Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fourth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 102]. Brethren:

9 ¹⁸God, to whom He will, hath mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. ¹⁹Thou wilt say then to me, “Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath withstood His express will?” ²⁰Yea rather, O man, who art thou that answerest against God? The thing formed shall not say, shall it, to the one who formed it, “Why didst thou make me thus?” ²¹Or hath not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? ²²God, although willing to show wrath and to make His power known, bore in much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, ²³in order that He also might make known the wealth of His glory on the vessels of mercy—which He had afore prepared unto glory, ²⁴even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. ²⁵As He saith also in Osee, “I will call that which is not My people, My people; and that which is not beloved, beloved [cf. Hos. 2:23]. ²⁶“And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, ‘Ye are not My people,’ there shall they be called sons of the living God [cf. Hos. 1:10].” ²⁷And Esaias also crieth out concerning Israel, “And if the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved [cf. Is. 10:22]; ²⁸“for He is consummating the word, and cutting it short in righteousness, because the Lord shall make a word which hath been shortened upon the earth [cf. Is. 10:23].” ²⁹And according as Esaias foretold, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth left us a seed, we should have become as Sodom, and we should have been made like unto Gomorrah [Is. 1:9].” ³⁰What then shall we say? That the nations which pursued not righteousness came upon righteousness, but a righteousness which is of faith; ³¹but Israel which pursued a law of righteousness, arrived not unto a law of righteousness. ³²Why? Because it was not by faith, but as by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stone of stumbling. ³³Even as it hath been written: “Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offense; and everyone who believeth on Him shall not be ashamed [cf. Is. 28:16].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 40]. At that time:

11 ²After John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³and said to Him, “Art Thou the coming One, or do we look for another?” ⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what ye are hearing and seeing: ⁵“the blind are recovering their sight and the lame are walking; the lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing; the dead are being raised and the poor are being preached the Gospel. ⁶“And happy is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” ⁷And as these went their way, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? A reed being shaken by the wind? ⁸“But what went ye out to see? A man who hath been clothed in soft garments? Behold, those wearing soft garments are in the houses of kings. ⁹“But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. ¹⁰“For this is he about whom it hath been written: ‘Behold, I send forth My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee [cf. Mal. 3:1].’ ¹¹“Verily I say to you, there hath not arisen among those born of women a greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. ¹²“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is being taken by force, and the forceful seize it. ¹³“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴“And if ye are willing to receive it, he is Elias, who is about to come. ¹⁵“The one who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prusa, and the Martyrs Alexander and Antonina at Constantinople.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 23rd – Civil Calendar
June 10th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Timothy, Bishop of Prousa.

For his great spiritual purity, God gave him the gift of wonder-working, and he healed all manner of diseases and pains among the people. During the reign of the evil Emperor Julian, who had renounced Christ, holy Timothy was thrown into prison. The faithful visited him there to listen to the wise teaching of their bishop. When this came to his ears, Julian commanded that the executioner behead him in the prison. This was in 362, and his soul entered into Paradise while his relics remained, full of miraculous power, to help the people and declare the power of the Lord.

2. The Holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina.

Antonina was a virgin and Alexander an imperial soldier, both from Alexandria and both Christians. Antonina was first taken before the judge and tortured. When they threw her into prison, Alexander went to it at the command of an angel of God (being up to that time a stranger to Antonina), draped her in his military cloak and told her to keep her head lowered and go out through the guardhouse in front of the gates. In this way, she escaped and he remained in the prison. They brought Alexander before the judge, and began to interrogate him for the name of Christ. When Antonina heard of this, she came before the judge herself, and he put them both to various tortures. He cut off their hands and then flayed their naked bodies, scorching their wounds with torches, and finally cast them into a fire set in a hole in the ground, covering them with earth. They suffered with honor for the name of Christ and entered into the courts of the heavenly King on May 3rd, 313. The wicked judge, Festus, became dumb at the time of the martyrs’ deaths, and an evil spirit fell on him, torturing him for seven days before killing him.

3. St. Bassian, Bishop of Lodi.

A pagan born in Syracuse of eminent and wealthy parents, he studied philosophy in Rome. At his own desire, he was baptized by the devout elder Gordianus. This offended his parents, and to escape their wrath, he went to Ravenna on the advice of St. John the Theologian, who appeared to him, and there in Ravenna made himself known to the bishop, Ursus, a kinsman of his. On the bishop’s instructions, Bassian found lodgings near the Church of the Holy Martyr Apollinarius outside the city, and there labored a long time in toil, fasting and prayer. When the Bishop of Lodi in Liguria died, Bassian was elected, not according to his own desire but through a revelation in a dream. He was consecrated by St. Ambrose of Milan and Ursus of Ravenna. He had a great gift of healing, and could even raise the dead. He was present during St. Ambrose’s last hours and heard from those holy lips how St. Ambrose had seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived to a great age in toil and asceticism and finished his earthly course at the age of ninety, entering into the kingdom of God in about 409. His holy relics continue to work miracles as a witness to the power of God and the greatness of His saint.

FOR CONSIDERATION

It is not the same thing to eat your meal with a blessing and to eat it without one. Every meal is eaten at God’s table which He Himself has laid for us, and we must thank God, our Host, and ask His blessing. Food which is blessed is both sweeter and more satisfying, but unblessed food is both bitter and unsatisfying—and unhealthy. The Emperor Theodosios the Younger was once walking in the outskirts of Constantinople, and seeing the little house of a monk, called in on him. The elder asked the emperor if he would like something to eat. The emperor accepted, and the elder brought him bread, oil, salt and water. The emperor ate and drank, and then asked the monk: ‘Do you know who I am?’ ‘God knows who you are,’ answered the monk. ‘I am the Emperor Theodosios.’ The monk silently prostrated before him. The emperor then said to him: ‘I am an emperor and the son of an emperor, but believe me, I have never before in my life eaten such sweet-tasting food as here today with you.’ ‘And do you know the reason?’ asked the elder, and went on: ‘It is because we monks always prepare our food with prayer and a blessing, and therefore even bad food will turn into sweet for us. They certainly take a lot of trouble over the preparation of your food, but they do not ask a blessing from God, and so the most delicious food is tasteless.’

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.