13 Bashans 1741
Readings for Wednesday 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 19 : 2,4
| 2 | Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. |
| 4 | Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, |
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 12 : 35 - 40
| 35 | Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? |
| 36 | For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: "The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' |
| 37 | Therefore David himself calls Him "Lord'; how is He then his Son?" And the common people heard Him gladly. |
| 38 | Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, |
| 39 | the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, |
| 40 | who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." |
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 : 24 - 25
| 24 | This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. |
| 25 | Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. |
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 12 : 28 - 34
| 28 | Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" |
| 29 | Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. |
| 30 | And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. |
| 31 | And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." |
| 32 | So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. |
| 33 | And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." |
| 34 | Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that no one dared question Him. |
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 5 : 20 - 6 : 4
| 20 | Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, |
| 21 | so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| 1 | What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? |
| 2 | Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? |
| 3 | Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? |
| 4 | Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of 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 4 : 15 - 19
| 15 | Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. |
| 16 | And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. |
| 17 | Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. |
| 18 | There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. |
| 19 | We love Him because He first loved us. |
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 7 : 44 - 50
| 44 | "Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, |
| 45 | which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, |
| 46 | who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. |
| 47 | But Solomon built Him a house. |
| 48 | "However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: |
| 49 | "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? |
| 50 | Has My hand not made all these things?' |
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 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 John the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
John 13 : 16 - 20
| 16 | Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. |
| 17 | If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. |
| 18 | "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, "He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' |
| 19 | Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. |
| 20 | Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him 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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