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Daily Readings
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Saturday, 20th April 2024 --- 12 Baramoudah 1740
Readings for Wednesday of first week of fifty Joyous Days
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 30 : 5 - 7
Chapter 30
| 5 | For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
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| 6 | Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved."
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| 7 | LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
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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.
Vespers Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 9 : 15 - 17
Chapter 9
| 15 | And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
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| 16 | No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
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| 17 | Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 105 : 43,45
Chapter 105
| 43 | He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness.
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| 45 | That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the 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 John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
John 1 : 9 - 14
Chapter 1
| 9 | That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
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| 10 | He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
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| 11 | He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
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| 12 | But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
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| 13 | who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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| 14 | And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
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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 Corinthians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 15 : 50 - 58
Chapter 15
| 50 | Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
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| 51 | Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
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| 52 | in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
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| 53 | For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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| 54 | So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
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| 55 | "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
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| 56 | The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
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| 57 | But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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| 58 | Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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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 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 1 : 10 - 21
Chapter 1
| 10 | Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
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| 11 | searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
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| 12 | To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into.
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| 13 | Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
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| 14 | as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
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| 15 | but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
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| 16 | because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."
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| 17 | And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
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| 18 | knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
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| 19 | but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
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| 20 | He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
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| 21 | who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
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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 4 : 1 - 13
Chapter 4
| 1 | Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
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| 2 | being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
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| 3 | And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
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| 4 | However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
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| 5 | And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,
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| 6 | as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
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| 7 | And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"
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| 8 | Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
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| 9 | If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
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| 10 | let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
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| 11 | This is the "stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'
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| 12 | Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
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| 13 | Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
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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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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 106 : 1 - 2
Chapter 106
| 1 | Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
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| 2 | Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?
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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.
John 2 : 12 - 25
Chapter 2
| 12 | After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
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| 13 | Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
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| 14 | And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
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| 15 | When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.
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| 16 | And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"
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| 17 | Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."
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| 18 | So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"
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| 19 | Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
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| 20 | Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
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| 21 | But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
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| 22 | Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
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| 23 | Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
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| 24 | But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,
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| 25 | and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 12 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, 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 Twelfth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Departure of St.Alexander, Bishop of
Jerusalem
On this day, the holy father Anba Alexander,
Bishop of Jerusalem, departed. This holy father was Bishop of Cappadocia,
and he came to the city of Jerusalem to receive the blessing of the holy
places and then return to his country. St. Narcissus, who was the Bishop
of Jerusalem at that time (Second century - his departure on the first
day of Baramhat), was advanced in age and had reached over 110 years. He
often asked his people that he wished to retire from his See, but they
refused. When St. Alexander finished his visit and decided to return to
his Chair in Cappadocia, the people of Jerusalem heard a voice from heaven
saying: "Go to the gate of the city, and the first one to enter it, seize
him and make him stay with Narcissus to assist him." When they went to
the gate they met the Bishop Alexander, and they pleaded with him to stay
with Abba Narcissus to assist him. He refused because he could not leave
his flock that the Lord Christ had entrusted him with. They told him about
the voice which they had heard from heaven and that it was God's Will.
He accepted and wrote to the people of his parish what had happened, apologized,
and allowed them to appoint another bishop in his place. He remained in
Jerusalem, assisting its bishop Anba Narcissus, for about 5 years.
After the departure of St. Narcissus, he continued
to shepherd the people of Jerusalem with the best of care, until Maximianus,
the infidel, seized him, inflicted him with severe tortures of every kind,
and then imprisoned him. When Gordianus reigned, he released him, and when
he died and Philip reigned, he released the rest of the confessors. This
father sat in quietness and peace until Decius rose, killed Philip, and
reigned in his stead. Decius afflicted the Christians exceedingly; he seized
this holy father and many others, and tortured them, especially this father.
He beat him cruelly with sharp pins until he broke his ribs, then commanded
to drag him by his feet and throw him in prison. He remained there until
he delivered his pure soul in the hand of the Lord, and received the kingdom
which is prepared for the saints.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of St.Antonios, Bishop
of Tamoui
This day also marks the commemoration
of St. Antonios, Bishop of Tamoui.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page