8 Bashans 1740
Readings for Thursday of second 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 90 : 14
| 14 | Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! |
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 11 : 11 - 15
| 11 | "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. |
| 12 | And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. |
| 13 | For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. |
| 14 | And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. |
| 15 | He who has ears to hear, let him hear! |
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 5 : 3 - 4
| 3 | My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. |
| 4 | For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with 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 Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 11 : 2 - 6
| 2 | And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples |
| 3 | and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" |
| 4 | Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: |
| 5 | The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. |
| 6 | And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." |
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 1 : 16 - 17
| 16 | For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. |
| 17 | For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." |
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 : 7 - 10
| 7 | Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. |
| 8 | Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. |
| 9 | He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. |
| 10 | He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in 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 4 : 13 - 18
| 13 | Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. |
| 14 | And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. |
| 15 | But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, |
| 16 | saying, "What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. |
| 17 | But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name." |
| 18 | So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. |
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 8 : 4 - 5
| 4 | What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? |
| 5 | For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. |
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 5 : 39 - 47
| 39 | You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. |
| 40 | But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. |
| 41 | "I do not receive honor from men. |
| 42 | But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. |
| 43 | I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. |
| 44 | How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? |
| 45 | Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom you trust. |
| 46 | For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. |
| 47 | But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" |
Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 8 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 Eighth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Martyrdom of St.John of Senhout
On this day St. John of Senhout, departed. He was born in Senhout, his father's name was Macarius and his mother's name was Anna. It came to pass that when he was tending the sheep flock of his father, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, showed him a crown of light and said to him: "Why are you sitting here while many others are persecuted, now rise up and go to the city of Atrib (Banha), struggle for the Name of the Lord Christ"; then the angel gave him the salutation of peace and departed from him. He bade farewell to his parents, went to the Governor, and confessed the Lord Christ before him. The Governor delivered him to one of the soldiers to entreat him kindly that perhaps he would change his mind and be obedient to him. However the Saint performed several miracles before the soldier that made him also believe in the Lord Christ and received the crown of martyrdom by the hands of the Governor. The Governor became angry and tortured the Saint with every kind of torture, but the Lord strengthened him and made him to endure it. Then the Saint was sent to Ansena (Antinoe), where he was again tortured. At the end they cut off his head by the sword. Julius El Akfahasy took his body, shrouded, and sent it to his town Senhout. The people received him with hymns and praise, and placed him in the church. The body of the Saint now is located in Shoubra El-Khema in Egypt.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Daniel the Archpriest of Sheahat (Scetis)
On this day also the holy father Anba Daniel the Archpriest of Sheahat (Scetis), departed. He was perfect and pure father. When his fame was noised abroad, many came to him among whom was St. Anastasia disguised in a man's apparel. She became a nun, and lived in a cell near him for 28 years and no one knew who he (She) was. One day, the Saint saw a person whose name was Olagi (Eulogius), who worked as a stone cutter for a Karat of gold each day. With a very small portion of this he lived and with the remainder he fed the poor without saving any thing. When Abba Daniel saw his good fight and the excellence of his deeds, he asked God to give Olagi more money to increase his deeds of mercy. God answered his prayer, and Olagi found a treasure when he was cutting the stones, which he took and went to Constantinople. With the newly found money he became a minister to the Emperor, and forsake the deeds of mercy. When St. Daniel heard about this, he went to Constantinople, and found what had become of Olagi, and that he had abandoned his deeds of mercy. Then the Saint saw in a vision as if the Lord Christ is sitting judging among the people and that he commanded to crucify St. Daniel and demanded from him the lost soul of Olagi. When the Saint rose up from his sleep, he went back to his monastery, and entreated God to bring Olagi back to his former state. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and rebuked him for rejecting God's judgement of His creation. Afterwards, the Emperor of Constantinople died and another reigned who dismissed Olagi and took his money and wanted to kill him. He escaped in order to save his life and returned to his town to cut the stones as before. Anba Daniel met Olagi and told him all what had happened to him because of him. Many hardships befell St. Daniel because of the faith, and God manifested many miracles through him. He knew in advance the time of his departure from this world, he gathered all the monks around him, commanded, strengthened, and comforted them and then departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.