☦️ Orthodox Daily Devotional
☦️ Orthodox Daily Devotional
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Day of Rejoicing (Radonitsa) — Tuesday of the 2nd Sunday of Pascha
Tone: 1 | Fast: None
Commemorations
- Hieromartyr Januarius, Bishop of Benevento, and his Companions (†305) — Martyred under Diocletian. Cast into a furnace and to wild beasts, he emerged unharmed, singing praises to God. Finally beheaded alongside six companions. Countless miracles have been worked at his tomb.
Radonitsa — the Day of Rejoicing — is the traditional day for commemorating the departed after Pascha. We bring the light of the Resurrection even to the graves of those who have fallen asleep, proclaiming: Christ is risen! even to the dead.
📖 Epistle Reading — Acts 4:1–10
¹ And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, ² Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. ⁴ Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
⁵ And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, ⁶ And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, ⁹ If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; ¹⁰ Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
OSB Commentary Notes: The Acts of the Apostles is a spiritual and theological record of how the Church developed — not a blueprint for reproduction, but a living witness. Jesus promised during the Last Supper to teach His disciples through the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13); here, that promise is fulfilled in Peter’s bold proclamation before the very men who handed Christ over to death. Peter, once a denier, now stands filled with the Holy Ghost before the Sanhedrin — the same council, the same power structures. The Resurrection has changed everything. Five thousand believed. The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth — the cornerstone the builders rejected — is the only name under heaven by which men can be saved (Acts 4:12).
📖 Gospel Reading — John 3:16–21
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
OSB Commentary Notes: John 3:16 expresses the whole of the message of salvation in a single verse. The OSB notes that to show the reason the Son must be crucified — “lifted up” (v. 14) — Jesus declares God’s great love not merely for Israel, but for the world. This is the full breadth of Pascha: a love that reaches every nation and every grave. The dialogue with Nicodemus frames this passage: Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night, a man of the darkness who nonetheless sought the light. His misunderstanding of rebirth (v. 4) is not mocked but redirected — Christ invites him toward the light, toward deeds “wrought in God.” On Radonitsa, this Gospel is a proclamation over the departed: even death itself is held within the love of God who “sent not His Son to condemn.”
✝️ Closing Reflection
On this Day of Rejoicing, the Church holds two realities together: the fresh joy of the empty tomb and the grief of loved ones who have gone before us. Radonitsa says we need not choose. Peter stood before rulers who wielded earthly power over life and death — and announced a name that overthrows every condemnation. The same name now echoes in cemeteries across the Orthodox world today: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
The light has come into the world. Come to the light.
Christ is risen! ✝️ Truly He is risen!
Holy Hieromartyr Januarius and companions, pray for us.
Generated: 2026-04-21 | Source: orthocal.info | Commentary: Orthodox Study Bible
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