Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The Saturday After the Exaltation of the Cross

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ mid 125].

For Gk. usage, see 1 Cor. 1:26-2:5; for Sl. usage, see 1 Cor. 1:26-29.

1 ²⁶Brethren, ye see your calling, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many well-born. ²⁷But God chose for Himself the foolish things of the world, that He may put to shame the wise; and God chose for Himself the weak things of the world, that He may put to shame the mighty things. ²⁸And God chose for Himself the low-born of the world and the despised, and the things that are nothing, that He might make of no effect the things that are, ²⁹so that no flesh should boast before Him. ³⁰But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, even as it hath been written: “He that boasteth, in the Lord let him boast [cf. Jer. 9:23, 24].”

2 ¹And I, brethren, having come to you, came not according to excellency of speech or of wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God. ²For I decided not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, even this One Who was crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 30]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

8 ²¹“I am going away, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin. Where I am going, ye are not able to come.” ²²Then the Jews were saying, “He will not kill Himself, will He, because He saith, ‘Where I am going, ye are not able to come’?” ²³And He said to them, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above. Ye are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴“I said therefore to you that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye do not come to believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” ²⁵Then they were saying to Him, “Thou, Who art Thou?” And Jesus said to them, “Altogether that which even I am saying to you. ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but the One Who sendeth Me is true; and what I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.” ²⁷They knew not that He was speaking to them of the Father. ²⁸Then Jesus said to them, “Whenever ye lift up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am, and I do nothing of Myself; but even as the Father taught Me, these things I speak. ²⁹“And the One Who sent Me is with Me. The Father did not leave Me alone, for I always do the things pleasing to Him.” ³⁰As He spoke these things, many believed in Him.

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Eighteenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 162]. Brethren:

15 ³⁹Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is indeed one kind of flesh of men, and another of beasts, and another of fish, and another of birds. ⁴⁰And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but indeed, the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. ⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differeth from star in glory. ⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵And so it hath been written: “The first man Adam became a living soul [cf. Gen. 2:7]; the last Adam became a life-creating Spirit.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 74]. At that time:

14 ¹Jesus entered into a house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread; and they themselves were watching Him closely. ²And behold, there was a certain man before Him suffering from dropsy. ³And Jesus, answering, spoke to the doctors of the law and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” ⁴But they became silent. And He took hold of him, and healed him, and let him go. ⁵And He answered and said to them, “Who is there among you, whose son or ox shall fall into a well, and he will not straightway draw him up on the sabbath day?” ⁶And they were not able to answer Him again to these things. ⁷And He was speaking a parable to those who were invited, aiming at how they kept on choosing for themselves the chief places, saying to them, ⁸“Whenever thou art invited by anyone to wedding festivities, do not begin to recline at table in the chief place, lest perchance one more honorable than thou may have been invited by him; ⁹“and the one who invited thee and him, having come, shall say to thee, ‘Give this one place’; and then thou begin with shame to occupy the lowest place. ¹⁰“But whenever thou art invited, go and recline at table in the lowest place, that whenever the one who hath invited thee should come, he might say to thee, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then there shall be honor to thee before those who recline at table with thee. ¹¹“For everyone who exalteth himself shall be humbled, and the one who humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Exaltation, and the holy Great-martyr Ephemia the All-praised.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 181]. Brethren:

6 ¹We, working together, beseech you also not to receive the grace of God in vain— ²for He saith, “In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I helped thee [Is. 49:8]”; behold, now is an acceptable time; behold, now is a day of salvation— ³by not giving even one cause of stumbling in anything, that the ministry might not be blamed. ⁴But in all things commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in straits, ⁵in blows, in imprisonments, in instabilities, in toils, in vigils, in fastings, ⁶in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, ⁷in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness of the right hand and of the left, ⁸by glory and dishonor, by ill-fame and good fame; as deceivers and yet true; ⁹as unknown and well-known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not put to death; ¹⁰as ones sorrowful, but always rejoicing; as poor, but enriching many; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 33]. At that time:

7 ³⁶A certain one of the Pharisees was asking Jesus that He would eat with him. And He entered into the house of the Pharisee, and reclined at table. ³⁷And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she found out that He was reclining at table in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of perfumed ointment, ³⁸and she stood beside His feet behind Him, weeping; and she began to wet His feet with tears, and was wiping them off with the hairs of her head; and she was kissing His feet ardently and anointing them with the perfumed ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, “This One, if He were a prophet, would know who and of what sort the woman is who toucheth Him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to thee.” And he saith, “Teacher, say it.” ⁴¹“There were two debtors to a certain creditor: the one was owing five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²“But when they had nothing to pay back the debt, he showed himself gracious to both. Say which of them then will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose that he, to whom he showed himself the more gracious.” And He said to him, “Rightly thou didst judge.” ⁴⁴And He turned to the woman, and said to Simon, “Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house; water thou gavest Me not for My feet, but she with tears did wet My feet, and with the hairs of her head wiped them off. ⁴⁵“A kiss thou gavest Me not, but she from the time that I entered did not cease from ardently kissing My feet. ⁴⁶“With oil thou didst not anoint My head, but she anointed My feet with perfumed ointment. ⁴⁷“For which reason I say to thee, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” ⁴⁸And He said to her, “Thy sins have been forgiven.” ⁴⁹And those reclining at table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this Who even forgiveth sins?” ⁵⁰And He said to the woman, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go thy way in peace.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 29th – Civil Calendar
September 16th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Ephemia (Euphemia).

