Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 326]. Brethren:

10 ³⁵Do not begin 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].” ³⁹But we are not of those who draw back to destruction, but of those who are of faith to the saving of the soul.

11 ¹Now faith is the subsistence of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. ²For by this the elders were approved by testimony. ³By faith we perceive with the mind the ages to have been put in order by a word of God, so that the things which are seen have not come into being out of things which appear. ⁴By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater in quality than Cain, by which he was borne witness to as being righteous, God bearing witness upon his gifts; and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. ⁵By faith Enoch was translated, so as not to see death, “and was not found, because God translated him [Gen. 5:24]”; for before his translation he hath been borne witness to have well pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for it is needful for him who draweth near to God to have believed that He is, and that He becometh a rewarder to those who seek Him out. ⁷By faith Noah, after he was divinely warned concerning the things not yet seen, was moved to be wary and prepared an ark to the salvation of his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness according to faith.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 107]. The Lord said to His disciples:

21 ²⁸“Rise up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draweth near.” ²⁹And He spoke a parable to them: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰“Whenever they at once put forth leaves, ye see and know for yourselves that already the summer is near. ³¹“So also ye, whenever ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is near. ³²“Verily I say to you, that in no wise shall this generation pass away, until all shall have taken place. ³³“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass away.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our father among the saints, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 276]. Brethren:

2 ¹³We are bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you for Himself from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, ¹⁴to which He called you through our Gospel, to acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brethren, be standing firm and holding fast the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. ¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, the One Who loved us and gave everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

3 ¹For the rest, brethren, be praying for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you, ²and that we might be delivered from wayward and evil men; for not all have the faith. ³But faithful is the Lord, Who shall establish you and guard you from the evil one. ⁴And we trust in the Lord as to you, that ye both do and will do what we command you. ⁵And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of the Christ.

Gospel

No reading given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 20th – Civil Calendar
December 7th – Church Calendar

1. St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (Mediolanum).

This great father of the Orthodox Church was of eminent parentage. His father was the imperial governor of Gaul and Spain, and a pagan, while his mother was a Christian. While he was still in his cradle, a swarm of bees once settled on him, left some honey on his lips and flew off; and while still a child, he thrust out his hand and said prophetically: ‘Kiss it, for I shall be a bishop!’ On the death of his father, the emperor made him governor of Liguria, of which province Milan was the chief city. When the bishop of Milan died, there was great dissension between the Orthodox Christians and the heretical Arians about the choice of a new bishop. Ambrose went into the church to keep order, this being his responsibility. Thereupon, a child at its mother’s breast cried out: ‘Ambrose for bishop!’ All the people took this to be the voice of God, and unanimously elected Ambrose as their bishop, although it was against his will. Ambrose was baptized, and passed through all the necessary ranks in one week, and was consecrated bishop. In this capacity, he strengthened the faith of the Orthodox, restrained heretics, adorned churches, spread the Faith among the pagans, wrote many instructive books and was an example of a true Christian and a true shepherd. He also composed the Te Deum, the great hymn of thanksgiving. This renowned hierarch, who was visited by people from distant lands for his wisdom and gracious words, was very austere in his personal life, being no stranger to toil and full of good works. He slept little, worked and prayed constantly and fasted every day except Saturday and Sunday. God therefore permitted him to witness many of His wonders, and to perform many himself. He discovered the relics of Ss. Protasius, Gervasius, Nazarius and Celsus (see Oct. 14th). Humble before lesser men, he was fearless before the great. He reproached the Empress Justina for heresy, cursed Maximus for tyranny and murder and forbade the Emperor Theodosios to enter a church until he had repented of his sin. He refused to meet the powerful Eugenius, the self-styled emperor. God granted this man, who was so pleasing to Him, such grace that he could raise the dead, drive demons from men, heal the sick of every ailment and see into the future. He died peacefully at daybreak on the day of Pascha in the year 397.

2. The Holy Martyrs in Africa.

They suffered for the truth of Orthodoxy in the reign of Gunerik of the Vandals (477-484), at the hands of the heretical Arians. Two priests were burned, sixty had their tongues torn out and three hundred laymen were beheaded. All of them suffered terribly, but they overcame falsehood by their deaths, and Orthodoxy was strengthened and was handed down to us pure and untarnished. The Lord crowned them with crowns of glory in His immortal kingdom.

3. Our Holy Father Gregory the Hesychast.

A Serb by birth, he was the founder of the monastery of St. Nicholas on the Holy Mountain, which is known by the name of Grigoriou after him. He built himself a cell about four hours’ journey from the monastery, where he wept over his sins and prayed. In 1761, a serious fire broke out in the monastery, and at that time some of the monks took his relics to Serbia. This man of God entered into eternal rest in 1406.

4. Our Holy Father Nilus of Stolobnoye.

A worker on the land, born in Novgorod, he went off into a lonely place and survived on plants and gleanings. He was instructed by a voice from on high to move to the island of Stolobnoye (Table Island). Once, some robbers burst into his cell, and were immediately blinded. He dug his own grave close to his cell, and wept over it every day. He entered into eternal rest in the kingdom of Christ in 1554, and his wonder-working relics are preserved in the place where he led his life of fasting.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Fear of God drives all fear of men from the heart. In all the great hierarchs of the Orthodox Church, we notice a wonderful combination of humility and fearlessness. St. Nicholas seized the sword of an executioner so that he could not execute innocent men. St. John Chrysostom castigated the Empress Evdoxia for her misdeeds, with no consideration for the unpleasantness and danger to his life to which he exposed himself in consequence. There are many other similar examples: when the Emperor Valentinian the Elder had listened to the stern criticism of St. Ambrose, he said to him: ‘I knew of your fearlessness when I helped in your election as bishop. Correct our faults, teach the law of God and cure our unrighteousness.’ When Valentinian the Younger, at the instigation of his mother Justina (who was an Arian), ordered that the cathedral in Milan be opened for heretics, Ambrose shut himself in the church with the faithful, and would not come out for three days. He sent word to the emperor and empress that, if they desired his death, he was prepared at any time ‘here in the church to be run through, either by a sword or a spear’. Hearing this, the emperor and empress rescinded their order. When a quarrel broke out in Thessalonica, and the Emperor Theodosios the Great had more than seven thousand people beheaded, Ambrose was so furious with the emperor that, when he visited Milan and wished to enter the church, the saint forbade him to do so. The emperor said to St. Ambrose: ‘David sinned, and yet was not deprived of God’s mercy.’ The bishop replied: ‘As you have imitated David in sin, so now imitate him in repentance also.’ The emperor was ashamed and turned back, and repented bitterly of the sin he had committed.

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.