Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Thursday of the Twelfth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 183]. Brethren:

7 ¹Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, bringing to perfection holiness in the fear of God.

²Make room for us; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we defrauded no one. ³I speak not for condemnation; for I have said before that ye are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴Great is my boldness toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf; I have been filled with comfort, I am superabounding with joy over all our affliction. ⁵For, even after we came into Macedonia, our flesh hath had no rest, but in every way we were being oppressed: fights from outside, and fears from inside. ⁶But God, the One Who comforteth the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus; ⁷and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted over you, when he brought back tidings of your yearning, your mourning, your zeal for me; so as for me to rejoice the more. ⁸For though I sorrowed you in the epistle, I do not feel regret, though I was feeling regret; for I see that the epistle sorrowed you, though for an hour. ⁹Now I rejoice, not that ye were sorrowed, but that ye were sorrowed to repentance; for ye were sorrowed in accordance with God, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing. ¹⁰For the sorrow in accordance with God worketh out repentance to salvation, not to be regretted.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 5]. At that time:

1 ²⁹Jesus came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with Iakovos and John. ³⁰And the mother-in-law of Simon was lying down ill with a fever. And straightway they speak to Him about her. ³¹And He came and took hold of her hand, and raised her up. And immediately the fever left her, and she began ministering to them. ³²And evening having come to pass, when the sun did set, they kept on bringing to Him all those who were ill, and those possessed by demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ³⁴And He cured many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not allowing the demons to talk, because they knew Him.

³⁵And having risen up very early at night, He went out and departed into a desolate place, and was praying there.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Dormition, and the holy Martyr Louppos (transferred to the 22^nd of August on account of the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition), and Hieromartyr Irenæos, Bishop of Lyons.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 5th – Civil Calendar
August 23rd – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Loupos.

This holy man was a servant of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. When St. Demetrius was killed by being pierced with spears by order of the Emperor Maximian, Loupos dipped the hem of his garment and his ring in the martyr’s blood. Loupos worked many miracles in Thessalonica with this garment and ring, healing people of every pain and infirmity. The Emperor Maximian, who was still staying in Thessalonica, discovered this, and commanded that Loupos be tortured and killed. But the soldiers who drew their weapons on Loupos turned one on the other and wounded one another. After harsh torture, he was beheaded and entered into the heavenly kingdom.

2. The Hieromartyr Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons.

He was sent by St. Polycarp from Asia Minor to preach in Gaul. He became the first Bishop of Lyons and brought many pagans to Christianity. At the time of a persecution of Christians in the year 177, Pothinus was taken for trial; carried there, as he was ninety years old. ‘Who is the Christian God?’ the proconsul asked him. ‘You will find out, if you are worthy,’ old Pothinus answered him. The pagans assaulted him with sticks and stones, and belabored him without mercy. Thrown into prison, St. Pothinus died of the beating and entered into the heavenly kingdom.

3. The Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.

He was in his youth a pupil of St. Polycarp, the disciple of the apostles, who sent him to preach in Gaul. After St. Pothinus’ death by martyrdom, Irenaeus was made bishop. In his numerous writings, Irenaeus both expounded the Orthodox Faith and defended it against heretics. He suffered for Christ in the time of the Emperor Severus, in 202, along with nineteen thousand Christians.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The mysterious power of the Cross, however inexplicable, is true and indisputable. St. John Chrysostom speaks of the custom that obtained in his time, of placing the sign of the Cross ‘on the imperial diadem and the soldiers’ accoutrements, and of making it on parts of the body: the head, the breast and the heart, both at the table of sacrifice and on lying down in bed.’ ‘If,’ he says, ‘we are striving to drive out demons, we use the Cross, and it is also of aid in healing sickness.’ St. Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a glass containing poison, and the glass shattered as if struck by a stone. St. Julian made the sign of the Cross over a cup of poison brought to him, and drank the poison, suffering no bodily harm from it. The holy martyr Vasilissa of Nikomedia protected herself with the sign of the Cross and stood in the midst of the flames, remaining completely untouched. The holy martyrs Audon and Senis crossed themselves when ravening wild animals were let loose on them, and the beasts became docile and meek as lambs. The sign of the Cross has been the most powerful weapon against great temptations from demons, from the early ascetics down to the present day. The most ferocious of the devil’s devisings are dispersed into nothing, like smoke, when a man signs himself with the Cross. Thus it was the good will of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that the erstwhile sign of wickedness and shame, the cross, should, after His crucifixion on the wood of the Cross, be the vehicle of all-conquering power and might.

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.