From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
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.
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.
And Glory be to God forever.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
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.
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.
And Glory be to God forever.
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 Hebrews .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
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.
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
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.
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.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 12 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Bashans, 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 Twelfth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Commemoration of the Consecration of
the Church of St.Demiana
On this day, the church
commemorates the consecration of the church of the virgin St. Demiana.
This pure and fighting virgin was the daughter of Mark, who was the governor
of El-Borollus, El-Zaafran and the valley of Saisaban. She was the only
child of her parents. When she was one year old, her father took her to
the church that was in the monastery of El-Maima. He offered gifts there
so that God might bless this daughter and keep her safe Him. When she was
fifteen years old, her father wanted to get her married. She refused and
told him that she had vowed herself a bride for the Lord Christ. When she
found that her father was pleased of her decision, she asked him to build
her an isolated palace, so that she could worship God with her virgin friends,
and right away he did what she asked. He built the palace where she and
the forty virgins lived in. They spent their time by reading the Holy Bible
and praying fervently to God. Shortly after, Emperor Diocletian sent for
Mark her father and ordered him to worship the idols, but he refused at
first. However, after some persuasion, Mark obeyed him and worshipped the
idols, forsaking the creator of the universe.
When Mark returned, and
St. Demiana knew of what her father had done, she rushed to meet him without
a greeting saying: "What have I heard about you? I wished I have Heard
the news of your death, and not knowing that you have forsaken God who
have created you and worshipped what is made by hands. If you insist on
what you have done and you do not relent by denouncing the idols, you are
not my father, and I am not your daughter." She also said to him: "It is
better for you, O my father, that you die a martyr and live with Christ
in heaven forever, than you live as a pagan here and die with the devil
in hades forever." Then she left him. Her father was moved by what she
said and wept bitterly. He went in hurry to Diocletian and confessed the
Lord Christ before him. When Diocletian could not change his mind, he ordered
him to be beheaded. When Diocletian knew that the one who turned Mark away
from worshipping the idols was his daughter Demiana, he sent to her a prince
to persuade her at first, and if she did not obey, he would cut off her
head. The Prince came to her with an entourage of one hundred soldiers
armed with all instruments of torture. When he arrived to her palace, he
went to her and said: "I am an envoy sent by Emperor Diocletian. I came
to ask you, according to his orders, to worship his gods, so he might grant
you whatsoever you wish." St. Demiana shouted at the prince saying: "Curse
the messenger and he who sent him. Are you not ashamed to call stones and
wood gods that only dwelt by devils? There is no other God in heaven or
on earth except the one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the
Creator, Who has no beginning and no end, the Omnipresent, and the Omniscient
God, who will throw you in hell for eternal condemnation. As for me, I
worship my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Good Father and the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Trinity. I profess Him, depend on Him, and in His name
I die and by Him I will live forever." The Prince became angry of what
she said, and ordered her to be placed in the body press. Her blood poured
out on the ground, and the virgins were standing, weeping for her. Then
they put her in prison, where the angel of the Lord appeared to her and
touched her body with his celestial wings and healed her from all her wounds.
The Prince was creative
in the ways he tortured St. Demiana, sometimes by rending her flesh, or
placing her in boiling grease and oil. In all that, the Lord strengthened
her and raised her up whole. When the Prince saw that his efforts were
of no avail and the steadfastness of this pure virgin, he ordered her to
be beheaded with all the virgins with her. They all received the crowns
of martyrdom. (The account of her martyrdom is mentioned in the thirteenth
day of the month of Tubah) The Prince returned to Antioch, the city of
the Emperor. The faithful came and gathered the bodies of the martyrs and
kept them until the end of the days of persecution and the reign of the
righteous Emperor the Christ-loving Constantine the great. He ordered to
destroy the idol temples and built many churches after the names of the
martyrs. He gathered the bodies of the martyrs in every place and placed
them in the churches. He endowed the churches with the necessary income
to maintain them. When Constantine knew of all what had happened to St.
Demiana, and how she endured for a long time in the valley of El-Saisaban,
he delegated his blessed mother St.Helena to take burial clothing, go to
El-Zaafran, and build a church in the name of St. Demiana and the forty
virgins, there. St. Helena came to the valley, went up to the palace, and
found that the bodies were unharmed. She found St. Demiana in the place
where she used to sit and around her the forty virgins. She kissed the
body, taking the blessing of the Saint and wrapped the bodies with expensive
shrouds. She gathered the craftsmen and architects, tore down the palace,
and built instead a well built tomb (Cellar) underground. She laid the
body of St. Demiana on an ivory bed, and covered her with a precious bedspread
and laid the forty virgins around her in it. Then she built a small and
beautiful church which had one dome on the top of it. The church was consecrated
by Pope Alexandros, the nineteenth Patriarch of Alexandria, on the 12th.
of Bashans. He also ordained a saintly bishop, priests, and deacons to
serve in the church day and night in prayers.
