Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Seventh Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 47]. In those days:

23 ¹Paul, having looked intently on the sanhedrin, said, “Men, brethren, I, in all good conscience, have conducted myself as a citizen to God even to this day.” ²But the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to smite his mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is about to smite thee, thou whitewashed wall. And thou sittest judging me according to the law, and acting contrary to the law thou commandest me to be smitten!” ⁴And those having stood by said, “Revilest thou the high priest of God?” ⁵And Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he is high priest; for it hath been written, ‘Thou shalt not speak ill of a ruler of thy people [cf. Ex. 22:28].’” ⁶But Paul, having perceived that the one part was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees, cried out in the sanhedrin, “Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee; I am being judged concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead.” ⁷And after he spoke thus, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the multitude was divided. ⁸For Sadducees indeed say there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but Pharisees confess both. ⁹And there arose a great cry; and the scribes of the part of the Pharisees rose up and were contending, saying, “We find nothing evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel spoke to him, let us not fight against God.” ¹⁰And after a great dissension arose, the tribune, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces, commanded the troops to go down, and to snatch him up out of their midst, and to bring him into the barracks. ¹¹And on the coming night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good courage, Paul; for as thou didst testify concerning the things of Me in Jerusalem, so also it is necessary for thee to bear witness in Rome.”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 54]. The Lord said to His disciples:

16 ¹⁵“All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine; on this account I said that He shall receive of Mine and shall announce it to you. ¹⁶“A little while, and ye behold Me not; and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go away to the Father.” ¹⁷Then some of the disciples said to one another, “What is this which He saith to us, ‘A little while, and ye behold Me not; and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me’; and ‘because I go away to the Father’?” ¹⁸They were saying therefore, “What is this which He saith, ‘A little while’? We know not what He speaketh.” ¹⁹Now Jesus knew that they were wishing to question Him, and He said to them, “Concerning this do ye inquire among one another, because I said, ‘A little while and ye behold Me not, and again, a little while and ye shall see Me’? ²⁰“Verily, verily, I say to you that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall be glad; and ye shall be grieved, but your grief shall become joy. ²¹“The woman, whenever she is about to bring forth, hath grief, because her hour is come; but whenever she should bear the child, she no longer remembereth the affliction, on account of the joy that a man is born into the world. ²²“And therefore ye now on the one hand have sorrow; but on the other hand I will see you again and your heart shall be glad, and your joy no one taketh away from you. ²³“And in that day ye shall ask Me for nothing. Verily, verily, I say to you that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Isaakios, Abbot of the Dalmaton Monastery at Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 12th – Civil Calendar
May 30th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Isaac (Isaakios) the Confessor.

In the time of the Emperor Valens, the Arians persecuted Orthodoxy fiercely with the emperor’s encouragement. Isaac, a hermit somewhere in the East, heard of the persecution, left his desert and went to Constantinople to encourage the faithful and denounce the heretics. Valens arrived in the north at that very time with his army, to meet the Goths who had come down from the Danube into Thrace. Isaac went out and stood before him, saying: ‘Open the churches to those of the true Faith, O emperor, and God will bless thy path,’ but the emperor turned a deaf ear to the elder and went on his way. Isaac spoke out before the emperor on the next day also, repeating his warning, and the emperor almost hearkened to him, but one of his advisors, a follower of the Arian heresy, thwarted him. Isaac spoke before the emperor again on the third day, seizing the emperor’s horse by the reins and pleading with him to grant freedom to the Church of God and to escape divine punishment by acceding to his request. The enraged emperor ordered that the elder be thrown into a briar patch full of thorns and mud, but three angels appeared and pulled him out from his affliction. St. Isaac appeared before the emperor on the fourth day, and foretold a terrible death if he did not give the Orthodox freedom: ‘I tell thee, my emperor, that thou shalt lead thy troops out upon the barbarians, but thou shalt not be able to withstand them. Thou shalt flee before them, but shalt thyself be taken captive and burned alive.’ And so it all came to pass. The barbarians mowed the Greek force down like grass, and the emperor fled with his Arian counselor, and hid in a barn. The barbarians arrived at the spot and realized where the emperor was hiding. They surrounded the barn and set fire to it, burning both the emperor and his counselor. The Emperor Theodosios the Great then came to the throne. He heard of Isaac and of the prophecy that had been fulfilled, and sending for him, prostrated himself before him. And so peace came to reign in the Church and the Arians were banished. Isaac desired to return to his desert, but he was persuaded to remain in Constantinople. A certain influential citizen, Saturninos, built him a monastery where the elder labored in asceticism until his death, performing many wonders. The community overflowed with monks and became a great monastery. Before his death, Isaac appointed a pupil of his, Dalmatos (after whom the monastery was later named), as abbot. The elder Isaac, who had found such favor with God, entered into eternity in the year 383, to rejoice forever in the vision of the face of God.

2. St. Makrina.

The grandmother of St. Basil the Great, she was outstanding for her intellect and piety. She was a disciple of St. Gregory the Wonder-worker of Neocaesarea. In the reign of Diocletian, she abandoned her home and hid in the forests and desert places with her husband, Basil. Although their home was confiscated, they felt no pangs of regret. Stripped of everything except their love for God, they settled in an ancient forest and spent seven years there. By God’s providence, goats would come down from the mountains and provide them with food. They both died peacefully in the fourth century, after great sufferings for the Christian Faith.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The word of God is food for the soul. The word of God is both strength and light for the soul. Whoever reads the word of God provides his soul with food and strength and light. He who can read ought to read the word of the Lord in the holy Scriptures, and he who cannot read ought to listen to what is read. All the saints emphasised the necessity of reading the holy Scriptures. St. Seraphim of Sarov says: ‘The soul must keep itself nourished with the word of God; because the word of God is, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, the bread of angels that feeds the soul that is hungry for God. But, most of all, we must read the New Testament and the Psalms. The understanding is enlightened by these. It is a very good thing to read the word of God in solitude, and to read the entire Bible with understanding. God gives a man His mercy for undertaking this exercise more than for other good deeds, and He fills him with the gift of comprehension. When a man nourishes his soul with the word of God, then he is filled with the understanding of good and evil.’

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.