Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Renewal Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 4]. In those days:

2 ¹⁴Peter, having taken his stand with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them, “Men, Jews, and all those who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and hearken to my words. ¹⁵“For these are not drunk, as ye suppose, for it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶“But this is that which hath been spoken by the Prophet Joel, ¹⁷“‘And it shall be in the last days,’ saith God, ‘I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams [cf. Joel 2:28]; ¹⁸“‘and even upon My bondmen and upon My bondwomen in those days I will pour out of My Spirit [cf. Joel 2:29],’ and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹“‘And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke [cf. Joel 2:30]. ²⁰“‘The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come [Joel 2:31]. ²¹“‘And it shall be that everyone, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved [Joel 2:32].’”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 113]. At that time:

24 ¹²Peter arose and ran to the sepulcher; and having stooped to look, he saw the linen cloths lying alone, and departed to his home, wondering at that which had come to pass.

¹³And behold, two of them were going on the same day to a village, being sixty stadia from Jerusalem, which is named Emmaus. ¹⁴And they were conversing with one another about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵And it came to pass, while they conversed and discussed, Jesus Himself drew near and was going together with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were held, so as not to recognize Him. ¹⁷And He said to them, “What words are these which ye exchange with one another, as ye walk and are sad in countenance?” ¹⁸And the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Art Thou sojourning alone as a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which came to pass in it in these days?” ¹⁹And He said to them, “What kind of things?” And they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazaræan, Who was a man, a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰“how both the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to a judgment of death, and crucified Him. ²¹“But we were hoping that He was the One Who was about to redeem Israel; but, beside all these things, this passeth as the third day today since these things took place. ²²“Yea, and certain women from among us astonished us, who were early at the sepulcher. ²³“And not having found His body, they came, declaring also to have seen a vision of angels who say, ‘He is living.’ ²⁴“And certain of those with us went away to the sepulcher, and found it thus, even as also the women said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵And He said to them, “O ye without understanding and slow in heart to believe in all things which the prophets spoke! ²⁶“It was needful for the Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into His glory, was it not?” ²⁷And beginning from Moses and from all of the prophets, He went on interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. ²⁸And they drew near to the village where they were going; and He was making as if to be going further. ²⁹And they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day hath waned.” And He went in to stay with them. ³⁰And it came to pass, as He reclined at table with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and was giving it to them. ³¹And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He disappeared from them. ³²And they said to one another, “Our heart was burning in us as He was speaking to us in the way and as He was opening to us the Scriptures, was it not?” ³³And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those with them, ³⁴saying, “The Lord was raised indeed, and appeared to Simon.” ³⁵And they began relating those things that occurred in the way, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our venerable Father Titus the Wonder-worker.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene

     Archimandrite Raphael, Abbot of the Theotokos Monastery, and Hierodeacon Nicholas, settled on Lesvos (Mytilene) after the Fall of the City. In 1463, Muslims attacked on Great Friday. Archimandrite Raphael was pulled and tugged by his hair and beard along the rock-strewn ground. He was struck with clubs, spears, lances, and swords, while his hands were tied behind his back. He was stabbed all over and cast down paralyzed. His tongue was severed, and he was then suspended upside down from a large walnut tree, repeatedly beaten and whipped for 24 hours. He was cut down from the tree and stripped of his clothing from the waist up. After being positioned on his knees, five savage Muslims took up a saw and began cutting away his lower jaw. Nearly unconscious, he had his head placed on a square icon, where they struck him thrice on his mouth, extracting his lower jaw, thus separating his head from his body on Bright Tuesday, then the 9th of April.
     Deacon Nicholas, bound to a smaller walnut tree, witnessed these terrifying scenes. He, too, was stabbed, but he did not die immediately. It was only after his terror-stricken tender heart had borne the startling sight of his wounds and the punishments of the others, that he suffered cardiac arrest.
     Twelve-year-old Irene was seized and had boiling water poured into her mouth. One of her delicate hands was severed, the limb being tossed before the parents. The stump of her arm was bleeding profusely, as they chopped away one of her little feet. The lass was then pushed down into an earthen jar, where she was burned alive after being doused with flammable liquids and torching her bodice. As she stood trapped in the flaming cask, she lifted up her eyes heavenward and called upon Christ, commending her soul into the hands of the Lord.
     In 1959 and in the early 1960’s miraculous visions of the martyrs were granted to the islanders. The recovery of their relics has been the occasion of countless miracles and pilgrimages.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

