Readings for Monday 3 February 2025
26 Tubah 1741
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 32:11 Psalms 33:1 Psalms 32:6
| 11 | Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! |
| 1 | Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. |
| 6 | For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near 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 Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 10 : 34 - 42
| 34 | "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. |
| 35 | For I have come to "set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; |
| 36 | and "a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' |
| 37 | He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. |
| 38 | And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. |
| 39 | He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. |
| 40 | "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. |
| 41 | He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. |
| 42 | And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." |
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 33 : 1,12
| 1 | Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. |
| 12 | Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. |
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 6 : 17 - 23
| 17 | And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, |
| 18 | as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. |
| 19 | And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. |
| 20 | Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God. |
| 21 | Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh. |
| 22 | Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. |
| 23 | Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. |
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 12 : 3 - 14
| 3 | For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. |
| 4 | You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. |
| 5 | And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; |
| 6 | For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." |
| 7 | If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? |
| 8 | But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. |
| 9 | Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? |
| 10 | For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. |
| 11 | Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. |
| 12 | Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, |
| 13 | and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. |
| 14 | Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: |
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.
1 Peter 4 : 12 - 19
| 12 | Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; |
| 13 | but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. |
| 14 | If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. |
| 15 | But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. |
| 16 | Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. |
| 17 | For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? |
| 18 | Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" |
| 19 | Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. |
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 8 : 3 - 13
| 3 | As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. |
| 4 | Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. |
| 5 | Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. |
| 6 | And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. |
| 7 | For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. |
| 8 | And there was great joy in that city. |
| 9 | But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, |
| 10 | to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." |
| 11 | And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. |
| 12 | But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. |
| 13 | Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. |
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 26 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Tubah.
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 Twenty-Sixth Day of the Blessed Month of Tubah
Martyrdom of the Forty-Nine Saints, the
Elders of Sheheat (Scetis)
On this day, the forty-nine
elder priests of Sheheat, Martinos, the envoy of the emperor, and his son,
were martyred. Emperor Theodosius the Less, the son of Emperor Arcadius,
did not have a son. He wrote to the elders of Sheheat asking them to pray
to God to grant him a son. St. Isidor wrote back to him saying that God
did not will for him to have a son who would participate with the heretics
after him. When the Emperor read the message, he offered thanks to God.
Some people gave him the advice to marry another wife to have offspring
from her to inherit the empire after him. He said to them, "I cannot do
anything except what the elders of Sheheat demanded." He sent an envoy
whose name was Martinos to consult with them about that. Martinos had a
son named Zius who accompanied him on his visit to the elders in order
to receive their blessings. When they arrived and the elders read the message,
they took the messenger to the body of St.Isidor, for he had departed.
They called on him saying, "Our father, we have received a letter from
the Emperor. What shall we say to him?" A voice came from the pure body
saying, "What I had said before, I also say now, that the Lord will never
give him a son to participate with the heretics, even if he marries ten
women." The elders wrote back to the Emperor recounting what they heard.
When the messenger wanted to return, the pagan berbers attacked the monastery.
One of their great elders, whose name was Anba Yuannis, called upon the
brethren and said, "The berbers have come to kill us. Whoever amongst you
would like to become a martyr, let him stand, and whoever is afraid, let
him hide in the palace." Some of them hid in the palace, but he remained
with the forty-eight elders, who were all slaughtered by the berbers.
Martinos and his son were
hiding. The son looked up and saw the angels placing the crowns of glory
on the elders who were killed. The son said to his father, "I see spiritual
beings putting crowns on the heads of the elders. I shall go to receive
a crown like them." His father replied, "And I also shall go with you,
my son." Both revealed themselves to the berbers. They were killed and
received the crown of martyrdom. After the berbers had gone, the monks
who were hiding in the palace came down, took the bodies, and placed them
in a cave. They sang and said praises before the cave every night. Some
people from the city of Batanoon came and took the body of Anba Yuannis
and returned to their city. The elders of the monastery returned the body
after a while. Also, some people from El-Fayyoum came and stole the body
of Zius, the son of Martinos. When they arrived at the lake of El-Fayyoum,
the angel of the Lord returned him to where the body of his father was.
The elders also tried to separate the body of Zius, the son, from the body
of his father several times, but they could not. Every time they moved
the body of Zius, the angel of the Lord would return it to its place. One
of the fathers heard one night, in a vision, someone saying, "Praise God,
we were
not separated in the flesh, nor are we separated when we are with Christ.
Why do you want to separate our bodies?"
When persecution became
rampant and the attacks on the monastery continued, the fathers relocated
the bodies, to a cave which they built beside the church of St. Macarius.
At the time of Anba Theodosius, 33rd Pope of Alexandria, they built a church
for them. When Anba Benjamin, 38th pope, came to the wilderness, he established
a feast day for them on the 5th of Amshir, which was the day of the relocation
of their bodies to this church. In time, the church building deteriorated,
and they moved the bodies to one of the cells until the time of Ibrahim
El-Gohary, who built a church for them around the end of the 18th century,
where they placed the bodies of the saints. The church is still in existence
today in the monastery of St. Macarius. The cell in which the bodies were
kept is known today in Coptic as the cell of Ehme' Epseet, or the cell
of the forty-nine.
May Their prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Anastasia
On this day also, St. Anastasia
departed. She was from a noble family in the city of Constantinople. She
was very beautiful and had a great moral character. Emperor Justin, who
was married, wanted to marry her. She refused and went and told his wife.
The Empress sent her to Alexandria on a private ship. She built her a convent
outside the city of Alexandria and named it after her. When the Emperor
knew where she was, he sent for her, but Anastasia escaped and hid herself
in the wilderness of Sheheat (Scetis), disguised as a prince. She met
with Anba Daniel, the archpriest of the wilderness, and revealed her story
to him. He brought her to a cave, and asked one of the elders to fill a
water pot for her once every week, and to place the pot at the door of
the cave and leave. She remained in this place for 28 years, without anyone
knowing that she was a woman. She used to write her thoughts on pieces
of pottery, and leave them at the door of her cave. The elder who brought her the water used to take the pieces of pottery
without knowing what was written on them and give them to St. Daniel. One
day he brought a piece of pottery to St. Daniel who wept when he read it,
and said to his disciple, "Come with me now to bury the body of the saint
in that cave." When they entered her cave, they received blessings from
each other. St. Anastasia said to Anba Daniel, "For the sake of God, bury
me with what I have on my body." Then she prayed and bade them farewell
and departed in peace. They wept and buried her. When the disciple was
caring for her burial, he found out that she was a woman, and he marvelled
in silence. After they buried her, and they returned to their place, the
disciple knelt before St. Daniel and said, "For the sake of God, tell me
her story, for I have seen that she was a woman." The elder told him her
story, that she was from one of the noble families of Constantinople, and
how she surrendered herself to Christ, forsaking the vain glory of this
world.
May Her 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 34 : 19 - 20
| 19 | Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. |
| 20 | He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. |
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 4:23-25 Matthew 5:1-16
| 23 | And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. |
| 24 | Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. |
| 25 | Great multitudes followed Him--from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. |
| 1 | And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. |
| 2 | Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: |
| 3 | "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. |
| 4 | Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. |
| 5 | Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. |
| 6 | Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. |
| 7 | Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. |
| 8 | Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. |
| 9 | Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. |
| 10 | Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. |
| 11 | "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. |
| 12 | Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. |
| 13 | "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. |
| 14 | "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. |
| 15 | Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. |
| 16 | Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. |
Glory be to God forever.
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