|
Daily Readings
|
|
Sunday, 19th December 2010 --- 10 Kiahk 1727
Readings for Second Sunday of Kiahk - Abstinence
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 143 : 6 - 6
Chapter 143
| 6 | I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.Selah
|
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 Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 7 : 36 - 50
Chapter 7
| 36 | Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.
|
| 37 | And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
|
| 38 | and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
|
| 39 | Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."
|
| 40 | And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it."
|
| 41 | "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
|
| 42 | And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"
|
| 43 | Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."
|
| 44 | Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.
|
| 45 | You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.
|
| 46 | You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
|
| 47 | Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."
|
| 48 | Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
|
| 49 | And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
|
| 50 | Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 71 : 6 - 7
Chapter 71
| 6 | By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You.
|
| 7 | I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.
|
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 11 : 20 - 28
Chapter 11
| 20 | But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
|
| 21 | When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.
|
| 22 | But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.
|
| 23 | He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
|
| 24 | "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, "I will return to my house from which I came.'
|
| 25 | And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
|
| 26 | Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
|
| 27 | And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"
|
| 28 | But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 3 : 1 - 4 : 3
Chapter 3
| 1 | What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?
|
| 2 | Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.
|
| 3 | For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?
|
| 4 | Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged."
|
| 5 | But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)
|
| 6 | Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
|
| 7 | For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
|
| 8 | And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
|
| 9 | What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
|
| 10 | As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
|
| 11 | There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
|
| 12 | They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
|
| 13 | "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips";
|
| 14 | "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
|
| 15 | "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
|
| 16 | Destruction and misery are in their ways;
|
| 17 | And the way of peace they have not known."
|
| 18 | "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
|
| 19 | Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
|
| 20 | Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
|
| 21 | But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
|
| 22 | even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
|
| 23 | for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
|
| 24 | being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
|
| 25 | whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
|
| 26 | to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
|
| 27 | Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
|
| 28 | Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
|
| 29 | Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
|
| 30 | since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
|
| 31 | Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
|
Chapter 4
| 1 | What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
|
| 2 | For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
|
| 3 | For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
|
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 John 1 : 1 - 2 : 2
Chapter 1
| 1 | That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--
|
| 2 | the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
|
| 3 | that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
|
| 4 | And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
|
| 5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
|
| 6 | If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
|
| 7 | But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
|
| 8 | If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
|
| 9 | If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
|
| 10 | If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
|
Chapter 2
| 1 | My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
|
| 2 | And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
|
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 7 : 30 - 34
Chapter 7
| 30 | "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
|
| 31 | When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,
|
| 32 | saying, "I am the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and dared not look.
|
| 33 | "Then the LORD said to him, "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
|
| 34 | I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt."'
|
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Synaxarium
Day 10 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Kiahk, 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 Tenth Day of the Blessed Month of Kiahk
Relocation of the Body of Saint Abba
Severus, Archbishop of the City of Antioch
On this day, the body of St. Severus,
Archbishop of Antioch, was relocated to the Zogag Monastery. This holy
man departed in the city of Sakha at the house of a righteous wealthy man
called Dorotheus, where he was hiding. Dorotheus sent the body, in a ship,
with trustworthy men to the Zogag Monastery, located to the west of the
city of Alexandria. He commanded them not to enter the bay but to use the
lake until they came to the shore. When they came to Kartasa, facing north,
they sailed towards the west, but they did not find water deep enough to
sail their ship and the crew was saddened and worried. God, the Lover of
man, He Who saved the children of Israel from their enemies, and opened
up a way for them in the Red Sea and made them pass over, this same God
preserved the body of Saint Severus from those who hated him. God made
manifest this miracle. He made the ship sail in shallow water for six miles
until they arrived to the shore. From there they took the body of the Saint,
carried it to the Zogag Monastery and laid it in the place which Dorotheus
had built for it. There was great joy in the city of Alexandria and God
worked great signs and wonders through the body of His saint Abba Severus.
God honored St. Severus after his death even more than during his life.
May His blessings be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Nicholas, Bishop of Mora
On this day also the righteous
St. Nicholas, Bishop of Mora (Myra), departed. He was from the city of
Mora, his father's name was Epiphanius and the name of his mother was Tona.
