Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Seventh Week - Apodosis of Ascension

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 50A]. In those days:

27 ¹When it was decided that we should sail off to Italy, they were delivering up both Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion, by name Julius, of Augustus’ cohort. ²And having boarded an Adramyttium ship about to sail toward Asian places, we put out to sea. Aristarchos, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. ³And the next day we landed in Sidon. And Julius treated Paul humanely, and permitted him to go to his friends to obtain care. ⁴And after we put out to sea from that place, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. ⁵And after we sailed across the high sea over against Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra of Lycia. ⁶And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and put us on board therein. ⁷And when we sailed slowly for many days, and scarcely came over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete over against Salmone. ⁸And hardly coasting along it, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, which was near a city of Lasæa. ⁹And after considerable time intervened, and the voyage was already precarious, because the fast had gone by, Paul began advising them, ¹⁰saying, “Men, I perceive that the voyage is about to be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and of the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹But the centurion was being persuaded by the steersman and the shipowner, rather than by the things which were spoken of by Paul. ¹²And because the harbor was inconvenient for wintering in, the majority gave counsel to set sail from that place also, if by any means they might be able to winter there after they arrived at Phœnice, a port of Crete, which looks toward the southwest and toward the northwest. ¹³And after a south wind blew gently, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and were coasting along close by Crete. ¹⁴But not long after, a typhonic wind, called Euroclydon, fell against her. ¹⁵And after the ship was caught, and was not able to look the wind in the eye, we gave way, and were being borne along. ¹⁶And running under a certain small island which is called Clauda, we were hardly able to become masters of the skiff, ¹⁷which they hoisted up after they had used helps and undergirded the ship; and fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear and were thus being borne along. ¹⁸And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, on the next day they began making a jettison of the cargo. ¹⁹And on the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. ²⁰And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest was being laid upon us, finally all hope of our being saved began to be taken away. ²¹And since there was much abstinence from food, Paul then stood in their midst and said, “It was needful, indeed, O men, to have hearkened to me, and not to have set sail from Crete and reaped this injury and loss. ²²“And now I advise you to be of good cheer; for not even one life among you shall be lost, except in respect of the ship. ²³“For there stood by me this night an angel of God, Whose I am and Whom I worship, ²⁴“saying, ‘Cease being afraid, Paul; it is needful for thee to stand before Caesar; and behold, God hath granted to thee all those sailing with thee.’ ²⁵“Wherefore, be of good cheer, men, for I believe God that it shall be thus according to the way it hath been spoken to me. ²⁶“But it is needful for us to be cast ashore upon a certain island.” ²⁷Now when it came to be the fourteenth night, as we were tossed about in the Adria, toward the middle of the night the sailors began to surmise some land to be drawing near them. ²⁸And they took soundings, and found it to be twenty fathoms. And after they went a little further, they took soundings again, and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹And fearing lest they should suffer shipwreck in rough places, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and kept on praying for day to come. ³⁰Now as the sailors who sought to flee out of the ship lowered the skiff into the sea with the pretext that they were about to cast out anchors from the prow, ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” ³²Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the skiff, and let her fall off. ³³And until day was about to come, Paul kept on beseeching all to partake of food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that ye wait with expectation and continue without food, having taken nothing. ³⁴“Wherefore I beseech you to take food, for this is for your preservation; for not one hair from your head shall fall.” ³⁵And after he said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God before all; and having broken it he began to eat. ³⁶And after they all became of good cheer, they also took food for themselves. ³⁷And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six souls in the ship. ³⁸And after they were satiated with food, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. ³⁹And when it became day, they tried to recognize the land, but could not; but they began to perceive a certain bay having a beach, into which they purposed, if they could, to drive the ship on shore. ⁴⁰And having slipped the anchors, they were leaving them in the sea, at the same time having loosed the yokes of the rudders; and having hoisted the foresail to the blowing wind, they began making toward the seashore. ⁴¹And having fallen into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And on the one hand the prow became fixed and remained unmovable, but on the other hand the stern was being broken by the violence of the waves. ⁴²And the counsel of the soldiers was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any should swim out and escape. ⁴³But the centurion was willing to save Paul, and hindered them of their purpose, and commanded those who were able to swim to cast themselves off first, and to go out on the land, ⁴⁴and the rest, some on the one hand on planks, and some on the other hand on some of the things from the ship. And so it came to pass that all came through safely to the land.

28 ¹And having come through safely, then they found out that the island was called Melita.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 57]. At that time Jesus lifted up His eyes to the heaven and said:

17 ¹⁸“Even as Thou didst send Me forth into the world, I also sent them forth into the world. ¹⁹“And on behalf of them I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰“And I do not make request for these only, but also for those who shall believe on Me through their word; ²¹“in order that all may be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world might believe that Thou didst send Me forth. ²²“And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, in order that they may be one, even as We are one: ²³“I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that Thou didst send Me forth, and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me. ²⁴“Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold the glory, that which is Mine, which Thou gavest Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵“O righteous Father, indeed the world did not know Thee, but I knew Thee, and these knew that Thou didst send Me forth. ²⁶“And I made known to them Thy name, and will make it known, in order that the love with which Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher and those with him, and our venerable Father Dionysios, Abbot and Wonder-worker of Glushetsk in Vologda.

