Readings for Thursday 27 June 2024
20 Baunah 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 105 : 14 - 15
| 14 | He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, |
| 15 | Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm." |
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 11 : 37 - 51
| 37 | And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. |
| 38 | When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. |
| 39 | Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. |
| 40 | Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? |
| 41 | But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. |
| 42 | "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. |
| 43 | Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. |
| 44 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them." |
| 45 | Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." |
| 46 | And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. |
| 47 | Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. |
| 48 | In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. |
| 49 | Therefore the wisdom of God also said, "I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' |
| 50 | that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, |
| 51 | from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. |
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 105 : 26,27,45
| 26 | He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen. |
| 27 | They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. |
| 45 | That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the LORD! |
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 : 1 - 9
| 1 | Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; |
| 2 | and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. |
| 3 | And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. |
| 4 | Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." |
| 5 | While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" |
| 6 | And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. |
| 7 | But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." |
| 8 | When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. |
| 9 | Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead." |
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 : 17 - 27
| 17 | By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, |
| 18 | of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," |
| 19 | concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. |
| 20 | By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. |
| 21 | By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. |
| 22 | By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. |
| 23 | By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. |
| 24 | By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, |
| 25 | choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, |
| 26 | esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. |
| 27 | By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. Peter . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
2 Peter 1:19-21 2 Peter 2:1-8
| 19 | And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; |
| 20 | knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, |
| 21 | for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. |
| 1 | But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. |
| 2 | And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. |
| 3 | By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. |
| 4 | For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; |
| 5 | and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; |
| 6 | and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; |
| 7 | and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked |
| 8 | (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)-- |
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 15 : 21 - 29
| 21 | For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." |
| 22 | Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. |
| 23 | They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. |
| 24 | Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment-- |
| 25 | it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, |
| 26 | men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 27 | We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. |
| 28 | For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: |
| 29 | that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. |
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 20 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baunah.
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 Second Day of the Blessed Month of Baunah
Commemoration of the Appearance of the
Bodies of St.John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet
On this day, the church celebrates
the appearance of the bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet,
the disciple of Elijah the Prophet, in the city of Alexandria. Julian the
Infidel wished to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, having been destroyed
by Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus. He intended with malice to prove
the invalidity of the saying of the Lord in the Holy Gospel: "Assuredly,
I say to you, not one stone shall be left her upon another, that shall
not be thrown down"
(Matthew 24:2). He supplied the Jewish people with
money to rebuild it. He put Elebius, who asked the Jews to assist him secretly,
in charge. Many of the Jews, men, women, old and young, gathered. They
started digging the foundation with eagerness, transferring the dirt and
rocks away, some with baskets and the others in the tails of their dresses.
St. Kyrillos (Cyril), bishop of Jerusalem, ridiculed what they were doing.
When they finished raising the
rocks of the old foundation, they started to put down the new one. A severe
earthquake took place, filled the excavation with dirt, dispersed the building
material and killed many of the workers. The Jews were not terrified of
that, and returned to the work again. Out of the depths of the earth, fiery
balls came, showering the workers with rocks and hitting them so they stopped
building. Many of them believed because of that and especially because
they had fulfilled the prophesy of the Lord Christ, with their hands, about
the destruction of the building of the temple from its foundation. St.
Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom had mentioned this incident.
The Jewish historian Emian, in the fifth century, had mentioned this account
also incidentally in his writings.
Nevertheless, the Jews told the Emperor, "The reason for what happened
is the presence of the bodies of Christian leaders in that place. They
must be removed from it, otherwise the temple will not be built." Julian
ordered that the bodies of the saints be removed from the place and burned.
When they took the bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet
to burn them, some believers came forward to the soldiers, gave them a
sum of silver and took the two bodies. They brought them to St.Athanasius,
Pope of Alexandria. He was pleased and placed them in a special place until
he could build a church for them.
One day St. Athanasius was
sitting in the garden with his scribe, the one to be Pope Theophilos (23rd
Pope) who succeeded him on the Chair, and told him, "If God gives me long
days, I will build in this place a church in the names of St. John the
Baptist and Elisha the Prophet, and I will lay their bodies in it." When
Pope Theophilos was enthroned on the Chair of the See of St. Mark, he remembered
what Pope Athanasius had told him. He built the church and relocated the
pure bodies to it. On their way to the church carrying the holy bodies,
they passed by a house of a pagan woman. This woman was in labor for the
last four days. She had a difficult labor and she was in severe pain. When
she heard the singing and the chanting of the people as they passed by,
and when she knew what was happening, she vowed, saying, "O John, the saint
of God, if you deliver me from this tribulation, I will become a Christian."
Before she had finished what she was saying, she gave birth to a boy, and
she called him John. Then, her family and she were baptized. They laid
the bodies with great honor in the church. Many miracles and wonders were
manifested through them.