The bishop of this area,
El-Zaafran and El-Borollus, was martyred and his body was placed in this
church among the bodies of other martyrs. Abba Yoannis, Bishop of El Borullus,
said in his book, The History of the Church: "The church was destroyed
in the 8th. century by one of the Arab rulers, who built in its place a
palace for his residence." At this time, the water of the Mediterranean
sea flooded the Delta of the Nile river until it reached the city of Samannoud
to the western side of the church that called "Zion" by the old citadel.
This flooding was caused by the deterioration of the barrier, which held
back the sea water. When the news reached the king Hassan Ibn Atahia, he
was saddened because this district brought the government much money because
it was rich in its highly priced aromatic plants. One of his close aids,
who was a Jew, told the king to bring the Patriarch of the Copts and order
him to pray in faith to return everything to where they were before the
flood. God assisted this Patriarch through the help of one of the holy
men who was known as El-Toffahi in this trying time. The Patriarch prayed
in the church at Samannoud in the presence of the king. Then the Patriarch
went out of the church raising the Cross. The people were saying Lord have
mercy and the holy man, El-Toffahi, behind him. Instantly, the water receded
to the north before them. The Patriarch, behind him El-Toffahi, the priests,
the people, and the king continued to walk until they arrived to El-Zaafran
where they erected tents for the king beside the destroyed palace, under
which the body of St. Demiana along with the bodies of the forty martyrs
were kept. The Patriarch prayed and knelt to the ground with all the people
with him. At this moment, a great miracle and sign occurred that amazed
everyone. A great wind blew in the sea and the waves became very high,
which caused great quantities of sand to form a great barrier with the
power of God almighty which was stronger than the original one. Then the
winds calmed down.
The Patriarch returned to
the king, who received him with honor and told him: "O Patriarch, ask from
me, something to do for you." The Patriarch replied: "I need your assistance
in building a church in this place because it contains the bodies of Saints
who were martyred, for they refused to worship idols. The king ordered
that the place be cleaned. The Patriarch opened the door of the cellar,
went down, and found the forty bodies of the martyrs around the bed of
St. Demiana. The king ordered at once to build a church with one dome,
which was consecrated by the Patriarch on the 12th. day of Bashans. The
news of this church spread in all the country and the people came with
their offerings to it. The church was consecrated for the first time during
the reign of Constantine and the second time was on this day. The king
ordered that no one disturb the Copts, so it was a peaceful and tranquil
time in all Egypt. The king returned to his palace in Misr (Cairo) and
always asked the Patriarch to visit him periodically. He came to visit
the king with great honor till his departure. The king of Egypt at that
time was Hassan Ibn Atahia, who was just, loved the churches, and treated
the bishops and the monks with great respect. He loved Pope Khail the first,
the forty-sixth Patriarch of Alexandria (743 - 767 A.D.), and came often
to visit him. He discussed the affairs of the country with him.
May the prayers of St. Demiana be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of the Relocation of the
Relics of St.John Chrysostom
This day also marks the commemoration
of the relocation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom (Of the Golden Mouth),
from the city of Cuma, where he departed to the city of Constantinople,
in the year 437 A.D., with honor and respect befitting him. They laid him
in the church of the holy Apostles, and this was during the reign of Emperor
Theodosius II. Empress Eudoxia, the wife of Emperor Arcadius, had exiled
St. John, for he prevented her from attending the church and partaking
from the Holy Mysteries, because she took by force a garden owned by a
widow, and for other reasons. God avenged because of the Empress' evil
deeds; she became sick and spent large sums of money. The Saint had departed
in his exile and the Empress went to his tomb, wept, and asked his forgiveness.
She was healed. The biography of the Saint is under the 17th. day of the
month of Hatour.
May his prayer be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of the Appearance of a
Cross of light above Golgotha
On this day also, of the
year 351 A.D., during the time of St. Kyrillos (Cyril), Patriarch of Jerusalem,
and during the reign of Emperor Constantius, the sign of the honorable
Cross appeared in the sky at the third hour of the day. The sign of the
cross was surrounded with a light which exceeded the light of the sun,
covering the area above Jerusalem, from Golgotha to the mount of Olive.
