Baramhat 4, 1740 AM <-> March 13 2024 <->The Readings for today

Wednesday 13 March 2024
4 Baramhat 1740
Readings for Wednesday of of the Great Lent

Prophecy

From the Book of Isaiah , may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen

Isaiah 2 : 3 - 11

³	Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴	He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

⁵	O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.

⁶	For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.

⁷	Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots.

⁸	Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.

⁹	People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.

¹⁰	Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty.

¹¹	The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Glory be to the Holy Trinity, our God, forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.

From the Book of Joel , may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen

Joel 2 : 12 - 27

¹²	"Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."

¹³	So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.

¹⁴	Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him--A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?

¹⁵	Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;

¹⁶	Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.

¹⁷	Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"'

¹⁸	Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.

¹⁹	The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰	"But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things."

²¹	Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things!

²²	Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.

²³	Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you--The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.

²⁴	The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵	"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.

²⁶	You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.

²⁷	Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.

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 25 : 6 - 7

⁶	Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.

⁷	Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O 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 Luke the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.

Luke 6 : 24 - 34

²⁴	"But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.

²⁵	Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶	Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

²⁷	"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸	bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

²⁹	To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.

³⁰	Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.

³¹	And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

³²	"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

³³	And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

³⁴	And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.

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 Romans.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.

Romans 14 : 19 - 15 : 7

¹⁹	Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

²⁰	Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

²¹	It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

²²	Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

²³	But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

¹	We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

²	Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

³	For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me."

⁴	For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

⁵	Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

⁶	that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷	Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

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.

2 Peter 1 : 4 - 10

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.

⁵	But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

⁶	to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

⁷	to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

⁸	For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹	For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

¹⁰	Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

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 10 : 9 - 20

⁹	The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.

¹⁰	Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance

¹¹	and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.

¹²	In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.

¹³	And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."

¹⁴	But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean."

¹⁵	And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."

¹⁶	This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

¹⁷	Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate.

¹⁸	And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.

¹⁹	While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you.

²⁰	Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."

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 4 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 Fourth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat

Assembly of the Holy Council on the island of Bani-Omar

On this day a Holy Council convened on the island of Bani-Omar against those people called the Fourteenthians. The Fourteenthians celebrated the feast of the Holy Easter with the Jews on the fourteenth of the crescent of Neesan (April) which was on any day of the week. The Bishop of the island excommunicated them, and sent to Serapion Patriarch of Antioch, Democratus Bishop of Rome, Demetrius Patriarch of Alexandria, and Symmachus Bishop of Jerusalem to inform them of the heresy of these people. Each one of them sent an epistle indicating in it that Easter was only to be celebrated on the Sunday that follows the feast of the Jews and ordered to excommunicate everyone that contradict and disobey that. A council of eighteen bishops convened and these holy epistles were read to them. They brought those heretics and read before them these epistles, some of them returned from their wrong opinion and the others insisted on their error. They prevented and excommunicated them from the Holy Church. Also, they decided to celebrate Easter as the order of the Holy Apostles saying: "Any one that celebrate Easter on any other day than Sunday, had shared the Jews in their feasts and separated from the Christians."

The dispute on the feast of the Christian Passover (Easter) started between Asia Minor and Rome. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, publicly announced the need of keeping the 14th of Neesan to commemorate the Crucifixion and the 16th of Neesan to commemorate the Resurrection (These were the original dates that the Crucifixion and Resurrection fall on regardless what day of the week they fell on) and the Christians of Mesopotamia, Cilicia, and Syria followed his opinion. Victor, Bishop of Rome, publicly announced the importance of putting into consideration that the Crucifixion be on a Friday and the Resurrection be on a Sunday, (since Friday is the day of the Crucifixion and Sunday is the day of the Resurrection). The Christians of Egypt, Greece, Pontus and Arabia agreed with him in that. The dispute between the two bishops intensified, nevertheless their friendship remained unchanged. Alexandria intervened in this subject, and its Patriarch Anba Demetrius the vine dresser (El-Karram), tried to mediate between these two opinions (By making the commemoration of the Crucifixion on Friday and the Resurrection on Sunday), and to be linked to the day 14th of Neesan (The Jewish Passover).

Pope Demetrius gathered the Alexandrian astronomers, among them was Ptolemy the astronomer which was from Farma, and with their help the Patriarch established the reckoning of the Epacts, which is known by the reckoning of El-Karmah. The reckoning of the Epacts was able to determine the day of the Jewish Passover (The slaughter of the Lamb) in any Egyptian Coptic year, and fix the Sunday after to be the Feast of Resurrection. This way he fulfilled what the Apostles commend that the Jewish Passover and the christian one not to be on the same day. The first Universal council that convened in Nicea, 325 A.D. approved that view and asked the Alexandrian Pope to issue a message on the feast and its date every year.

May the Lord Guard us against the enticement of Satan, with the blessing of the prayers of the saints. Amen.

Martyrdom of St.Haboulyous (Hanulius) the Prince

On this day also St. Haboulyous (Hanulius) the prince of the city of Perga in Pamphylia was martyred. The love of this prince for Christ made him publicly confess his faith. Barnabakhas the Governor arrested him at Diocletian's command. He confessed the Lord Christ before him giving the Lord the honor with glorious hymns then he cursed the idols. The Prince became raged and ordered him to be crucified. The Saint praised Christ that made him worthy to be martyred in His Name. Then he delivered his soul in the hand of the Lord and received the crown of martyrdom.

May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God for ever. 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 25 : 20,16

²⁰	Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

¹⁶	Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted.

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 6 : 35 - 38

³⁵	But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

³⁶	Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

³⁷	"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

³⁸	Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Glory be to God forever.

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