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Daily Readings
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Sunday, 24th June 2012 --- 17 Baounah 1728
Readings for Third Sunday of Baounah
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 6:1 ; 38:15
Chapter 6
| 1 | O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
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Chapter 38
| 15 | For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.
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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 7 : 7,12
Chapter 7
| 7 | "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
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| 12 | Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
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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 38 : 21 - 22
Chapter 38
| 21 | Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me!
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| 22 | Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
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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 24 : 1 - 12
Chapter 24
| 1 | Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
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| 2 | But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
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| 3 | Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
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| 4 | And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
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| 5 | Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
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| 6 | He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
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| 7 | saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."'
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| 8 | And they remembered His words.
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| 9 | Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
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| 10 | It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
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| 11 | And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.
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| 12 | But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
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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 4 : 1 - 16
Chapter 4
| 1 | Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
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| 2 | Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
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| 3 | But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
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| 4 | For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
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| 5 | Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.
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| 6 | Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.
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| 7 | For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
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| 8 | You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us--and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!
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| 9 | For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
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| 10 | We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!
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| 11 | To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
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| 12 | And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;
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| 13 | being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
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| 14 | I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
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| 15 | For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
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| 16 | Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
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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 : 19 - 2 : 9
Chapter 1
| 19 | And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
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| 20 | knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
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| 21 | for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
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Chapter 2
| 1 | But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
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| 2 | And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
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| 3 | By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
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| 4 | For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
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| 5 | and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
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| 6 | and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;
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| 7 | and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked
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| 8 | (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
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| 9 | then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
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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 17 : 1 - 12
Chapter 17
| 1 | Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
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| 2 | Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
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| 3 | explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ."
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| 4 | And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.
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| 5 | But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
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| 6 | But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
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| 7 | Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king--Jesus."
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| 8 | And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.
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| 9 | So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
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| 10 | Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
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| 11 | These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
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| 12 | Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.
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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 17 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baounah, 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 Seventeenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baounah
Return of the Relics of the Great St.Mark to the New St.Mark Cathedral
On this day, of the year 1684
A.M., that coincided with Monday the 24th of June, 1968 A.D., and in the
tenth year of the papacy of Pope Kyrillos the Sixth, 116th Pope of Alexandria,
the relics of the great saint, the beholder of God, St. Mark the Apostle,
the Evangelist of the Egyptian land and the first Patriarch of Alexandria,
were returned to Egypt. Pope Kyrillos had delegated an official delegation
to travel to Rome to receive the relics of St. Mark the Apostle from Pope
Paul VI. The papal delegation consisted of ten metropolitans and bishops,
seven of them were Coptic and three Ethiopians, and three of the prominent
Coptic lay leaders. The Alexandrian delegation received the relics of St.
Mark the Apostle on Saturday the 22nd of June, 1968 A.D. from Pope Paul
VI. The moment of handing over the holy relics, after eleven centuries,
during which the body of St. Mark was kept in the city of Venice, in Italy,
was a solemn and joyful moment. The next day, Sunday 16th of Baounah (June
23rd), the Alexandrian Papal delegation celebrated a festive pontifical
liturgy in the church of St. Athanasius the Apostolic in Rome. The ten
metropolitans, bishops, and the priests accompanying the delegation, all
served in the liturgy. Members of the Roman Papal delegation, the Copts
who accompanied the Delegation, and those who lived in Rome, newspaper
and news agency reporters, and many foreign dignitaries attended the liturgy.
The Alexandrian Papal delegation
carrying the holy relics, on Monday the 24th of June, 1968 A.D., went to
the airport in an official procession, preceded by the motorcycles and
police escort. They boarded a plane which came especially from Cairo. The
plane arrived at Cairo airport at ten thirty P.M. of the same day. Awaiting
the arrival of the relics were, Pope Kyrillos the Sixth, Mari Ignatius
Yacoub, the Antiochian Patriarch for the Syrian Orthodox, a great number
of coptic and foreign bishops, the head of various denominations and religions,
Egyptian and foreign, and thousands of the Egyptian masses, Christian and
Moslems. They sang and chanted enjoyable religious songs, waiting for the
arrival of the plane. When the plane landed, H.H. Pope Kyrillos went up
the stairs of the aircraft, and received the precious box that contained
the relics of St. Mark the Apostle, from the head of the delegation. Many,
and especially those who were in the balcony of the airport, at this particular
moment, saw three white doves flying over the aircraft. Since pigeons do
not fly during the night, these were not ordinary pigeons. Perhaps, it
was the spirits of the saints welcoming the relics of the great St.Mark.
It is worthy to note also that the plane was suppose to arrive at five
o'clock but it was delayed for no apparent reason till it was dark. Perhaps
also, it was just for the spectators to witness and see these flying doves.
The Pope disembarked the aircraft
carrying the box on his shoulder in the middle of the chanting and singing
of the deacons, followed by a tremendous procession of thousands chanting
with the deacons in joy and jubilation. The head of the Roman Papal delegation,
Cardinal Doval, Cardinal of Algeria, was amazed by this tremendous religious
rally. He also expressed that he was deeply touched by the devoutness of
the Copts and their great honor and veneration for St. Mark. He said that
what he saw far exceeded his expectations, especially that the masses had
to wait from five o'clock P.M., the expected time of arrival of the aircraft,
till ten thirty or even later. Pope Kyrillos returned to the old St. Mark
Cathedral in El-Azbakiah with the box of the relics. He placed the box
on top of the main altar which was consecrated in the name of St. Mark
the Apostle. The box remained there till the third day of its arrival,
when the Pope carried it to the new St. Mark Cathedral in its inauguration.
May the blessings of St. Mark be with us all. Amen.
Departure of St.Latsoun El-Bahnasawy
On this day also, the great
saint Anba Latsoun of El-Bahnesa, departed. One day, he went to the church
and heard the words of the Lord Christ in the Holy Gospel saying: "For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will save it. For what advantage is it to a man if he gains
the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?"
(Luke 9:24-25) These
words kindled his heart, so he left the world and went to the wilderness
of Scetis (Sheahat). There he fought a great fight with ceaseless fasting
and prayers. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and commanded him to
go to St. Isidore, to clothe him with the holy Eskeem. He went to him,
and after forty days St. Isidore clothed him with it. He increased in his
asceticism, then he lived a solitary life in the wilderness. There, he
was visited by St.Balamon (Palaemon). Satan had appeared to him disguised
as a woman. Satan tried to persuade him to marry her by mentioning some
of the Old Testament men that were married but yet were righteous. St.
Balamon realized that he was the devil. He crossed himself with the sign
of the cross, and prayed to the Lord to save him. The devil became like
smoke and disappeared. St. Balamon went to St. Latsoun to take his advice
on devil warfare. He instructed him on how to overcome the devil and his
deception. St. Balamon then went back to his abode. As of St. Latsoun,
he increased in his asceticism until he departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us and Glory be to 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 61 : 5,8
Chapter 61
| 5 | For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
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| 8 | So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may daily perform my vows.
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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.
Matthew 12 : 22 - 37
Chapter 12
| 22 | Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
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| 23 | And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
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| 24 | Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."
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| 25 | But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
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| 26 | If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
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| 27 | And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
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| 28 | But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
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| 29 | Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
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| 30 | He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
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| 31 | "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
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| 32 | Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
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| 33 | "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
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| 34 | Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
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| 35 | A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
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| 36 | But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
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| 37 | For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page