Readings for Friday 6 December 2024
27 Hatur 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 46 : 1,7
| 1 | God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. |
| 7 | The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.Selah |
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 1 : 16 - 22
| 16 | And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. |
| 17 | Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." |
| 18 | They immediately left their nets and followed Him. |
| 19 | When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. |
| 20 | And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. |
| 21 | Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. |
| 22 | And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. |
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 146 : 1,5
| 1 | Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! |
| 5 | Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his 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 Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 4 : 18 - 22
| 18 | And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. |
| 19 | Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." |
| 21 | Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, |
| 22 | and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. |
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 Galatians.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Galatians 1 : 1 - 19
| 1 | Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), |
| 2 | and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: |
| 3 | Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, |
| 4 | who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, |
| 5 | to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. |
| 6 | I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, |
| 7 | which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. |
| 8 | But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. |
| 9 | As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. |
| 10 | For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. |
| 11 | But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. |
| 12 | For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. |
| 13 | For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. |
| 14 | And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. |
| 15 | But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, |
| 16 | to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, |
| 17 | nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. |
| 18 | Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. |
| 19 | But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. |
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 1 : 1 - 12
| 1 | James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. |
| 2 | My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, |
| 3 | knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. |
| 4 | But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. |
| 5 | If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. |
| 6 | But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. |
| 7 | For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; |
| 8 | he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. |
| 9 | Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, |
| 10 | but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. |
| 11 | For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. |
| 12 | Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. |
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 : 13 - 21
| 13 | And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me: |
| 14 | Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. |
| 15 | And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: |
| 16 | 'After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; |
| 17 | So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD. Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.' |
| 18 | "Known to God from eternity are all His works. |
| 19 | Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, |
| 20 | but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. |
| 21 | For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." |
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 27 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Hatur.
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-Seventh Day of the Blessed Month of Hatur
Martyrdom of St.James the Mangled (Sawn)
On this day, St. James the mangled, was martyred.
He was one of the soldiers of Sakrod, the son of Shapur, King of Persia.
Because of his courage and his uprightness, he was promoted to the highest
rank in the king's court. He found favor and access to the king, who even
counselled with him in many affairs. In this way, he influenced St. James
greatly to the extent that he turned his heart away from worshipping the
Lord Christ. When his mother, his wife, and his sister heard that he adopted
the king's belief, they wrote to him saying, "Why have you forsaken the
faith in the Lord Christ and worshipped the created objects, the fire and
the sun? Know that if you persist in what you are doing, we will disown
you and you will become a stranger to us." When he read their letter, he
wept and said, "If by doing that, I have become a stranger to my own family
and my people, how would the situation be with my Lord Jesus Christ?" Consequently,
he resigned from the king's service and devoted his time to reading the
holy books.
When the news reached the king, he summoned St.
James. When the King saw the change that had befallen him, he ordered that
James be beaten severely and if he did not change his belief, he was to
be cut up with knives. They cut off his fingers, his hands, his legs and
his arms. Each time they cut off a piece of his body, he praised the Lord
and sang saying, "Have mercy upon me 0 Lord according to Your great compassion."
(Psalm 50:1) Eventually, nothing was left of him except his head, his breast
and his loins. When he knew that his time was near, he entreated the Lord
to have mercy and compassion upon the world and the people therein. He
apologized for not standing in the presence of the mighty Lord and said,
"I have neither legs to stand before Thee, nor hands to lift up to Thee,
behold the parts of my body have been cast around me, 0 Lord receive my
soul." Straightaway, the Lord Christ appeared to him, comforted, and strengthened
him and his soul rejoiced. Before he delivered up his soul, one of the
guards made haste and cut off his head. He thus received the crown of martyrdom.
Some of the believers then came forward and took his body, wrapped it and
buried it.
When his mother, his sister, and his wife heard
that he was martyred, they rejoiced for his soul and came to where the
body was and kissed it, weeping. They shrouded it in expensive cloth and
poured sweet scents and perfumed oil over it. A church and a monastery
were built in his name during the reign of the righteous Emperors Arcadius
and Honourius. When the king of Persia heard the news of the miracles and
wonders which appeared through the body of St. James and of the other honored
martyrs, he ordered all the bodies of the martyrs in all parts of his kingdom,
to be burnt. Some of the believers came and took the body of St. James
and brought it to Jerusalem and entrusted it to St. Peter El-Rahawy, Bishop
of Gaza. The body remained there until the reign of Marcianus, who persecuted
the Orthodox Christians everywhere. St. Peter, the Bishop, took the body
to Egypt. There he went to the city of Behnasa, where he stayed in a monastery
occupied by devoted monks. It happened that at the sixth hour, while they
were praying in the place where the holy body laid, St. James appeared
to them with many other martyrs of Persia. They joined them in singing,
blessed them and disappeared. Before leaving, however, St. James told them
that his body should stay there as the Lord commanded. Despite this, when
Anba Peter the Bishop, decided to return to his country, he took the body
with him. When he arrived at the seashore, the body was taken from their
hands and returned to the place where it had originally been.
May his prayers and blessings be with us all, 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 78:5 Psalms 135:5
| 5 | For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; |
| 5 | For I know that the LORD is great, And our Lord is above all gods. |
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 10 : 35 - 45
| 35 | Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." |
| 36 | And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" |
| 37 | They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." |
| 38 | But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" |
| 39 | They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; |
| 40 | but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared." |
| 41 | And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. |
| 42 | But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. |
| 43 | Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. |
| 44 | And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. |
| 45 | For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." |
Glory be to God forever.
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