6 Baramudah 1745
Readings for Saturday of first 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 119 : 10 - 11
| 10 | With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! |
| 11 | Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. |
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 6 : 54 - 58
| 54 | Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. |
| 55 | For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. |
| 56 | He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. |
| 57 | As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. |
| 58 | This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." |
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 77 : 2
| 2 | In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. |
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 20 : 19 - 23
| 19 | Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." |
| 20 | When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. |
| 21 | So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." |
| 22 | And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. |
| 23 | If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." |
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 Colossians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Colossians 1 : 12 - 23
| 12 | giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. |
| 13 | He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, |
| 14 | in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. |
| 15 | He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. |
| 16 | For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. |
| 17 | And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. |
| 18 | And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. |
| 19 | For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, |
| 20 | and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. |
| 21 | And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled |
| 22 | in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- |
| 23 | if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. |
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 1 : 1 - 7
| 1 | That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- |
| 2 | the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- |
| 3 | that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. |
| 4 | And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. |
| 5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. |
| 6 | If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
| 7 | But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. |
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 4 : 19 - 31
| 19 | But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. |
| 20 | For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." |
| 21 | So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. |
| 22 | For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. |
| 23 | And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. |
| 24 | So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, |
| 25 | who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: "Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? |
| 26 | The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.' |
| 27 | "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together |
| 28 | to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. |
| 29 | Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, |
| 30 | by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." |
| 31 | And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. |
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 119 : 73 - 73
| 73 | Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. |
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 9 : 28 - 35
| 28 | Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. |
| 29 | As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. |
| 30 | And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, |
| 31 | who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. |
| 32 | But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. |
| 33 | Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. |
| 34 | While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. |
| 35 | And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" |
Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 6 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 Sixh Day of the Blessed Month of Baramudah
The Commemoration of the Appearance of the Lord to Thomas the Apostle after His Resurrection.
On this day is the commemoration of the appearance of the Lord Christ, to Whom is the glory, to Thomas the apostle on the eighth day from the glorious Resurrection as the Bible said: "And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:20-29) When St. Thomas put his hand in the side of the Lord, his hand was about to be burned by the fire of the Divinity, and when he confessed His Divinity his hand was healed from the pain of the burning.
May the prayers of this Apostle be with us. Amen.
The Departure of St. Mary of Egypt.
On this day also of the year 137 A.M. (421 A.D.) the hermit St. Mary of Egypt departed. She was born in the city of Alexandria about the year 61 A.M. (345 A.D.) from Christian parents.
When she became twelve years old, Satan the enemy of the human race, seduced her, led her astray, and made her his net through which he caught innumerable souls.
She continued in this sinful conduct for seventeen years until the mercy of God touched her life, she met people going to Jerusalem and she went with them. Since she did not have what to pay for the trip, she gave her self to the owners of the ship in return, until she came to Jerusalem. She also went on doing the same there. She wished to enter through the door of the church of the Resurrection, but she felt a hidden power pulling her from the back preventing her from entering the church. Whenever she tried to enter she felt as someone preventing her from doing so, and right away she realized that was because of her uncleanliness. She lifted up her eyes with a broken heart, and she wept interceding with St. Mary and asked her to intercede on her behalf before her Beloved Son. She felt encouraged and wished to enter with those entering, nothing prevented her from entering, and she prayed therein to God asking Him to guide her for what was pleasing to Him.
She stood before the icon of the blessed and pure Virgin, and asked her fervently to guide her that she might save her soul. A voice came out of the icon saying: "If you cross the Jordan river you will find rest and salvation." She rose in haste and when she left the court yard of the resurrection and on her way she met a man who gave her three small coins with which she bought bread. Then she crossed the Jordan river to the wilderness where she lived for forty seven years. She strove strenuously for seventeen years, Satan fought against her by the fornication that she repented from. She overcame with the grace of God and she ate all this period the herbs of the desert.
In the forty fifth year of her living in the desert, St. Zosima went to the wilderness, according to the custom of the monks there, during the holy Forty Days of fast for devotion and asceticism. While he was walking in the desert he saw this Saint from far and he thought that she was a shadow or mirage. He prayed to God to reveal to him the fact about this mirage, and he was inspired that it was a human being. He went toward the shadow, but it fled from him. When she saw that he is insisting on following her, she called him from behind a hill saying: "O Zosima if you wish to talk to me, throw me a rag that I may cover myself for I am naked." He marvelled for she called him by his name, he threw to her what she covered herself with, and she came to him. After the greetings and the metanias, she asked him to pray for her because he was a priest. He asked her to tell him the story of her life from the beginning to the present time. After she told him, she asked him to bring with him in the next year the Holy Eucharist to partake of it.
In the next year he came to her and she partook of the Holy Mysteries, then he gave her what he had from dates and lentils, she only took a handful of lentils, and she asked him to come to her in the next year. When he came to her in the next year he found that she had departed, a lion standing beside her and writing beside her saying " Bury Mary, the poor woman, in the dust of which she was created." He marvelled from the writing and from the lion that was protecting her body and while he was thinking how he was going to dig to bury her, the lion came and dug a grave for her. He prayed over her and buried her. When he returned to his monastery, he told the monks the story of the strife of this holy woman, and they all increased in steadfastness in the Divine Mercy and progressed in the spiritual life. All the years of her life were seventy six years.
May her prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
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