Week 4 - Thursday
Bible Passage
Philippians 2:3
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Commentary
Abba Macarius and the Holy Women
Hearing this, the elder rose early in the morning, took his staff, and went into the city. When he arrived, he found the house where the two women lived, knocked on the door, and was received with joy. He said to them: "I have come from the desert to learn of your good works; tell me what you do, that you have been counted worthy of such a great measure of virtue."
But the women, surprised, said to him: "Truly, Abba, we live with our husbands, and what virtue do you see in us?"
The elder persisted, urging them to speak openly, and at last, they said: "We are married to two brothers, and we have lived together in one house for fifteen years. We have never spoken a harsh or insulting word to each other, nor have we quarreled. We wished to become nuns, but since our husbands would not permit it, we made a vow before God that, until our death, we would never speak a worldly word, but only remain in harmony, fasting and praying as much as we could."
Hearing this, Abba Macarius marveled and said: "Indeed, in fasting and asceticism I have surpassed you, but in humility, self-denial, and love, you have surpassed me." And he glorified God, returning to his cell with the realization that virtue is not found in the outward state of life, but in the disposition of the heart.
Week 4 - Wednesday
Bible Passage
James 4:6-7
Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Commentary
Abba Macarius and the Devil
Abba Macarius was returning from the marshes to his cell, carrying some palm leaves. He met the devil on the road, who was holding a scythe. The devil struck at him as much as he liked, but he could not harm him. Then the devil said, ‘What is your power, Macarius, that makes me powerless against you? I do all that you do. You fast, so do I; you keep vigil, and I do not sleep at all. In only one thing do you surpass me.’ Abba Macarius asked, ‘What is that?’ The devil replied, ‘Your humility. Because of that, I can do nothing against you.’
Week 4 - Tuesday
Bible Passage
Romans 6:11
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Commentary
Becoming Like the Dead
A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, "Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved." So the old man said, "Go to the cemetery and abuse the dead." The brother went there, abused them and threw stones at them; then he returned and told the old man about it. The latter said to him, "Didn't they say anything to you?" He replied, "No." The old man said, "Go back tomorrow and praise them." So the brother went away and praised them, calling them, "Apostles, saints, and righteous men." He returned to the old man and said to him, "Did they not answer you?" The brother said, "No." The old man said to him, "You know how you insulted them and they did not reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak; so you too, if you wish to be saved, must do the same and become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be saved."
Week 4 - Monday
Bible Passage
1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Commentary
Abba Macarius and the Thief
While in Egypt, Abba Macarius discovered a man with a beast of burden stealing his possessions. Approaching the thief as if he were a stranger, Macarius assisted him in loading the animal. He then saw him off with great peace of soul, saying, "We have brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the world" (1 Timothy 6:7). "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).
Week 3 - Saturday
Bible Passage
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Commentary
A Silent Patriarch
As Pope, Kyrillos would pray the liturgy everyday as he would in his early monk days, during liturgy he would pray “with a deep voice, bowed head, and closed eyes with fear and respect. He never allowed himself to lean against the altar nor to talk with anyone during the liturgy. While praying, he used to shed many tears. His Holiness enjoyed celebrating the prayers of the divine liturgy by himself because it gave him the greatest spiritual comfort.”
It was later written of Pope Kyrillos that “not only has a monk become patriarch, but the patriarch has remained a monk.” He never abandoned his spiritual practice and life of prayer, which is the very thing that made him the great saint we know him as today.
Week 3 - Friday
Bible Passage
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Commentary
St Isaac the Syrian’s Ascetical Homilies
Every good care of the mind directed towards God, and every meditation upon spiritual things is…called by the name of prayer…whether you speak of various readings, or the cries of a mouth glorifying God, or sorrowing reflection on the Lord, or making bows with the body, or psalmody in verses, or all other things from which the teaching of genuine prayer ensues.
A Silent Patriarch
Prayer is the mother of virtues and every religious instinct…It is the controller of anger and calming of the arrogant heart. It is power for the weak, wealth for the poor, a resort to the afflicted, a comfort to the grieving, and an intercessor for sinners. Prayer is the power of everything, without it, we lose everything.
Week 3 - Thursday
Bible Passage
Psalm 84:1-2
"How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."
