Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Special Commemorations

The first Sunday in November: The Synaxis of the holy Unmercenary Physicians

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 153]. Brethren:

12 ²⁷Ye are the body of Christ, and members severally.

²⁸And God set for Himself some in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then works of power, then free gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues. ²⁹All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All do not have works of power, do they? ³⁰All do not have free gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? ³¹All do not interpret, do they? But keep on desiring earnestly the better gifts of grace. And yet I show you a more surpassing way.

13 ¹If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophecy, and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains from one place to another, but I have not love, I am nothing. ³And if I dole out all of my goods, and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but I have not love, I am being profited nothing. ⁴Love is long-suffering, is kind; love is not jealous; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; ⁵doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; ⁷covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Love never falleth away.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ mid 34]. At that time:

10 ¹After Jesus called to Himself His twelve disciples, He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every weakness.... ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Do not begin to go into the way of the nations, and do not begin to enter into a city of the Samaritans. ⁶“But go rather to the sheep, the lost of the house of Israel. ⁷“And as ye go, be preaching, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn near.’ ⁸“Be healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out demons; freely ye received, freely give.”

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sunday of the Twenty-Fifth Week

Mode Plagal Four — Third Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 224]. Brethren:

For Gk. usage, see Eph. 4:1-7; for Sl. usage, see Eph. 4:1-6.

4 ¹I, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling in which ye were called, ²with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, ³giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye also were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in you all. ⁷But to each of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 83]. The Lord said:

16 ¹⁹“There was a certain rich man, and he was clothing himself in purple and fine linen, making merry in splendor every day. ²⁰“And there was a certain beggar, by name Lazarus, who was full of sores and was cast toward his gateway, ²¹“and was desiring to be fed from the crumbs that were falling from the table of the rich man; yea, even the dogs, which came were licking his sores. ²²“And it fell due for the beggar to die and for him to be carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham; and the rich man also died, and was buried. ²³“And in Hades, being in torments, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴“And he cried aloud and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am suffering pain in this flame.’ ²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Child, be mindful that thou didst have rendered to thee thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus likewise the bad things; but now, here, he is being comforted and thou art suffering pain; ²⁶“‘and besides all these things, between us and you a great chasm hath been firmly fixed, so that those wishing to pass through from this place to you are not able, nor may they pass through from that place to us.’ ²⁷“And he said, ‘I beg thee then, father, that thou wouldest send him to the house of my father, ²⁸“‘for I have five brothers, in order that he may bear witness to them, lest they also should come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹“Abraham saith to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰“But he said, ‘By no means, father Abraham; but if one from the dead should go to them, they will repent.’ ³¹“And he said to him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead.’”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Galacteon and Episteme.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 325]. Brethren:

10 ³²Remind yourselves of the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great contest of sufferings: ³³partly, being made a show of both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, having become partners of those who conducted themselves thus. ³⁴For ye also sympathized with those in bonds and ye yourselves accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and abiding possession. ³⁵Do not begin therefore to cast away your boldness which hath great recompense. ³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye do the will of God, ye might receive for yourselves the promise. ³⁷“For yet a very little while, the One Who cometh will come, and will not delay [cf. Hab. 2:3]. ³⁸“Now the just shall live by faith; and if one should draw himself back, My soul hath no pleasure in him [cf. Hab. 2:4].”

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

November 18th – Civil Calendar
November 5th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Galacteon and our Mother Episteme, the Martyrs.

They were born in the city of Edessa in Phoenicia, both of pagan parents. Galacteon’s mother was barren until she was baptized. After her Baptism, she brought her husband also to the true Faith and baptized her son Galacteon, bringing him up a Christian. When the time came for Galacteon to marry, his devout mother Leucippe died, and his father betrothed him to a maiden called Episteme. Galacteon did not wish to enter into marriage at all, and he quickly urged Episteme to be baptized and then to become a nun at the same time as he became a monk. Both went away to the mountain of Publion, Galacteon to a men’s monastery and Episteme to a women’s, and each of them became a true light in the monastery. They were first in labors, in prayer, in humility and obedience, and first in love. They did not leave their monasteries, and neither saw the other until the time of their death. A fierce persecution arose, and they were both brought to trial. While they were mercilessly whipping Galacteon, Episteme was weeping, and they then whipped her also. They cut off their hands and feet, and finally their heads. One Eutolius, a man who had been a servant of Episteme’s parents and then a monk together with Galacteon, took their bodies and buried them. He also wrote the Lives of these two wonderful martyrs for Christ, who suffered and received their heavenly crowns in 253.

2. The Holy Apostles Patrobus, Hermes, Linus, Gaius and Philologus.

They were of the Seventy. Patrobus was bishop of Neapolis; Hermes was in Philippopolis (Rom. 16:14), Linus in Rome (II Tim. 4:21), Gaius in Ephesus (Rom. 16:23) and Philologus in Synope (Rom. 15:16). All of them fulfilled the law of Christ with love and went to His kingdom.

3. St. Jonah (Iona), Archbishop of Novgorod

Born in Novgorod and orphaned early, he was taken and educated by a God-fearing woman. Michael the Fool for Christ of Klops saw him once as a young boy and said to him prophetically: ‘Ivan, my little one, be diligent in your studies, for you will be archbishop in Novgorod the Mighty’. And so it came to pass, for later, after the death of Archbishop Evtimy, this Jonah was elected and consecrated to the throne of Novgorod. Jonah was God-fearing and merciful, such as is rare in a mortal man. He built churches and monasteries and cared for his flock as a true and good shepherd. He was offered the throne of Moscow as metropolitan but declined, excusing himself because of his great age. He entered into rest peacefully on November 5th, 1570, and went to the joyful, heavenly mansions. One hundred years after his death, a great fire broke out in Novgorod. The relics of this holy hierarch did not catch fire among the flames, but on the contrary, began to show healing powers and to give off a sweet and wonderful fragrance.

FOR CONSIDERATION

As shadow is to reality (although even this is too weak a comparison), so is physical love to spiritual. Brotherhood and sisterhood of blood is nothing compared with the same relationship in the spirit. Galacteon was betrothed by his father to the maiden Episteme. He baptized her, and then they both received the monastic schema. Their physical love was transformed into spiritual, a love as strong as death. Galacteon’s spiritual love for Episteme was so great that he had no need to see her with his bodily sight; for, with spiritual love, neither physical contact or even meeting are necessary. Episteme’s spiritual love for Galacteon was so great that, when she heard that he had been taken for martyrdom, she ran after him, begging him not to cast her away, but as a spiritual father and brother, let her share his martyrdom. When Galacteon was flogged on his naked body by his merciless torturers, holy Episteme wept. When the torturers cut off their hands and feet for Christ’s sake, they both rejoiced and glorified God. Such was the power of their love for Christ the Lord and such was the mutual spiritual love with which they loved each other. Truly, physical love is like a gaudy butterfly that passes in a moment, but spiritual love is enduring.

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.