Orthodox Daily Devotional
Orthodox Daily Devotional
Thursday, March 26, 2026 — Great and Holy Lent, Week 5
Commemorations
- Standing of Mary of Egypt — Thursday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent; the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is chanted in its entirety at Matins
- Leavetaking of the Annunciation
- Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel — The angelic messenger who proclaimed the Incarnation
- Hieromartyr Irenæus, Bishop of Sirmium (304)
- Holy Martyrs of the Crimea (375)
- Venerable Basil the New, Anchorite near Constantinople (10th c.)
- Martyr Montanus, Presbyter, and his wife Maxima of Singidunum (235)
Old Testament Readings
Isaiah 42:5–16
The Lord’s Servant and the New Song
Thus says the Lord God, who made heaven and established it, who made firm the earth and the things in it, and who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord God, called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand. I will strengthen You, and give You as the covenant of a race, as the light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners who are bound, and those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord God; this is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, things from of old came to pass, and new things I will declare. Before they spring forth, I will tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a new song, you His realm. Glorify His name from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and sail on it, you coastlands and you who inhabit them. Be glad, O desert and its villages, the homesteads and those inhabiting Kedar. Those who dwell in Petra shall be glad; they shall shout from the tops of the mountains. They will give glory to God and declare His virtues in the coastlands. The Lord God of powers shall go forth and crush war. He shall stir up His zeal, and cry out against His enemies with strength. I held My peace, and I will not always be silent and restrain Myself. Now I will be steadfast, like a woman in labor. I shall amaze and dry up together. I will make the rivers into coastlands and dry up marsh-meadows. I will bring the blind by a way they did not know, and will cause them to tread paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light for them, and make crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.
OSB Commentary: “I put My Spirit upon Him” (v. 1) mentions all three Persons of the Holy Trinity. In Christ, the glorified Church will sing a new song (see Rev 5:9). Isaiah 42:13–17 prophesies Christ’s mighty acts against His enemies at the Judgment. He will turn darkness into light (v. 16) for the faithful. Christ does not share His glory with another, whether with carved images or with people who take personal credit for things God has done (v. 8).
Genesis 18:20–33
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom
Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah has been completed, and their sins are exceedingly great. Therefore, I will go down now and see whether or not they are carrying out the outcry coming to Me concerning them.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained before the Lord. So Abraham drew near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the ungodly? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Then the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
So Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: But suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” He replied, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” Again he spoke to Him and said, “But suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of forty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be offended, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I would not destroy it if I should find thirty there.” Again he said, “Since I have permission to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be offended, and I will speak but once more, suppose ten should be found there?” So He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
So the Lord went His way as soon as He finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
OSB Note: This passage is specifically appointed for Thursday Vespers in the fifth week of Great Lent. Abraham’s intercession foreshadows the high-priestly prayer of Christ, who intercedes for all mankind (see Heb 7:25). “Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” — Abraham’s boldness before God, rooted in knowledge of divine justice, is a model of intercessory prayer: appealing not to our own merit but to God’s own righteous character.
Proverbs 16:17–17:17
Humility, Wisdom, and the Refiner’s Fire
Proverbs 16:17–31
A gentle mind with humility is better than he who divides spoils with the arrogant. A man wise in his deeds is a discoverer of good things, but he who trusts in God is the most blessed. Men call the wise and understanding worthless, but those pleasing in speech will increase in understanding. Understanding is a fountain of life to those who possess it, but the instruction of those without discernment is evil. The heart of a wise man shall understand the things from his own mouth, and he shall carry knowledge upon his lips. Good words are a honeycomb, and their sweetness is a healing of the soul. There are ways that seem right to a man; however, their ends look to the depths of Hades. A man labors diligently for himself and expels destruction from himself; however, a perverse man carries destruction on his lips. A man without discernment digs up evil things for himself and stores up fire on his own lips. A perverse man spreads evil things, and a torch of deceit kindles evils and separates friends. A lawless man makes a trial of friends and leads them in ways not good. A man sets his eyes to calculate perverse things and determines every evil thing with his lips; this man is a furnace of wickedness. Old age is a crown of dignity, but it is found in the ways of righteousness. A patient man is better than a strong man, and he who controls his temper is better than he who captures a city. All evil things come into the bosoms of the unrighteous, but all righteous things come from the Lord.
