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Daily Readings
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Monday, 2nd May 2016 --- 24 Baramoudah 1732
Readings for Monday 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 96 : 10
Chapter 96
| 10 | Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."
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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 John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
John 20 : 19 - 23
Chapter 20
| 19 | Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."
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| 20 | When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
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| 21 | So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
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| 22 | And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
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| 23 | If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
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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 97 : 1 - 2
Chapter 97
| 1 | The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!
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| 2 | Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
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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 Thessalonians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Thessalonians 4 : 13 - 5 : 11
Chapter 4
| 13 | But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
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| 14 | For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
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| 15 | For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
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| 16 | For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
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| 17 | Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
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| 18 | Therefore comfort one another with these words.
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Chapter 5
| 1 | But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
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| 2 | For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
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| 3 | For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
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| 4 | But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
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| 5 | You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
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| 6 | Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
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| 7 | For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
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| 8 | But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
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| 9 | For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
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| 10 | who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
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| 11 | Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
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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 2 : 11 - 25
Chapter 2
| 11 | Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
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| 12 | having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
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| 13 | Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
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| 14 | or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
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| 15 | For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men--
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| 16 | as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.
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| 17 | Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
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| 18 | Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.
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| 19 | For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
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| 20 | For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
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| 21 | For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
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| 22 | "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth";
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| 23 | who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;
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| 24 | who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.
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| 25 | For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
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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 3 : 1 - 20
Chapter 3
| 1 | Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
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| 2 | And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;
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| 3 | who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.
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| 4 | And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us."
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| 5 | So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
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| 6 | Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."
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| 7 | And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
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| 8 | So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them--walking, leaping, and praising God.
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| 9 | And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
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| 10 | Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
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| 11 | Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed.
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| 12 | So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
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| 13 | The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
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| 14 | But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
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| 15 | and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
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| 16 | And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
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| 17 | "Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
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| 18 | But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
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| 19 | Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
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| 20 | and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,
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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 104 : 24,31
Chapter 104
| 24 | O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions--
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| 31 | May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works.
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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 24 : 13 - 35
Chapter 24
| 13 | Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
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| 14 | And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
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| 15 | So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
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| 16 | But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
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| 17 | And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
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| 18 | Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"
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| 19 | And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
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| 20 | and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
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| 21 | But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
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| 22 | Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
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| 23 | When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
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| 24 | And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."
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| 25 | Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
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| 26 | Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
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| 27 | And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
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| 28 | Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.
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| 29 | But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.
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| 30 | Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
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| 31 | Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
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| 32 | And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
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| 33 | So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
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| 34 | saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
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| 35 | And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
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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 24 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 Twenty-Fourth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Departure of Pope Sinuthius (Shenouda
I), 55th Pope of Alexandria
On this day, of the year 596 A.M.
(April 19th., 880 A.D.), the great father Pope Sinuthius (Shenouda I),
55th Pope of the See of St. Mark, departed. This holy father was a monk
in the monastery of St. Macarius. He advanced in righteousness and worship,
and was ordained archpriest for the monastery. Shortly after, he was chosen
for the Patriarchate with the recommendation of the people and bishops.
He was enthroned on the 13th. of Tubah 575 A.D. (January 8th., 859 A.D.),
and great tribulations and severe persecutions befell him. God performed
through him many signs and healed many grievous sicknesses. Once there
was a drought in the city of Mariout for three years, the wells dried up
and the farm land became barren. This father came to the church of St.
Mina, celebrated the Divine Liturgy, and supplicated God to have mercy
upon His creation. At the setting of the sun of that day, the rain began
lightly then ceased. This father entered his room and stood up praying
and he said: "O My Lord Christ, have mercy on Thy people with the riches
of Thy compassion, and let them be filled with Thy good pleasure." Before
he finished his prayer, mighty thunders and lightnings started, and the
rain descended like a flood, until the wells, the vineyards, and the farms
were filled with water. The people rejoiced, glorifying God the wonder
worker.
When this father was in the wilderness
visiting the monasteries, the Arabs of Upper Egypt came to the desert of
Scetis to plunder the monasteries and kill the monks. The Pope took his
staff that had the sign of the cross on it and he went forth to meet them,
when they saw the Cross they retreated and fled away. (The account of this
wonder is mentioned in the ninth day of the month of Baramoudah). Some
men, in a village called Boukhnessa, one of the villages of Mariout, said
that He Who suffered for us was only a man and that the Divinity had departed
from Him. This Pope wrote a letter and sent it during the Holy Fast (Lent)
to be read in all the churches. He said in it, "God the Word suffered for
us in His Body, and His Divinity was not separated from His humanity, not
for a twinkling of an eye. The pain and suffering did not touch and affect
the Divinity, as when you hammer a red hot iron, the iron suffers from
the hammering but not the flame. For the passion of the Humanity to be
of value, the Hypostatic union with the Divinity was a must, and through
this passion Christ redeemed all the humanity."
Also, some men from the city of
El-Balyana, and their bishops, said that the Divine Nature died. When the
father heard that, he wrote to them saying: "The Nature of God, the Word,
is unknowable, intangible, and impassable for it was impossible for the
pain to affect its essence. The participation of the Divinity with the
humanity in passion is moral participation, to give a value to these sufferings,
to pay the debt of the humanity to God the Omnipresent, and that would
only be possible if the Divinity would participate morally without affecting
His essence. So we say "Holy God, Who was crucified for us, have mercy
upon us." When his letter reached them, they turned from their error, and
the bishops came and confessed the true and right faith before the Pope
and asked for forgiveness. Pope Shenouda I, cared greatly for the churches,
their buildings, and their needs. He also cared for the places wherein
pilgrims sojourned, and what money has left to him, he gave to the poor
and the needy. When he finished his good course, he departed in peace.
He stayed on the Chair of St. Mark for 21 years, 3 months and 11 days.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Sina, the Soldier
On this day also, St. Sina,
the companion of St. Isidore, was martyred. After the Governor of Farma
had tortured the two friends and St. Isidore was martyred, he kept St.
Sina in the prison until he was removed. When the new Governor took charge
with the command not to keep any one who confessed the Name of Christ,
he heard about the presence of Sina in prison, and that he was a captain
of soldiers. St. Sina was tortured much but did not turn from his counsel.
The Governor immediately ordered to cut off his head and he received the
crown of martyrdom. His mother was beside him when he was martyred, and
she saw a multitude of angels carrying away his soul as she saw St. Isidore's
soul at the time of his martyrdom before. They took his body, shrouded
it, laid it with the body of his friend St. Isidore in the city of Samanoud,
and many signs and wonders appeared from them.
May Their prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page