Daily Devotional
Monday, March 31, 2025 (NS)
March 18, 2025 (OS)
Commemorations
Pascalion — Movable Calendar
Monday of the Fifth Week of the Great Fast
There is No Divine Liturgy This Day Because of the Great Fast.
Menaion — Fixed Calendar
The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Kyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem.
Fasting Information
Fast day. No Meat, Fish, Dairy or Alcohol Allowed.
Holy & Great Fast
Scripture Readings
Movable Calendar (Pascalion)
Monday of the Fifth Week of the Great Fast
There is No Divine Liturgy This Day Because of the Great Fast.
No readings given.
Menaion — Fixed Calendar
The commemoration of our holy father among the saints, Kyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem.
Epistle:
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 334].
Brethren:
13 7Be remembering those who lead you, who
spoke to you the word of God, whose faith keep on imitating, observing attentively the end of
their conduct: 8Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and to the ages.
9Cease being carried about by various and strange teachings. For it is good
for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods, in which those walking
therein were not profited. 10We have an altar from which those serving the
tabernacle have no authority to eat; 11for the bodies of those animals, “whose
blood is being brought into the holies for sins” by the high priest, “are being
burned outside of the encampment [cf. Lev. 16:27].”
12Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered
outside of the gate. 13Let us be going forth therefore to Him outside of the
encampment, bearing His reproach; 14for we have no abiding city here, but we seek the
coming one. 15Through Him, then, let us be offering up a “sacrifice of praise
[Lev. 7:2(12)]” continually to God, that is,
“the fruit of the lips [cf. Hos. 14:3(2); Is.
57:19],” giving thanks to His name. 16But cease being forgetful of doing
good and of contributing; for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.
Gospel:
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The
Lord said to His disciples:
5 14“Ye are the light of the world. A
city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. 15“Nor do they light a
lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the
house. 16“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good
works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.
17“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I
came not to abolish, but to fulfill. 18“For verily I say to you, until the
heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away
from the law, until all shall have taken place. 19“Whosoever then shall break
one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the
kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called
great in the kingdom of the heavens.”
Lives of the Saints
(Prologue)
March 31st – Civil Calendar
March 18th – Church Calendar
1. St. Kyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem.
Born in Jerusalem in the time of Constantine the
Great, he died in 386, in the time of Theodosios the Great. He was ordained priest in 346, and in
350 succeeded the blessed Patriarch Maximus on the patriarchal throne of Jerusalem. He was three
times deposed from his throne and sent into exile; until in the end, in the time of Theodosios,
he did not return but lived a further eight years in peace and gave his soul to the Lord. He had
two great struggles: one against the Arians, who became strong under Constantius,
Constantine’s son, and the other in the time of Julian the Apostate, with this renegade and
with the Jews. In a time of Arian domination, at Pentecost, the sign of the Cross, brighter than
the sun, appeared stretching over Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives and remained for several
days. A letter was sent to the Emperor Constans about this happening, which was seen by all
living in Jerusalem, and this served for the strengthening of Orthodoxy against the heretics. In
the time of the Apostate, another sign took place. In order to humiliate the Christians, Julian
arranged with the Jews for them to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. Kyril prayed to God that this
should not happen. And there was a terrible earthquake which destroyed all that had been
newly-built. The Jews began again, but again there was an earthquake, which destroyed not only
the new building but also the old stones that were still in place beneath the earth. And so the
words of the Lord came true: ‘Not one stone shall remain on another.’ Of this
saint’s many writings there has been kept his ‘Catecheses,’ a first-class work,
which sets out the Faith and practice of Orthodoxy to the present day. A rare arch-pastor and a
great ascetic, he was meek, humble, worn out by fasting and pale of face. After a life of great
labor and knightly battle for the Orthodox Faith, he entered peacefully into rest and went to the
eternal courts of the Lord.
2. St. Aninus the Wonder-worker.
Born in Chalcedon, he was little of stature, like Zaccheus, but great in spirit and faith. He
denied himself to the world at the age of fifteen and settled near the River Euphrates in a
little hut, where he repented for his sins and prayed to God, at first with his teacher Mayum and
then, after Mayum’s death, alone. By the power of his prayers he filled an empty well with
water, healed the sick of various pains and tamed wild beasts. There was a tamed lion with him as
his servant. He had insight into distant happenings. When robbers attacked a stylite, Pionius, at
some distance from him, and beat him up to such an extent that he decided to come down from his
pillar and go to complain to the judges, St. Aninus saw his intention in his soul and sent him a
letter by means of his lion, telling him to set aside his intention, to forgive his assaulters
and to continue in his asceticism. He was inexpressibly generous. The bishop of Neocaesarea made
a gift to him of a donkey, to ease his carrying of water from the river, but he gave this donkey
to some poor man who had complained to him of his poverty. The bishop gave him a second donkey,
but he gave that away, too. Then the bishop gave him a third donkey, not for his own but only to
serve as a water-carrier, to be kept and returned. At the time of his death, he saw Moses, Aaron
and Or coming to him and calling: ‘Aninus, the Lord is calling you. Get up and come with
us.’ This he revealed to his disciples, and gave his spirit to the Lord Whom he had served
so faithfully. He was 110 years old when he finished his earthly course.
FOR CONSIDERATION
There are malicious people who think that time has brought Christ glorification, and that in
the first ages of Christianity the Lord was not thought of so highly as in later ages. There is
nothing easier than to shatter this untruth. Here is how St. Kyril of Jerusalem writes of the
Lord Christ: ‘This is He Who is and He Who was, coessential with the Father, only-begotten,
only-enthroned, equal in power, almighty, without beginning, uncreated, unchangeable,
indescribable, invisible, inexpressible, incomprehensible, immense, unthinkable, uncircumscribed.
He is “the brightness of the glory of the Father” (Heb. 1:3). He is the Creator of
the substance of all created things. He—the Light of light—shines from the bosom of the Father.
He is the God of gods (Ps. 49:1), and God of God, Who gives us the knowledge of Himself. He is
the Well of life (Ps. 35:10), flowing forth from the Father’s well of life. He is the River
of God (Ps. 45:5; 64:10), which comes forth from the infinity of God but is not separated from
Him. He is the treasury of the Father’s good gifts and endless blessings. He is the living
Water (Jn. 4:14) that gives life to the world. He is the uncreated Ray that is begotten but not
cut off from the primal Sun. He is God the Logos (Jn. 1:1), Who with one word brought all things
from non-being into being.... This is He Who created us in the image of God, and has now made
Himself man in our image; man, but at the same time God.’ And today, sixteen centuries
after this confession of faith was written, the Orthodox Church holds the same faith, word for
word and letter for letter.
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.