Commentary
A Silent Patriarch
A story that shows how much St. Pope Kyrillos VI loved praying the liturgy. This is during his time as a monk priest, Fr Mina el Baramosy (of the Baramos Monastery):
In the early morning before classes, they celebrated matins and the Divine Liturgy. Fr. Mina would wake up at 3am everyday to bake the eucharistic bread (orban). One day, he found the oven where he baked the bread had been deliberately destroyed, as his daily liturgical prayer caused some contention with the other priests around him. The very notion of daily liturgy in early 20th century Egypt was unheard of. But the disapproval from his fellow priests, as well as a broken oven were not enough to stop Fr. Mina. He remembered that the bakery across the street was open at the early hours of the day, so he went and asked the owner if he could use his oven to bake the bread. Even after such a delay that would’ve stopped anyone from praying liturgy, the liturgy continued as usual that day. Fr. Mina was later famously known to have said “If the priest is present, flour is handy, and the altar is available, [then] if we don’t pray, what shall we say to God?”
Week 3 - Wednesday
Bible Passage
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Commentary
A Silent Patriarch
This is how St Pope Kyrillos, who in this story was still Azer (his layman name before joining the monastery) lived his life from the age of 20-25 years old. Here, he writes to his brother, Hanna, in a letter offering spiritual advice:
Commit yourself to go straight from home to [school] and vice versa, likewise to church and spiritual meetings. Do not hurry in walking except when necessary. Do not turn right and left when walking in the street. Look straight ahead while walking, praying in your heart, "Lord take care of me; hide me under the shadow of your wings. Oh, my Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from any offences..." When you come back from [school], take off your clothes, wash your face and rest for a little. If you want to have some recreation, you can go outside far from noise, and ponder the works of the Creator and the beauty of nature.... Do not reflect too much on the affairs of life. Do not worry about anything. Cast your burdens on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.
Go to bed early and awake early - when you awake, do not remain in bed. Start your day worshipping God in prostration twenty or thirty times or as many times as possible, for, among all other virtues undertaken by people, there is none better than this. After that go and wash your face and stand before God and thank Him for watching over you this night and keeping you alive until the morning... Read the Holy Bible with care. Give it time, as you do with the newspaper, for the word of God is sweeter than honey.
Week 3 - Tuesday
Bible Passage
Psalms 25:15-20
My eyes look to the Lord at all times, for he gets my foot out of the trap, look to me and have mercy on me for I am a poor lonely son, the sadness of my heart has increased, relieve me from my tribulations, O Lord look to my grief and distress and forgive me all my sins, look to my enemies for they have accused me falsely, keep my soul and save me. I do not wither for I have depended on you.
Story
From Pope Kyrillos’ Disciple
Fr. Raphael Abba Mina, the close disciple of St. Pope Kyrillos VI, said: “Since I set foot into the patriarchal residence, I have not seen his holiness go one day without shedding tears [through prayer] for the problems and troubles of the church. He was faced daily with the various problems of his children and the attacks from the ones who have gone astray with disobedience. Each problem touched his gentle heart and worried his humble soul; he would express his heavyweight with his words “if it was one worry, I would have withstood it, but it's one worry, and then a second, and a third.” He would bring his prayers to the altar everyday, where he lifted his soul up to the Lord, having a firm belief that He would bring him and the church out of tribulation.
Week 3 - Monday
Bible Verse
Mark 11:22-24
So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'
Romans 8:5-8
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be fleshly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Quote
A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI
“Prayer can do all things, for it moves the Hand that manages the whole universe."
– St Pope Kyrillos VI
"There are no bad days and good days, but there are days of prayer and days without prayer. Those without prayer are empty and void because they have been filled with our desires and lusts."
– St Pope Kyrillos VI
Week 2 - Saturday
Bible Passage
Colossians 3:15
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Commentary
Antony the Great
“The soul’s intensity is strong when the pleasures of the body are weakened.”
Week 2 - Friday
Bible Passage
Luke 14:26-27
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Commentary
St. Antony the Great
“Thus every person, as though prepared for battle, came down from the mountain, braving the designs of the devil and his demons. How many young women who had suitors, having only seen Antony from afar, remained unmarried virgins for Christ's sake. And people came also from foreign parts of the world to see him, and like all others, having got some benefit, returned, as though sent forward by a father. And certainly when he died, all as having been grieved as by death of a father, consoled themselves solely by their remembrances of him, preserving at the same time his counsel and advice..”
