Sunday
Ephesians 4: 17

 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as [f]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give [g]place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary [h]edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, [i]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Prayer:  With the Saints, give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy servants, where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing, but life everlasting.
*Kontakion of the Departed

Monday
**Prologue of Ohrid this week

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance (II Peter 3: 1). Do you see, brethren, the aim with which the Apostle Peter writes his epistle? To stir up in people their pure minds! The apostle considers this to be the main thing. And truly, it is the main thing. For if in every man the dormant pure mind were awakened, there would not be a single human soul left on earth who would not believe in Christ the Lord, who would not confess Him as the crucified and resurrected Savior of the world, and who would not contritely turn to repentance for sins committed under the influence of an impure mind.

Nothing distances us more from the Gospel than an impure mind. What makes the mind of man impure? Sin. As milk, when poison is poured in, becomes completely poisonous, so the human mind, when impure sin enters into it, becomes completely impure. Every sin is impure; every sin makes the mind of man impure, muddy and poisonous. All knowledge which an impure mind possesses is impure, like a muddied and soiled image of an object in a muddied and soiled mirror. Unto the pure all things are pure (Titus 1: 15), said Paul, the other chief apostle. While Adam had a pure mind in Paradise, all of his knowledge about the Creator and created things was clear and true. Sin darkened his mind and the minds of his descendants. That paradisal, pure mind of the sinless man is not dead; rather it is dormant in men who are under sin. It is necessary only to awaken it, and then it will unerringly lead man back to Christ. That is why the apostle takes the responsibility to awaken in men that original, pure, clear, discerning, God-given mind. O my brethren, let us assist the holy apostle— who was crucified upside down for His preaching— in awakening men. Let us help him, at least in whatever way it concerns us, and let each of us awaken our own pure mind. If every one of us does this, we will see that all of us have one mind. For a pure mind is one, while impure minds are legion!

 

Prayer:  O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Tuesday

In exhorting Christians to attend church for prayer, St. John Chrysostom says: “If  someone delivers to subjugated citizens a royal decree, the citizens do not question the life of the messenger, as to whether he is rich or poor or righteous or sinful, but all listen attentively to that which he is reading. If someone has not heard, he asks one who has heard. When you have such great awe of earthly rulers, how much more should you heed us (priests) here, where the Creator of the heavenly powers speaks through us sinners.” Indeed, what is Holy Scripture but a document of the Heavenly King? Why is it that this unique and saving document does not interest us every day and every hour, when the least authority in the country and his trivial orders do interest us? St. Anthony said: “Let everything you do have its justification in Holy Scripture.” But how can you have justification in Holy Scripture if you are not familiar with Holy Scripture?

 

Prayer:  Holy angel of the Lord by guardian, pray to God for me.

Wednesday

(Philippians 3: 8). The Apostle who wrote this had worldly knowledge; he had wealth and friends; he had youth and health; he had all the requisites of worldly success among his people. But he says: “I left all.” For the sake of Christ Jesus the Lord, he left all. Before the sages of this world, he became as a fool; before the rich, he became as a beggar; before his friends, he became as an enemy. He exhausted his youth and health by voluntary sufferings and afflictions. With one stroke he closed for himself all prospects for worldly success. Why did you do this, O Holy Apostle Paul? Because, I… count them but refuse, that I may win Christ. Brethren, did the Apostle Paul deceive himself, leaving everything as rubbish, and did he gain something greater in gaining Christ? Twenty centuries have testified that the holy Apostle did not deceive himself and that, in gaining Christ, he received something incomparably greater and better than that which he had abandoned and sacrificed. He received wisdom above all worldly knowledge; and riches imperishable and incorruptible; and friends in the form of the true angels of God; and eternal youth without disease and aging; and divine success that lasts without change in eternal life. All of this he gained in gaining Christ. All of this he received in leaving all that the world offers to its favorites. Indeed, brethren, Christ is better than the world. There are no words that could express His superiority over the world. The world deceives its favorites, but Christ rewards His true favorites. The world gives little and takes all. The world offers decay and takes away life. Christ, however, seeks little and gives all. He seeks that we discard decay, and He gives us eternal life. Brethren, Christ is our one and only true friend.

