. ²⁴“But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for thee.”

²⁵At that time Jesus answered and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. ²⁶“Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Theodotos at Ankyra, and the holy five Virgin-martyrs, Martha, Mary, Kyria, Vareria (Valeria), and Markia of Palestine (commemorated on Gk. calendar on the 6^th of June).

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 20th – Civil Calendar
June 7th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ankyra.

This martyr was a secret Christian, and as such, used to help the Church and give burial to the bodies of the martyrs. He buried the bodies of seven young maidens who had suffered for Christ. When the pagans discovered this, they attacked him and he was killed (see May 18th for more about him).

2. The Holy Martyrs Kyria, Valeria and Maria.

All three of these martyrs were from Caesarea in Palestine. When a persecution of Christians arose, they withdrew from the city to a hut, where they prayed unceasingly to God with fasting and tears that the Christian Faith might be spread throughout the entire world and that persecution might cease. As the result of slander, they were brought to trial and tortured, and died under their torments in the year 304. And so these glorious virgins were crowned with the wreath of martyrdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Marcellus, Pope of Rome.

In the reign of the Emperor Maximian, Marcellus was condemned to keep cattle in a certain place. In order to please Diocletian, who had taken him as co-emperor, Maximian began to build the Thermae, the baths in Rome, and forced the Christians to work on them as Pharaoh had once forced the Jews in Egypt. Many Christians perished there. The deacon Kyriakus, who had healed Artemia, Diocletian’s daughter, of an evil spirit (for he had great power over demons), suffered at this time. He had also healed Jovia, the daughter of the Persian king, and had baptized them both. Artemia, the deacon Sisinius, two friends of Kyriakus, Smaragdus and Largius, the deacon Aphronianus and two newly baptized Roman soldiers, Papius and Maurus, the elder Saturninus and Crescentianus, the blessed maidens Priscilla and Lucina, who used their great wealth to have graves made for the Christian martyrs—all these suffered at this time. The holy Pope Marcellus cared for the cattle for a long time, but finally became weakened from hunger and humiliation and the tortures of the soldiers, and surrendered his soul to God.

4. The Hieromartyr Marcellinus, Pope of Rome.

Marcellinus was Pope Marcellus’ predecessor on the Roman throne. When the Emperor Diocletian summoned him and threatened him with torture, he offered sacrifice to idols and was, because of this, rewarded by the emperor with a costly garment. But Marcellinus repented bitterly and began to weep both day and night for his rejection of Christ, even as the Apostle Peter had before him. A synod of bishops was held at that time in Campania, and the pope dressed himself in sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on his head, and going before the synod, confessed his sin and asked them to judge him. The fathers said: ‘Let him judge himself.’ Then he said: ‘I strip myself of the sacerdotal rank of which I am not worthy; and further, let my body not be buried after my death, but let it be thrown to the dogs.’ Having said this, he pronounced a curse on any who should dare to bury him. He then went to the Emperor Diocletian, and casting the precious garment in front of him, confessed his faith in Christ and cursed the idols. The enraged emperor ordered that he be tortured and killed outside the city, together with three other men: Claudius, Cyrinus and Antoninus. The bodies of these three were buried at once, but the pope’s body lay there for thirty-six days. Then St. Peter appeared to Marcellus, the new pope, and told him to bury Marcellinus’ body, saying: ‘Who so humbleth himself shall be exalted.’

5. Our Holy Father Daniel of Sketis.

The abbot of the famous Sketis in Egypt, he was a disciple of St. Arsenius and a teacher of many. Many of his words and teachings are like celestial signposts for monks. Once, when the barbarians were attacking Sketis, the brethren called to him to flee with them, but he replied: ‘If God does not care for me, what reason is there for me to live?’ He also once said: ‘Insofar as your body grows fat, even so does your soul wither away.’ He lived the communal life as an ascetic for forty years, and then in the year 420 took himself off to the desert. He happened to be in Alexandria when an evil man murdered his son’s wife because of her chastity. This was St. Thomaïs (see April 13th), and he buried the martyr with the help of his disciples.

FOR CONSIDERATION

A saint has a very sensitive conscience. What ordinary people may consider a small sin, a saint sees as a great crime. It is said of Abba Daniel that highwaymen attacked him on three occasions and took him off into the mountains. Twice he was rescued, but the third time, in attempting to escape, he struck one of them with a stone and killed him, and then made his escape. That murder lay on his conscience like a lead weight. In perplexity as to what he should do, he went to Timothy, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and asked his advice. The patriarch soothed him, and released him from all penance. But his conscience continued to gnaw at him, and he went to Rome, to the pope. The pope gave him the same reply as had the patriarch. Still dissatisfied, Daniel visited the remaining patriarchs in turn; going to Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem, confessing to each of them and asking for advice. But he could find no peace. So he returned home to Alexandria and declared himself to the authorities as a murderer, and was flung into prison. At his trial before the governor, Daniel told how everything had come about, and pleaded that he might be killed too, that his soul might be saved from eternal fire. The governor was amazed at the whole thing and said to him: ‘Go your way, father, and pray to God for me, even if you kill seven more!’ Still dissatisfied with this, Daniel resolved to take a leper into his cell and care for him until he died, and then find another. He did as he had resolved, and in this way brought peace to his conscience.

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.