Born in Chalcedon, her father was the senator Philophronus and her mother’s name was Theodorisia, both devout Christians. Ephemia was a girl beautiful in both body and soul. When the proconsul, Priscus, celebrated a festival of sacrifice to Ares in Chalcedon, forty-nine Christians absented themselves from the festivities and hid themselves. But they were discovered and brought before Priscus, holy Ephemia being among them. When the furious Priscus asked them why they had not carried out the imperial command, they replied: ‘Both the emperor’s commands and yours must be obeyed if they are not contrary to the God of heaven. If they are, they must not only not be obeyed; they must be resisted.’ Then Priscus put them to various tortures for nineteen days, from day to day. On the twelfth day, he held Ephemia apart from the others and began to flatter her beauty, hoping to bring her thus to idolatry. When all his flattery proved fruitless, he ordered that she be tortured. First, she was put on a wheel, but an angel of God appeared and broke it. Then he had her thrown into a fiery furnace, but she was preserved by God’s power. Seeing this, two soldiers, Victor and Sosthenes, came to faith in Christ, for which they were thrown to the wild beasts and thus finished their earthly course with glory. After that, Ephemia was thrown into a pit filled with water and all kinds of poisonous reptiles, but she made the sign of the Cross over the water as she went into the pit, and remained unharmed. She was finally thrown to the wild beasts, and with a prayer of thanksgiving, gave her soul into God’s hands. Her parents buried her body. She suffered in the year 303, and entered into eternal joy. (St. Ephemia is also commemorated on July 11th.)

2. Our Holy Father Dorotheos.

An Egyptian hermit of the fourth century, he lived in asceticism for sixty years in a cell in the Thebaid. He was distinguished by a rare love of labor and by wonder-working power. By day he built cells for the new monks and by night plaited mats, never interrupting his prayer and psalmody.

3. St. Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev.

Born in Trnovo and given a Serbian* upbringing on the Holy Mountain, he devoted himself especially to the translation and writing of books. His patron was Patriarch Philotheos of Constantinople, who came to know him on the Holy Mountain, took him into his service and then sent him to Kiev as metropolitan. He lived through all this with greatness of soul, and by his fruitful labors, brought much benefit to the Russian Church, spending almost thirty years as metropolitan. At the time of his death, he wrote a Farewell which was read at his graveside. He entered into rest on September 16th, 1406, and his wonder-working relics are preserved in the Church of the Dormition in Moscow.

* Author’s note: Metropolitan Philaret writes that Cyprian was a Serb. See his ‘Lives’.

4. The Holy Martyr Ludmilla.

The grandmother of the Czech King Vatslav (Wenceslas) and wife of the Czech Prince Borivoy, she was very zealous for the Christian Faith and was greatly instrumental in freeing the Church from paganism. Her daughter-in-law hated her, and sent men to kill the aged Ludmilla in Techino in 927. Vatslav buried her in the Church of St. George in Prague, and many miracles were wrought over her relics. Holy Vatslav, a great zealot for the Orthodox Faith, was murdered by his brother Boleslav.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Often some unexpected misfortune comes upon us, and we vainly ask why. The Church of Christ alone is able to explain the cause of every misfortune. The Church places all misfortunes in two groups: One, those that come upon sinners because of their old, unrepented sin, and two, those that come upon the righteous and serve, according to the words of St. Chrysostom, ‘as a means of receiving a wreath, as was the case with Lazarus and Job.’ The Empress Evdokia was secretly in sympathy with the Eftychian heresy, hearkening in this to the counsel of the treacherous eunuch Chrysaphios. Misfortune suddenly came upon her. One day her husband, the Emperor Theodosios, brought her a large apple. The empress sent the apple to the sick senator Paulinos. He, out of love for the emperor, sent this same apple to Theodosios. This gave rise in the emperor to suspicion and uncertainty towards his wife and the senator, and he asked his wife where the apple was. She lied, and said that she had eaten it. This added to the emperor’s suspicions, and he exiled Evdokia to Palestine. In time, Evdokia recovered from her heresy, and acting on the advice of the great Palestinian spiritual teachers, returned whole-heartedly to Orthodoxy. The empress’ misfortune did not arise from any misconduct with Paulinos—in this she was completely innocent—but because of her heretical beliefs. Another and different example: the Emperor Marcian, as a military commander, was traveling one day near Philippopolis when he saw the dead body of a man on the highway. From simple compassion, he got off his horse and began to bury the man. Someone came upon him, and brought the commander to trial as a murderer. Marcian would have been punished by death if God had not quickly revealed who was the real murderer. This misfortune falls in the second group: ‘for the receiving of a wreath’. General Marcian was soon after this chosen as emperor.

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.