Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Eighth Sunday, or the Sunday of Holy Pentecost

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 3].

2 ¹While the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all with one accord in the same place. ²And suddenly there came to be a sound out of the heaven, like as of a violent wind borne along, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³And there appeared to them tongues, as if of fire, being distributed; and it sat upon each one of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, even as the Spirit was giving them to utter. ⁵And there were Jews abiding in Jerusalem, pious men, from every nation of those under the heaven. ⁶And the report of this having arisen, the multitude came together and was confounded, because they were hearing, each one of them, speaking in his own dialect. ⁷And they were all amazed and wondering, saying to one another, “Behold, all these who are speaking are Galilæans, are they not? ⁸“And how do we each hear in our own dialect in which we were born? ⁹“Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those who dwell in Mesopotamia, also Judæa and Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, ¹⁰“also Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya which are in the region of Cyrene, and the Romans, both Jews and proselytes, who sojourn here, ¹¹“Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the magnificent works of God.”

Gospel

In the Orthros

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 65].

20 ¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first of the week—and the doors were closed where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews—Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith to them, “Peace be to you.” ²⁰And after He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad, after they saw the Lord. ²¹Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; even as the Father hath sent Me forth, I also send you.” ²²And after He said this, He breathed on them, and saith to them, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit: ²³“if ye forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven to them; if ye retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

In the Liturgy

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 27].

7 ³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus was standing and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸“The one who believeth in Me, even as the Scripture said—rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly.” ³⁹But this He said concerning the Spirit, Whom those who believe in Him were about to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. ⁴⁰Many therefore of the crowd, having heard the utterance, were saying, “This is truly the Prophet.” ⁴¹Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” But others were saying, “The Christ is not coming out of Galilee, is He? ⁴²“Hath not the Scripture said that of the seed of David and from the village of Bethlehem, where David was, the Christ is coming?” ⁴³Therefore a division occurred in the crowd on account of Him. ⁴⁴And some of them were wishing to lay hold of Him, but no one laid hands on Him. ⁴⁵Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did ye not bring Him?” ⁴⁶The officers answered, “Never did a man so speak as this Man.” ⁴⁷Then the Pharisees answered them, “Ye have not also been deceived, have ye? ⁴⁸“Not one of the rulers believe in Him or of the Pharisees, doth he? ⁴⁹“But this people who knoweth not the law are accursed!” ⁵⁰Nicodemos (the one who came by night to Him, being one of them) saith to them, ⁵¹“Our law doth not judge the man, unless it should first hear him, and know from the man himself what he doeth, doth it?” ⁵²They answered and said to him, “Thou art not also of Galilee, art thou? Search and look, for a prophet hath not been raised out of Galilee.”...

8 ¹²Then Jesus spoke again to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; the one who followeth Me in no wise shall walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of the life.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Prusa, and his companions, the Presbyters Akakios, Menander, and Polyainos.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 1st – Civil Calendar
May 19th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Prousa, with three priests: Akakios, Menander and Polyenos.

They suffered for the Christian Faith in the time of Julian the Apostate in Asian Prousa. The imperial governor, Junius, brought Patrick to a hot water spring and asked him: ‘Who created this healing water, if not our gods, Aesculapius and the others, whom we worship?’ St. Patrick answered: ‘Your gods are demons; and this water, like all other water, was created by Christ, our Lord and God.’ Then the governor asked: ‘And will this Christ of yours save you if I throw you into this boiling water?’ The saint replied: ‘If He wills, He can keep me whole and uninjured, although I would wish, in this water, to be parted from this temporal life, that I may live eternally with Christ; but let His holy will be done, without which not a hair of a man’s head can fall.’ Hearing this, the governor ordered that Patrick be thrown into the water. The boiling drops fell on all sides, and scalded many of the onlookers, but the saint remained untouched, as though he were standing in cold water. Seeing this, the governor was wild with shame and commanded that Patrick and three of his priests be beheaded with axes. So these goodly followers of Christ said their prayers and laid their heads under the executioner’s axe. When they had been beheaded, their souls were taken merrily to Christ’s kingdom of light, to reign eternally.

2. St. John, Bishop of the Goths.

He was bishop in Georgia, but when a local Tartar khan began to torture the Christians, he went off and spent four years among the Goths in Bessabara (a Gothic diocese formed in the time of Constantine the Great). Hearing of the death of the khan, he returned to his work and guided his flock with zeal and godliness. Before his death, he said: ‘In forty days I shall go to judgement with the khan’ (that is: through death, he was going before the throne of God). And thus it was. On the fortieth day, he passed away and went to the Lord. He entered peacefully into rest in the 8th century.

3. The Holy Prince Ivan of Vologda.

He was a wonder-worker. God-fearing and devout from his youth, he was thrown into prison by his uncle, Ivan Vasillievitch, together with his brother Dimitri, spending thirty-two years there. Ivan became a monk before his death, receiving the name Ignatius.

FOR CONSIDERATION

St. Peter of Damascus laments, “I begin to see that my soul is being destroyed, and yet I make no effort to embark on a godly life. Why, O my soul, are you so indifferent about yourself? Why, when you sin, are you not as ashamed before God and His angels as you are before men? Alas, alas, for I do not feel the shame before my Creator and Master that I feel before a man. Before a man I cannot sin, but do all I can to appear to be acting righteously; yet standing before God I think evil thoughts and often am not ashamed to speak of them. What madness! Though I sin, I have no fear of God Who watches me, and yet I cannot tell to a single man what I have done so as to give him a chance to correct me. Alas, for I know the punishment and yet am unwilling to repent. I love the heavenly kingdom, and yet do not acquire virtue. I believe in God and constantly disobey His commandments. I hate the devil, and yet do not stop doing what he wants. If I pray, I lose interest and become unfeeling. If I fast, I become proud, and damn myself all the more. If I keep vigil, I think I have achieved something, and so I have no profit from it. If I read, I do one of two evil things in my obduracy: either I read for the sake of profane learning and self-esteem, and so am further benighted; or by reading, and not acting in the spirit of what I read, simply increase my guilt. If by God’s grace I happen to stop sinning in outward action, I do not stop sinning continually in what I say. And if God’s grace should protect me also from this, I continue to provoke His wrath by my evil thoughts. Alas, what can I do? Wherever I go, I find sin. Everywhere there are demons. Despair is worst of all. I have provoked God, I have saddened His angels, I have frequently injured and offended men.

“I desired, O Lord, to erase the record of my sins by tears, and through repentance to live the rest of my life according to Thy will. But the enemy deceives me and battles with my soul. Before I perish utterly, O Lord, save me.”

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.