Epistle

For the Martyr:

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 125]. Brethren:

1 ¹⁸The word, that of the Cross, on the one hand, to those who are perishing is foolishness, but on the other hand, to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it hath been written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will set at nought the comprehension of the intelligent [cf. Is. 29:14].” ²⁰Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world knew not God through its wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. ²²For indeed, Jews ask for a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom; ²³but we proclaim Christ Who hath been crucified, to Jews, on the one hand, a stumbling block, and to Greeks, on the other hand, foolishness, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom.

For the venerable Father:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§ 213]. Brethren:

5 ²²The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴But they who are of the Christ crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be walking by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

6 ¹Brethren, even if a man should be overtaken in some transgression, ye, the spiritual ones, be restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness, looking out for thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Keep on bearing one another’s burdens, and thus fill up the law of the Christ.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 52]. The Lord said to His disciples:

15 ¹⁷“These things I command you, that ye be loving one another.

¹⁸“If the world hate you, ye know that it hath hated Me before it hath hated you. ¹⁹“If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world—but I chose you for Myself out of the world—therefore the world hateth you. ²⁰“Keep on remembering the word which I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they know not the One Who sent Me. ²²“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no pretext for their sin. ²³“The one who hateth Me hateth My Father also. ²⁴“If I did not do the works among them which no other one hath done, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵“But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled which hath been written in their law: ‘They hated Me without a cause [cf. Ps. 34(35):22, 68(69):5(4)].’ ²⁶“But whenever the Paraclete should come, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the truth Who proceedeth from the Father, that One shall bear witness concerning Me. ²⁷“And ye also are bearing witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

16 ¹“These things I have spoken to you, in order that ye should not be made to stumble. ²“They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea moreover, there cometh an hour that everyone who killeth you should think that he offereth God a service.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 14th – Civil Calendar
June 1st – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher.

He was born of Greek parents in the Samaritan town of Shechem (formerly called Nablus), about a hundred and five years after Christ. He sought wisdom and philosophy with his whole heart, first with the Stoics, then with the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans and finally with the Platonists. Although Platonic philosophy did not content him, it held him the longest, until he found something higher to attract him. By God’s providence, he encountered a remarkable old man who began to undermine his Platonic philosophy, reminding him that a man cannot fully know the truth about God till God reveals it to him, and telling him that God had revealed the truth about Himself in the books of holy Scripture. Justin began to read the Scriptures, and became an utterly convinced Christian, but he would not be baptized or call himself a Christian until he had convinced himself of the falseness of the accusations that pagans found to bring against Christians. Going to Rome for a philosophical gathering, he quickly gained much respect there, and many followers. He witnessed the martyrdom of St. Ptolemy and St. Lucian, and seeing the tortures of these innocent Christians, wrote an Apologia for Christians and Christian teaching and gave it to the Emperor Antoninus and the Senate. The emperor read it carefully and ordered that the persecution of Christians cease. Justin took a copy of the emperor’s decree and went off to Asia, where he saved many persecuted Christians by its aid. After that, he returned again to Rome. When a persecution arose under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he wrote a second Apologia and addressed it to the emperor. Some disreputable philosopher, Crescens, a Cynic, denounced him as a Christian because Justin was getting the better of him in every dispute, and Justin was thrown into prison. Desiring his death, and fearing that judgement would not be given against him, Crescens took the opportunity to administer poison to him in the prison. Thus this great defender of the Christian Faith finished his earthly course and went to the blessedness of eternity, in the year 166.

2. The Holy Martyrs Justin, Chariton, Evelpistus, Hierax, Peon, Liverianus and Justus.

These all suffered in Rome in the time of Marcus Aurelius and the Eparch Rusticus. When Rusticus asked: ‘Do you think that, if you die for Christ, you will receive a reward in heaven?’ Justin replied: ‘We do not think it; we know!’ They were all then beheaded, in 163, and went to the kingdom of Christ our God.

3. Our Holy Father Agapitus of the Kiev Caves.

A natural doctor, he was a disciple of St. Anthony of Kiev. He healed people by prayer and the prescribing of cabbage, which they made into a sort of bread. Prince Vladimir Monomachus was healed in this way, and this made Agapitus famed on all sides. The prince’s doctor, an Armenian, hearing of this, began to spread slander about him. When Agapitus became ill, the Armenian came, and looking at him, said that he would die in three days and that, if he did not do so, then he, the Armenian, would become a monk. Agapitus told him that it had been revealed to him by God that he would die, not in three days but in three months. And so it came to pass. After Agapitus’ death, the Armenian went to the abbot of the Monastery of the Caves and asked him to make him a monk. He explained that Agapitus had appeared to him from the other world and reminded him of his promise. And so the one-time envier became a humble monk, by the providence of God Whose care it is that all men be saved. St. Agapitus entered into rest in about 1095.

FOR CONSIDERATION

There is a passage in the ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ by Flavius Josephus, a distinguished Jewish historian who lived at the end of the first century, which refutes the slander and malice that has at times been directed against Christ the Lord by the Jews. He writes: ‘At that time there lived one Jesus, a wise man, who was scarcely able to be called a man because of the marvellous works that he performed. He was a teacher of men, who received the truth with joy, and drew many followers to himself, both Jews and Greeks. He was the Christ. After that, when Pilate, at the deposition of the most eminent of our race, condemned him to death by crucifixion, those who had loved him did not forsake him. He showed himself to them alive after three days, as had been divinely prophesied concerning this and many other of his works. And the Christian sect, called after him, remains to this day.’ Thus wrote a man who did not believe in Christ—a writer free of bias and evil intent.

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.