13 Bashans 1740
Readings for Tuesday of third 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 57 : 6
| 6 | They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen.Selah |
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 18 : 6 - 7
| 6 | "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. |
| 7 | Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! |
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 57 : 1,5
| 1 | Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. |
| 5 | Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. |
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 17 : 20 - 23
| 20 | So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. |
| 21 | However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." |
| 22 | Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, |
| 23 | and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. |
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 2 : 8 - 13
| 8 | but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, |
| 9 | tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; |
| 10 | but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. |
| 11 | For there is no partiality with God. |
| 12 | For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law |
| 13 | (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; |
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 : 18 - 23
| 18 | Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. |
| 19 | They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. |
| 20 | But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. |
| 21 | I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. |
| 22 | Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. |
| 23 | Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. |
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 : 27 - 31
| 27 | "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together |
| 28 | to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. |
| 29 | Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, |
| 30 | by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." |
| 31 | And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. |
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 7 : 10 - 11
| 10 | My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. |
| 11 | God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. |
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 : 12 - 16
| 12 | Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." |
| 13 | The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." |
| 14 | Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. |
| 15 | You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. |
| 16 | And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. |
Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 13 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 Thirteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Departure of St.Arsanius, the Tutor of the Emperor's Children
On this day, of the year
445 A.D., the ascetic, fighter, and wise father St. Arsanius departed.
He was born in Rome from a very rich Christian parents. They taught him
church subjects and ordained him a deacon. He was highly knowledgeable
in the Greek culture and endowed with great Christian values. When Emperor
Theodosius the Great sought for a good and wise man to teach his sons Honorius
and Arcadius, he could not find a better person than Arsanius. He brought
him to his palace and entrusted the teaching of his sons to him. St. Arsanius
taught them and admonished them, as was fitting. Since he devoted much
exertion and toil in teaching them, he inflicted them once with painful
beatings. When Emperor Theodosius their father died, Honorius reigned over
Rome and Arcadius reigned over Constantinople. The Saint remembered that
he once beat them, and that Honorius desired to do him harm. While he was
thinking of this, a voice came from the Lord saying: "O Arsani, get out
from this world and you shall be saved." Once he heard this voice, he did
not tarry, changed his clothing, and came to the city Alexandria. Then
he went to the wilderness of St. Macarius (Sheahat - Scete), where he fought
a great fight with fasting, prayer and long vigils. At the beginning of
his monastic life, he reviewed his thoughts to a simple monk for advice.
The monks were surprised and said to him: "Does someone like Arsanius who
is very well versed in Greek and Roman culture, need the advice of this
simple monk?" He told them that the Coptic Alpha Beta of this monk had
not been mastered by Arsanius. He meant by this the virtues of that monk.
A messenger came from Rome carrying a will of one of St. Arsanius' relatives
who had departed, granting all his possessions to the Saint. The Saint
asked: "When did this man die?" The messenger answered: "One year ago."
The Saint said: "I have died eleven years ago, and those who died to the
world can not inherit others who died."
One of the noble women of Rome came to visit him because she heard of his righteousness. After she visited with him for a short while, she asked him to remember her in his prayer. He said to her: "May God erase all your memory from my mind." She returned sorrowful and complained to the Pope in objection to this statement. Pope Theophylus clarified to her what he meant, that he was afraid, that the devil might use her memory to tempt him. When Arsanius started his monastic life, he used to select for himself the white beans for his food. When the Abbot of the monastery noticed, he gently struck the monk, who was sitting beside Arsanius saying: "It is not right that you distinguish yourself from your brethren by selecting the white beans." Arsanius said: "This stroke is directed to you, O Arsanius!" Arsanius mastered the virtue of silence. When he was asked about that, he said: "Many times I regretted that I have spoken, but I have never regretted on being silent." He was a very humble and modest man, who lived from selling the works of his hands by pleating palm leaves, and giving the rest to the poor. He put down many useful sayings and teachings. Whenever he entered the church, he hid behind a pillar of the church so no one would see him. His appearance was good, his face was bright and very cheerful. He was tall in stature, but he became bowed because of his age. He visited Jerusalem when he was seventy years old, to be blessed by the holy places, and then he returned to Sheahat. When he departed, he was ninety-five years old: He spent forty years in Rome, forty years in the wilderness of St. Macarius, ten years in Mount Torah, three years in the monasteries of Alexandria, then he returned to Mount Torah and lived there for two years.
He had commanded his disciples
to throw his body on a certain mountain, so that wild beasts and vultures
would eat him. However, fear gripped him, just before his soul departed
from his body and his disciples said to him: "Is someone like Arsanius
fearing death?" He replied: "Since I had become a monk, I dreaded this
hour." He became calm, his soul was comforted, and a peaceful look covered
his face as if he was saying: " Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me" (Psalms
23:4). He departed in peace in the year 445 A.D. When Theodosius II, the
son of Arcadius, knew of his death, he brought his body to Constantinople.
He built a monastery on the same place where he departed, which was known
in history as the monastery of El-Kosair.
From his sayings:
An old monk was sitting in his cell, heard a voice saying to him: "Go out
so I might show you the deeds of people." When he went out, he saw a man
cutting wood. When he tried to carry it, he could not, and instead of reducing
his load, he increased it, and tried to carry it again, but failed, and
did this again and again. Then he walked away and saw another man getting
water from a well and pouring it in a pot with a hole in it, and the man
could not fill it. Then he saw two men riding on two horses, carrying a
pole from each side. When they came to the door, their pride prevented
that one would stay behind in order to get the pole in, and therefore they
remained outside.
St. Arsanius explained this vision to them, saying: "The wood cutter was a man with a multitude of sins. Instead of repenting, he added more and more to his sins. The man who wanted to fill the pot with water was a charitable man who gave alms from what he earned unjustly, and his reward was lost. The two men carrying the pole were carrying the burden of our Lord Christ, but with great pride, and therefore they both stayed outside the kingdom.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
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