Saturday 8 March 2025
29 Amshir 1741
Readings for Saturday of of the Great Lent
Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 25 : 7,8,11
| 7 | Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD. |
| 8 | Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. |
| 11 | For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. |
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 9 : 43 - 50
| 43 | If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- |
| 44 | where "Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' |
| 45 | And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- |
| 46 | where "Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' |
| 47 | And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire-- |
| 48 | where "Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.' |
| 49 | "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. |
| 50 | Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." |
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 Romans.
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Romans 14 : 1 - 18
| 1 | Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. |
| 2 | For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. |
| 3 | Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. |
| 4 | Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. |
| 5 | One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. |
| 6 | He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. |
| 7 | For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. |
| 8 | For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. |
| 9 | For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. |
| 10 | But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. |
| 11 | For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." |
| 12 | So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. |
| 13 | Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. |
| 14 | I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. |
| 15 | Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. |
| 16 | Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; |
| 17 | for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. |
| 18 | For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. |
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 : 22 - 27
| 22 | But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. |
| 23 | For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; |
| 24 | for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. |
| 25 | But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. |
| 26 | If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. |
| 27 | Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. |
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 22 : 17 - 30
| 17 | "Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance |
| 18 | and saw Him saying to me, "Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' |
| 19 | So I said, "Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. |
| 20 | And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' |
| 21 | Then He said to me, "Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles."' |
| 22 | And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!" |
| 23 | Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, |
| 24 | the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. |
| 25 | And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" |
| 26 | When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman." |
| 27 | Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes." |
| 28 | The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." |
| 29 | Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. |
| 30 | The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them. |
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 29 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Amshir.
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-Ninth Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir
Martyrdom of St.Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna
On this day of the year 167 A.D., St. Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna, was martyred. His life began at the end of the first
Christian century, and he became the disciple of St. John the Evangelist.
He was the one about whom the Lord said, "And to the angel of the church
in Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, Who was dead,
and came to life: I know your works, tribulations and poverty, but you
are rich; and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are
not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which
you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you
into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten
days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.'"
(Revelation 2:8-10) St. Polycarp went to Rome in the year 157 A.D. to settle
a dispute with Arikestus, Bishop of Rome, in regard to the Easter feast.
He shepherded his flock well and remained on his chair for a long time
until a good old age. He wrote many articles and discourses about the Holy
Advent, death, hell, torments of hell, the virgin St. Mary and many others.
He attracted many souls to the Lord with his life-giving teaching.
When Emperor Marcus Aurelius incited persecutions
against Christians, they strongly pressured him saying, "Swear and we will
set you free; curse Christ and we will spare your life." Polycarp replied,
"I have served my Lord Christ for 86 years and He never harmed me so how
can I blaspheme against my King Who saved me?" The Governor said, "If you
do not fear the wild beasts, I will make the fire consume you if you do
not repent." St. Polycarp said, "You threatened me with fire that burns
for a while, then burns out, for you do not know the everlasting fire of
judgement and the eternal punishment that are awaiting the evil ones. Now
why are you lingering? Do whatever you want." After severe tortures and
many threats, the saint wished to shed his blood for Christ's name. He
commanded and taught his people to be steadfast in faith and told them
that they would not see his face after that day. They wept and tried to
hold him down to prevent him from leaving but they failed to stop him.
He went and confessed the Lord Christ before the Governor who ordered to
cut off his head after much torture; thus he received the crown of life.
Some of the believers took his body, shrouded and buried it with great
honor.
May His 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 118 : 19 - 20
| 19 | Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD. |
| 20 | This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. |
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 7 : 13 - 21
| 13 | "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. |
| 14 | Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. |
| 15 | "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. |
| 16 | You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? |
| 17 | Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. |
| 18 | A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. |
| 19 | Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. |
| 20 | Therefore by their fruits you will know them. |
| 21 | "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. |
Glory be to God forever.
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