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Daily Readings
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Monday, 26th June 2017 --- 19 Baounah 1733
Readings for Monday, 26th June 2017 --- 19 Baounah 1733
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 34 : 17 - 18
Chapter 34
| 17 | The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
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| 18 | The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
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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 10 : 16 - 22
Chapter 10
| 16 | "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
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| 17 | But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
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| 18 | You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
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| 19 | But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
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| 20 | for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
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| 21 | "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
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| 22 | And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
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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 34 : 19 - 20
Chapter 34
| 19 | Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
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| 20 | He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
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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 8 : 34 - 9 : 1
Chapter 8
| 34 | When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
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| 35 | For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
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| 36 | For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
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| 37 | Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
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| 38 | For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
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Chapter 9
| 1 | And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
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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 Romans .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Romans 8 : 28 - 39
Chapter 8
| 28 | And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
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| 29 | For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
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| 30 | Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
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| 31 | What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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| 32 | He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
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| 33 | Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
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| 34 | Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
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| 35 | Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
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| 36 | As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
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| 37 | Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
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| 38 | For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
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| 39 | nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 4 : 1 - 11
Chapter 4
| 1 | Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
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| 2 | that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
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| 3 | For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
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| 4 | In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.
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| 5 | They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
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| 6 | For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
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| 7 | But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
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| 8 | And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."
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| 9 | Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
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| 10 | As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
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| 11 | If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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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 16 : 16 - 34
Chapter 16
| 16 | Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
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| 17 | This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation."
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| 18 | And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.
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| 19 | But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
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| 20 | And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city;
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| 21 | and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe."
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| 22 | Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
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| 23 | And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.
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| 24 | Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
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| 25 | But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
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| 26 | Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.
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| 27 | And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.
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| 28 | But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."
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| 29 | Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
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| 30 | And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
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| 31 | So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
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| 32 | Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
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| 33 | And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
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| 34 | Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
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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 19 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 Nineteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baounah
First Pontifical Liturgy is the New St.Mark
Cathedral in the Monastery of Anba Rowais
On this day, of the year
1684 (Wednesday, June 26th, 1968), the church celebrated the first Pontifical
Liturgy in the new St. Mark Cathedral in the monastery of Anba Rowais,
which was known as Dair El-Khandaq, where the relics of St. Mark were placed
after his return from Venice and Rome. On the morning of Wednesday the
19th of Baounah (June 26th) at about six o'clock, Pope Kyrillos took the
box of the relics of St. Mark, that he had placed on the altar of the old
St. Mark Cathedral in El-Azbakiah upon its arrival. He brought it in his
private car to the new St. Mark Cathedral. The Pontifical Divine Liturgy
that was celebrated on this occasion was headed by H.H. Pope Kyrillos the
Sixth, and participating with him were the patriarch Mari Ignatius Yacoub
the Third, the Antiochian Patriarch for the Syrian Orthodox, and a number
of Syrian, Indian and Armenian Orthodox bishops. This celebration was attended
by Emperor Haile Selassie the First, Emperor of Ethiopia, Cardinal Doval,
the head of the Roman Papal delegation and Cardinal of Algeria, many of
the heads of different religions and representatives of churches from all
around the world, and more than six thousand Egyptians and foreigners.
During the Liturgy, the box that contained the relics of St. Mark the Apostle
was placed on a table in the middle of the eastern part of the altar of
the Cathedral, and remained there till the end of the liturgy. Right after
the liturgy, Pope Kyrillos went down carrying the box along with the Emperor,
the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch and the heads of the churches in a magnificent
procession. They went to the sanctuary that was prepared for St. Mark under
the main altar of the Cathedral. Pope Kyrillos placed the box inside the
marbled altar, which was covered by a large marble slab and on it was the
altar table. The different choral groups then sang, successively in different
languages, songs and hymns that befit the occasion in salutation for St.
Mark. They sang in Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, Armenian, Greek, Latin, and
in Arabic. The day was a joyous day and one of the most blessed days in
the history of the church of Alexandria.
May the blessings of St. Mark be with us all. Amen.
