Readings for Sunday 6 August 2023
30 Abib 1739
Fifth Sunday of Abib
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 93 : 3
| 3 | The floods have lifted up, O LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. |
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 Matthews the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthews 14 : 15 - 21
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 97 : 11 - 12
| 11 | Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. |
| 12 | Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. |
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 Mark the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Mark 6 : 35 - 44
| 35 | When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. |
| 36 | Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat." |
| 37 | But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?" |
| 38 | But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish." |
| 39 | Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. |
| 40 | So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. |
| 41 | And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. |
| 42 | So they all ate and were filled. |
| 43 | And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. |
| 44 | Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men. |
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 Corinthians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
1 Corinthians 14 : 18 - 25
| 18 | I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; |
| 19 | yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. |
| 20 | Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. |
| 21 | In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me," says the Lord. |
| 22 | Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. |
| 23 | Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? |
| 24 | But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. |
| 25 | And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. |
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 : 1 - 8
| 1 | Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! |
| 2 | Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. |
| 3 | Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. |
| 4 | Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. |
| 5 | You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. |
| 6 | You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. |
| 7 | Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. |
| 8 | You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. |
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 14 : 1 - 9
| 1 | Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. |
| 2 | But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. |
| 3 | Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. |
| 4 | But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. |
| 5 | And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, |
| 6 | they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. |
| 7 | And they were preaching the gospel there. |
| 8 | And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. |
| 9 | This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, |
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 30 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Abib.
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 Thirtieth Day of the Blessed Month of Abib
Martyrdom of Saints Mercurius and Ephraem
On this day, the two honorable Sts. Mercurius and
Ephraem (Ephraim) were martyred. These saints were loving brethren in the
spirit, and kinsmen in the flesh, and they were born in the city of Akhmim.
They became monks in one of the monasteries of Upper Egypt, and they remained
their for twenty year. Satan, the enemy of good, brought tribulation upon
the Orthodox Church, and the followers of Arius entered the churches to
offer the sacrifices upon the altars of the Orthodox. These two saints
rose up and came to the church and cast aside the bread and wine which
the Arians had laid on the alter and said, "He who has not been baptized
in the Name of the Holy Trinity is only fit to offer up an offering on
the altar of idols." The Arians seized the saints and beat them very severely,
until they delivered their souls into the hand of the Lord and they received
the crown of martyrdom.
May their 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 143 : 6 - 7
| 6 | I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.Selah |
| 7 | Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit. |
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 9 : 12 - 17
| 12 | When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." |
| 13 | But He said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people." |
| 14 | For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty." |
| 15 | And they did so, and made them all sit down. |
| 16 | Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. |
| 17 | So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. |
Glory be to God forever.
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