Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Cheesefare

Epistle

The Reading is from the General Epistle of Saint Jude [§ 78]. Beloved:

¹¹Woe to the impious! For they went in the way of Cain, and were poured out in the error of Balaam for a reward, and destroyed themselves in the gainsaying of Kore.

¹²In your love feasts these are hidden rocks in the sea, when they feast with you, shepherding themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds being carried about by winds; fruitless autumnal trees which twice died and were uprooted; ¹³wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shameful things; wandering stars, to whom hath been kept the blackness of darkness forever. ¹⁴And to these also, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came amidst myriads of His saints, ¹⁵“to do judgment against all, and to convict all the impious among them for all their works of impiety which they did impiously, and for all the hard things which impious sinners spoke against Him.” ¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking according to their desires; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, showing respect to persons for the sake of advantage. ¹⁷But ye, beloved, be reminded of the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸that they were saying to you, that in the last time there shall be mockers walking according to their own desires of impieties. ¹⁹These are they who cause divisions by separating themselves, material-minded ones, not having the Spirit. ²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves by your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life eternal. ²²And to some, on the one hand, be showing mercy, who are in doubt; ²³but to some, on the other hand, be saving in fear, snatching them out of the fire, hating even the garment which hath been stained by the flesh.

²⁴Now to Him Who is able to guard you from stumbling, and to make you stand before the presence of His glory blameless in exceeding joy, ²⁵to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, might and authority, both now and to all the ages. Amen.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 110]. At that time:

For Gk. usage, see Lk. 23:1-31, 33, 44-56; for Sl. usage, see Lk 23:2-34, 44-56.

23 ¹The chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people led Jesus before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this One perverting the nation, and hindering the giving of tribute to Cæsar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” ³And Pilate questioned Him, saying, “Thou art the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “Thou sayest.” ⁴And Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I do not find even one charge in this Man.” ⁵But they kept waxing stronger, saying, “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all of Judæa, beginning from Galilee even to here.” ⁶And having heard Galilee named, Pilate inquired whether the Man were a Galilæan. ⁷And having come to know that He was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem during those days. ⁸And Herod, having seen Jesus, was gladdened exceedingly; for he was wishing for a considerable time to see Him, because he had heard many things concerning Him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by Him. ⁹And he kept on questioning Him with many words, but He answered nothing. ¹⁰And the chief priests and the scribes had stood by, vigorously accusing Him. ¹¹And Herod with his troops, having treated Him with contempt and having mocked Him, threw around Him bright raiment, and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹²And on that same day Herod and Pilate became friends with one another; for before they were at enmity between themselves. ¹³And after Pilate called together to himself the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴he said to them, “Ye brought to me this Man, as one who turneth away the people. And behold, having examined Him before your face, I did not find even one charge in this Man of which ye bring as an accusation against Him. ¹⁵“No, not even did Herod, for I sent you up to him; and behold, nothing worthy of death hath been done by Him. ¹⁶“Therefore, after I chastise Him, I will release Him.” ¹⁷Now of necessity he had to release one to them at the feast. ¹⁸And all together they cried out, saying, “Go on taking this One away, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹who, on account of a certain sedition taking place in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison. ²⁰Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, addressed them again. ²¹But they kept calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him.” ²²And a third time he said to them, “Why, what evil did this One do? Not one cause of death did I find in Him. Therefore, after I chastise Him, I will release Him.” ²³But they were being urgent with loud voices, asking for Him to be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests were prevailing. ²⁴And Pilate adjudged their request to be done. ²⁵And he released to them him—the one who on account of sedition and murder was cast into the prison—whom they were asking for themselves; but he delivered up Jesus to their will.

²⁶And as they led Him away, they laid hold of Simon, a certain Cyrenian, who was coming from a field, and laid the Cross upon him, to bear it behind Jesus. ²⁷And there was following Him a great multitude of people, and of women who were beating their breasts and lamenting Him. ²⁸And Jesus, having turned to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, cease weeping for Me, but be weeping for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹“For behold, days are coming, in which they shall say, ‘Happy are the barren, and the wombs which bore not, and the breasts which gave not suck.’ ³⁰“Then ‘they shall begin to say to the mountains, “Fall upon us”; and to the hills, “Cover us [Hos. 10:8; Is. 2:19; Rev. 6:16, 9:6].”’ ³¹“For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall take place in the dry?” ³²And two others, malefactors, were also being led with Him to be put to death.