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

1. Our Holy Father Titus the Wonder-worker.

He conceived a love for Christ from his earliest years, and despised the vanities of the world. For His sake, he left the world, went off to a monastery and received the angelic habit. With not a backward glance, he gave himself to the sober and narrow way of monasticism. Through great patience, he attained the two basic virtues of humility and obedience, and in these virtues he exceeded ‘not only the brethren, but all men’. He preserved his purity of soul and body right from his youth. In the time of the iconoclast heresy, he was seen to be a steadfast pillar of the Church of God. For his great humility and purity, he was endowed by God with the gift of wonder-working, both in his lifetime and after his death. And when he went to the Lord, he left a large number of disciples behind him. He entered peacefully into rest in the 9th century.

2. The Holy Martyrs Amphianos and Aidesios.

These two young men were brothers from the town of Patara, of eminent but pagan parents. While studying secular learning in Beirut, they were enlightened by the Spirit of God, and understanding the falseness of paganism, came to perceive the truth of Christianity. When they returned home, they could no longer live with their pagan parents and kinsmen, but fled in secret to Caesarea in Palestine, to a priest, Pamphylus, known for his purity and spiritual learning. With Pamphylus, they were instructed in the law of God day and night and practised Christian asceticism. Of Amphianos it is said that he had a twenty-year-old body but the understanding and greatness of soul of a centenarian. When a persecution arose under Maximian, many Christians fled from the town and hid, while others voluntarily and joyfully gave themselves into the torturers’ hands to be able to suffer for the name of the One Who first suffered for them. Amphianos was among these last. He came fearlessly into the pagan temple, where the governor, Urban, was offering sacrifice to idols, and seizing the hand with which the prince was making the offering, cried out to him to leave the service of, and sacrifice to, dead idols and to come to the knowledge of the true God. Some of those who heard his words and saw Amphianos’ great courage, repented and embraced the Christian Faith. But the enraged prince put him to torture. Among other tortures, his legs were wrapped in cotton which was then ignited. Then, while he was still alive, they threw him into the sea with a stone round his neck. The sea became stormy, and cast the martyr’s body ashore in the town.

Aidesios was first sent to a copper mine in Palestine, and then taken to Egypt. In Alexandria, he was filled with holy zeal against Hierokles, the governor, who had been buying Christian nuns, virgins and pious women and giving them to the most shameless prostitutes for ridicule. Aidesios, filled with holy zeal, smote the dishonorable prince. For this he was tortured and drowned in the sea like his brother, Amphianos. As two innocent lambs were they slain for Christ in about 306, and went to the glorious courts of the Lord.

FOR CONSIDERATION

‘It is better to be ignorant but draw near to God in love than to be very learned and at the same time an enemy of God.’ These are the words of St. Irenaeus, the hieromartyr of Lyons. The truth of these words has been confirmed through the ages and is confirmed in our own day. Only one thing needs to be added to this: that those who love God are not ignoramuses, because they know God well enough to love Him. Of all human knowledge, this is the first and highest. And it must also be added that the enemies of God cannot be very learned—although they may think they are—because their knowledge is inevitably chaotic, having no head or order. For the head and order of all knowledge is God. Some of the saints—like Paul the Simple—did not know how to read or write, but by the strength of their spirit and their divine love, surpassed the whole world. He who draws near to God in love is incapable of evil-doing. But learning without love for God is inspired by the spirit of wickedness and strife. St. Efthymios the Great taught: ‘Have love, for as salt is to food, so is love to every virtue.’ Every virtue that is not salted and warmed with divine love is tasteless and cold.

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.