Tuesday 19 March 2024
10 Baramhat 1740
Readings for The Feast of the Cross
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 4 : 6 - 8
| 6 | There are many who say, "Who will show us any good?" LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. |
| 7 | You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased. |
| 8 | I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. |
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 8 : 28 - 42
| 28 | Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. |
| 29 | And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." |
| 30 | As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. |
| 31 | Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. |
| 32 | And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." |
| 33 | They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, "You will be made free'?" |
| 34 | Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. |
| 35 | And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. |
| 36 | Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. |
| 37 | "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. |
| 38 | I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." |
| 39 | They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. |
| 40 | But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. |
| 41 | You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." |
| 42 | Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. |
Glory be to God forever.
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Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 60 : 4 - 5
| 4 | You have given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth.Selah |
| 5 | That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear 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 12 : 26 - 36
| 26 | If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. |
| 27 | "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. |
| 28 | Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." |
| 29 | Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." |
| 30 | Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. |
| 31 | Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. |
| 32 | And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." |
| 33 | This He said, signifying by what death He would die. |
| 34 | The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, "The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" |
| 35 | Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. |
| 36 | While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. |
Glory be to God forever.
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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 Corinthians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1 : 17 - 31
| 17 | For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. |
| 18 | For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. |
| 19 | For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." |
| 20 | Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? |
| 21 | For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. |
| 22 | For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; |
| 23 | but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, |
| 24 | but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. |
| 25 | Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. |
| 26 | For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. |
| 27 | But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; |
| 28 | and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, |
| 29 | that no flesh should glory in His presence. |
| 30 | But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- |
| 31 | that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. Peter . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 Peter 2 : 11 - 25
| 11 | Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, |
| 12 | having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. |
| 13 | Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, |
| 14 | or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. |
| 15 | For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men-- |
| 16 | as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. |
| 17 | Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. |
| 18 | Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. |
| 19 | For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. |
| 20 | For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. |
| 21 | For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: |
| 22 | "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"; |
| 23 | who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; |
| 24 | who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. |
| 25 | For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. |
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.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us. Amen.
Acts 10 : 34 - 43
| 34 | Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. |
| 35 | But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. |
| 36 | The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all-- |
| 37 | that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: |
| 38 | how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. |
| 39 | And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. |
| 40 | Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, |
| 41 | not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. |
| 42 | And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. |
| 43 | To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 10 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat.
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 Tenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat
Commemoration of the Appearance of the
Glorious Cross
The church celebrates the appearance of the
glorious Cross of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ twice: The First
on the sixteenth day of the month of Tut, 326 A.D. by the hands of the
righteous Empress St. Helen, the mother of Constantine the great, the righteous
Emperor. This Saint when her son Constantine accepted the Faith in the
Lord Christ, she vowed to go to Jerusalem. Her righteous son prepared everything
needed to fulfill this holy visit. When she arrived to Jerusalem with multitude
of soldiers, she asked about the place of the Cross but no one would tell
her. She took one of the jewish elders and pressured him by hunger and
thirst until he was forced to direct them to the place where they might
find the Cross at the hill of Golgotha. She ordered them to clear out the
site of Golgotha where they found three crosses and that was in the year
326 A.D. However, they did not know the cross upon which Our Lord Christ
was crucified, they brought a dead man and they laid upon him one of the
crosses and then the other but he did not rise up but when they laid the
third cross upon him he rose up immediately, then they realized that this
was the Cross of Our Lord Christ. The Empress and all the believers kneeled
down before the Holy Cross, and she sent a piece of it with the nails to
her son Constantine. Immediately after, she built the churches that were
mentioned on the Sixteenth day of the blessed month of Tut.
The Second celebration that the church
commemorates the Cross is on the Tenth day of the month of Baramhat by
the hands of Emperor Heraclius, in 627 A.D. When the Persians were defeated
by Heraclius they retreated from Egypt to their country. On their way back
they passed through Jerusalem, a persian prince entered the church of the
Cross which was built by Empress Helen. He saw a great light shinning from
a piece of wood located on a place decorated with gold. He thrust his hand
to it and there went forth from it fire which burned his fingers. The Christians
told him that this is the base of the Holy Cross and they told him how
it was discovered and no one was able to touch it except a Christian. He
deceived the two deacons who were standing to guard it and gave them much
money so they would carry this piece and go with it with him to his country.
They took it and put it in a box and went with him to his country along
with those who were captured from the city of Jerusalem. When Emperor Heraclius
heard that, he went with his army to Persia, fought with them and slew
many of them. He traveled about this country searching for this piece of
the Holy Cross but he could not find it, for the Persian prince had dug
a hole in his garden and ordered the two deacons to put the box in it and
buried it and then he killed them. One of the captives of that Persian
prince which was the daughter of one of the priests, was looking out of
the window by chance and saw what happened. She went to Heraclius the Emperor
and told him what she saw. He went with the bishops, priests and the soldiers
to the place. They dug there and found the box, they took the piece of
the Holy Cross out, in 628 A.D., wrapped it in magnificent apparel and
Heraclius took it to the city of Constantinople and kept it there.
May the blessings of the Holy Cross be with us and Glory be to God
forever. Amen.
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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 65 : 1 - 2
| 1 | Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. |
| 2 | O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come. |
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 : 22 - 38
| 22 | Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. |
| 23 | And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. |
| 24 | Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." |
| 25 | Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. |
| 26 | But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. |
| 27 | My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. |
| 28 | And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. |
| 29 | My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. |
| 30 | I and My Father are one." |
| 31 | Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. |
| 32 | Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" |
| 33 | The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." |
| 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.
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