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Daily Readings
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Monday, 26th March 2012 --- 17 Baramhat 1728
Readings for Monday of sixth week of Great Lent
Matins
Proverbs 8 : 1 - 11 Isaiah 43 : 10 - 28 Job 32 : 6 - 16
Proverbs 8 : 1 - 11
Chapter 8
| 1 | Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?
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| 2 | She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.
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| 3 | She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:
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| 4 | "To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.
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| 5 | O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
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| 6 | Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
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| 7 | For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
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| 8 | All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
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| 9 | They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.
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| 10 | Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;
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| 11 | For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
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Isaiah 43 : 10 - 28
Chapter 43
| 10 | "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.
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| 11 | I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.
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| 12 | I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses," Says the LORD, "that I am God.
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| 13 | Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?"
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| 14 | Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives--The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
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| 15 | I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."
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| 16 | Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters,
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| 17 | Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
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| 18 | "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
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| 19 | Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
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| 20 | The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.
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| 21 | This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
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| 22 | "But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel.
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| 23 | You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense.
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| 24 | You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.
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| 25 | "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
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| 26 | Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.
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| 27 | Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me.
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| 28 | Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.
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Job 32 : 6 - 16
Chapter 32
| 6 | So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: "I am young in years, and you are very old; Therefore I was afraid, And dared not declare my opinion to you.
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| 7 | I said, "Age should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom.'
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| 8 | But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
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| 9 | Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice.
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| 10 | "Therefore I say, "Listen to me, I also will declare my opinion.'
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| 11 | Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say.
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| 12 | I paid close attention to you; And surely not one of you convinced Job, Or answered his words--
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| 13 | Lest you say, "We have found wisdom'; God will vanquish him, not man.
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| 14 | Now he has not directed his words against me; So I will not answer him with your words.
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| 15 | "They are dismayed and answer no more; Words escape them.
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| 16 | And I have waited, because they did not speak, Because they stood still and answered no more.
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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 : 9 - 9
Chapter 38
| 9 | Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
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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 Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Mark 12 : 1 - 12
Chapter 12
| 1 | Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
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| 2 | Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.
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| 3 | And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
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| 4 | Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.
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| 5 | And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
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| 6 | Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, "They will respect my son.'
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| 7 | But those vinedressers said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
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| 8 | So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
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| 9 | "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
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| 10 | Have you not even read this Scripture: "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
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| 11 | This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
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| 12 | And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
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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 : 1 - 18
Chapter 4
| 1 | Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;
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| 2 | for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
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| 3 | For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
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| 4 | that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
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| 5 | not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
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| 6 | that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.
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| 7 | For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
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| 8 | Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
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| 9 | But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
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| 10 | and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;
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| 11 | that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,
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| 12 | that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
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| 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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The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. James .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
James 4 : 7 - 12
Chapter 4
| 7 | Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
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| 8 | Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
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| 9 | Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
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| 10 | Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
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| 11 | Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
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| 12 | There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
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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 18 : 9 - 18
Chapter 18
| 9 | Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent;
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| 10 | for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city."
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| 11 | And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
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| 12 | When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat,
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| 13 | saying, "This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law."
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| 14 | And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you.
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| 15 | But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters."
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| 16 | And he drove them from the judgment seat.
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| 17 | Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.
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| 18 | So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.
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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 Baramhat, 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 Baramhat
Departure of Lazarus, the beloved of
the Lord
On this day the righteous Lazarus, the beloved
of the Lord Christ, departed. He was the brother of Martha and Mary who
anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair. When
Lazarus fell sick the sisters sent to the Lord Christ saying: "Lord, behold,
he whom You love is sick." When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness
is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place
where He was" to magnify the miracle. Then after this He said to the disciples,
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples told Him, "Rabbi, lately the
Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" Jesus answered,
"Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he
does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. "But if one
walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." These
things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps,
but I go that I may wake him up." Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he
sleeps he will get well." However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought
that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them
plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not
there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
When the Lord came to Bethany which is nearby Jerusalem
He stood before the tomb and said: "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister
of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench,
for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you
that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" Then they took
away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted
up His eyes and prayed then he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
forth!" And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes,
and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him,
and let him go."
(John 11:1-45) That was to manifest the reality of his
death, so no one would think that this was deception with previous arrangement,
for that the miracle was magnified and many believed.
May The prayers of this righteous be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of the Saints George the
Ascetic, Belasius the Martyr, and Anba Joseph the Bishop
On this day also the church
celebrates the commemoration of the Saints George the ascetic, Belasius
the martyr, and Anba Joseph the bishop.
May their prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Basilius, Bishop of Jerusalem
On this day also of the
year 1615 A.M. (March 26th., 1899 A.D.) the great father Anba Basilius,
Metropolitan of Jerusalem, departed. This father was born in the village
of El-Dabah, Farshout county, the province of Quena, for righteous parents.
