Daily Devotional

Tuesday, August 13, 2030 (NS), July 31, 2030 (OS)

No Fasting.

Tuesday of the Ninth Week

The commemoration of the holy and Righteous Evdokimos, and the Forefeast of the Procession of the precious Cross.

Jump to Prologue

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 152]. Brethren:

12 ¹²Even as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. ¹³For also by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and were all given to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴For also the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it on account of this not of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it on account of this not of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? ¹⁸But now God Himself set the members, each one of them in the body, even as He willed. ¹⁹But if all were one member, where would the body be? ²⁰But now indeed are they many members, but one body. ²¹And the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I have no need of thee”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²But much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, to these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, ²⁴but our comely parts have no need. But God tempered the body, giving more abundant honor to that which lacked, ²⁵in order that there may not be a schism in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§§ 76, mid 77, mid 78]. The Lord said to His disciples:

18 ¹⁸“Verily I say to you, whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens. ¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you should agree on the earth concerning any matter—whatsoever they ask for themselves—it shall come to pass for them from My Father Who is in the heavens. ²⁰“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”

²¹Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” ²²Jesus saith to him, “I say not to thee, ‘Until seven times,’ but, ‘Until seventy times seven.’”...

19 ¹And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came to the borders of Judæa on the other side of the Jordan. ²And great crowds followed Him; and He cured them there....

¹³Then little children were brought to Him, in order that He should lay His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, “Let alone the little children, and cease hindering them to come to Me; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens.” ¹⁵And He laid His hands upon them, and He departed from that place.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy and Righteous Evdokimos, and the Forefeast of the Procession of the precious Cross.

Epistle

For the Righteous one:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 97]. Brethren:

8 ¹⁴As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye received a Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: ¹⁷And if children, also heirs—on the one hand heirs of God, on the other hand joint-heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, in order that we might also be glorified together. ¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy in comparison to the future glory to be revealed in us. ¹⁹For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaiteth the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰For creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but on account of Him Who subjected it in hope, ²¹that the creation itself also shall be freed from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

for Sl. usage, see [Gal. 5:22-6:2].

Gospel

For the Righteous one:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 36]. The Lord said:

8 ¹⁶“No one, having lit a lamp, covereth it with a vessel or putteth it underneath a bed, but placeth it upon a lampstand, that they who enter in may see the light. ¹⁷“For nothing is secret which shall not become manifest, nor hidden that shall not be known and come to light. ¹⁸“Be taking heed then how ye hear: for whosoever hath, it shall be given to him; and whosoever hath not, even what he seemeth to have shall be taken away from him.”

¹⁹And His Mother and brethren came to Him, and were not able to meet with Him on account of the crowd. ²⁰And it was reported to Him by some who said, “Thy Mother and Thy brethren are standing outside, wishing to see Thee.” ²¹And He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brethren are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

for Sl. usage, see [Mt. 11:27-30].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 13th – Civil Calendar
July 31st – Church Calendar

1. St. Evdokimos (Eudocimus).

He was born in Cappadocia of devout parents, Basil and Evdokia. In the time of the Emperor Theophilus (829-842), Evdokimos was a young army officer. Even as a soldier, he endeavored with his whole heart to live according to the precepts of the Gospel. He kept his purity unstained and avoided converse with any woman except his mother. He was liberal to the poor, assiduous in the reading of holy books and yet more assiduous in prayer to God. He fled vain chatter and idle talk. ‘Among all the chaos and vanity of the world, he was like a lily among thistles, and like gold in the furnace.’ For his rare virtues, the emperor made him military governor of Cappadocia. In this high state, Evdokimos strove to be righteous before God and man. By God’s providence, he died early, at the age of thirty-three, and his relics were found to have healing power. An insane man touched his tomb and was healed, and a paralytic child stood upright and was made whole. After eighteen months, his mother opened his coffin, and found his body as though still alive, with no mark of corruption—and a wonderful fragrance arose from the saint’s body. His relics were later translated to Constantinople and buried in the new church of the holy Mother of God, built by Evdokimos’ parents.

2. The Holy Martyr Julitta.

From Caesarea in Cappadocia, she was involved in a quarrel with her neighbor over some land. The neighbor went to the judge and denounced her as a Christian, which put her at that time outside the protection of the law. St. Julitta was more willing to give up her land than her faith. But the wicked pagans were not willing even then to leave her in peace, but tortured her and finally burned her, in the year 303. Thus this handmaid of Christ sacrificed both her lands and her body for the sake of the eternal salvation of her soul.

3. St. Joseph of Arimathea.

Noble Joseph, a rich man, a member of the Jewish sanhedrin and a secret follower of Christ (Matt. 27:57; Jn 19:38), took Christ’s body down from the Cross together with Nicodemus, and laid it in his own new tomb. For this, he was fettered by the Jews and cast into prison. The risen Lord appeared to him and brought him to belief in His Resurrection. The Jews then released him from prison and drove him from his fatherland. He travelled around the world, preaching the Gospel of Christ, and took this Good News to England, where he entered into rest in the Lord.

4. St. John (Ioan) the Exarch.

A well-known Bulgarian priest and theologian in the time of the Emperor Simeon (893-927), he translated St. Basil’s ‘On the Six Days of Creation’ and St. John of Damascus’ ‘Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith’ into Slavonic. He entered peacefully into rest in the Lord.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Ascetics in the desert labor to break their own wills and live according to the will of God. Some may think, mistakenly, that a hermit lives completely alone. No hermit thinks that. He lives in the company of God and of His angels, and of the departed saints. Where a man’s mind is, there is his life. A hermit’s mind is set on the greatest, most pure and most numerous company in which a man can be. Once, Abba Mark reproached St. Arsenius the hermit thus: ‘For what cause do you flee our society and discourse?’ Arsenius replied: ‘God knows that I love you, but it is not possible to be with God and with men. In heaven, thousand upon thousand have but one will, but the wills of men are many and varied. That is why I cannot leave God and be with men.’

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.