Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Monday of the Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 109]. Brethren:

12 ⁴Even as we have many members in one body, but all the members have not the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another....

¹⁵Be rejoicing with those who rejoice, and be weeping with those who weep. ¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another. Mind not high things, but bring yourselves down to associate with the humble. Cease becoming wise in your own conceits. ¹⁷Render to no one evil for evil. Provide for yourselves right things before all men. ¹⁸If possible, as to that which depends on you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath; for it hath been written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay [Deut. 32:35],” saith the Lord. ²⁰Therefore, “If thine enemy should hunger, be feeding him; if he should thirst, be giving him drink; for in doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head [Prov. 25:21, 22].” ²¹Cease being conquered by the bad, but keep on conquering the bad with the good.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 45]. At that time:

12 ⁹Jesus went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹⁰And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath days?”—that they might accuse Him. ¹¹And He said to them, “What man shall there be among you who shall have one sheep, and if this should fall into a pit on the sabbath days, will he not lay hold of it and raise it up? ¹²“How much then doth a man excel a sheep? Therefore it is lawful on the sabbath days to do well.” ¹³Then He saith to the man, “Stretch forth thy hand”; and he stretched it forth; and it was restored sound as the other.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the holy Martyrs Isavros, Basil, Innocent, Hermeas, Phylikos, and Peregrinos, and the holy Martyrs Manuel, Sabel, and Ismael of Persia.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 233].

6 ¹⁰Brethren, keep on being empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; ¹²because for us the wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of evil on account of the heavenly things. ¹³For this cause take up the full armor of God, in order that ye might be able to withstand in the evil day, and having counteracted all things, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having girt your loins with truth, and having put on for yourselves the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet in readiness of the Gospel of peace; ¹⁶on the whole, take up the shield of faith, with which ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 106]. The Lord said to His disciples, “Be taking heed of men:

21 ¹²“For they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name; ¹³“but it shall prove to be a testimony for you. ¹⁴“Therefore settle it for yourselves in your hearts not to premeditate to make a defense; ¹⁵“for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you shall not be able to contradict nor withstand. ¹⁶“And ye shall be delivered up also by parents, and kinfolk, and friends, and brethren; and they shall put some of you to death. ¹⁷“And ye shall be hated by all for My name’s sake. ¹⁸“But a hair of your head in no wise shall perish. ¹⁹“In your patience win your souls.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

June 30th – Civil Calendar
June 17th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Martyrs Manuel, Sabel and Ishmael.

These three brothers were Persians, of a pagan father and a Christian mother. Brought up in a Christian spirit and baptized, they were high officials at the court of King Balanos, and were sent to the Emperor Julian the Apostate to conduct negotiations and confirm the peace between the Persian and Graeco-Roman Empires. The apostate emperor had arranged some sort of vile celebration in honor of the idols at Chalcedon, and he went there with his nobles bearing sacrifices for the idols. The Persian delegates absented themselves from the celebration. The emperor summoned them and ordered them to take part in the festivities and offer sacrifice to the gods. They then declared that they were foreign envoys who had come from the King of Persia to establish peace between the two empires, and not for any other reason. They said that they were Christians and considered it unworthy to bow down before lifeless idols and offer them sacrifice. The emperor, in fury, had them thrown into prison. They were brought out the next day, and he began to dispute with them about the Faith, but the holy brothers were irrefutable and unwavering. They were then bound naked to trees and struck and flayed with iron flails. During their torture, they prayed to God, thanking Him for it: ‘O sweet Jesus, these pains are sent to us for love of Thee.’ An angel of God appeared to them, comforted them and took away all their pain. Contrary to all understanding of the rights of foreign envoys, the wicked Emperor Julian finally issued the order that the three brothers were to be slain with the sword. There was a great earthquake at their execution, thus making it impossible for the pagans to burn them as the emperor had commanded. The earth later gave up the martyrs’ bodies for Christians to find and bury. Many miracles were worked over their relics, bringing many pagan witnesses to the Christian Faith. When the Persian king heard of the inhuman death that Julian had provided for the envoys, he prepared for war against him. Julian set out for Persia convinced of victory, but he was beaten to his knees and perished miserably.

2. Our Holy Father Pior.

A Nitrian solitary, he was inflamed with love for God. Pior renounced the world early and went off into the Egyptian desert, where he gave himself to a life of heroic asceticism. It is said that he never sat at table to eat, but always ate standing up and working. When he was asked why he did this, St. Pior replied: ‘I do not wish to be concerned with eating as though it were an occupation. It is merely coincidental.’ When he was called to sit in judgement on a brother who had done something wrong, he arrived carrying a bag of sand on his back and a small pouch in his hand. Questioned as to their significance, the holy man answered: ‘The bag of sand on my back is my sins, which I do not see; the pouch of sand is the sin of my brother whom I have to judge.’ Then all the brethren were confounded and exclaimed: ‘This is the way of salvation!’ He lived for a hundred years and went to his rest in the Lord in the 4th century.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Christ’s opponents always achieve results opposite to those that their actions against Christ would expect. Instead of blocking the river of Christianity, they widen it and deepen it, and make the roar of its flow heard the more clearly. Instead of drying it up, they produce a veritable flood of Christianity across the whole world. Where one martyr fell, a crowd of Christians was created; wherever there was a foul deed, glory sprang from it; wherever it was said that Christianity was finished, there would be an ever-thicker sowing of the Faith. In the face of all considerations and international regulations, Julian the Apostate slew the Persian peace envoys, Manuel, Sabel and Ishmael, because of his insane idolatrous fanaticism. What did Julian achieve by this? He increased the number of Christians, he enlarged the company of the holy martyrs, and he brought closer his own end and that of paganism. Indirectly and unwillingly, the Apostate aided the dissemination and strengthening of Christianity, not merely by his malicious persecution but also by his involuntary statements. For example, in a debate with some Christians he stated: ‘Christ did nothing in His lifetime to merit any glory if we ignore His healing of the lame and the sightless, and His power to drive out demons.’ Oh, wretched fellow! As if the opening of the eyes of only one blind man by words alone was not a greater thing than the subjugation of ten kingdoms! How valuable it is that the greatest betrayer of Christ since Judas had to acknowledge Christ’s miracles!

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.