³³And when they came upon the place which is called Skull, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right and the other one on the left. ³⁴And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And when they divided His garments among themselves, they cast a lot.... ⁴⁴And it was about the sixth hour, and there came to be a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵while the sun failed, and the veil of the temple was torn in the midst. ⁴⁶And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And having said these things, He gave up the spirit. ⁴⁷Now after the centurion saw that which took place, he kept on glorifying God, saying, “Verily this Man was righteous.” ⁴⁸And all the crowds that came together to see this sight, when they beheld the things which took place, beat their breasts and were turning back. ⁴⁹And all His acquaintances, and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

⁵⁰And behold, there was a man, by name Joseph, being a counselor, who was a good man and just ⁵¹(this one had not been in agreement with the counsel and their deed), from Arimathæa, a city of the Jews, who himself also was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for himself the body of Jesus. ⁵³And having taken it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a sepulcher hewn out of stone, in which no one was ever yet laid. ⁵⁴And it was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was dawning.

⁵⁵And the women also, who had come with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶And they returned and prepared aromatic spices and perfumed ointments. And indeed they rested during the sabbath according to the commandment.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the finding at the Gate of Evgenios of sacred relics of holy martyrs, including the Apostles Andronikos and Junia.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

March 7th – Civil Calendar: Non-Leap Year
March 6th – Civil Calendar: Leap Year
February 22nd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Maurice and the 70 soldiers with him.

There was a great persecution of Christians in the time of the Emperor Maximian. Maurice was in charge of the local army in the town of Apameia in Syria, and pagans reported him to the emperor as a Christian and a spreader of Christianity among the soldiers. The emperor himself came and took him for questioning. Seventy soldiers were brought before the emperor with Maurice, among them his son, Photinus. The emperor was unable to make the heroes waver either with flattery or with threats. To them, they replied: ‘O emperor, there is no fear in the wise and strong souls of those who love the Lord.’ When the emperor ordered that their military belts and clothing be stripped from them, they said: ‘Our God will clothe us with raiment and girdles that are incorrupting, and with eternal glory’. When the emperor rebuked them for holding in contempt the military status he had given them, they replied: ‘Thine honor is dishonorable, for thou hast forgotten God, Who gave thee this royal power.’ Then the emperor ordered that Maurice’s son be slain before his eyes, that he might thus intimidate the father and the others. But Maurice said: ‘Thou hast fulfilled our desire, O torturer, and sent Photinus the soldier of Christ on before us.’ Then the emperor sentenced them to a most inhuman death: he had them taken to a marshy place, stripped, bound to trees and smeared with honey, for the mosquitoes, wasps and hornets to eat. They gave their souls to God in terrible torment after ten days, and went to eternal rejoicing with the holy angels in heaven. Christians secretly took their bodies and buried them. These courageous soldiers of Christ suffered in about 305.

2. The Many Martyrs of Evgenios, near Constantinople.

In the time of the Emperor Arkadios, the relics of many Christian martyrs were excavated, among which were those of the Apostle Andronicus and his helper, Junia (Rom. 16:7). These relics were discovered by a revelation from God to a cleric, Nicholas Calligraphos. ‘God alone knows their names, and He has written them in the Book of Life in heaven.’ Emperor Andronikos the First built a fine church over the relics of his namesake in the 12th century.

3. Our Holy Fathers Thalassios and Limnaeos.

Syrian hermits, one of their special ascetic practices was of silence. After the death of St. Thalassios in 440, Limnaeos joined St. Maron and lived with him on a mountaintop beneath the open sky.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Anthony teaches about ceaseless abiding with God: ‘Let your soul be with God at all times, and your body be as some statue on earth. Stand always straight before the face of God. Have the fear of God always before your eyes, as also the remembrance of death and withdrawal from all worldly things. Die daily, that you may live; for he who fears God will live forever. Be always alert, that you fall not into laziness and idleness. Hate all that is of this world and flee from self, for otherwise it will separate you from God. Hate all that brings harm to your soul. Do not depart from God for the sake of transient things. Do not take the example of him that is weaker than you, but that of him who is more perfect. Be attentive to the example of those who have loved the Lord with all their hearts and performed good works. Above all, pour forth constant prayer and give God grateful thanks for all that happens to you. Fulfil all that is commanded, and you will receive the inheritance which the “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man” (I Cor. 2:9).’

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.