Week 2 - Thursday
Bible Passage
Matthew 16:24
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’”
Commentary
From the Life of Antony
“'So then we ought to fear God only, and despise the demons, and be in no fear of them. But the more they do these things the more let us intensify our discipline against them, for a good life and faith in God is a great weapon. At any rate they fear the fasting, the sleeplessness, the prayers, the meekness, the quietness, the hatred of money and vainglory, the humility, the love of the poor, the almsgiving, and, most of all, their [reverence] towards Christ. Wherefore they do all things that they may not have any that [overcome] them, knowing the grace given to [them] against demons by the Saviour, when He says, "Behold I have given to you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.”
Week 2 - Wednesday
Bible Passage
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Commentary
From the Life of Antony
“He used to say that one should give all one's time to their soul rather than to their body. It is true that a little time should be given to the body, because it is necessary... but on the whole we should give our first attention to the soul and look to its advantage. It must not be dragged down by the pleasures of the body, but rather the body must be made subject to the soul.”
Week 2 - Tuesday
Bible Passage
1 Corinthians 15:31
“I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”
Commentary
St. Antony the Great
“'Wherefore, children, let us hold fast our discipline, and let us not be careless. For if in our discipline, the Lord is our fellow-worker, as it is written, "to all that choose the good, God works with them for good. But to avoid being heedless, it is good to consider the word of the Apostle, "I die daily" For if we too live as though dying daily, we shall not sin. And the meaning of that saying is, that as we rise day by day we should think that we shall not live till evening; and again, when about to lie down to sleep, we should think that we shall not wake up.”
Week 2 - Monday
Bible Passage
Matthew 19:21
“Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Commentary
Beginning of the Life of Antony
“He was eighteen or twenty years of age when his parents died, leaving him guardian of his younger and only sister. One day, about six months later, he happened to enter the church when he was struck by the reading of the Gospel in which the Lord speaks to the rich young man: If you wish to be perfect, go sell all that you have, and give it to the poor; and come, follow me and you shall have treasure in Heaven”. Applying this to himself, he went home and distributed his land, a fertile farm of more than two hundred acres among the townspeople. He sold all his other belongings. He did not wish the goods of the world to hamper himself or his sister, and so he also disposed of the money received, giving it to the poor. Only a small sum was kept to provide for his sister.”
Week 1 - Saturday
Bible Passage
James 4:7-10
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Commentary
St. Moses the Strong on Holding Judgement for the Creator
Do evil to nobody nor keep any evil in your heart against anyone. Do not belittle a wrongdoer; do not be influenced by one who wrongs his neighbor and do not rejoice with one who does wrong to his neighbor.
Do not slander anybody, but say: “God knows each one.” Do not agree with one who slanders; neither rejoice with him in his slandering nor hate him who slanders his neighbor— this is the meaning of “judge not that you be not judged” (Luke 6:37). Do not be at enmity with anybody and do not foster enmity in your heart; do not hate one who is at enmity with his neighbor, for this is peace. Console yourself with this: there is labor for a short while then repose for eternity, by the grace of the divine Word. Amen."
Week 1 - Friday
Bible Passage
James 4:11-12
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
Commentary
St. Moses the Strong on Exodus
The bottom line in all this is: do not judge one’s neighbors. When the hand of the Lord killed all the first born in the land of Egypt, there was not a house there in which no one had died." [Ex 12.29-30]. [Abba Poemen] said to him: "What does this mean?" [Abba Moses] said to him: "If we took the trouble to see our sins we would not see the sins of a neighbor. It is foolish for a person who has his own dead to leave it and go and weep for his neighbor's. To die with respect to your neighbor, means to worry about your sins, and to refrain from judging every other person saying “This one is good”, and “that one wicked”.
Week 1 - Thursday
Bible Passage
Galatians 6:1-5
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.
Commentary
St. Moses the Strong on Freeing Oneself from Judgement
Abba Moses said: “If a person does not have it in his heart that he is a sinner, God does not listen to him.” [Abba Poemen] said: “What does it mean to ‘have it in his heart that he is a sinner’?” The elder said: “If one is carrying his sins he does not see his neighbor’s."
Week 1 - Wednesday
Bible Passage
Ephesians 4:29-32
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Commentary
St. Moses the strong on Empathy before Judgement
Abba Moses said [to Abba Poemen]: “A person must die with respect to his companion in order not to judge him in anything. A person must detach himself with respect to every evil matter before departing from the body, so that he wrongs nobody.”