Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Second Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 13]. In those days:

5 ¹A certain man, by name Ananias, with Sapphire his wife, sold a property, ²and appropriated for themselves part of the price, his wife also being privy to it. And he brought a certain part, and laid it at the feet of the apostles. ³But Peter said, “Ananias, why did Satan fill thy heart for thee to deceive the Holy Spirit, and to appropriate part of the price of the land? ⁴“While it remained, it did remain thine own, did it not? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own authority? Why didst thou put this thing in thy heart? Thou didst not lie to men, but to God.” ⁵And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and expired. And great fear came to be upon all who heard these things. ⁶And the younger men rose up and wrapped him round, and carried him out, and buried him. ⁷And there came to pass an interval of about three hours, and his wife, who knew not what had happened, entered. ⁸And Peter began to speak to her, “Tell me whether ye yourselves sold the land for so much?” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹And Peter said to her, “Why was it agreed together by you to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.” ¹⁰And immediately she fell down at his feet and expired. And the young men entered and found her dead. And they carried her out and buried her by her husband. ¹¹And great fear came to be upon the whole church and upon all those who heard these things.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 17]. The Lord said to the Jews having come to Him:

5 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. ³¹“If I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is not true. ³²“It is Another Who beareth witness concerning Me, and I know that the testimony which He beareth witness to concerning Me is true. ³³“Ye have sent away to John, and he hath borne witness to the truth. ³⁴“But I receive not testimony from man. But I say these things that ye might be saved. ³⁵“That one was the lamp that burneth and shineth, and ye became willing to rejoice for an hour in his light. ³⁶“But I have the testimony greater than that of John; for the works which the Father gave to Me in order that I should finish them, the very works which I do, bear witness concerning Me that the Father hath sent Me forth. ³⁷“And the Father Who sent Me, Himself hath borne witness concerning Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor have seen His form. ³⁸“And ye have not His word abiding in you, for He Whom that One sent forth, this One ye believe not. ³⁹“Keep on searching the Scriptures, for in them ye think to have eternal life; and these are they which testify concerning Me. ⁴⁰“And yet ye are not willing to come to Me in order that ye may have life. ⁴¹“I receive not glory from man. ⁴²“But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³“I have come in the name of My Father, and ye receive Me not; if another should come in his own name, that one ye will receive. ⁴⁴“How are ye able to believe, who receive glory from one another, and seek not the glory which is from the only God? ⁴⁵“Cease thinking that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuseth you—Moses, in whom ye have hoped. ⁴⁶“For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for concerning Me that one wrote. ⁴⁷“But if ye believe not the writings of that one, how shall ye believe My words?”

6 ¹After these things Jesus went away across the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ²And a great crowd was following Him, because they had been seeing the signs which He brought about upon those who were sick.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

April 25th – Civil Calendar
April 12th – Church Calendar

1. Our Holy Father Isaac II of Syria (St. Isaac the Syrian is commemorated on Jan. 28th).

St. Gregory the Dialogist writes about this Isaac. He went to Italy in the time of the Goths and went into the church in the town of Spoleto to pray. He asked the verger to leave him locked in the church all night, and thus spent the night in prayer without moving from that place. He spent the next day and night in the same way. The verger called him a hypocrite and struck him a blow—and lost his reason at that same moment. Seeing how the verger was so fiercely tormented, Isaac bent over him and the evil spirit fled from him, leaving him whole. People came to hear of this happening, and the whole town thronged around this wonderful elder. They offered him money and goods, but he refused them all and would accept nothing. Instead, he withdrew to a forest, where he built himself a cell, which quickly became transformed into a large monastery. Isaac became famous for his miracles, especially for his discernment. One evening he told the brethren to take all the hoes out to the vineyard and leave them there. The next day, the brethren set out for the vineyard, taking their lunch, as they had no workers. When they got there, they found as many people working as there were hoes to work with. It transpired that these people had come as thieves to steal the hoes, but by the power of God, they were constrained to work all night.

On another occasion, a couple of almost-naked men came seeking clothing from Isaac. He sent a monk to a hollow tree at the end of the road, to bring what he found there. The monk went off, found some clothing and brought it back to the monastery. The abbot took the clothing and gave it to the beggars. They were profoundly ashamed as they recognized their own clothing, which they had concealed in that tree.

A man once sent two beehives to the monastery. A monk hid one of them on the way, and brought the other to the abbot. The saint said to him: ‘Be careful when you go back to that beehive you hid on the way. It’s been taken over by poisonous snakes. Take care they don’t bite you!’

St. Isaac reposed in peace in 550.

2. St. Basil the Confessor.

In a time of iconoclasm, this virtuous man was bishop in the city of Parius in Asia Minor. He refused to sign the imperial order against the veneration of icons, for which he was greatly persecuted and tortured. But he remained firm as diamond in his Orthodoxy. He died in the first half of the 8th century, and went to the Lord.

3. Our Holy Father Akakios.

From the village of Gollitsa in Epirus, he was a great Athonite ascetic, spiritual guide and clairvoyant, and had many heavenly visions. He gave his blessing to several monks to seek martyrdom. He entered into rest at the age of 98, in 1730.

4. Our Holy Mother Athanasia.

Born on the island of Aegina of rich and eminent parents, she gave her goods to the poor and went off to a monastery, where she heaped greater and greater asceticism on herself. She took food only once a day, and that only bread and water, and in the Great Fast only once every two days. Only at Nativity and Pascha did she taste fish and oil. Although she was abbess of the monastery, she was the servant of all the other sisters and was ashamed that any should wait on her. She was made worthy of the great gift of wonder-working, both during her lifetime and after her death. She entered into rest in the Lord in 860.

FOR CONSIDERATION

The wicked Emperor Constantine Kopronymos had a virtuous daughter, the maiden Anthusa, ‘a beauteous branch of an evil stem’. She remained set against all her father’s urgings that she marry, for she was firmly bound in whole-hearted love to Christ the Lord. When her father died, Anthusa gave her goods away to the poor and became a nun in a monastery. It is a cause of wonder that many men of gentle birth have left the vanity of the world and set off on the narrow way after Christ; and it is twice as great a cause of wonder that women scorn youth and wealth and all the transient attraction of the world for the love of Christ. The Lord Himself said that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Hard, yes: but not impossible. To those who scorn their own selves, it is easy to scorn riches and the whole world.

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.