Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Tuesday of the Ninth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 152]. Brethren:

12 ¹²Even as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. ¹³For also by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and were all given to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴For also the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it on account of this not of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it on account of this not of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? ¹⁸But now God Himself set the members, each one of them in the body, even as He willed. ¹⁹But if all were one member, where would the body be? ²⁰But now indeed are they many members, but one body. ²¹And the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I have no need of thee”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²But much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, to these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, ²⁴but our comely parts have no need. But God tempered the body, giving more abundant honor to that which lacked, ²⁵in order that there may not be a schism in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§§ 76, mid 77, mid 78]. The Lord said to His disciples:

18 ¹⁸“Verily I say to you, whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens. ¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you should agree on the earth concerning any matter—whatsoever they ask for themselves—it shall come to pass for them from My Father Who is in the heavens. ²⁰“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”

²¹Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” ²²Jesus saith to him, “I say not to thee, ‘Until seven times,’ but, ‘Until seventy times seven.’”...

19 ¹And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came to the borders of Judæa on the other side of the Jordan. ²And great crowds followed Him; and He cured them there....

¹³Then little children were brought to Him, in order that He should lay His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, “Let alone the little children, and cease hindering them to come to Me; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens.” ¹⁵And He laid His hands upon them, and He departed from that place.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of Hieromartyr Athenogenes, Bishop of Pedachtoe, and his ten disciples.

No readings given.

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

July 29th – Civil Calendar
July 16th – Church Calendar

1. The Hieromartyr Athenogenes, Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia.

He lived in a monastery near the town with ten of his disciples. In the time of Diocletian, a fierce persecutor of Christians called Philomarchus came to Sebaste. He arrested and killed many of the Christians in the town. When he saw Athenogenes and his disciples, he told the elder to sacrifice to idols, that they should not perish as had the other Christians. Athenogenes replied: ‘O torturer, those whom you describe as having perished have not perished, but are in heaven and make merry with the angels!’ There was a touching moment when a deer, which had been hand-fed by the compassionate Athenogenes, ran up to him, and seeing him in such straits, shed tears. Wild animals of the hills had more pity on the martyrs than did the pagans! After harsh torture, during which an angel of God comforted them, they were all beheaded, first the priests and fellow-workers of Athenogenes and then Athenogenes himself, and went to their heavenly home in the year 311.

2. The Holy Martyr Julia the Virgin.

She was born in Carthage of noble parents. When the Persians overran Carthage, many of the people were taken into slavery. St. Julia was one of these, and was given to a Syrian merchant, who was a pagan. Seeing that Julia was a Christian, he urged her many times to deny Christ and become of one faith with him, but Julia steadfastly refused. As Julia was faithful and reliable in her work, the merchant left her in peace and spoke no more about faith. One day, the merchant loaded his ship with goods, took Julia with him and set off across the sea to a distant land to ply his trade. When they arrived at Corsica, there was a pagan festival in progress, and the merchant took part in the foul idolatry while Julia remained in the ship, weeping that so many people lived in foolish error, not knowing the truth. The pagans somehow came to know about her, dragged her off the ship in spite of her owner’s efforts to prevent them, and began to torture her in terrible ways. They cut off her breasts and threw her onto the rock, then crucified her, at which Julia gave her soul to God. Her death was revealed to some monks on the nearby island of Margarita (or Gorgona), and they went and buried the martyr’s body. Many miracles were worked over St. Julia’s grave through the ages, and she herself appeared to various people from the other world. She suffered with honor and went to the kingdom of God in the sixth century.

After many years had passed, the faithful wanted to build a new church in honor of St. Julia in another place, because the old church was small and dilapidated. They prepared the materials: the stone, bricks, sand and everything else that was needed, on the new site. But it happened that, at night, on the night before the day on which the foundations were to be laid, that the materials were carried by invisible hands back to the old church. In great perplexity, the people carried them to the new site again, but again the same thing happened: the materials were taken to the old site and left beside the church. The night watchman saw a maiden bathed in light, using white oxen to carry the materials to the old church. By this, they understood that St. Julia did not wish her church to be built in another place, so they pulled down the old church and built the new one on the same spot.

3. The Fifteen Thousand Holy Martyrs of Persia.

They were beheaded for the Christian Faith in Persia.

4. The Holy Martyr Athenogenes.

The composer of the Vespers hymn ‘O Joyous Light,’ he perished for Christ in the flames and was made worthy of eternal glory in the kingdom of God.

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.