They nursed him with the milk of righteousness since his young age, as
they taught him reading and writing, so he grew on loving perfection and
moral excellence. When he was twenty-five years old he went to the monastery
of St. Antonios and put on the monastic garb in the year 1559 A.M. He persevered
in worshipping and ascetism and because he was adorned with righteousness
and piety they ordained him priest in the year 1565 A.M. and archpriest
(Hegumen) in the year 1568 A.M., then they appointed him an Abott for the
monastery. He managed the monastery well with gentleness, wisdom and meekness
that made the blessed Anba Kyrellos IV to ordain him Metropolitan for Jerusalem
and the parishes that were attached to him: El-Kaliobia, El-Sharkia, El-Dakahlia,
El-Gharbia, Suez, Domiat, and Port-Said. He had shown prudence in managing
the affairs of these parishes that made him the center of admiration and
pride to the Copts. All his efforts were dedicated for the building of
churches all over his parish, buying and renovating properties in Jaffa
and Jerusalem. He was loved by all the people of Syria and Palestine, regardless
of their religion or political persuasion, especially the rulers of Jerusalem,
for his wise policy and straight morals. During his days a dispute aroused
from the Ethiopians where they claimed their ownership for the monastery
of El-Sultan in Jerusalem. Because of this father and his vigilance they
could not establish an ownership for the monastery. He attended the enthronement
of Pope Demetrius II, the hundred eleventh, and Pope Kyrellos V, the hundred
twelfth. He spent his days in continuous effort for what was good for his
people and departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Sedhom Bishay in Domiat
On this day also the church
commemorates the martyrdom of Sedhom Bishay in Domiat on the 17th. of Baramhat
year 1565 A.D. (March 25th., 1844 A.D.). He endured the torture for the
Name of the Lord Christ and his martyrdom made the rising of the Cross
during the Christian funeral processions openly, for it was forbidden before.
This martyr was a clerical employee in the government of the port of Domiat
during the days of Mohammed Ali Basha the Governor of Egypt. A revolt of
mobs in the port arose, they seized Sidhom Bishay and accused him falsely
that he cursed Islam and witnessed against him before the religious judge
a low uncivilized person and a donkey driver. The judge decided either
he would forsake his faith or be killed, he whipped him and then sent him
to the Governor of the city. After the Governor had examined his case he
issued the same judgement against him as the judge did. Sidhom was steadfast
in his Christian faith, not caring to be killed. They whipped, dragged
him on his face down the stairs in the Governor palace, then they put him
on a buffalo facing the tail and went around with him in the streets of
the city insulting and degrading him. The Christians in the city became
afraid and locked themselves in their houses.
The mob continued to insult
him and tortured him in different ways until he was about to deliver his
soul; so they brought him to the door of his house and left him there.
His family went out and brought him inside and five days later he departed
to heaven. His departure was a great martyrdom, and the Christians counted
him among the holy martyrs. They gathered regardless of their denomination
and joined in his funeral in a celebration that there was nothing like
it before. The Christians carried their arms and the priest put on their
vestments headed by the Archpriest Yousef Michael who was the head of the
Coptic congregation in Domiat and accompanied by the priests of the other
denominations. They marched in his fu.eral in the streets of the city and
in front of him the deacons carrying the banners of the Cross, and they
arrived to the church where they prayed the funeral rites. The people went
on objecting this reprehensible and painful incident and talking about
the patience and endurance of the different kinds of torture in silence
and the steadfastness of Sidhom the martyr. The prominent people of the
Christian community in Domiat deliberated as how to avoid these incidents
in the future. They decided to ask the consuls of the foreign countries
to mediate with the ruler of the country and the Pope the Patriarch of
the Copts and sent to them detailed reports. Mr Michail Sorour the official
representative of seven countries in Domiat was in charge of this mediation.
The ruler of Egypt was concerned about this incident and sent two official
representatives to examine the case. So they reopened the inquiry and they
realized the injustice and the ill-treatment that befell the great martyr
and convicted the judge and the governor for their wrong doing, stripped
them from their honor then exiled them. They asked, as a good will and
to comfort the people, to allow the raising of the Cross publicly before
the Christian funerals, and the ruler allowed that in Domiat. This was
allowed later on all over the country during the Papacy of Pope Kyrellos
IV.
May The blessings of this great martyr 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 35 : 1 - 2
Chapter 35
| 1 | Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me.
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| 2 | Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for my help.
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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 13 : 1 - 5
Chapter 13
| 1 | There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
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| 2 | And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
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| 3 | I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
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| 4 | Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
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| 5 | I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page