Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Friday of the Seventeenth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians [§ 226]. Brethren:

4 ¹⁷This I say and testify in the Lord: ye are no longer to walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸who have been darkened in thought and alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹who, having become insensible, gave themselves up to licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰But ye have not thus learned the Christ— ²¹if indeed ye heard Him and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus: ²²to put off from yourselves the old man, with respect to the former manner of life, who is being corrupted according to the desires of the deceit, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new man, who, according to God, was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵Wherefore, having put off the falsehood, “Be speaking truth each one with his neighbor [cf. Zach. 8:16].”

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 53]. The Lord said this parable:

12 ¹“A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug a trough underneath the winepress, and built a tower. And he let it out to vinedressers and went abroad. ²“And at the season he sent forth a slave to the vinedressers, in order that he might receive from the vinedressers of the fruit of the vineyard. ³“And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty. ⁴“And again he sent forth to them another slave, and that one they stoned, and smote him on the head; and sent him away having suffered dishonor. ⁵“And again he sent forth another, and that one they killed, and many others—some, on the one hand, beating, and others, on the other hand, killing. ⁶“Having yet therefore one son, his own beloved, he also sent him forth to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷“But those vinedressers, having seen him coming, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’ ⁸“And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. ⁹“What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰“Did ye not even read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the head of the corner; ¹¹“‘this came to be from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes [Ps. 117(118):22, 23; cf. Is. 28:16]’?” ¹²And they were seeking to lay hold of Him, but were afraid of the crowd; for they knew that He spoke the parable against them. And they left Him and went away.

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Forefeast of the Cross, and the dedication of the Church of the Holy Resurrection of Christ our God.

Epistle

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 307].

3 ¹Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, ²Who was faithful to the One Who made Him, as also was “Moses in all His house [cf. Num. 12:7].” ³For this One hath been deemed worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as the one who built the house hath more honor than it. ⁴For every house is built by someone; but the One Who hath built all things is God.

Gospel

For the Cross:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ mid 42]. The Lord said:

12 ²⁵“The one who loveth his life shall lose it; and the one who hateth his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. ²⁶“If anyone serve Me, let him keep on following Me; and where I am, there My servant shall be also. And if anyone serve Me, the Father shall honor him. ²⁷“Now My soul hath been troubled; and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’; but on this account I came to this hour. ²⁸“Father, glorify Thy name.” Then a voice came out of the heaven: “I both glorified it and will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd then that stood by and heard it was saying that thunder had occurred; others were saying, “An angel hath spoken to Him.” ³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice hath not occurred for My sake, but for your sakes. ³¹“Now is a judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. ³²“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Myself.” ³³But He was saying this, signifying by what manner of death He was about to die. ³⁴The crowd answered Him, “We heard out of the law that the Christ abideth forever; and how sayest Thou, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵Then Jesus said to them, “Yet a little while is the light with you. Be walking while ye have the light, that darkness might not overtake you; and indeed the one who walketh in the darkness knoweth not where he goeth. ³⁶“While ye have the light, keep on believing in the light, that ye might become sons of light.” Jesus spoke these things, and departed, and was hidden from them.

For the Church of the Resurrection:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 67]. At that time:

16 ¹³After Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi, He began to ask His disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, and others Elias, and others Jeremias or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He saith to them, “But ye, whom do ye say that I am?” ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, the living One.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said to him, “Happy art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood did not reveal this to thee, but My Father Who is in the heavens. ¹⁸“And I say also to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against her.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

September 26th – Civil Calendar
September 13th – Church Calendar

1. The Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

When the holy Empress Helena found the Lord’s Cross in Jerusalem, she stayed longer in the city and built churches in Gethsemane, in Bethlehem, on the Mount of Olives and in other places that commemorated the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. On Golgotha, where she found the Precious Cross, she began to build an enormous church, under whose roof would be the places both where the Lord was crucified and where He was buried, the holy empress wanting to bring under one roof the places of His suffering and His glory. But Helena went to the Lord before this magnificent church was completed. It was finished in the same year in which Constantine completed thirty years on the throne, and so the consecration of the church and the emperor’s Jubilee were fixed for the same day, September 13th, 335. At that time, a local council of bishops was meeting in Tyre. These bishops, with many others, made their way to Jerusalem, to the solemn consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. It was then instituted that this day, as a day of victory and triumph for the Church of Christ, should be celebrated every year.

