Spiritual Reading

In addition to the Scriptures and lives of the saints, the reading of spiritual books is extremely important for our lives as Christians.

Constantly inundated by false ideas and suggestive advertising, it is critical that we nourish our souls with Godly material on a daily basis. Spiritual reading is most effective as part of our daily prayer rule, when our hearts are warm and receptive to the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

 

Scriptures of the Day

Below are the daily readings prescribed for Orthodox Christians both for liturgical and personal use. Typically there is an epistle and gospel reading each day, however during special seasons and on feast days there may be many more readings.

Saints Remembered Today

In the Orthodox Church there are saints commemorated every day.

The Prologue of Ohrid

One of the most accessible collections of these daily lives of saints is called the Prologue of Ohrid. Each day holds a few brief accounts of the saints remembered, a hymn, a homily, and a spiritual reflection. The Prologue is available in the following formats:

Here is the reading from The Prologue for today:

Daily Saints

The Holy, Glorious and All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul

For the lives of these two great Apostles, we can only recommend a reading of the entire New Testament, which contains accounts of their lives and many of their inspired writings. St Peter, after preaching in Judea, Antioch and parts of Asia, came to Rome, where he was crucified by order of the Emperor Nero, about the year 66. Being led to the cross, he begged the executioner to crucify him upside-down, because he felt unworthy to partake of the same death as the Savior.

St Paul’s apostolic labors extended from Arabia to Spain. He also ended his earthly course in Rome, beheaded by order of Nero, some say at the same time that St Peter was crucified.