Saturday 22 May 2027
14 Bashans 1743
Readings for Saturday 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 32 : 8
| 8 | I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. |
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 15 : 29 - 31
| 29 | Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. |
| 30 | Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. |
| 31 | So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. |
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 107 : 1 - 2
| 1 | Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. |
| 2 | Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, |
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 7 : 10 - 13
| 10 | But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. |
| 11 | Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" |
| 12 | And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." |
| 13 | However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. |
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 Galatians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Galatians 3 : 5 - 11
| 5 | Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?-- |
| 6 | just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." |
| 7 | Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. |
| 8 | And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." |
| 9 | So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. |
| 10 | For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." |
| 11 | But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 3 : 2 - 11
| 2 | Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. |
| 3 | And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. |
| 4 | Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. |
| 5 | And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. |
| 6 | Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. |
| 7 | Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. |
| 8 | He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. |
| 9 | Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. |
| 10 | In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. |
| 11 | For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, |
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 5 : 12 - 20
| 12 | And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. |
| 13 | Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. |
| 14 | And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, |
| 15 | so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. |
| 16 | Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. |
| 17 | Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, |
| 18 | and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. |
| 19 | But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, |
| 20 | "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. 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 20 : 5 - 6
| 5 | We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. |
| 6 | Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. |
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 6 : 47 - 56
| 47 | Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. |
| 48 | I am the bread of life. |
| 49 | Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. |
| 50 | This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. |
| 51 | I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." |
| 52 | The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" |
| 53 | Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. |
| 54 | Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. |
| 55 | For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. |
| 56 | He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. |
Glory be to God forever.
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Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 14 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 Fourteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Departure of St.Pachomius (Pakhom), the
Father of the Spiritual Communal Monastic Life (Cenobitic Life)
On this day, of the year 64 A.M. (348 A.D.),
Abba Pachomius, the father of the spiritual communal life (Cenobitic life),
departed. He was born in Thebes (Luxor) from pagan parents, who forced
him to worship idols. He rejected and mocked this worship, then became
a monk with St.Balamon (Palaemon). He lived in submission to him for many
years, and he mastered well the ways of the monastic life. Then the angel
of the Lord appeared to him and commanded him to establish a communal and
holy monastic life. Many monks gathered together to him, and he built for
them many monasteries and established for them a system of manual labor,
the times of prayers, and eating. He was the father of them all, with an
Abbot in every monastery. He visited all the monasteries, from Aswan to
Edfu to Donasa to the end of Upper Egypt to the north. He did not permit
any one of his sons to become a priest for the sake of the vainglory of
this world, and not to overlook the purpose of their monastic life of worship
by being away from the world. He invited a priest from outside for each
monastery to officiate the Divine Liturgy. When Pope Athanasius wanted
to ordain him a priest, he fled from him. St. Athanasius asked his disciples
to tell him that he who built his house on the rock that can not be shaken,
and fled from the vainglory of the world, is blessed, and his disciples
are also blessed. He desired once to see Hades, and he saw in a night vision
the habitation of the sinners and places of torment. He remained the father
of the Cenobites for forty years. When the time of his departure drew near,
he called the monks, strengthened their faith, and appointed someone to
take over his place after him, then departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Epimachus (Ephimachus)
of Pelusium
On this day also, St. Epimachus was martyred. He
was born in Pelusium (Farma). He was a weaver along with his two companions:
Theodore and Callinicos. When he heard that "Youlamis" the governor of
Egypt, had come to torture the Christians, he preached his friends explaining
the vainglory of this world, then he bade them farewell and went to El-Bakroug,
which was near Demera. He came to the Governor who was torturing a woman,
and then threw her in a furnace. The fiery furnace became like cool dew
to her. The Governor then took her out of the furnace and cut off her head.
When Epimachus saw that, he came before the Governor, and confessed the
Lord Christ, to Him is the glory. The Governor tortured him severely. He
was twenty-seven years old. Then he ordered him to be squeezed on the wheel,
and a drop of his blood splashed on the eyes of a blind maiden, and right
away she was able to see. Her family believed in the Lord Christ. They
were all martyred and received the crown of martyrdom. The Governor became
angry and ordered him to be crucified, and then his head to be cut off.
The executioner drew his sword but his strength failed and was unable to
raise his sword. The same thing happened when another executioner tried
and so with fourteen other executioners. When they failed to cut off his
head, they tied a rope around his neck and dragged him until he delivered
his soul into the hand of the Lord and received the crown of martyrdom.
One of the soldiers, who was deaf and dumb, carried the body to cast it
away. When he touched the body, instantly he heard and spoke. Some of the
believers from the city of Edku came and took the body and many signs and
wonders took place from it. When the people from Demera came to console
his family and saw the signs and wonders which were revealed through him,
they believed and were baptized. They numbered one thousand, seven-hundred
and fifty, men, women, and children. His kinsfolk carried him to El-Barmoun
with great honor. The Governor of El-Barmoun shrouded him with expensive
shrouds from his own money and they built a church after his name.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
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