Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saturday of the Thirty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 146]. Brethren:

10 ²³All things are lawful to me, but not all things are expedient; all things are lawful to me, but not all things build up. ²⁴Let no one seek that of his own, but each one that of the other. ²⁵Keep on eating everything that is sold in a market, examining nothing for the sake of conscience: ²⁶for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof [Ps. 23(24):1].” ²⁷And if any of the unbelievers invite you, and ye wish to go, be eating everything set before you, examining nothing for the sake of conscience. ²⁸If anyone should tell you, “This is a sacrifice to idols,” cease eating, on account of that one who informed, and for the sake of conscience; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof [Ps. 23(24):1].”

Another Saturday Reading for the Departed

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 270].

4 ¹³Brethren, we do not wish you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not be grieving, even as the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, so also those who fell asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him. ¹⁵For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, the ones remaining over until the coming of the Lord, in no wise shall precede those who fell asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout of command, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. ¹⁷Then we the living, the ones remaining over, shall be carried off together with them in clouds to a meeting of the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 105]. The Lord said:

21 ⁸“Be taking heed lest ye be led astray; for many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and ‘The time hath drawn near.’ Do not then begin to go after them. ⁹“But whenever ye hear of wars and instabilities, do not begin to be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end is not straightway.... ²⁵“And there shall be signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars; and upon the earth anguish of nations, with perplexity, roaring of the sea and rolling swell; ²⁶“men fainting from fear and expectation of those things which are coming upon the inhabited world, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. ²⁷“And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory....

³³“The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words in no wise shall pass away. ³⁴“And be taking heed to yourselves, lest your hearts should be weighed down with carousing, and drinking, and cares of this life, and that day should come upon you suddenly. ³⁵“For as a snare shall it come upon all those sitting upon the face of the whole earth. ³⁶“Be vigilant then, in every season entreating that ye might be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Commemoration of the Departed on Meatfare Saturday

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 16]. The Lord said to the Jews who had come to Him:

5 ²⁴“Verily, verily, I say to you, that the one who heareth My word and believeth the One Who sent Me hath everlasting life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed over out of death into life. ²⁵“Verily, verily, I say to you, that an hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. ²⁶“For even as the Father hath life in Himself, so He also gave to the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷“and He also gave to Him authority to execute judgment. That He is Son of Man, ²⁸“cease marvelling at this; for an hour is coming in which all those in the graves shall hear His voice, ²⁹“and shall go forth—they who did good things to a resurrection of life, but they who practised bad things to a resurrection of condemnation. ³⁰“I am not able to do anything of Myself. Even as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me, the Father.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Meeting of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 316]. Brethren:

7 ⁷Apart from all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. ⁸And here on the one hand men that die receive tithes, but there on the other hand he receiveth tithes who is being witnessed to that he liveth. ⁹And so to speak, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, hath been tithed through Abraham, ¹⁰for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedek met him. ¹¹If indeed then perfection were through the Levitical priesthood—for the people upon the basis of it had been furnished the law—what need still was there for a different kind of priest to arise according to the order of Melchisedek, and not to be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹²For the priesthood being transposed, of necessity a change of law also taketh place. ¹³For He of Whom these things are spoken hath belonged to a different tribe, of which no one hath given attendance at the altar. ¹⁴For it is clear that our Lord hath sprung out of Juda, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵And it is yet more abundantly manifest since, according to the likeness of Melchisedek, there did arise a different priest, ¹⁶Who hath not become so according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indissoluble life. ¹⁷For He testifieth, “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek [Ps. 109(110):4].”