As of the end of Julian the infidel was as follows:
He decided to declare a war against Sapor, King of Persia. St. Basilius
the Great, the author of the liturgy, and some bishops went to meet him.
Emperor Julian asked them, "Why have you come." St. Basilius replied, "We came asking
for a shepherd" He mocked them saying, "Where did you leave the son of
the carpenter?" The Saint answered with courage and pride, "We left
him making a coffin for you, for you have lost all wisdom and knowledge."
Julian told him, "I have read and memorized it." St. Basilius replied,
"But you did not comprehend it." Julian became angry and ordered them seized,
to be slain after his return from the war with Sapor. St. Basilius told
him, "You will not come back, for God has spoken by my mouth." The Emperor
ordered them imprisoned. The Emperor went to the war. St. Basilius prayed
before the icon of St. Marcurius Abu-saifain, asking for the chastisement
of the Emperor because he insulted his Lord Christ. St. Marcurius disappeared from the icon, and when he returned, his sword was dripping
blood. During the war, Julian was shot by an arrow in his liver. Thlodoritius
said in his history of the church: "When this infidel Emperor was stabbed,
he took a handful of the blood that was pouring out of his side and scattered
it toward the heaven, saying, 'You have defeated me O Son of Mary.'" The
prophesy of St. Basilius was fulfilled in him and the church was saved
from his evil. When St. Macarius, Bishop of Edko, was martyred, they placed
his body with the bodies of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet.
May their prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of Pope Yoannis the Eighteenth,
the 107th Pope of Alexandria
On this day also, the church
celebrates the departure of Pope Yoannis (John) the Eighteenth, the 107th
Pope of Alexandria. He was of the people of El-Fayyoum and his name was
Joseph. He became a monk in the monastery of the great St. Antonios on
the mount of El-Araba. When Pope Marcus the seventh, his predecessor, departed,
the bishops, priests, and the notables of the people unanimously agreed
on choosing him a Patriarch. They brought him and ordained him a Patriarch
in the church of the martyr St. Marcurius in Old Cairo. That was on Sunday,
15th of Babah, 1486 A.M. (October 23, 1769 A.D.). He was called Yoannis
the Eighteenth, the 107th Pope of Alexandria. During his days, the Pope
of Rome attempted to attract the Eastern Churches and especially the Orthodox
Church of Egypt (The Coptic Church) to the Catholic rite. He published
the proceedings of the Council of Chalcedone in a book and distributed
it in all the countries of the East. This council had caused the schism
of the church, and the Saint Pope Dioscorus (25th Patriarch) had refused
to recognize the legitimacy of this council. The Pope of Rome then sent
an envoy to Pope Yoannis carrying a message inviting him to be united with
him. Pope Yoannis gave this message to Anba Yusab El-Abbah, bishop of Girga.
He asked him to study it and to respond to it. This great scholar and distinguished
theologian replied, refuting all the claims of Rome. He defended his church,
its faith, and its doctrines, a splendid defense that immortalized his
memory. However, the book of the proceedings of the Council of Chalcedone
brought the opposite results of what Rome expected from publishing it.
The book was a proof of the sound teachings and doctrines of the Coptic
Orthodox church. The Bishop of Rome was sorry for publishing the book in
the East, and he gathered its copies and burned them.
During the papacy of Pope
Yoannis (John) many tribulations and hardships befell him from the rulers
of the country and the Ottoman governors. The Turkish commander of the
army seized the patriarchate treasury and took all its funds. That forced
the Pope to disappear from the oppression and the injustice of those rulers
who over tasked the Christians with their unjust rules and the enormous
increase of taxes stipulated from them. Pope Yoannis participated with
Ibrahim El-Gohary, the head scribe at that time, in restoring the monasteries
and the churches. He also made the Holy Myron. He departed on the second
day of the
blessed month of Baunah, 1512 A.M. (June 7, 1797 A.D.). He remained
on the patriarchal chair for twenty-six years, seven months, and sixteen
days. He was buried in the tomb of the patriarchs in the church of St.
Marcurius Abu-Saifain. The chair remained vacant three months and twenty-six
days after his departure.
May his prayers be with us and Glory be to 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 99 : 6 - 7
| 6 | Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the LORD, and He answered them. |
| 7 | He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. |
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 23 : 14 - 36
| 14 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. |
| 15 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. |
| 16 | "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, "Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' |
| 17 | Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? |
| 18 | And, "Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' |
| 19 | Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? |
| 20 | Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. |
| 21 | He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. |
| 22 | And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. |
| 23 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. |
| 24 | Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! |
| 25 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. |
| 26 | Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. |
| 27 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. |
| 28 | Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. |
| 29 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, |
| 30 | and say, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' |
| 31 | "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. |
| 32 | Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. |
| 33 | Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? |
| 34 | Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, |
| 35 | that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. |
| 36 | Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. |
Glory be to God forever.
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