Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Twelfth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians [§ 184]. Brethren:

7 ¹⁰The sorrow in accordance with God worketh out repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world worketh out death. ¹¹For behold this very thing, that for you to be sorrowed according to God, how much earnestness it worked out in you, yea, what readiness to make a defense, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what yearning, yea, what zeal, yea, what vindication! In all things ye commended yourselves to be clear in the matter. ¹²Then, even if I wrote to you, it was not on account of him who did wrong, nor on account of him who was wronged, but in order that your earnestness, which is on our behalf, might be made manifest to you before the face of God. ¹³On this account we have been comforted. And in your comfort, we rejoiced rather more abundantly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴For if I have boasted anything to him concerning you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting, which was before Titus, came to be a truth. ¹⁵And the affection from his inward parts is more abundant toward you, as he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. ¹⁶I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 9]. At that time:

2 ¹⁸The disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting. And they come and say to Jesus, “Why do the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples fast not?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the bridechamber are not able to fast while the bridegroom is with them, are they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they are not able to fast. ²⁰“But days will come, whenever the bridegroom shall have been taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. ²¹“And no one seweth a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise that new patch which filleth it taketh away from the old, and a worse tear taketh place. ²²“And no one putteth new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine doth burst the wineskins, and the wine is poured out, and the wineskins will be destroyed; but new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration, and the holy Apostle Matthias.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 2]. In those days:

1 ¹²The apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount which is called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, being a sabbath’s day journey. ¹³And when they entered, they went up into the upper chamber where they were staying, both Peter and Iakovos, and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, Iakovos the son of Alphæos and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of Iakovos. ¹⁴These all were persevering with one accord in prayer and in entreaty, with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.

¹⁵And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples—there was a multitude of persons in the same place, about a hundred and twenty—and said, ¹⁶“Men, brethren, it was needful for this Scripture to have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷“for he was numbered with us and obtained as his portion the lot of this ministry.... ²¹“It is needful, therefore, of those men who were in company with us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, ²²“beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which He was taken up from us, for one of these to become a witness of His resurrection with us.” ²³And they set forth two: Joseph called Barsavas, who was surnamed Justos, and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed and said, “Thou, Lord, O Knower of the hearts of all, show which one of these two Thou didst choose for Thyself, ²⁵“to receive the lot of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas transgressed, to go to his own place.” ²⁶And they gave their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was reckoned along with the eleven apostles.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§ 51]. The Lord said to His disciples:

10 ¹⁶“The one who heareth you heareth Me, and the one who rejecteth you rejecteth Me, and the one who rejecteth Me rejecteth the One Who sent Me forth.”

¹⁷And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are being made subject to us in Thy name.” ¹⁸And He said to them, “I was beholding Satan as lightning having fallen out of the heaven. ¹⁹“Behold, I give you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy; and nothing in anywise shall injure you. ²⁰“However cease rejoicing in this, that the spirits are being made subject to you; but be rejoicing that your names were written in the heavens.” ²¹In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing before Thee.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 9:1-6].

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

August 22nd – Civil Calendar
August 9th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy Apostle Matthias.

Born in Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah, he was a pupil of St. Simeon the God-Receiver in Jerusalem. When the Lord began preaching the kingdom of God, Matthias was among those who loved the Lord with all their hearts, heard His words and saw His works with delight. Matthias was at first included among the seventy, lesser apostles of Christ, but after the Lord’s Resurrection, because the place of Judas the betrayer fell vacant, the apostles chose this Matthias by lot in Judas’ place as one of the twelve great apostles (Acts 1:23). Receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Matthias began to preach the Gospel, first in Judea then in Ethiopia, where he suffered greatly for the sake of Christ. It is held that he preached also in Macedonia, where they tried to bind him, but he became invisible to his tormentors and thus escaped danger. When he was imprisoned, the Lord appeared to him, gave him courage and set him free. He finally returned to work in Judea. There he was arrested and taken for trial before Ananias the high priest, before whom he fearlessly witnessed to Christ. Ananias (the same who had earlier killed the Apostle Iakovos) condemned Matthias to death. They took Matthias out and stoned him to death, then cut off his head with an axe (the Roman way of executing those condemned to death. The hypocritical Jews used this method on the dead man, to prove to the Romans that he had opposed Rome). So died this great apostle of Christ, and went to the eternal joy of his Lord.

2. The Holy Martyr Anthony.

He was a citizen of Alexandria. Brought before the pagan governor, he freely declared his faith and was tortured—whipped and flogged—but would not deny Christ. He was finally cast into the flames, from the midst of which he said to the people: ‘My beloved brethren, do not be enslaved by your bodies, but give thought to your souls, given to you by God and kin to God and to the heavenly powers.’ He thus instructed the people, and being burned in the fire, gave his holy soul to God.

3. The Holy Martyrs Julian and Marcian, and others with them.

They suffered at the hands of the iconoclasts under the wicked Emperor Leo the Isaurian, in 726, and were crowned with unfading glory.

FOR CONSIDERATION

To take another’s sin on oneself is a form of martyrdom, and a sign of very great love for one’s neighbor. As the wages of sin is death (cf. James 1:15), to take another’s sin on oneself is to add a second death to one’s own. But God rewards with resurrection those who, from love, take another’s sin on themselves. There are many examples among the saints of this taking of a neighbor’s sin on oneself. Thus, it is said of St. Ammon: a brother fell into sin, then came to Ammon and told him that, because of his sin, he must leave the monastery and return to the world. Ammon told him that he would take the sin on himself, and urged the brother to remain in the monastery. The brother stayed, and the elder Ammon stood offering repentance and prayer to God. After a short time, the elder received a revelation from God that the sin was forgiven because of his love for the brother. When St. Makarios, St. Simeon the Fool for Christ, St. Theodore and others were accused of immorality, they did not defend themselves, but taking the sin of others on themselves, took also the harsh punishment for sin and patiently endured until God revealed their innocence to men.

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.