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 8]. At that time:

2 ²⁵There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Symeon, and this man was just and pious, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been divinely revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he should see the Christ of the Lord. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents were bringing in the little Child Jesus, in order to do for Him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸he also received Him into his arms and blessed God and said, ²⁹“Now lettest Thy slave depart in peace, O Master, according to Thy word; ³⁰“for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, ³¹“which Thou didst prepare before the face of all the peoples, ³²“a light for revelation to the nations and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 7]. At that time:

2 ²²The parents of the Child Jesus brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³(even as it hath been written in the law of the Lord: “Every male that openeth a womb shall be called holy to the Lord [cf. Ex. 13:2, 12]”), ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which hath been said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons [cf. Lev. 5:11; 12:8].” ²⁵And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Symeon, and this man was just and pious, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been divinely revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he should see the Christ of the Lord. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents were bringing in the little Child Jesus, in order to do for Him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸he also received Him into his arms and blessed God and said, ²⁹“Now lettest Thy slave depart in peace, O Master, according to Thy word; ³⁰“for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, ³¹“which Thou didst prepare before the face of all the peoples, ³²“a light for revelation to the nations and the glory of Thy people Israel.” ³³And Joseph and His Mother were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning Him. ³⁴And Symeon blessed them, and said to Mariam His Mother, “Behold, this One is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is contradicted— ³⁵“and as to thee a sword shall go through thine own soul also—in order that the reckonings of many hearts might be revealed.” ³⁶And there was Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. She was advanced in many days, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. ³⁷And she was a widow about eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, and worshipped God with fastings and entreaties night and day. ³⁸And she, having stood by, at the same hour, was giving thanks to the Lord and kept on speaking about Him to all those waiting for redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹And when they performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their city Nazareth.

⁴⁰And the little Child was growing and showing Himself strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

February 15th – Civil Calendar
February 2nd – Church Calendar

1. The Meeting of the Lord.

On the fortieth day after His birth, the most holy Virgin brought her divine Son to the temple in Jerusalem, to consecrate Him to the Lord and to purify herself according to the law (Lev. 12:2-7, Exod. 12:2). And though neither the one nor the other was necessary, nevertheless the Lawgiver would not in any way transgress the law which He had given through His servant and prophet Moses. At that time Zacharias, the father of St. John the Baptist, was serving his turn as high priest in the temple. He stood the Virgin Mary in the place for maidens, not that for married women. On this occasion, there were two very special people present: the elder Simeon, and Anna the daughter of Phanuel. Simeon took his Messiah up in his arms and said: ‘Now lettest Thy slave depart in peace, O Master, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.’ Simeon also spoke the following words of the Christ Child: ‘Behold, this One is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel.’ Then Anna, who had from her youth served God in the temple in fasting and prayer, and who herself recognized the Messiah, praised the Lord and made known to the inhabitants of Jerusalem the coming of the awaited One. But the Pharisees, present in the temple and seeing and hearing all that passed, and being vexed with Zacharias for having stood the Virgin Mary in the place for virgins, made this known to King Herod. Believing this to be the new King of Whom the star-followers from the East had spoken, Herod quickly sent to have Jesus killed. But in the meantime, the holy travelers had already escaped from the city and set out for Egypt under the direction of an angel of God. This day has been celebrated from the very earliest times, but its solemn celebration dates from 544, in the time of Emperor Justinian.

2. The Holy New-Martyr Jordan.

Born in Trebizond, he was a coppersmith by profession. For his open defense of the Christian Faith and his denunciation of the falsehood of Islam, he suffered at the hands of the Turks at Galata in Constantinople in 1650. A monk, Gabriel, a reader in the great church in Constantinople, suffered in the same way in 1676.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Speaking of the spread of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, St. John Chrysostom says: ‘As beautiful and prolific fruit-trees, when planted in the earth, quickly attain a great height and ripen and bear fruit; so with this day.’ So also with the day of the Meeting of the Lord. This day was commemorated among Christians from the beginning, but its solemn celebration began in the time of the great Emperor Justinian. At that time, Constantinople and its surroundings were struck by an epidemic, with five thousand or more people dying every day. At the same time there was a terrible earthquake in Antioch. Seeing the powerlessness of men to avert these catastrophes, the emperor and the patriarch together decided to call for fasting and prayer throughout the whole empire. On the day of the Meeting itself, they arranged processions through the towns and villages to implore the Lord to have mercy on His people. And the Lord did have mercy, the epidemic and the earthquake ceasing instantly. This happened in the year 544. As a result, the Meeting came to be celebrated as a great feast of the Lord. Trees sprout at this time and begin the process of bringing forth their abundant fruit.

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.