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Daily Readings
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Wednesday, 22nd February 2012 --- 14 Amshir 1728
Readings for Wednesday of first week of Great Lent
Matins
Isaiah 2 : 3 - 11 Joel 2 : 12 - 27
Isaiah 2 : 3 - 11
Chapter 2
| 3 | Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
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| 4 | He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
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| 5 | O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.
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| 6 | For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
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| 7 | Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots.
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| 8 | Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.
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| 9 | People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.
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| 10 | Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty.
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| 11 | The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
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Joel 2 : 12 - 27
Chapter 2
| 12 | "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
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| 13 | So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
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| 14 | Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him--A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
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| 15 | Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
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| 16 | Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.
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| 17 | Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"'
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| 18 | Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.
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| 19 | The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
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| 20 | "But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things."
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| 21 | Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things!
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| 22 | Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
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| 23 | Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you--The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.
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| 24 | The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
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| 25 | "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
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| 26 | You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
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| 27 | Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
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Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 25 : 6 - 7
Chapter 25
| 6 | Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.
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| 7 | Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 6 : 24 - 34
Chapter 6
| 24 | "But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.
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| 25 | Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.
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| 26 | Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.
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| 27 | "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
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| 28 | bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
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| 29 | To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
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| 30 | Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
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| 31 | And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
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| 32 | "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
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| 33 | And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
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| 34 | And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Liturgy Gospel
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Romans .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Romans 14 : 19 - 15 : 7
Chapter 14
| 19 | Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
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| 20 | Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.
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| 21 | It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
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| 22 | Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
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| 23 | But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
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Chapter 15
| 1 | We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
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| 2 | Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
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| 3 | For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me."
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| 4 | For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
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| 5 | Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,
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| 6 | that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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| 7 | Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
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The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 2 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 Peter 1 : 4 - 11
Chapter 1
| 4 | by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
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| 5 | But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
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| 6 | to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
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| 7 | to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
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| 8 | For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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| 9 | For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
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| 10 | Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
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| 11 | for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 10 : 9 - 20
Chapter 10
| 9 | The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
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| 10 | Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance
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| 11 | and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.
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| 12 | In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
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| 13 | And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
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| 14 | But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
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| 15 | And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."
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| 16 | This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
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| 17 | Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate.
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| 18 | And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
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| 19 | While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you.
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| 20 | Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."
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The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 14 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Amshir, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Fourteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir
Departure of St.Severus, the Patriarch
of Antioch
On this day of the year 538 A.D., the
holy father St. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, departed. He was from Asia
Minor. His grandfather, whose name was also Severus, saw in a vision someone
telling him, "The child who is for your son will strengthen Orthodoxy,
and his name will be after your name." When his son had this saint, he
called him Severus. He was taught the Greek wisdom and church subjects.
Once, the saint was strolling outside the city, a shut-in saint came out
of his cave crying, "Welcome to you Severus, teacher of Orthodoxy, and
Patriarch of Antioch." Severus marvelled at how he called him by his name,
for he did not know him before, and how he foretold what would become of
him. Severus grew in virtue and became a monk in the monastery of St. Romanus.
The fame of his righteousness and his ascetic life spread out. When the
Patriarch of Antioch departed, the bishops had a consensus to ordain him
the Patriarch of the city in the year 512 A.D. The church was illuminated
by his teachings which spread to all the universe, and he was one of the
fathers who attended the Universal Council at Ephesus.
Shortly after, Emperor Anastasius died
and Justinian, who was Chalcedonian in faith, reigned after him. He called
upon this holy father and gave him great honors to persuade him to change
his stand and to follow the Emperor's belief, but the Saint refused. The
Emperor became angry, but the Saint did not fear his anger, and so the
Emperor ordered him to be killed. Theodora, the Emperor's wife who was
Orthodox in faith, knew about what the Emperor intended to do, so she told
the saint to flee from his face. St. Severus escaped to the land of Egypt
and traveled everywhere and visited monasteries disguised as a monk. He
strengthened the faith of the believers in the Orthodox doctrine. He dwelt
in the city of Sakha in the home of a holy lay leader called Doretheos.
God performed through him many miracles. He departed in the city of Sakha,
and his body was relocated to the monastery of El-Zugag.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.James, the Fiftieth Pope
of Alexandria (St.Yacobus)
On this day also of the
year 821 A.D., the great saint Abba James (St. Yacobus), 50th Pope of Alexandria,
departed. He was a monk in the monastery of St.Macarius. For his holiness
and righteousness, he was chosen by a consensus to become patriarch after
Pope Mark, 49th Pope, had departed. He was enthroned in the month of Bashans
in the year 810 A.D. St. James renovated the churches and populated the
monasteries, and God granted him the gift of performing miracles. One of
the deacons in Alexandria dared to say to him rudely, "Pay what you owe
to the churches, or else go to your monastery." The Pope replied to him,
"You will never see me again from now on." The deacon went home, immediately
became sick and died shortly after. Another miracle: There was a lay leader
(Archon) named Macarius from Nabarouh who was very well advanced in years
and had no children. After a while, God gave him a son. He made a feast
to celebrate this occasion, and invited Abba James. During the celebration,
the child died but his father did not panic. He carried the child in his
hands and placed him in faith before the Pope, trusting that God would
hear His chosen one, and give life to his child. The Pope took the child
and made the sign of the cross on his forehead, his heart and his chest,
while he prayed, "My Master, Jesus Christ, the Giver of Life, raise this
child alive again by Your mighty power." He breathed in his face, and the
soul of the child returned to him, and he gave him to his father. When
he finished his good strife, Abba James departed in peace, after he had
been on the throne of St. Mark for 10 years, 9 months and 28 days.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 25 : 20,16
Chapter 25
| 20 | Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
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| 16 | Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted.
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Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Luke 6 : 35 - 38
Chapter 6
| 35 | But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
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| 36 | Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
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| 37 | "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
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| 38 | Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page