|
Daily Readings
|
|
Thursday, 28th May 2020 --- 20 Bashans 1736
Readings for Ascension
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 68 : 32 - 34
Chapter 68
| 32 | Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord,Selah
|
| 33 | To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old! Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
|
| 34 | Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, And His strength is in the clouds.
|
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 Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 9 : 51 - 62
Chapter 9
| 51 | Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,
|
| 52 | and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.
|
| 53 | But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
|
| 54 | And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"
|
| 55 | But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.
|
| 56 | For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village.
|
| 57 | Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
|
| 58 | And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
|
| 59 | Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
|
| 60 | Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."
|
| 61 | And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."
|
| 62 | But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 68 : 18 - 19
Chapter 68
| 18 | You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there.
|
| 19 | Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation!Selah
|
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 16 : 12 - 20
Chapter 16
| 12 | After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.
|
| 13 | And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
|
| 14 | Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
|
| 15 | And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
|
| 16 | He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
|
| 17 | And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
|
| 18 | they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
|
| 19 | So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
|
| 20 | And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 Timothy .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Timothy 3 : 13 - 16
Chapter 3
| 13 | For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
|
| 14 | These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;
|
| 15 | but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
|
| 16 | And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
|
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 3 : 15 - 22
Chapter 3
| 15 | But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
|
| 16 | having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
|
| 17 | For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
|
| 18 | For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
|
| 19 | by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
|
| 20 | who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
|
| 21 | There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
|
| 22 | who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
|
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 1 : 1 - 14
Chapter 1
| 1 | The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
|
| 2 | until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,
|
| 3 | to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
|
| 4 | And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;
|
| 5 | for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
|
| 6 | Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
|
| 7 | And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
|
| 8 | But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
|
| 9 | Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
|
| 10 | And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
|
| 11 | who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
|
| 12 | Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.
|
| 13 | And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
|
| 14 | These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
|
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 24 : 9 - 10
Chapter 24
| 9 | Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
|
| 10 | Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.Selah
|
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 : 36 - 53
Chapter 24
| 36 | Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."
|
| 37 | But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.
|
| 38 | And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
|
| 39 | Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
|
| 40 | When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
|
| 41 | But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"
|
| 42 | So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
|
| 43 | And He took it and ate in their presence.
|
| 44 | Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
|
| 45 | And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
|
| 46 | Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
|
| 47 | and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
|
| 48 | And you are witnesses of these things.
|
| 49 | Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
|
| 50 | And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
|
| 51 | Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
|
| 52 | And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
|
| 53 | and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
|
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 20 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 Twentieth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Departure of St.Ammonius the Hermit
On this day, of the year 73 A.M. (357 A.D.), the holy
father Abba Ammonius departed. He was born in 294 A.D., in a village near
Mariot. He was, as St. Antony was, born to a righteous and rich Christian
family. He lost his parents while he was young and became under the guardianship
of his uncle. He longed for the life of purity, chastity, and holiness.
Nevertheless, his uncle forced him to be engaged to a rich girl against
his will. Since he could not disobey his uncle, he talked to his bride
to be, with a spiritual dialogue and through his holy life, he was able
to have a good influence on her. He made her long to the life of purity
and planted in her heart the desire to consecrate her self a bride for
the True Bridegroom Jesus Christ. Thus they decided to accept the marriage
but decided to live as a brother and sister. They remained like this for
seventeen years, keeping themselves pure and chaste, after which his wife
departed to the eternal bliss. The Saint saw in a vision St. Antonios calling
him to put on the monastic garb. When he woke from his sleep, he rose up
and went to St. Isidore, who put on him the holy Eskeem. He dwelt with
him for some time, after which he went to mount Tounah, where was St. Antonios.
St. Ammonius remained with St. Antonios for a while
and became his disciple, and studied on his hands the cannons of the holy
monasticism. He built for himself a cell in mount Tounah. He fervently
worshipped God there, and the devil envied him. He came to him in the form
of a nun and knocked his door. When he opened and asked the devil to pray
with him, the devil became like a flame of fire. Then the devil went and
dwelt in a woman and moved her to entice the Saint to fall in sin with
her. She wore the best of her clothing and came to him at dusk, and knocked
the door of his cell, saying: "I am a traveling woman, and I had lost my
way, and it is dark now. Please do not let me stay outside lest the wild
beasts kill me, and you become responsible for my blood." When he opened
the door and knew the snare of the devil who sent her, he started to preach
her and put the fear in her heart of the tortures of hell which is awaiting
the sinners, and indicated to her the delight and the bliss which is awaiting
the righteous. God opened her heart, and she understood what he said to
her. She knelt to his feet weeping and asked him to accept her and assist
her in saving her soul. She took off her apparel and he put on her a sackcloth
of hair. He cut off her hair and called her "The simple minded or the naive".
He taught her the way to righteousness and she excelled through many prayers
and fasting, and surpassed many saints by her fasting and perpetual prayers.
The devil tried to snare him again. This time in
the form of a monk who went around in the monasteries weeping and saying:
"Abba Ammonius the hermit had married and he kept the woman with him in
his cell. He had put the monks to shame and disgraced the monastic garb."
When Abba Apollo (Ebelo), who was like the angels, heard of that, he took
with him Abba Yousab and Abba Nohi (Bohi), and came to mount Tounah to
the cell of Abba Ammonius. They knocked on the door of the cell, and when
she opened to them they realized the matter. They entered and prayed together
as the custom and sat to talk about the greatness of God. At the end of
the day, Abba Ammonius told them, let us go to see the "Naive" for she
was baking some bread. When they went out to where she was, they saw her
standing in the midst of a great fire, and her hands were stretched out
towards heaven praying. They marvelled exceedingly and glorified God. After
they had eaten the bread, everyone went separately to sleep and the angel
of the Lord revealed the story of the "Naive" with St. Ammonius to Abba
Apollo, and that God brought them there to be present at the time of her
departure. About the third hour of the night, she became sick with fever.
She knelt down and delivered up her soul at the hand of the Lord. They
swathed her, and after praying over her, they buried her. Then Abba Ammonius
told them about her virtues, and that for the eighteen years that she stayed
with him, she never raised her face to look at him, and that her food was
bread and salt. After this, St. Antonios sent him to El-Natroun valley
to establish there new monasteries, and many believers followed him. He
organized for them their livelihood and directed them with excellence.
Soon after, this holy father departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Acknowledgement
Opening page