Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Twenty-Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 312]. Brethren:

5 ¹¹Concerning Melchisedek there is much for our discourse and difficult in interpretation to speak, since ye have become dull in hearing. ¹²For though you even ought to be teachers by reason of the time, ye have need of one to teach you again what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God; and ye have come to be in need of having milk and not of solid food. ¹³For everyone who partaketh of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant; ¹⁴but solid food is for the mature who, by reason of habit, have the senses exercised for discernment of both good and evil.

6 ¹Wherefore having left the discourse of the beginning principle of the Christ, let us be borne on to perfection, not laying down again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God, ²of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. ³And this we will do if indeed God permit. ⁴For it is impossible for those who were enlightened once for all, and who tasted of the gift, the heavenly one, and became partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶and who fell away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify anew to themselves the Son of God and make a public example of Him. ⁷For the earth which drinketh up the oft coming rain, and produceth herbage fit for those by whom it is cultivated, receiveth blessing from God; ⁸but that which shooteth forth thorns and thistles is not approved and near cursing, of which the end is for burning.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 44]. The Lord said:

10 ¹¹“Whosoever shall divorce his wife and marry another committeth adultery against her; ¹²“and if a woman shall divorce her husband and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”

¹³And they were bringing to Him little children, in order that He should touch them; but the disciples were rebuking those who brought them. ¹⁴But after Jesus saw it, He was displeased, and said to them, “Let alone the little children to come to Me, and cease hindering them; for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁵“Verily I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, in no wise shall he enter into it.” ¹⁶And having taken them in His arms, He was fervently blessing them, laying His hands upon them.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Martyr Boniface at Tarsus in Cilicia, and Righteous Aglais of Rome.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

January 1st – Civil Calendar
December 19th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyr Boniface.

Martyrdom for Christ makes sinners into saints. This is shown by the example of St. Boniface. He was at first servant to a wealthy and dissolute woman, Aglaïs, in Rome, and had unclean and unlawful relations with her. Aglaïs evinced the desire to have the relics of some martyr in her house as a blessing so that God would forgive them for their sinful life through the prayers to the martyr, so she sent her servant to Asia to find and buy for her what she desired. Boniface took some slaves with him and a fair amount of money, and at the moment of parting, said to Aglaïs: ‘If I can’t find any martyrs and if they bring you back my body, martyred for Christ, will you receive it with honor?’ Aglaïs rebuked him, saying that this is serious business. Coming to the city of Tarsus, Boniface saw many Christians undergoing torture: some were having their legs cut off, some their hands, others their eyes put out, yet others were dying on the gallows and so forth. Boniface’s heart was changed, and he repented of his sinful life with tears. He called out among the Christian martyrs: ‘I too am a Christian!’ The judge took him for interrogation and ordered that he be harshly flogged, then that boiling lead be poured into his mouth, and as this did him no harm, that he be beheaded. The slaves then took his body back to Rome. An angel of God appeared to Aglaïs and said: ‘Take him who was at one time your servant, but is now our brother and fellow-servant; he is the guardian of your soul and the protector of your life.’ Aglaïs went in wonder to meet them at the dock, took Boniface’s body, built a church for his relics and placed them there. She then repented, gave away all her goods to the poor and withdrew from the world, living a further fifteen years in bitter penitence. St. Boniface suffered in the year 290.

2. St. Gregory, Bishop of Omir.

He was at first a deacon in the church in Mediolanum (Milan), and had many visions. By God’s providence, he was taken to the city of Alexandria, where Patriarch Proterios, in response to a heavenly revelation, consecrated him bishop of the land of Omir in southern Arabia, which the holy King Elesbaan (Oct. 24th) had already freed from the tyranny of Dunaan the Jew. He was a good shepherd and a great wonder-worker. He organized the Church in Omir, with the help of the Christ-loving King Avram, built many churches and baptized a great number of the Jews. He performed great and terrible wonders by his prayers, even bringing about a revelation of Christ the Lord before the unbelieving Jews, which led to their Baptism. Having governed the Church for thirty years, he entered peacefully into eternal life in the late fifth century.

3. St. Boniface the Merciful, Bishop of Ferentino.

He had a rare compassion from childhood, being scolded for this by his mother. But, helped by prayer, he received a hundredfold from the Lord. He died peacefully in Italy in the sixth century.

4. Our Holy Father Elias of Murom.

He was a monk of the Kiev Caves, and died in 1188. His incorrupt relics have wonder-working power. Three fingers of his right hand are to this day raised in prayer, whence it is seen that he died at prayer. This is a commentary on those who do not make the sign of the Cross with three fingers.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Can faith remove mountains (Matt. 17:20)? Yes, undoubtedly, and it can do more than that: faith can move God Himself to compassion towards us sinners. In the Omirian town of Aphar, the majority of the inhabitants were Jews. St. Gregory strove to bring them to the Christian Faith. Then the Jews suggested to him and to King Avram that they should have a debate on faith, with the assurance that, if they were defeated, they would all embrace the Christian Faith. The debate lasted several days, in the presence of several thousand people, both Jews and Christians. The Jews, seeing that they would be defeated by the irrefutable reasons and proofs brought by Gregory, demanded that he in some way show them Christ alive, that they might see Him with their own eyes, and they would then believe. Having utter confidence in the Lord because of the purity of his heart, St. Gregory knelt, facing east, before them all and prayed to God. When he had finished his prayer, the earth quaked and there was a clap of thunder, and the heavens opened to eastward. A luminous cloud appeared from the east, aflame with brilliant rays, and slowly descended to earth at the spot where the people were gathered. In the midst of the cloud stood a Man of unspeakable beauty, with a radiant face and raiment like lightning. He walked across the cloud till He stood above Bishop Gregory. All saw Him in unsurpassable glory and beauty, and fell on their faces in fear. Gregory cried out: ‘One only is holy, One only is Lord: Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen!’ At this, there came a voice to the Jews from the Lord’s glory: ‘For the sake of the bishop’s prayers, the Crucified heals you of the unbelief of your forefathers,’ and the cloud slowly disappeared as it had come. The Jews were then baptized.

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.