Readings for Friday 23 February 2024
15 Amshir 1740
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 112 : 6,7,9
| 6 | Surely he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. |
| 7 | He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. |
| 9 | He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor. |
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 24 : 42 - 47
| 42 | Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. |
| 43 | But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. |
| 44 | Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. |
| 45 | "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? |
| 46 | Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. |
| 47 | Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. |
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 92 : 10,14,15
| 10 | But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. |
| 14 | They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, |
| 15 | To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. |
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 19 : 11 - 19
| 11 | Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. |
| 12 | Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. |
| 13 | So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, "Do business till I come.' |
| 14 | But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us.' |
| 15 | "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. |
| 16 | Then came the first, saying, "Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' |
| 17 | And he said to him, "Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' |
| 18 | And the second came, saying, "Master, your mina has earned five minas.' |
| 19 | Likewise he said to him, "You also be over five cities.' |
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 Hebrews.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Hebrews 11:32-40 Hebrews 12:1-2
| 32 | And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: |
| 33 | who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, |
| 34 | quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. |
| 35 | Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. |
| 36 | Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. |
| 37 | They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- |
| 38 | of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. |
| 39 | And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, |
| 40 | God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. |
| 1 | Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, |
| 2 | looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. James . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
James 5 : 9 - 20
| 9 | Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! |
| 10 | My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. |
| 11 | Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord--that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. |
| 12 | But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No,No," lest you fall into judgment. |
| 13 | Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. |
| 14 | Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. |
| 15 | And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. |
| 16 | Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. |
| 17 | Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. |
| 18 | And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. |
| 19 | Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, |
| 20 | let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. |
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 18:24-28 Acts 19:1-6
| 24 | Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. |
| 25 | This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. |
| 26 | So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. |
| 27 | And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; |
| 28 | for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. |
| 1 | And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples |
| 2 | he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." |
| 3 | And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." |
| 4 | Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." |
| 5 | When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. |
| 6 | And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. |
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 15 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Amshir.
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 Fifteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir
Departure of St.Zechariah the Prophet
On this day St. Zechariah the Prophet,
the son of Berechiah, one of the twelve minor prophets, departed. He was
from the tribe of Levi, born in the land of Gilead, and was exiled to the
land of the Chaldeans. In exile, he started to prophesy, in the second
year of King Darius, 520 B.C. He prophesied about "Jeshua, the son of Jozadak,"
and "Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel," that they would rebuild the temple.
(Ezra 5:1) and (Ezra 6:14) He prophesied also about the entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem
riding a donkey, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9); the thirty pieces
of silver that Judas Iscariot received to deliver his Master to the Jews
(Matthew 26:14-15); the scattering of the disciples on the night of the
crucifixion; the coming of Christ in glory; and the grief of the children
of Israel who did not believe in Him (Zechariah 12:10). He also prophesied
about many other things. He was the prophet who was killed between the
altar and the temple. He was buried in Jerusalem in the tomb of the prophets.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Consecration of the First Church Dedicated
for the Forty Martyrs from Sebaste
On this day also is the
commemoration of the consecration of the church of the forty martyrs from
Sebaste by the hand of Emperor Licinius. It was the first church that was
built after their names. St. Basil the Great consecrated it, wrote their
biographies and established a great feast day for them.
May Their intercession be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Paphnoute
On this day also, the ascetic
St. Paphnoute (Paphnotius) departed. He became a monk at a young age, and
followed the hardest way in his monastic life. God inspired him to travel
to the inner wilderness, and there he saw many hermits and anchorites and
St. Paphnoute wrote about them. Among those was St. Timothy and St. Abu
Nofr. In his travels, he suffered much hunger and thirst, but the angel
of the Lord appeared to him often to strengthen him. When he finished his
strife, he departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our 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 92 : 12 - 13
| 12 | The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. |
| 13 | Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. |
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 12 : 32 - 44
| 32 | "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. |
| 33 | Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. |
| 34 | For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. |
| 35 | "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; |
| 36 | and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. |
| 37 | Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. |
| 38 | And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. |
| 39 | But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. |
| 40 | Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." |
| 41 | Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?" |
| 42 | And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? |
| 43 | Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. |
| 44 | Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. |
Glory be to God forever.
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