Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Sixth Sunday of Pascha, or the Sunday of the Blind Man

Mode Plagal One — Eighth Eothinon

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 38]. In those days:

16 ¹⁶It came to pass, as we went to prayer, that a certain young girl, possessing a spirit of Python, met us, who was producing much business for her masters by divining. ¹⁷She followed after Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are slaves of God, the Most High, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” ¹⁸And she kept doing this for many days. But Paul was worn out, and turned around to the spirit, and said, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out from her.” And he came out the same hour. ¹⁹And after her masters saw that the hope of their business was gone, they laid hold of Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, ²¹“and declare customs, which are not allowed for us to receive, nor to do, being Romans.” ²²And the crowd rose together against them; and the magistrates tore off their garments, and kept on commanding to beat them with rods. ²³And after they laid on them many stripes, they cast them into prison, ordering the jailer to guard them securely, ²⁴who, having received such an order, cast them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. ²⁵And at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God; and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶And suddenly there occurred a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and the bonds of all were loosed. ²⁷The jailer, having been awakened out of sleep and seeing the doors of the prison opened, drew a sword, and was about to kill himself, believing the prisoners to have escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “By no means begin to do any evil to thyself; for we are all here.” ²⁹And after he asked for lights, he leaped in and became tremulous, falling down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰And having brought them forth outside, he said, “Sirs, what is necessary for me to do in order that I might be saved?” ³¹And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.” ³²And they spoke to him the word of the Lord, and to all those in his house. ³³And having taken them in that hour of the night, he washed their wounds. And he was baptized, he and all his, immediately. ³⁴And having brought them into his house, he set a table before them, and rejoiced, having believed in God, with all his house.

Gospel

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

9 ¹As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ²And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this one or his parents, that he should be born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this one sinned nor his parents, but in order that the works of God should be made manifest in him. ⁴“It is needful for Me to be working the works of the One Who sent Me while it is day; night cometh when no one is able to be working. ⁵“Whenever I may be in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶Having said these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay out of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind one with the clay, ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is interpreted, Sent forth). He went therefore and washed, and came seeing.

⁸Then the neighbors and those who saw him that was formerly blind were saying, “This is the one who sat and begged, is it not?” ⁹Some were saying, “This is he”; but others, “He is like him.” But that one kept on saying, “I am he.” ¹⁰Then they began to say to him, “How were thine eyes opened?” ¹¹That one answered and said, “A Man Who is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ And I went and washed, and received sight.” ¹²Then they said to him, “Where is that Man?” He said, “I know not.”

¹³They brought him who was once blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴And it was a sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then again the Pharisees also began asking him how he received sight. And he said to them, “He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This Man is not from God, because He keepeth not the sabbath.” Others were saying, “How is a man, a sinner, able to do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷They say to the blind one again, “What sayest thou concerning Him, in that He opened thine eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.” ¹⁸Then the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he was blind and received sight, until which time they called the parents of him who received sight. ¹⁹And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, whom ye say that he was born blind? How then doth he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹“but how he now seeth, we know not, or who opened his eyes, we know not; he is of age; ask him. He shall speak for himself.” ²²The parents said these things because they were fearing the Jews; for already the Jews had agreed among themselves that if anyone should confess Him to be the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. ²³For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” ²⁴Then a second time they called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this Man is a sinner.” ²⁵Then that one answered and said, “If He is a sinner, I know not; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶But they said to him again, “What did He do to thee? How did He open thine eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I told you already, and ye did not hear; why again do ye wish to hear it? Ye do not also wish to become His disciples, do ye?” ²⁸Then they reviled him, and said, “Thou art a disciple of that One; but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹“We know that God hath spoken to Moses; but this One, we do not know from what place He is.” ³⁰The man answered and said to them, “Why in this is a marvellous thing, that ye do not know from what place He is, and yet He opened mine eyes. ³¹“Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if anyone be serving God and doing His will, He heareth this one. ³²“From of old it was not heard that anyone opened the eyes of one who hath been born blind. ³³“If this One were not from God, He could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered and said to him, “In sins thou wast born, all of thee, and dost thou teach us?” And they cast him out. ³⁵Jesus heard that they cast him out; and having found him, He said to him, “Believest thou in the Son of God?” ³⁶That one answered and said, “And Who is He, Sir, that I might believe in Him?” ³⁷And Jesus said to him, “Thou hast both seen Him and the One Who talketh with thee is that One.” ³⁸And he said, “I believe, O Lord.” And he made obeisance to Him.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Thallelaios, the unmercenary healer, at Aegae in Cilicia, and his companions, the Martyrs Alexander and Asterios, and the opening of the relics of our father among the saints, Aleksii, Metropolitan of Moscow and Wonder-worker of All Russia.