All those who were in Jerusalem saw it, and they all rushed to the church
of the resurrection, and were astonished and overwhelmed from the greatness
of the sign. Many believed at that time. The Patriarch wrote to Emperor
Constantius saying: "In the days of your blessed father, the sign of the
Cross made of stars, appeared in the middle of the sky, and in your days,
the sign of the Cross appeared also surrounded with great light. He forbade
him from following the heresy of Arius. He also made this day a memorial
in Jerusalem and one of the feasts celebrated there, and all other churches
followed this tradition until today. For through the Cross we received
the Salvation, and it is our armor against all our enemies if we armored
ourselves with it in a strong faith.
May the blessing of the Cross be with us. Amen.
Departure of Pope Mark the Seventh, the
106th Patriarch of Alexandria
On this day also, of the
year 1485 A.M. (May 18th., 1769 A.D.), Pope Mark the Seventh, the one-hundred
and sixth Patriarch of Alexandria, departed. He was from the city of Klosna,
in the district of El-Bahnasa. His name was Simeon, and he went to the
monastery of St. Antonios at a young age. He stayed there for a time and
visited often the monastery of St. Paul in mount Nimra, where he became
a monk and was ordained a priest. When Pope Yoannis the Seventeenth (The 105th. Patriarch)
departed, he was chosen to succeed him on the Patriarchal Chair.
They brought him from the monastery and ordained him Patriarch on
Sunday, the 24th. of Bashans, 1461 A.M. (May 30th., 1745 A.D.) on the day
of the feast of the entry of the Lord Jesus to Egypt. This Pope was kind,
with a very beautiful voice, and was very fluent in speech. After two years
of his enthronement, there was a mutiny among the soldiers. Many of the
princes were killed, some escaped to upper Egypt, and some escaped to the
Arabian Peninsula. The Pope suffered a great deal in these days, from inside
the church and from outside. God removed these tribulations after it had
lingered for a time.
This pope ordained Abba
Peter, a Metropolitan over Upper Egypt, to shepherd his flock from the
snatching wolves. At the end of his days, Abba Yoannis the 14h., Metropolitan
of Ethiopia the 103rd., departed. A delegation was sent by the king of
Ethiopia, came to the Pope asking to ordain a Metropolitan for them. The
Pope ordained Abba Yousab the 4th., six months before his departure, and
Abba Yousab left Egypt to his Chair in Ethiopia, after the departure of
Pope Mark. He departed when he was residing in the church of the virgin,
in the monastery known as Adawiyya, in El-Maadi near Cairo. Before he delivered
up his soul, he saw St. Antonios and St.Paula at the second hour of Thursday.
The church was celebrating the feast of St. Demiana, the commemoration
of Archangel Michael, and the departure of St.John Chrysostom. Right after
his departure, they took his body by a boat to the monastery of St. George,
and placed it in the convent under the shrine. On Friday, the 13th. of
Bashans, Metropolitan Yousab of Ethiopia, Abba Peter bishop of Upper Egypt,
and all the archpriests, priests, deacons, and lay leaders washed the face
of the departed Pope: his hands and his feet with rose water. They prepared
him with precious spices, put on him his priestly clothing, and placed
him in a coffin. They carried him in a procession to the church of St.
Marcurius (Abu Saifain), where they prayed over him as befitting his honor
and buried him in the tomb of the Patriarchs. He stayed on the Patriarchal
Chair for twenty-three years, eleven months and eighteen days, and the
Chair was vacant five months and five days after his departure. He was
a contemporary to El-Sultans Mahmoud I, Osman III, and Moustafa III.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of the Martyrdom of Master
(Moallem) Malati
On this day also, of the
year 1519 A.M. (May 19th., 1803 A.D.), the church commemorates the martyrdom
of Master (Moallem) Malati. He was a scribe to Ayyoub Beck El-Defterdar,
of the Mamaliks of Mohammed Beck Abu El-Dahab. When the French occupied
Egypt, they formed a department to look after national problems, and made
Moallem Malati a general manager to it with the consent of the Christian
and Moslem members, for his great managerial ability and wisdom. After
the French had been driven out of Egypt, Moallem Gergis El-Gawhary, Moallem
Wasef, and Moallem Malati were protected by the rulers of Egypt. However,
in a disturbance at the time of Taher Pasha,the governor of Egypt, they
arrested Moallem Malati, and cut off his head at Bab Zoweila in Cairo,
and he received the crown of martyrdom.
May his intercession be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
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