23 Baramudah 1747
Readings for Thursday of third of of the Holy Fifty Days
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 101 : 1 - 1,2,4
| 1 | I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. |
| 2 | I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. |
| 4 | A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 13 : 53 - 58
| 53 | Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. |
| 54 | When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? |
| 55 | Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? |
| 56 | And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" |
| 57 | So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." |
| 58 | Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. |
Glory be to God forever.
Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 101 : 8 - 8
| 8 | Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 22 : 34 - 40
| 34 | But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. |
| 35 | Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, |
| 36 | "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" |
| 37 | Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' |
| 38 | This is the first and great commandment. |
| 39 | And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' |
| 40 | On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." |
Glory be to God forever.
Divine Liturgy
Pauline 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 with us. Amen.
Romans 2 : 17 - 20
| 17 | Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, |
| 18 | and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, |
| 19 | and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, |
| 20 | an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 2 : 26 - 3 : 1
| 26 | These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. |
| 27 | But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. |
| 28 | And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. |
| 29 | If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. |
| 1 | Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know 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.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us. Amen.
Acts 5 : 1 - 6
| 1 | But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. |
| 2 | And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. |
| 3 | But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? |
| 4 | While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." |
| 5 | Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. |
| 6 | And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
Divine Liturgy Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 33 : 20 - 21
| 20 | Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. |
| 21 | For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
John 8 : 28 - 30
| 28 | Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. |
| 29 | And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." |
| 30 | As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. |
Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 23 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramudah.
May God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins are forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers. Amen.
The Twenty-Third Day of the Blessed Month of Baramudah
Martyrdom of St.George, Prince of Martyrs
On this day, of the
year 307 A.D., the great among the martyrs St. George, was martyred. He
was born in Cappadocia; his father's name was Anastasius, and his mother's
name was Theobaste. When he was twenty years old, his father died, and
he went to Emperor Diocletian to take over his father's position. He found
that the Emperor had apostatized the faith and ordered the worship of idols.
George was sorrowful, and he gave all his wealth to the poor and needy
and set free his slaves. When he saw the edict of the Emperor against the
Christians, he became raged and tore it. They took him before the Emperor,
and he cried in their middest saying: "For how long you shall pour your
anger against the innocent Christians, and force those who know the true
faith to adopt the faith that you are in doubt of because it is fraudulent?
So, either you believe on this true faith, or at least do not disturb with
foolishness those who are steadfast in it." The Emperor asked Mephnanius,
one of his ministers, to pacify and persuade him. He asked him: "Who taught
you to be daring like this." The Saint answered: "It is the truth," then
started to explain it to him. The Emperor interrupted, reminding the Saint
with the ranks that he bestowed on him, and promised him with more if he
denied his Christ. The Saint refused with pride all these vain propositions.
The Emperor tortured him severely, but the Lord strengthened him and healed
all his wounds.
When the Emperor was weary of torturing him, he brought a magician, whose name was Athanasius, who gave the Saint a cup full of poison to drink. St.George made the sign of the cross over the cup then drank it. When no harm came upon him, the magician believed in the Lord Christ, and received the crown of martyrdom. The Emperor became raged and ordered to squeeze him until he delivered up his soul, and they cast his body out side the city. The Lord Christ raised him up, and the Saint returned to the city. When the people saw him, three thousand and seven hundred souls believed. The Emperor ordered to cut off their heads and they received the crown of martyrdom. When St. George stood before Emperor Diocletian, along with seventy kings that were sitting around him, they asked the Saint: "We wish you to make these chairs that we are sitting on to put forth leaves, and bear fruit." The Saint prayed to the Lord Christ, the Lord accepted his supplication and the chairs put forth leaves and bore fruit.
They took him once to a cemetery and asked him to raise the dead therein. He prayed to the Lord Christ. The Lord raised them and after they talked to them, they returned to their graves and died. A poor woman, brought her son, who was blind, deaf and dumb, he prayed to the Lord Christ then made the sign of the cross over him, and he was healed right away. Diocletain, during all that, went on torturing St. George, until he was weary and bored of that. He started to be pleasant to the Saint and promised to give him his daughter in marriage if he would offer the incense to his gods. The Saint pretended that he accepted his offer, and the Emperor rejoiced and brought him into the royal palace. While St. George was praying the Psalms, the Empress heard him and asked him to explain to her what he had said. He began to interpret to her all the events from the creation of the world to the Incarnation of the Lord Christ, and his words entered her heart and she believed in the Lord Christ, to Whom is the Glory. The Emperor ordered to call upon all the men of the city to gather, in order to see Saint George offering the incense to the Emperor's gods. When multitude gathered by the idols, Gawargios (George) stood and cried at the idols in the Name of the Lord Christ the Savior of the world. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed all the idols. The Emperor and all those who were with him were ashamed and he returned to his palace full of fury and wrath. The Empress told him: "Didn't I tell you not to oppose the Galileans, for their God is strong and mighty?" The Emperor was exceedingly wrath with her, for he knew that St. George had brought her also to his faith. The Emperor with rage ordered to comb her body with a steel comb, then cut off her head, and she received the crown of martyrdom. Finally, Diocletian decided to put an end to the humiliation that befell him, so he ordered to cut off the head of St. George, and he received the crown of martyrdom. A Christian took the body, wrapped it in expensive shrouds, and took it to the city of Lydda, his home town, and they built a great church on his name there.
May His intercession be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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