Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Tenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 165]. Brethren:

16 ⁴If it be worthy for me also to go, they shall go with me. ⁵But I will come to you whenever I pass through Macedonia; for I am passing through Macedonia. ⁶And it may be that I will stay, or even spend the winter with you, that ye may send me forth wheresoever I may go. ⁷For I am not intending to see you while passing by; but I am hoping to tarry a certain time with you, if the Lord permit. ⁸But I will tarry in Ephesus until the Pentecost. ⁹For a great and effectual door hath opened to me, and they who oppose are many.

¹⁰Now if Timothy should come, be seeing to it that he might be with you without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, even as I do. ¹¹Let no one therefore despise him. But send him forth in peace, that he might come to me; for I await him with the brethren. ¹²Now concerning our brother Apollos, I besought him much that he should come to you with the brethren; but it was not at all his will that he should come now, but he will come whenever he should have opportunity.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 86]. The Lord said this parable:

21 ²⁸“A certain man had two children, and he came to the first and said, ‘Child, go today and work in my vineyard.’ ²⁹“And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he felt regret and went forth. ³⁰“And he came to the second and spoke in like manner. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir’; and he went not forth. ³¹“Which of the two did the will of the father?” They say to Him, “The first.” Jesus saith to them, “Verily I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. ³²“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and ye, having seen, felt no regret afterward in order to believe him.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration, and our holy father among the saints, Emilian the Confessor, Bishop of Kyzikos.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 21st – Civil Calendar
August 8th – Church Calendar

1. St. Emilian the Confessor, Bishop of Kyzikos.

He was bishop in Kyzikos in the time of the wicked Emperor Leo the Armenian, the iconoclast. Refusing to carry out the imperial directive on the removal of icons from the churches, he was, along with other Orthodox bishops, sent into exile. He spent five years in exile, enduring many ills and much humiliation for the sake of Christ. He died in 820, and joined the company of the citizens of heaven.

2. St. Myron the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Crete.

He was at first married, and was a laborer of the land, sharing the fruits of his farm joyfully and abundantly with the poor. He once caught some unknown thieves on his threshing-floor, stealing grain. Not saying who he was, St. Myron helped the thieves to fill their sacks, lift them onto their backs and escape. For his outstanding virtues, he was ordained priest and later consecrated bishop. He was a great wonder-worker and did many good and mighty works in the name of the Lord Jesus. He entered into rest in about 350, at the great age of a hundred.

3. Our Holy Father Gregory the Sinaite.

He was named ‘the Sinaite’ because he became a monk on Mount Sinai. In the time of the Emperor Andronikos Palaeologos, in about 1330, he went to the Holy Mountain to visit the monasteries and discover more about mental prayer and contemplation. But these two spiritual exercises were little known at that time among the monks of the Holy Mountain. The only one who was experienced in them and practised them perfectly was St. Maximus of Kapsokalyvia. Gregory spread his teaching on mental prayer through all the cells and monasteries of the Holy Mountain. His most famous pupil was Kallistos, Patriarch of Constantinople, who wrote Gregory’s life. After that, Gregory went to Macedonia and to other parts of the Balkans, and founded communities in which the monks engaged in mental prayer, thus helping many to deepen their prayer and come to salvation. His writings on mental prayer and asceticism are found in the Philokalia. Among other things, he wrote the hymn to the Holy Trinity: ‘It is meet and right...,’ which is sung in the Midnight Office on Sundays. He stands among the most famous ascetics and spiritual teachers of the Balkans. He entered peacefully into rest in 1346, after a life of great toil, and went to the kingdom of Christ.

4. The Holy New-Martyrs Triandaphyllos and Spaso.

Triandaphyllos was born in Zagora and Spaso in Radoviste, in the diocese of Strumica. They were both Slavs, both young and simple men. But the love of Christ drew them out of the world and out of this life. They gave their lives, and remained faithful to Christ, suffering under the Turks for their faith: Tryandaphyllos in Constantinople in 1680 and Spaso in Thessalonica in 1794.

5. The Holy Martyr Gormizdas.

He was a noble at the court of the Persian King Yazdgird. Because he refused to deny Christ, the king sadly deprived him of his rank and possessions and sent him to look after the animals, being convinced that Gormizdas would soon grieve for his rank and possessions, and would worship idols. Gormizdas peacefully minded the cattle and remained faithful. The king therefore put him to harsh torture, which succeeded only in weakening the body of Christ’s martyr without affecting his soul. Finally, Gormizdas was killed, in 418, immediately after the martyrdom of St. Abdus the Bishop (see March 31st). He suffered on earth, and was glorified in heaven.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘Lo, I have set before you life and death,’ said Moses to the sons of Israel, ‘therefore choose life, that...you may live’ (Deut. 30:19). There are decisive moments in men’s lives, when a man is truly left to choose life or death. Judas, in the moment of decision, was so overcome by the lust for silver that he chose death, the death of cupidity. When the miltary governor wanted to make Marinus the soldier (see August 7th) an officer, an envious man denounced him as a Christian. The governor gave him three hours to think and choose life or death, to deny Christ or to die. Marinus, hearing the words of his superior, went to the local bishop, Theotechnos, to ask his advice. The bishop took him into the church, stood him before the Gospel and then, indicating first the Gospel and then the sword that Marinus was wearing, said to him: ‘Choose, brave man, one of these two: either carry a sword and serve the transient king, being lost eternally at your death, or become a soldier of the King of heaven and lay down your life for His holy name, recorded in this book, and reign with Him in immortal life.’ Marinus at once made up his mind, kissed the holy Gospel and went out—to go through death to eternal life.

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.