Proverbs 17:1–17
Better is a morsel with enjoyment in peace than a house full of many good things and unrighteous sacrifices with quarreling. A servant with discernment shall rule over masters without discernment, and will divide portions among brethren. As silver and gold are tested in a furnace, so are chosen hearts before the Lord. An evil man heeds the tongue of the lawless, but a righteous man pays no attention to false lips. He who laughs at the poor provokes the One who made him, and he who rejoices in destruction will not be unpunished; but he who has compassion will be shown mercy. The crown of old men is children of children, and the boasting of children is their fathers. The entire world of goods belongs to the faithful, but to the faithless, not even a penny. Faithful lips will not adapt to a man without discernment, nor lying lips to a righteous man. Instruction awards benefits to those using it, and wherever it turns, it prospers them. He who hides wrongdoings seeks love, but he who hates to cover them will separate friends and close relatives. A threat breaks the heart of a man with discernment, but a man without discernment, though flogged, has no perception. Every evil man stirs up controversy, but the Lord will send him a merciless messenger. Care will befall a thoughtful man, but men without discernment devise evil things. He who repays evil for good, evil will not be removed from his house. The foundation of righteousness gives authority to words, but discord and quarreling precede poverty. He who judges the unrighteous as righteous, and the righteous as unrighteous, he is unclean and abominable before God. Why do goods belong to a man without discernment? For a heartless man is unable to gain wisdom.
OSB Commentary: “As silver and gold are tested in a furnace, so are chosen hearts before the Lord” (17:3) — the trials of Lent are precisely this refining fire. The Book of Proverbs was written that one might know Christ, the Wisdom of God. As St. Paul pointed out, Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1Co 1:24). St. Hippolytus: “These are the proverbs of Solomon, that is to say, the peacemaker, who, in truth, is Christ the Savior.”
New Testament Readings
Hebrews 2:11–18
Why God Became Man
For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
OSB Commentary: “To make … perfect through sufferings does not suggest there was imperfection in Christ before the Cross. Rather He voluntarily took on human nature (all of one nature, v. 11), which can be saved and perfected only by the suffering of death. Christ is the pioneering captain of the narrow path to God in His suffering for sin, death, descent into hell, Resurrection, and Ascension. In salvation we take on Christ’s way of sufferings. Our perfection requires a growth that is manifested in suffering.”
“In the Incarnation, God did not come in appearance only; He truly assumed flesh and blood from the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Christ destroyed the devil’s power by using the devil’s strongest weapon — death itself” (2:14).
“He is merciful in behalf of those He serves and faithful in His ministry to God. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (2:17–18).
Luke 1:24–38
The Annunciation to the Theotokos
Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
OSB Commentary:
On v. 28 — “Highly favored (Gr. charitou) can also be translated ‘full of grace.’ Mary is the most blessed woman who has ever lived because of her complete willingness to receive God’s grace.”
On vv. 31–33 — “Gabriel’s announcement emphasizes two truths: (1) you will conceive in your womb: the Lord Jesus took His flesh — His human nature — from Mary herself; and (2) this is the divine Son of the Highest in Mary’s womb. Thus the one Person, Jesus, the eternal Son and Word of God, is both fully human and fully divine.”
On v. 35 — “Holy One is a messianic title. Note the revelation of the Holy Trinity: The Father (the Highest), the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
On v. 38 — “Mary’s faithful response is that of highest obedience to God. The Incarnation is not only the work of God, but it involves the free response of mankind in the person of Mary. Whereas Eve once disobeyed, Mary now obeys; whereas Eve closed herself to God, Mary opens to His will. Mary’s response says, ‘I am a tablet; let the Writer write whatever He desires on it’” (Theoph).
Reflection
Today’s readings form a remarkable convergence during this holiest week of Great Lent — the week when the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is chanted in full, and when the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel echoes the Leavetaking of the Annunciation.
Isaiah 42 reveals the Servant of the Lord — Christ — called in righteousness to be the light of the Gentiles, to open blind eyes and free those bound in darkness. This is precisely what Lent prepares us to receive: the light breaking through our darkness.
Genesis 18 shows us Abraham standing before the Lord in intercession — a type of Christ, our eternal High Priest, who even now “ever lives to make intercession” for us (Heb 7:25). Abraham’s bold yet humble prayer — “I who am but dust and ashes” — models how we approach God: with confidence in His righteousness, not our own merit.
Proverbs 16–17 calls us to the refiner’s fire: “As silver and gold are tested in a furnace, so are chosen hearts before the Lord.” The Lenten discipline is this furnace. Humility, patience, control of temper — these are the fruits of a heart being purified.
Hebrews 2 answers the deepest question of Lent: Why the suffering? Because “what is not assumed is not healed” (St. Gregory the Theologian). Christ assumed our nature fully — our hunger, our temptation, our death — so that He might heal it fully. He is not a distant priest but one who “has suffered, being tempted” and therefore “is able to aid those who are tempted.”
Luke 1 brings us to the still center of everything: the Theotokos. “Behold the maidservant of the Lord.” The Incarnation awaited her yes. The Leavetaking of the Annunciation this week reminds us: all of salvation history — the covenant with Abraham, the servant songs of Isaiah, the intercessions of the righteous — converges on that moment when the Word became flesh in the womb of the Virgin.
May we, like Mary, say: Let it be to me according to Your word.
Source: Orthodox Study Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2008). Readings appointed by the Orthodox Church in America lectionary for Thursday, March 26, 2026.