Monday 10 March 2025
1 Baramhat 1741
Readings for Monday of of the Great Lent
Prophecy
From the Book of Proverbs , may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen
Proverbs 1 : 20 - 33
| 20 | Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. |
| 21 | She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: |
| 22 | "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. |
| 23 | Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. |
| 24 | Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, |
| 25 | Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, |
| 26 | I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, |
| 27 | When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. |
| 28 | "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. |
| 29 | Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, |
| 30 | They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. |
| 31 | Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. |
| 32 | For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; |
| 33 | But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil." |
Glory be to the Holy Trinity, our God, forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
From the Book of Isaiah , may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen
Isaiah 8 : 13 - 9 : 7
| 13 | The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. |
| 14 | He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
| 15 | And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken." |
| 16 | Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples. |
| 17 | And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. |
| 18 | Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. |
| 19 | And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? |
| 20 | To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. |
| 21 | They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. |
| 22 | Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness. |
| 1 | Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. |
| 2 | The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. |
| 3 | You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. |
| 4 | For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. |
| 5 | For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. |
| 6 | For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. |
| 7 | Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. |
Glory be to the Holy Trinity, our God, forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
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Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 32 : 1 - 2
| 1 | Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. |
| 2 | Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. |
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 Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 19 : 11 - 28
| 11 | Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. |
| 12 | Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. |
| 13 | So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, "Do business till I come.' |
| 14 | But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us.' |
| 15 | "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. |
| 16 | Then came the first, saying, "Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' |
| 17 | And he said to him, "Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' |
| 18 | And the second came, saying, "Master, your mina has earned five minas.' |
| 19 | Likewise he said to him, "You also be over five cities.' |
| 20 | "Then another came, saying, "Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. |
| 21 | For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.' |
| 22 | And he said to him, "Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. |
| 23 | Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' |
| 24 | "And he said to those who stood by, "Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' |
| 25 | (But they said to him, "Master, he has ten minas.') |
| 26 | "For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. |
| 27 | But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me."' |
| 28 | When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. |
Glory be to God forever.
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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 Corinthians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
1 Corinthians 5 : 9 - 6 : 5
| 9 | I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. |
| 10 | Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. |
| 11 | But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. |
| 12 | For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? |
| 13 | But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." |
| 1 | Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? |
| 2 | Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? |
| 3 | Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? |
| 4 | If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? |
| 5 | I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. Peter . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 Peter 1 : 3 - 12
| 3 | Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, |
| 4 | to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, |
| 5 | who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. |
| 6 | In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, |
| 7 | that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, |
| 8 | whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, |
| 9 | receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. |
| 10 | Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, |
| 11 | searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. |
| 12 | To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into. |
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. Amen.
Acts 17 : 10 - 14
| 10 | Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. |
| 11 | These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. |
| 12 | Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. |
| 13 | But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. |
| 14 | Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. |
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 1 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat.
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 First Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat
Departure of St.Narcissus
On this day of the year,
222 A.D., departed the father St. Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem. This
father came to Jerusalem during the reign of Alexander Caesar, who loved
the Christians, in the year 190 A.D. This father was holy and unblemished
in all his conduct. He shepherded his people with the best of care. Later,
Alexander died and after him Maximianus Caesar reigned who incited persecution
against the Christians. He slew many of the bishops and the remaining fled
leaving their parishes. God granted this father the gift of performing
wonders. On the eve of the feast of Easter, the oil in the lamps ran out,
so he ordered the lamps to be filled with water and were lit. They all
illuminated that night also by the light of his teachings. The enemy of
the good did not stop but, moved some people against him. They accused
him of committing the sin of infidelity. God's punishment for those liars
was bitter. One of them burned to death, and the bowels of another poured
out and died, the body of the third wasted out from a long sickness, the
fourth was killed and the fifth repented with tears confessing his sins.
As for the saint, he went to the desert and disappeared there, lest his
stay be a stumble to others.
Since nothing was known
of St. Narcissus whereabouts, another man was chosen in his place whose
name was Dius. Dius remained for a short period of time; he then departed.
Upon Dius' departure they chose another called Ghordinus. When the time
of persecution was over, Abba Narcissus returned to Jerusalem where he
was greeted by his people with great joy. Ghordinus asked him to take over
his Chair but, he refused preferring the solitary life. Ghordinus insisted
that he stays with him in his cell. St. Narcissus stayed with him for one
year at the end of which Ghordinus departed and St. Narcissus acquired
his Chair. He had aged and was very week so, he asked his people to choose
another bishop, but they refused. Alexander, Bishop of Cappadocia, came
to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Land and pray. When he was about to return,
after the feast, the people heard a great voice in the church of the Resurrection
saying: "Go to the gate of the city, the first one to enter it, seize him,
make him stay to assist Narcissus." When, they went to the gate, they met
the Bishop Alexander, and pleaded with him to stay to assist Abba Narcissus.
After much resistant, Bishop Alexander decided to accept and stay until
the departure of St. Narcissus. This father remained on the Episcopal Chair
for thirty seven years, and all the years of his life were one hundred
and sixteen years.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Alexandrus
On this day also St. Alexandrus,
the soldier, was martyred during the reign of the infidel Emperor Maximianus.
When this saint refused to raise incense for the idols, the Emperor punished
him. The Emperor ordered him hung by his hands and a large heavy stone
tied to his feet. He ordered him to be beaten, his sides burned, and placed
lit torches against his face. When all these tortures did not dissuade
him, the Emperor ordered him beheaded and he received the crown of
martyrdom.
May his intercession be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of Anba Marcura
Today also is the commemoration
of Anba Marcura, the Bishop.
May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
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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 32 : 5 - 5
| 5 | I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.Selah |
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 Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Luke 11 : 33 - 36
| 33 | "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. |
| 34 | The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. |
| 35 | Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. |
| 36 | If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." |
Glory be to God forever.
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