2. The Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion.

A Roman and an officer in Palestinian Caesarea, he was baptized by the Apostle Peter after a heavenly vision (Acts 10:1), and was the first pagan to enter the Church of God. Until then, some thought that the Church of Christ was only for the Jews and for those who received Jewish circumcision. Being baptized, Cornelius left everything and followed the Apostle Peter. The apostle later made him bishop and sent him to the pagan town of Skepseis, where holy Cornelius suffered much humiliation and pain for the sake of Christ. But, by the power of God, he destroyed the temple of Apollo and baptized the prince of that town, Demetrius, and two hundred and seventy seven pagans. Forewarned by God of the day of his death, he gathered all the Christians together, gave them counsel, prayed to God and peacefully went to his Lord full of years. In time, his grave was forgotten and neglected, but the saint appeared to Silvanos, the Bishop of Troas, and showed him the whereabouts of his grave, commanding him to build a church there. The bishop did so, with the help of a wealthy citizen, Evgenios. Many miracles have been performed over his relics.

3. The Holy Martyrs Macrobius and Gordian.

From Pamphlagonia, they were at first imperial cup-bearers, but when they revealed that they were Christians, the emperor exiled them to Sceta, where they were cast into the flames in a place called New Danube, in the year 320.

4. The Holy Martyr Ketevana, Queen of Georgia.

She suffered as a Christian under Shah Abbas I, in 1624. By order of the Shah, a white-hot helmet was placed on her head. Her son Taymuraz, King of Georgia, laid her relics under the throne in the church at Alaverdsk in Georgia.

5. Our Holy Father Hierotheos.

Born in the Peloponnese in the village of Kalamata, he lived in asceticism in the monastery of Iviron on the Holy Mountain. He was distinguished by great secular learning and by strict monastic asceticism, and was at pains to fulfill the rule of St. Arsenius: ‘It is enough for a monk to sleep one hour out of the twenty-four.’ He entered into rest in 1745 on the island of Varos, and his relics have wonder-working power. Of these relics, his head is preserved in the monastery of Iviron. On touching his holy relics in Constantinople, a blind woman received her sight.

FOR CONSIDERATION

What happens to the persecutors of Christ’s Church? Ask Saul, the persecutor of the Church, what happened to him. ‘It is hard for thee to kick against the goads’ (Acts 9:5), said the Lord to Saul, and Saul was baptized and became Paul. What happened to Herod, the first persecutor of Christians? What happened to Julian the Apostate! They died an evil death, and their struggle against Christ dispersed into nothing, like smoke. And so throughout history: some persecutors became Christians and others had an evil end. The efforts of the one and the other against Christianity dispersed into nothing, like smoke. The Emperor Hadrian, attacking Jerusalem, meant to be revenged not only on the Jews but also on the Christians, making no distinction between the two. He scattered the Jews throughout the world, and in the place where Solomon’s Temple had been, built a temple for idol-worship. He also re-named Jerusalem Aelia, after his own name, and forbade anyone to call it Jerusalem. He built a temple on Golgotha to the foul Venus, a temple to Zeus over the Lord’s tomb and a temple to Adonis in Bethlehem. How distressed the Christians of that time must have been, seeing their holy places defiled in such a way! But what happened in the end? The Emperor Hadrian died an evil death, and the pagan temples were pulled down in the time of the Empress Helena and the Emperor Constantine, who in their place built beautiful churches, some of which remain to this day. ‘It is hard to kick against the goads.’ Oh, what a hopeless despair is the lot of all who struggle against Christ!

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.