Epistle

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 99]. Brethren:

8 ²⁸We know that to those who love God all things work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformable to the image of His Son, in order for Him to be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰But whom He foreordained, these also He called; and whom He called, these also He justified; and whom He justified, these also He glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He Who indeed spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One Who justifieth. ³⁴Who is the one who condemneth? Christ is the One Who died, but much more is He the One also Who was raised, Who also is at the right of God, Who also intercedeth for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶Even as it hath been written: “For on account of Thee, we are being put to death the whole day; we were counted as sheep of slaughter [Ps. 43(44):23(22)].” ³⁷But in all these things we more than conquer through the One Who loved us. ³⁸For I have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things coming, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 335]. Brethren:

13 ¹⁷Be obedient to those who lead you, and keep on submitting, for they are watchful for your souls, as those about to render an account, that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸Keep on praying for us; for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things wishing to conduct ourselves well. ¹⁹But I beseech you more abundantly to do this, that I might be restored more quickly to you.

²⁰Now the God of peace Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the sheep, the great One, in the blood of an everlasting covenant, ²¹may He render you perfect in every good work, in order to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before His face, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen.

Gospel

For the Martyrs:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ mid 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁹“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. ²⁰“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” ²¹In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

For the Hierarch:

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 2nd – Civil Calendar
May 20th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Thallaleus (Thalelaios).

He was born in Lebanon. His father’s name was Berucius and his mother’s was Romylia. He was an eighteen-year-old youth, handsome and well-grown and with ginger hair. A doctor by profession, he suffered for Christ in the reign of Numerian. When he courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord before the judge, the latter commanded the two executioners, Alexander and Asterios, to bore through his knees, pass a rope through the pierced bone and hang him from a tree. But the executioners, as though the unseen power of God had deprived them of sight, bored through a plank and hung it on the tree. When the judge discovered this, he thought that the executioners had done it deliberately, and ordered that they be flogged. Then Alexander and Asterios cried out under the flogging: ‘The Lord is alive to us; from now on, we are become Christians. We believe in Christ, and suffer for Him.’ Hearing this, the judge ordered that they be beheaded. Then the judge took the awl, to bore through Thallaleus’ knees himself, but his hand was paralysed and he had to ask Thallaleus to heal him, which the kindly martyr, with Christ’s aid, did by his prayers. Then he was thrown into water, but showed himself alive to the judge (for Thallaleus was praying within himself that God would not have him die at once, but would let his tortures continue). When he was thrown to the wild beasts, they licked his feet and rubbed tamely round him. He was finally beheaded and entered into eternal life in 284.

2. The Holy Martyr Asklas.

He suffered in Antionus, a town in Egypt, in the time of Diocletian. He was flogged, flayed and burned with torches, but remained to the end steadfast in the Faith. When the torturer, Arrianos, was crossing the Nile by boat, Asklas, by his prayers, stopped the boat and would not let it move again until Arrianos had put in writing that he believed in Christ as the one, almighty God. But, dismissing that wonder as magic, Arrianos the torturer forgot all that he had written and continued to torture the man of God even more harshly. At last, Asklas had a stone tied around his neck and he was thrown into the Nile. But, on the third day, Christians found his body on the bank, with the stone still round his neck (as the martyr had foretold to them before his death), and gave him burial, in 287. The holy martyr Leonidas suffered together with him. Their torturer, Arrianos, repented later, came to believe in Christ with his whole heart and began to proclaim his faith publicly before the heathen. They then killed him also; and thus Arrianos, the sometime torturer of Christians, became worthy of the martyr’s wreath for Christ.

3. Our Holy Father Stefan of Piperi.

This saint was of the tribe of Nikšić, from the village of Župa, of poor and devout parents, Radoje and Yacima. To learn the ascetic life, he lived first in the monastery of Morača, where he became abbot. The Turks drove him out of there, and he settled in Rovaski Turmanj, in the place now called Celište. After that, he moved again and settled in a cell at Piperi, where he remained to his death in toil and godly asceticism. He entered peacefully into rest in the Lord on May 20th, 1697. His relics are preserved there to this day, and glorify Christ our God and Stefan the man of God by their many wonders.

FOR CONSIDERATION

When a man acquires a Christian conscience, he strives with zeal to set his life aright and to be pleasing to God. All else becomes for him of lesser value. We have examples of such men, not only among the great ascetics and spiritual teachers, but also among mighty kings. The Emperor Theodosios the Great offers us one such example. He at one time fell into heresy, but afterwards repented. In his funeral oration over Theodosios’ body, St. Ambrose said: ‘I loved this man, who, stripping himself of all imperial symbols, publicly bewailed his sin in church, and with sighs and tears, begged for forgiveness. That which a poor man might be ashamed to do was not shame to the emperor. After gaining a glorious victory over the enemies of the empire, he vowed not to receive holy Communion until the return of his sons, because his enemies had been killed in battle.’

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.