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Daily Readings
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Tuesday, 29th May 2018 --- 21 Bashans 1734
Readings for Tuesday, 29th May 2018 --- 21 Bashans 1734
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 40 : 2 - 3
Chapter 40
2 | He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
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3 | He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.
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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 7 : 22 - 25
Chapter 7
22 | Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
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23 | And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
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24 | "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
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25 | and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
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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 89 : 24,19
Chapter 89
24 | "But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted.
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19 | Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, And said: "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
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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 13 : 23 - 30
Chapter 13
23 | Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them,
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24 | "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
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25 | When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from,'
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26 | then you will begin to say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'
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27 | But He will say, "I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'
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28 | There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
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29 | They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.
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30 | And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."
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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 Corinthians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 3 : 1 - 8
Chapter 3
1 | And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
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2 | I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
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3 | for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
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4 | For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?
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5 | Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
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6 | I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
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7 | So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
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8 | Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
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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 2 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 Peter 1 : 1 - 11
Chapter 1
1 | Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
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2 | Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
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3 | as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
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4 | by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
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5 | But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
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6 | to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
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7 | to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
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8 | For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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9 | For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
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10 | Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
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11 | for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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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 15 : 13 - 29
Chapter 15
13 | And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me:
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14 | Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
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15 | And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
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16 | 'After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up;
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17 | So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD. Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.'
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18 | "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
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19 | Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
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20 | but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
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21 | For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
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22 | Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
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23 | They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
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24 | Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment--
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25 | it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
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26 | men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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27 | We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
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28 | For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
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29 | that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
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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 21 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 Twenty-First Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Commemoration of the Holy and Pure Virgin
Mary
On this day, the church commemorates
the pure and Virgin St. Mary, the mother of the Savior of the world, the
intercessor of all the Christians, from whom came the salvation of Adam
and his posterity.
May her intercession be for us all. Amen.
Departure of St.Marcian (Martinianus)
On this day also, St. Marcian departed.
He was born in the city of Caesarea of Palestine. He became a monk since
his young age at an elderly holy man living on a mountain near by his town
called mount El-Safina (The ship). He fought a great and strenuous fight
with many worships and he lived there for sixty six years, and his virtues
became known. An evil woman heard of him, and she said to some of those
who talked about his virtues: "For how long you will continue to praise
him, while he is in a wilderness where he does not see the face of a women?
If he saw me, I would stain his virginity and defile his holiness". They
rebuked her for what she said, because of what they knew of the purity
and holiness of this Saint, but she made a wager with them that she would
go to him and make him fall in sin. She straightway, rose up, took her
ornaments, her expensive apparels and her perfumes in a piece of cloth,
and put on an ugly dress and covered her face. She went to a place close
by where the Saint was and waited until the evening, then knocked on the
door of his cell, weeping, pretending that she had lost her way, and asked
him to let her stay with him until the morning. The Saint pondered about
her, if he left her outside, the wild beasts might eat her, and if he brought
her in, the warfare would increase against him because of her. Finally,
he opened the door to her, and went to another place in the cell. She arrayed
herself in her beautiful apparel, adorned and perfumed herself, then attacked
him tempting him to commit sin with her. He knew that she was a snare of
Satan plotted up for him.
He told her: "Wait a little for me until
I look at the road, for some people are used to come to me here every now
and then." He went out and lighted a great fire, and he started throwing
himself in the fire time after time saying to himself: "If you can't bear
the pain of a little fire, how can you bear the torment of the fire of
hell?" Then he fell on the ground weeping from the severity of the pain
from the burns that he suffered on his feet and his fingers. As he tarried,
she came out and saw him in that condition. She was terrified and she returned
to her senses. She stripped off her expensive raiment, knelt at his feet,
and begged him to help her to save her soul. He started to preach her telling
her about the vanity of this world and its lusts, and she repented with
all her heart. He took her to one of the convents, and asked the abbess
to take charge of her and she lived there a life of purity and ascetism
that was pleasing to God to the end of her life. She reached a high degree
of holliness, received the gift of healing and she healed many from their
infermities. But as for St. Martinianus, fearing lest the enemy might bring
to him another woman, departed to an island in the middle of the sea. He
made an agreement with a sailor to sell the works of his hand, and to bring
him food. However, a ship was wrecked near by the island, and a woman managed
to hang on to one of the planks, and the waves washed her to this island.
When the Saint saw her, he was preplexed and wanted to leave the island.
The woman asked him to make her a nun and he did as she wished then gave
her all what he had of bread. He crossed himself with the sign of the cross,
and threw himself in the sea, hanging on the plank that she hung on and
he put himself in the hand of the Almighty. The waves threw him on the
land, and he wandered about in the mountains and deserts for two years
until he arrived to the city of Athens, where he became ill. He called
the bishop, and told him all what had happened to him, and then he gave
up his soul in the hand of the Lord, and they buried him with great honor.
The woman that remained on the island, the sailor continued to bring her
food until she departed, then he took her body to his country.
May the prayers of this saint 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 61 : 1 - 3
Chapter 61
1 | Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.
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2 | From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
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3 | For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.
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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 14 : 25 - 35
Chapter 14
25 | Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
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26 | "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
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27 | And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
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28 | For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it--
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29 | lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
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30 | saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
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31 | Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
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32 | Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
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33 | So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
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34 | "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
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35 | It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page