Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 107].

11 ²⁵Brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant regarding this mystery—in order that ye be not wise in yourselves—that hardness in part hath happened to Israel until the fullness of the nations should enter in. ²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved, even as it hath been written: “The Deliverer shall come out of Sion, and He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; ²⁷“and this is the covenant from Me to them, whenever I should take away their sins [cf. Is. 59:20, 21; Jer. 38(31):31, 34].” ²⁸On the one hand, as regards the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes; but on the other hand, as regards the election they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. ²⁹For not to be repented of are the gifts of grace and calling of God. ³⁰For even as ye also once disobeyed God, but now ye were shown mercy by their disobedience, ³¹so also these now disobeyed, that by the mercy shown to you they also might have mercy shown them; ³²for God shut up all in disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all. ³³O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ³⁴“For who did know the mind of the Lord? Or who became His counselor [Is. 40:13]?” ³⁵Or who first gave to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him? ³⁶For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be the glory to the ages. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 44].

12 ¹At that time, on the sabbath, Jesus went through the sown fields; and His disciples hungered, and began to pluck the ears of grain and to eat. ²But after the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Behold, Thy disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a sabbath.” ³But He said to them, “Did ye not read what David did when he hungered and those with him: ⁴“how he entered into the house of God and ate the loaves set forth before the presence of God, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests only? ⁵“Or did ye not read in the law that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? ⁶“But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷“But if ye had known what this is, ‘I wish mercy and not sacrifice [cf. Hos. 6:7],’ ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸“For the Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

9. The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Kyril, Archbishop of Alexandria.

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.

for Sl. usage, see [Heb. 13:7-16].

or

see [Heb. 13:17-21].

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)

June 22nd – Civil Calendar
June 9th – Church Calendar

1. St. Kyril, Archbishop of Alexandria.

He was of noble birth and a close kinsman of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, after whose death he was chosen as patriarch. He fought three fierce battles in the course of his life: against the Novatianist heretics, against Nestorius and against the Jews of Alexandria. The Novatianists began in Rome, and were so called after their leader, the heretic priest Novatian. They were filled with pride at their virtues, went about dressed in white, banned second marriages and declared that one must not pray for those who had committed grievous sins nor receive back into the Church those who had once fallen away, however deeply they might repent. Kyril overcame them and drove them out of Alexandria, together with their bishop. The battle with the Jews was harder and bloodier. The Jews had been in the ascendant in Alexandria right from the time that Alexander the Great founded the city. Their hatred towards the Christians was vicious and mindless. They killed Christians by treachery, by poison and by crucifixion. After a long and difficult struggle, Kyril succeeded in inducing the emperor to drive the Jews out of Alexandria. His battle, however, against Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was resolved at the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus. Kyril himself presided at this council, and also represented Pope Celestine of Rome at his request, he being prevented by old age from attending the council. Nestorius was condemned, anathematised and exiled by the emperor to the eastern borders of the empire, where he died. After the end of these battles, Kyril lived in peace and guided Christ’s flock with zeal. He went to the Lord in the year 444. It is said that he composed the hymn: ‘Rejoice, Theotokos and Virgin.’

2. St. Kiril of Byelozersk.

Born and educated in Moscow, the son of a great house, he was tonsured in the Simonov monastery, where he lived in an asceticism that was a marvel to the other monks. To conceal his virtues, he feigned madness. He spoke face-to-face with St. Sergius of Radonezh, and learned much of great value from him. He was chosen against his will as abbot of his monastery, but constantly begged the Mother of God to show him how he could continue in his silent asceticism. One night he saw a great light and heard a voice: ‘Kiril, leave here and go to the white lake!’ So, he left the Simonov monastery with one other monk and went to the shore of the lake (Byelozersk means ‘white lake’). There, in the thick of a pine forest, he continued his ascetic life. In time, this hermitage became a large monastery. Kiril received from God the gift of working miracles, and went to the Lord, Whom he had loved enduringly with a great love, at the age of ninety in the year 1429.

FOR CONSIDERATION

We sin if we reckon that we owe it to our kinsfolk to hate those whom they hate. Such a hate infects us like a hereditary disease. Adopting the loves of our kinsmen, we also adopt their hatreds. Even great spiritual giants were sometimes given to this weakness. Patriarch Theophilus could not bear St. John Chrysostom, and remained his bitterest opponent to the end of his days. St. Kyril, his kinsman and heir on the Alexandrian throne, inherited his dislike for St. John and carried it himself for a long time. St. Isidore of Pelusium exhorted him in vain to change his mind about St. Chrysostom and inscribe him in the Diptych of saints, but Kyril was unable to overcome his ill-will. Then the holy Mother of God, for whose honor and glory Kyril had fought so fiercely against Nestorius, appeared to him in a vision, surrounded by angels and accompanied by St. John Chrysostom in great glory, and the holy and most pure one begged St. John to forgive Kyril and embrace him. This vision completely reversed Kyril’s attitude to St. Chrysostom, and he repented with shame that he had so disliked him, doing his utmost for the rest of his life to glorify him as a great saint 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.