6 Bashans 1742
Readings for Thursday of fifth 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 18 : 46 - 47
| 46 | The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. |
| 47 | It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me; |
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 : 70 - 7 : 1
| 70 | Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" |
| 71 | He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. |
| 1 | After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. |
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 118 : 26 - 27
| 26 | Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. |
| 27 | God is the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. |
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 Mark the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Mark 7 : 5 - 8
| 5 | Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" |
| 6 | He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: "This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. |
| 7 | And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' |
| 8 | For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men--the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." |
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 6 : 5 - 11
| 5 | For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, |
| 6 | knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. |
| 7 | For he who has died has been freed from sin. |
| 8 | Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, |
| 9 | knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. |
| 10 | For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. |
| 11 | Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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 4 : 18 - 5 : 1
| 18 | There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. |
| 19 | We love Him because He first loved us. |
| 20 | If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? |
| 21 | And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. |
| 1 | Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of 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 7 : 51 - 54
| 51 | "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. |
| 52 | Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, |
| 53 | who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." |
| 54 | When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. |
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 39 : 12
| 12 | "Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. |
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 17 : 18 - 21
| 18 | As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. |
| 19 | And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. |
| 20 | "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; |
| 21 | that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. |
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 Bashans.
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 Sixth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Martyrdom of St.Isaac El-Defrawi
On this day, St. Isaac El-Defrawi was martyred. He was born in the city of Defra, district of Tanta. When he grew up, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a vision, and told him to go to the town of Towwa, district of Beba, to receive the crown of martyrdom. He instantly went to his parents to bid them farewell, they wept and forbade him from doing that. The angel of the Lord appeared to him again and took him out of the town. When he arrived to Towwa, he professed his faith before 3ernor saying: "I believe in the Lord Christ". The Governor placed him under guard until he had returned from the city of Nakyos. It happened when St. Isaac was passing by, with the soldier, a blind man, was sitting on the wayside, asked him to give him sight. He said to him: "Do not say give me, but let it be according to your faith", and then he prayed to the Lord Christ for his sake, and the man was given sight straightaway. When the soldier saw that, he believed. When the Governor returned, the soldier confessed the Lord Christ before him, he ordered to cut off his head, and received the crown of martyrdom.
The Governor became angry at St. Isaac, and tormented him severely, then sent him to the city of El-Bahnasa to be tortured there. It happened when he was in the boat, he asked for a drink, and a sailor gave him little of water, and the man was with one eye. The Saint took some of the water and poured it over him, and the man received the sight in his blind eye immediately. When the Saint arrived to El-Bahnasa, the Governor tortured him severely, but the Lord comforted and healed him and finally the Governor ordered him to be beheaded, and he received the crown of life. Some of the faithful took his body and carried it to his town Defra and buried him there. Then they built a church after his name.
May his intercession be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Macarius of Alexandria
On this day also of the year 395 A.D., the blessed father St. Macarius of Alexandria departed. He was a contemporary of St. Macarius the great (Senior), the father of the monks, and for this reason, he was called St. Macarius, the Junior. He became a monk at one of the monasteries near by Alexandria. For his asceticism, he became the father and the spiritual guide for all the monk's cells in the area that near by Alexandria, so he was also called the father of the cells. He practiced many worships and possessed many virtues in his ascetic life. Among these practices, he once stayed for five days with his thoughts in heaven, occupied with early Saints, prophets, angels, apostles and the Lord Christ, while he was standing on his sleeping mat. After two nights, the devils started to scratch his feet, twisting themselves as snakes around his feet. They also showed him fire in his cell, however with patience, the fire and the phantoms disappeared. On the fifth day, he could not control his thoughts with regards to the needs of life. This happened so that he would not become proud of what he had spiritually achieved. He said to himself: "I have remained in the ascetic life for 50 years, and they had not been like these five days." After he had managed the schools of those were seeking to be baptized, he lived alone (Recluse) in the year 335 A.D. in el-Natroun desert, where he became the abbot of all the monasteries in this desert.
It happened that he walked in the desert for several days in unpaved road, and was placing sticks of reed during the way to help him recognize the way to come back. When he wanted to return, he found the devil had removed all the sticks to mislead him. When he became thirsty, God sent him a wild cow, and he drank from its milk, until he returned to his cell. One day a hyena came to him and pulled his garment. He followed her to her den, and it brought out her three young ones. He found that they were all malformed, and was amazed from the intelligence of the animal. He prayed and put his hands on them, and they were healed. The hyena disappeared for a while, and she came back with a sheep skin which he used to sleep on until his departure. At one time, the thoughts of pride disturbed him until he was weary of it. These thoughts invited him to come to Rome to heal the sick there, instead of them suffering the travel to him. He slept in his cell, and extended his feet outside the cell, and said to his thoughts: "You can travel now if you can." When his thoughts went on disturbing him, he carried on his shoulder a basket full of sand, and walked in the desert until he became physically tired, the thoughts of pride left him, and he rested.
Once, he went to the monastery of St. Pachomius in a layman's garment, and stayed there during the forty days of Lent. No one saw him eating or sitting down. He was making baskets of palm leaves while he was standing. The monks said to St. Pachomius: "Cast out this man from here, for he is not human." He asked them to be patient until God reveals his story to them. St. Pachomius inquired of God about him, and God told him that he was St. Macarius of Alexandria. They were all happy to hear that, they welcomed him and received his blessings. When he found that his virtues have been revealed, he returned to his monastery. It happened that it did not rain for some time in Alexandria, and the Patriarch called him. When he arrived to Alexandria, the rain started to fall, and it continued to rain until they asked him to stop it. He prayed and God stopped it. Emperor Valens exiled him with St. Macarius the great to one of the islands. They guided its people to the Christian faith, and then they returned to their monasteries. He considered that the virtue that was revealed and became known to everyone, was rendered useless. When he heard that someone had a virtue that he did not have, he practiced this virtue until he mastered it more than him. He completed his life in a good spiritual conduct until he reached a good old age, and departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of Father Paphnute of El-Bandarah
On this day also, Father Paphnute who was from El-Bandarah, departed.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.