Saturday 25 May 2024
17 Bashans 1740
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 17 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 Seventeenth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Departure of St.Epiphanius, Bishop of
Cyprus
On this day, of the year 402 A.D.,
the great father St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, departed. He was born
to Jewish parents, his father died, and left him with a sister and their
mother brought them up well. His father left him an untrained donkey and
his mother asked him to sell it. He met a Christian man called Philotheus
who wanted to buy the donkey, but the donkey kicked Epiphanius in his thigh,
and he fell down on the ground unconscious. Philotheus made the sign of
the cross over the place of injury and Epiphanius was cured of his pain
instantly. Then Philotheus cried out over that donkey asking God that the
donkey would die God answered his prayer, and the donkey fell down and
died. Epiphanius inquired about the secret of the donkey's death and Philotheus
told him that it was the cross. He guided him to the crucified Christ,
the Son of God, Whom the Jews crucified in Jerusalem by His own will for
the Salvation of the world. This remained in the mind of Epiphanius. When
one of the rich Jewish men died and had no one to inherit him, he left
all his inheritance to Epiphanius. He used this inheritance to spend on
the teachers of religion and Law. Once, when he was walking in the road,
he saw a poor man asking for charity from one of the monks, and as the
monk did not have any money to give, he took off his garment and gave it
to him.
As the poor man took this
garment, St. Epiphanius saw a white dress coming down from heaven upon
the monk instead off the garment that he gave away. He was astonished and
went to the monk and asked him: "Who are you and what is your faith?" The
monk told him that he was Christian. He asked the monk to guide him to
the facts of the Christian faith. The monk brought him to the bishop who
taught him the law of the Christian faith and baptized him. Epiphanius
desired to become a monk, and the bishop sent him to the monastery of St.
Lucianus. He became a disciple to St. Hilarion, and the grace of God was
with him. He excelled in the church subjects, monastic virtues, and its
cannons. St. Hilarion prophesied that he would become a bishop and commanded
him to go to Cyprus, and not to refuse the office of bishop if it was offered
to him. When the bishop of Cyprus departed, it happened that Epiphanius
entered the city to buy certain necessities, and he had two monks with
him. A saintly bishop was inspired to go to the market place to choose
the monk that had two clusters of grapes, whose name was Epiphanius, to
ordain him a bishop for Cyprus. When the bishop went to the market, he
found him with the other two monks, with two clusters of grapes in his
hand. He asked him about his name and he knew that he was the chosen one
by God. He took him to the church and ordained him deacon, priest, then
bishop. He revealed to the people his vision about him and the prophecy
of St. Helarion was fulfilled.
St. Epiphanius followed
a right course of conduct in his diocese, which was well pleasing to God.
He wrote many books and discourses and he always preached about mercy.
It happened that John, bishop of Jerusalem, was not merciful, so St. Epiphanius
borrowed from him some of his gold and silver table vessels, and sold them
and gave its price to the poor and the needy. When Abba John asked him
to return them, he struck him in his eyes and he became blind. John asked
the Saint to pray to heal him, and he prayed, and God opened one of John's
eyes. In the year 402 A.D., Empress Eudoxia called Epiphanius to help her
to drive out St. John Chrysostom (Of the Golden Mouth) from Constantinople.
However, he tried to reconcile them together, but he failed. She threatened
him that she would open the temples of idols and close the churches if
he did not work on his removal. But since he could not reconcile the differences
between her and St. John, he returned to Cyprus and departed in the same
year. (His body was relocated on the 28th. of Bashans).
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