8 Bashans 1741
Readings for Friday of fourth 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 70 : 1 - 2
| 1 | Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! |
| 2 | Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt. |
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 8 : 10 - 15
| 10 | immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. |
| 11 | Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. |
| 12 | But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." |
| 13 | And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. |
| 14 | Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. |
| 15 | Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." |
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 70 : 1,5
| 1 | Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! |
| 5 | But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay. |
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 4 : 26 - 29
| 26 | And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, |
| 27 | and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. |
| 28 | For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. |
| 29 | But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." |
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 3 : 27 - 31
| 27 | Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. |
| 28 | Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. |
| 29 | Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, |
| 30 | since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. |
| 31 | Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. |
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 : 1 - 6
| 1 | Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
| 2 | By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, |
| 3 | and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. |
| 4 | You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. |
| 5 | They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. |
| 6 | We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. |
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 5 : 34 - 36
| 34 | Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. |
| 35 | And he said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. |
| 36 | For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. |
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 24 : 1,4
| 1 | The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. |
| 4 | He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. |
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 10 : 34 - 38
| 34 | Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, "I said, "You are gods"'? |
| 35 | If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), |
| 36 | do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming,' because I said, "I am the Son of God'? |
| 37 | If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; |
| 38 | but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." |
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.