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Monday of the Thirty-First Week
The commemoration of the Afterfeast of Theophany, and the Synaxis of the honorable and glorious prophet, forerunner, and Baptist John.
No Fasting.
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 329]. Brethren:
For Gk. usage, see Heb. 11:17-31; for Sl. usage, see Heb. 11:17-23, 27-31.
11 17By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who received the promises offered up his only-begotten son, 18as to whom it was said “for in Isaac thy seed shall be called [Gen. 21:12],” 19reckoning that God was able to raise even from the dead; from which also he received him for himself in a type. 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning coming things. 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and “did reverence upon the top of his staff [Gen. 47:31].” 22By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention concerning the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave command concerning his bones. 23By faith Moses, after he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because “they saw the little child was fair [cf. Ex. 2:2],” and they were not afraid of the edict of the king. 24By faith Moses, “having become full-grown [Ex. 2:11],” refused to be called the son of pharaoh’s daughter, 25having chosen rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, 26since he deemed the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures in Egypt; for he kept on looking away from the treasures to the recompense. 27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king; for he persevered, as seeing the invisible One. 28By faith he hath celebrated the passover and the pouring upon of the blood, lest the one who destroyeth the firstborn should touch them. 29By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land, where the Egyptians, having made an attempt, were swallowed up. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after they were encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the harlot, having received the spies with peace, did not perish with those who disobeyed.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 21]. At that time:
5 24A great crowd was following Jesus and pressing upon Him. 25And a certain woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years— 26and who suffered much under many physicians and spent all from her own means, and was not profited at all, but rather came to be the worse for it— 27after she heard about Jesus, came in the crowd behind, and touched His garment; 28for she was saying within herself, “If I might but touch His garments, I shall be made well.” 29And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she knew in her body that she had been healed from the scourge. 30And Jesus, straightway having fully known in Himself that the power from Him went forth, turned around in the crowd and was saying, “Who touched Me on My garments?” 31And His disciples were saying to Him, “Thou seest the crowd pressing on Thee, and sayest Thou, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32And He kept looking around Himself to see her who had done this. 33And the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing that which had been done for her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. 34And He said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee well; go in peace, and be sound in body from thy scourge.”
The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles [§ 42]. In those days:
19 1It came to pass, while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper parts, came to Ephesus. And having found certain disciples, 2he said to them, “Did ye, having believed, receive the Holy Spirit?” And they said to him, “Nay, we did not even hear whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said to them, “Into what then were ye baptized?” And they said, “Into the baptism of John.” 4And Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in the Christ, Jesus.” 5And after they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And after Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7And all the men were about twelve. 8And he entered into the synagogue and kept on speaking boldly for three months, discoursing and trying to persuade them concerning the things of the kingdom of God.
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John [§ 3]. At that time:
1 29John seeth Jesus coming to him, and saith, “Behold the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world. 30“This is He concerning Whom I said, ‘After me cometh a Man Who hath come to be before me, for He was before me.’ 31“And I knew Him not; but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I came baptizing in the water.” 32And John bore witness, saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending out of heaven as a dove, and He abode upon Him. 33“And I knew Him not, but the One Who sent me to baptize in water, that One said to me, ‘Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One Who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.’ 34“And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
January 20th – Civil Calendar January 7th – Church Calendar
1. St. John the Baptist.
John’s greatest role during his life was enacted on the day of the Theophany, and because of this the Church has, from the earliest times, dedicated the day following that feast to his memory. This day is also connected with an event involving the hand of the Forerunner. The Evangelist Luke desired to take John’s body from Sebaste, where the great prophet had been beheaded by Herod, to Antioch, his own birthplace. He succeeded, though, in acquiring and taking only one hand, which was kept in Antioch till the tenth century. It was then moved to Constantinople, whence it disappeared during the Turkish occupation.
St. John is commemorated several times during the year, but his greatest feast is on this day, January 7th. Among the Gospel-figures surrounding the Savior, the person of John the Baptist holds a very special place, by the manner of his birth in this world and of his earthly life, by his role of baptizer of men to repentance and his Baptism of the Messiah, and lastly, by the tragic manner of his departure from this world. He was of such moral purity that he indeed deserved the name ‘angel’*, as he was named in the Scriptures, rather than being thought of as just a mortal man. St. John differs from all the other prophets in that he had the joy of showing forth to the world the One Whom he had foretold.
About the hand of St. John: it is related that each year, on his feast day, the archbishop would bring it out before the people. Sometimes the hand appeared open, and sometimes clenched. In the first case it indicated that it would be a fertile year, and in the second that it would be a year of famine.
* The word ‘messenger’ is, in Greek, ‘angelos’. See Malachi 3:1; Matt. 11:10. —Tr.
2. The Holy New-Martyr Athanasius.
This martyr of Christ was a poor and simple man, but was rich in faith and in wisdom through the Spirit of God. On one occasion he was inadvertently involved in a quarrel with a Turk. The Turk was educated and adroit with words, but Athanasius strove with all his might to present and uphold the truth of the Christian Faith and its superiority over Islam. They then parted. On the following day, Athanasius was summoned to trial, and found the Turk standing there as his accuser. When the judge called on Athanasius to repudiate his faith and embrace Islam, as he had given the impression of declaring to his companion of the previous day, Athanasius cried out: ‘I would die a thousand deaths before I would deny the Faith of Christ!’ He was therefore condemned to death and beheaded in the year 1700. His body was buried in the Church of St. Paraskeve in Smyrna, the city of his execution.
FOR CONSIDERATION
‘The whole man is not outwardly visible,’ says St Basil the Great. As one house is like another, so it is with the external appearance of a man. But a house receives honor from him who inhabits it, as likewise does a man from the spirit within him. It is easily apparent to bodily sight that the house is not the householder, but only the place where the householder lives; but it is only clear to spiritual sight that the body is not the man but only the dwelling his soul inhabits.
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.