Departure of Pope Archelaus, the Eighteenth
Pope of Alexandria
On this day also, of the year
28 A.M. (June, 312 A.D.) Pope Archelaus, the Eighteenth Pope of Alexandria,
departed. He was a priest in the church of Alexandria. When Pope Peter
the first, the seal of martyrs, received the crown of martyrdom, the believers
in Alexandria agreed and gathered the bishops. They ordained Archelaus
the priest a Patriarch instead of Pope Peter,as he commended before his
departure from this world. When he was enthroned on the patriarchal chair
in the 19th of Kiahk, 28 A.M. (December 24th, 311 A.D.), a group of people
came to him and asked him to accept Arius in the church. He accepted their
petition against the command of his father Pope Peter, but he did not remain
on the Chair longer than six months, then departed.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.George (Girgis) known
as El-Mezahem
This day also, in the year
675 A.M. (June, 959 A.D.), marks the martyrdom of St. George, the new martyr,
known as El-Mezahem. His father was a Moslem bedouin. He married a Christian
woman from the city of Demerah El-kibliah. He had from her three sons,
one of them was this Saint, and they called him El-Mezahem. He used to
go with his mother to the church at a young age. He also used to see the
children of the Christians dress in white on the days that they partook
of the Holy Mysteries. He longed that his mother would dress him like them,
and allow him to eat from whatever they ate at the altar. His mother told
him that could not be, unless he was baptized. She gave him a portion of
the blessed Eulogia bread, that they distributed to the people, and it
tasted in his mouth like that of honey. He meditated in his heart and said,
"If the taste of this bread that was not consecrated by prayers tastes
like this, what will be the taste of the Offering?" His longing for the
faith in Christ increased from that time. When he grew up, he married a
Christian woman, and he told her that he wished to become a Christian.
She told him that he had to be baptized. He went to Birma, was baptized
there and was called George (Girgis). When this matter became known, he
went to Domiat. The Moslems there recognized him, seized him and tortured
him. Then he escaped and fled to the city of Saft Abu-Trab, where he stayed
for three years. When his matter became known again he went to the city
of Katurah, and remained there serving the church of St. George, then went
back to Demerah.
When the Moslems of the
city of Demerah knew his history, they seized him, and delivered him to
the governor who put him in prison. The Moslems assembled and broke the
door of the prison. They beat the Saint severely, split open his head,
and left him between life and death. When some of the believers came on
the morrow to bury him, for they thought that he was dead, they found him
alive. The Moslems convened a council, and threatened him, but he did not
change his conviction. They hung him up on the mast of a ship, but the
governor ordered that he be taken down and cast him up in prison. His wife
strengthened him, and comforted him. She taught him to believe that the
punishment which had come upon him was because of his sins; lest Satan
lead him astray and he might boast that he became like the martyrs. The
angel of the Lord appeared to him, comforted him, strengthened him, and
informed him that he would receive the crown of martyrdom on the next day.
On the next morning, the Moslems gathered with the governor and demanded
from him that the head of El-Mozahem be cut off. He handed him over to
them. They took him, and cut off his head near the church of the angel
Michael in the city of Demerah. They cast his body in hot fire for a day
and a night. But his body did not burn, so they put him in a barrel and
threw him into the river. By the Will of God the barrel landed on the shore
of an island, which was inhabited by a believing woman. She took his body,
shrouded him, hid him in her house until they built a church for him, in
which they laid his body.
May his intercession be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Bishai Anoub
On this day also, St. Bishai
Anoub, which means "fine gold", was martyred. He was from the city of Banios,
in the diocese of Domiat. He was one of the soldiers of Cyprianus, governor
of Athribis. When persecution was incited against the Christians, he went
to the governor and confessed his faith in the Lord Christ before him.
The governor tortured him, then sent him to the governor of Ansena (Antinoe).
St. Bishai openly declared his faith in Christ before Arianus, the governor
of Ansena, who tortured him severely. Finally, he ordered his head cut
off outside the city. A great multitude followed him outside of the city.
One of them, was the keeper of the lions of Arianus, the governor, and
he had with him two lions bound with chains. One of them rushed forward,
broke the chain, and attacked the Saint to devour him. Immediately, the
angel of the Lord appeared, took the Saint and brought him to the city
of Ain-Shams where his martyrdom was consummated.
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 97 : 11 - 12
Chapter 97
| 11 | Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.
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| 12 | Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
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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 21 : 12 - 19
Chapter 21
| 12 | But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.
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| 13 | But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
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| 14 | Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;
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| 15 | for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
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| 16 | You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.
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| 17 | And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.
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| 18 | But not a hair of your head shall be lost.
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| 19 | By your patience possess your souls.
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page