 

Prayer:  Our Father, Who art in  Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Thursday

The devil quickly finds work for idle hands, but an angel quickly finds work for diligent ones. In this world of constant movement and constant change, a man must always be busy, whether he wants to or not, either with good works or with evil ones. The idle man is actually not lazy. He is a diligent worker for the devil. An idle body and an idle soul are the most suitable field for the devil’s plowing and sowing. St. Anthony the Great says: “The body needs to be subdued and immersed in prolonged labors.” St. Ephraim the Syrian teaches: “Teach yourself to work, so that you will not have to learn to beg.” All of the other Holy Fathers, without exception, speak of the necessity of work for the salvation of the soul of man. The apostles and all the saints give us an example of continuous and concentrated spiritual and physical labor. That the idle man, by his idleness, does not extend his life on earth but shortens it, is clearly shown by the longevity of many saints, the greatest laborers among the laborers in the world.

Prayer:  O Lord, our God, in Thy goodness and love for men forgive me all the sins I have committed today in word, deed or thought. Grant me peaceful and undisturbed sleep. Send Thy Guardian Angel to guard and protect me from all evil. For Thou art the guardian of our souls and bodies, and to Thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
*(Evening Prayer and Confession of Sins)

Friday

First fulfill, then teach. All the apostles and all of the saints of God adhered to this rule. Thus the Apostle Paul, even before he spoke the command that if any would not work, neither should he eat (II Thessalonians 3: 10), declared for himself, and for his assistants in preaching, that they not eat anyone’s bread for free, but that by effort and labor they earn their bread. Wrought with labor and travail night and day! Behold the true laborers! Behold the honey-bearing bees of Christ! Daily and nightly toil— where is there time for sin? Daily and nightly toil— where is there room for sin? Daily and nightly toil— toil— where can the devil weave his nest of passions? Daily and nightly toil— where is there cause for scandal? In some Egyptian and Palestinian monasteries there lived about ten thousand monks. They all lived by the labor of their hands: by weaving beehives, baskets and mats, and by other types of handiwork. Daily and nightly toil, and daily and nightly prayer. When a monk sold his beehives in town for a price higher than that which the abbot designated, the monk was punished for it. For the ascetics it was not a matter of enrichment but only of the most essential nourishment and the simplest clothing. In this, the ascetics were and are the true followers of the great apostles. O my brethren, let us flee from slothfulness as from a cave of wild beasts. If by some chance we fall into a cave of wild beasts, let us quickly flee from it, before the wild beasts totally seal off the entrance. The cave is the dwelling place where the slothful man seeks rest. The wild beasts are evil spirits, who feel more at home in such a dwelling place than near their king in hades. O Lord, Who art wonderful in all the works of Thy creation, awaken us from slothfulness and encourage us to labor day and night, by Thine encouraging Holy Spirit.

 

Prayer:  Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3X)

Saturday

The saints are alive and their God-given power does not diminish in time. St. Janićije of Devič works miracles today, even as he did during his life on earth some five hundred years ago. A certain Miloš from Hercegovina prepared to travel to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to the holy shrines. As he was about to depart on his way, St. Janićije appeared to him in a dream and told him not to go to Jerusalem. “Rather than go to Jerusalem, it would be better for you to go to Devič,” explained the saint, “and there, to restore my church and put it in order.” Miloš obeyed the saint and went to the neglected Devič, cleaned it, put it in order, and made it possible to sing praises to God there again. Miloš became a monk there and remained until the end of his life. During the First World War and the Austrian occupation, a Hungarian officer with a detachment of soldiers came to Devič.The officerushered Damaskin, the abbot of the monastery, before the reliquary of St. Janićije and asked him what was under the slab. “Holy things,” replied the abbot. “What kind of holy things?” the officer laughed. “You have something hidden under there.” He then ordered the soldiers to strike the slab with pickaxes and overturn it. While this was being done, the officer was seized with pain in his abdomen. He lay down in bed and, before evening of the same day, died. The frightened soldiers left their work undone and fled the monastery.

 

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.