8 Bashans 1747
Readings for Friday 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 118 : 8 - 9
| 8 | It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. |
| 9 | It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes. |
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 14 : 7 - 11
| 7 | So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: |
| 8 | "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; |
| 9 | and he who invited you and him come and say to you, "Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. |
| 10 | But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, "Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. |
| 11 | For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." |
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 : 28,21
| 28 | You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. |
| 21 | I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. |
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 14 : 12 - 15
| 12 | Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. |
| 13 | But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. |
| 14 | And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just." |
| 15 | Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" |
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 : 17 - 22
| 17 | But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. |
| 18 | And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. |
| 19 | I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. |
| 20 | For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. |
| 21 | What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. |
| 22 | But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. |
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 5 : 1 - 6
| 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. |
| 2 | By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. |
| 3 | For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. |
| 4 | For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. |
| 5 | Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? |
| 6 | This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. |
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 8 : 1 - 4
| 1 | Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. |
| 2 | And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. |
| 3 | As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. |
| 4 | Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. |
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 : 145 - 146
| 145 | I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O LORD! I will keep Your statutes. |
| 146 | I cry out to You; Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies. |
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 : 22 - 26
| 22 | And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: |
| 23 | I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. |
| 24 | "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. |
| 25 | O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. |
| 26 | And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." |
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.