They were rich, as well as God-fearing, people. They had no children to
bring joy to their hearts and to inherit their wealth after their deaths.
They remained without a son until they grew old and they were enveloped
with despair. God had pity on them and gave them this saint. He was filled
with the Divine grace since his young age. When he reached school age,
he demonstrated, through intelligence and knowledge, that he learned far
more from the Holy Spirit than he did from his teachers. He learned all
the doctrine and the teachings of the church since his young age and was
ordained deacon. Then he became a monk in a monastery wherein his cousin
was the abbot. He lived an ascetic and a righteous life, and was ordained
a priest when he was 19 years old. God gave him the gift to work signs
and wonders and to heal the sick. St. Nicholas is too illustrious to describe
all the signs that were performed by his hands, but an example of his good
deeds and benevolent works follows: There was a very rich man in the city
of Mora who lost all his wealth. He had three daughters who had passed
the age of marriage, and he could not marry them because of his poverty.
Satan tempted the man to think that he should make his daughters live in
sin so that they might get their food by means of fornication. God revealed
to St. Nicholas the thoughts which were in this man's head, and what he
intended to do. St. Nicholas took 100 dinars of his father's money and
tied it up in a sack. During the night, secretly and without anyone seeing
him, he threw the money into the window of that poor man's house. When
the man found the gold, he was astonished and rejoiced exceedingly and
was able to give his eldest daughter away in marriage. During another night
the saint threw another hundred dinars into the man's house and the man
was able to give his second daughter away in marriage. The man wanted to
know who this charitable person was. The third time when the saint threw
the gold into the house, the man was watching and immediately when he felt
the drop of the sack, he ran out of his house to see who was throwing the
gold to him.
He found the kind bishop
St. Nicholas and the man bowed down at his feet and paid him great homage
and thanked him because he saved his daughters from poverty and from a
life of sin. The saint refused to accept any thanks and asked them to thank
the Lord Who put this thought in his heart. St. Nicholas drove out the
devil and his angels from people, he healed many sick people, and he blessed
little bread to satisfy many people, with much more left over. Before being
selected bishop, he saw in a vision, a great throne and magnificent vestments
placed on it and a man said to him, "Put on these vestments and sit on
this throne." Another night he saw our Lady, St. Mary, giving him the vestments
of the priesthood and our Lord Jesus Christ gave him the Gospel. When the
Bishop of Mora departed, the Angel of the Lord appeared to the Archbishop
and told him the one who was chosen for this rank was Nicholas and described
his virtues to him. When he woke up he told the bishops what he had seen,
and they all believed that vision. They knew that it was from the Lord
Jesus Christ. They took St. Nicholas and made him Bishop over the city
of Mora. Shortly thereafter, Diocletian reigned, and incited the pagan
worship. When Diocletian arrested many of the believers, he heard about
this saint. He seized him and tortured him severely for many years. The
Lord Christ strengthened him, protected him, and raised him whole from
all these tortures so that he might become a mighty branch of the tree
of faith. When Diocletian was tired of torturing him, he cast him into
prison. Saint Nicholas wrote to his congregation from prison to teach,
encourage and confirm them in the faith. He remained in prison until God
perished Diocletian and established the reign of Constantine the Just.
Constantine brought out all the confessors from prison, among them was
St. Nicholas, who returned to his city. When the Council of Nicea convened
in the year 325 A.D. to judge Arius, he was one of the 318 fathers assembled
there. Having finished his course and guarded his flock, he departed to
be with the Lord. He sat on the episcopal throne for more than 40 years,
and all the days of his life were about 80 years.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 44 : 9 - 10
Chapter 44
| 9 | But You have cast us off and put us to shame, And You do not go out with our armies.
|
| 10 | You make us turn back from the enemy, And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
|
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 1 : 26 - 38
Chapter 1
| 26 | Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
|
| 27 | to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
|
| 28 | And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"
|
| 29 | But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
|
| 30 | Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
|
| 31 | And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
|
| 32 | 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.
|
| 33 | And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
|
| 34 | Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
|
| 35 | 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.
|
| 36 | 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.
|
| 37 | For with God nothing will be impossible."
|
| 38 | Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Acknowledgement
Opening page