30 Baramudah 1741
Readings for Martyrdom of St. Mark
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 101 : 1 - 1,2,4
| 1 | I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. |
| 2 | I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. |
| 4 | A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. |
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 13 : 53 - 58
| 53 | Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. |
| 54 | When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? |
| 55 | Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? |
| 56 | And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" |
| 57 | So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." |
| 58 | Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. |
Glory be to God forever.
Matins Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 101 : 8 - 8
| 8 | Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of 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 22 : 34 - 40
| 34 | But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. |
| 35 | Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, |
| 36 | "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" |
| 37 | Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' |
| 38 | This is the first and great commandment. |
| 39 | And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' |
| 40 | On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." |
Glory be to God forever.
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 2 : 17 - 20
| 17 | Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, |
| 18 | and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, |
| 19 | and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, |
| 20 | an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 2 : 26 - 3 : 1
| 26 | These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. |
| 27 | But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. |
| 28 | And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. |
| 29 | If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. |
| 1 | Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know 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.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us. Amen.
Acts 5 : 1 - 6
| 1 | But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. |
| 2 | And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. |
| 3 | But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? |
| 4 | While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." |
| 5 | Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. |
| 6 | And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
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 33 : 20 - 21
| 20 | Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. |
| 21 | For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in 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 John the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
John 8 : 28 - 30
| 28 | Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. |
| 29 | And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." |
| 30 | As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. |
Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 30 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramudah.
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 Baramudah
Martyrdom of the Great Saint Mark, the Apostle, the Evangelist of the Land of Egypt
On this day, which coincided with the
26th. of April 68 A.D., the great apostle St. Mark, the evangelist of the
land of Egypt, was martyred. He was the first Pope of Alexandria and one
of the Seventy Apostles. His name was John, as the Holy Bible says: "He
came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where
many were gathered together praying" (Acts 12:12). He was the one that
the Lord Christ, to Whom is the glory, meant when He said: "Go into the
city to a certain man, and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is at
hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples" (Matthew
26:18). His house was the first Christian church, where they ate the Passover,
hid after the death of the Lord Christ, and in its upper room the Holy
Spirit came upon them. This Saint was born in Cyrene (One of the Five Western
cities, Pentapolis - in North Africa). His father's name was Aristopolus
and his mother's name was Mary. They were Jewish in faith, rich and of
great honor. They educated him with the Greek and Hebrew cultures. He was
called Mark after they emigrated to Jerusalem, where St. Peter had become
a disciple to the Lord Christ. St. Peter was married to the cousin of Aristopolus.
Mark visited St. Peter's house often, and from him he learned the Christian
teachings.
Once Aristopolus and his son Mark were walking near the Jordan river, close by the desert, they encountered a raving lion and a lioness. It was evident to Aristopolus that it would be his end and the end of his Son, Mark. His compassion for his son compelled him to order him to escape to save himself. Mark answered, "Christ, in whose hands our lives are committed, will not let them prey on us." Saying this, he prayed, "O, Christ, Son of God protect us from the evil of these two beasts and terminate their offspring from this wilderness." Immediately, God granted this prayer, and the two beasts fell dead. His father marvelled and asked his son to tell him about the Lord Christ. He believed in the Lord Christ at the hands of his son who baptized him. After the ascension of the Lord Christ, he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to preach the Gospel in Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Salamis, and Perga Pamphylia where he left them and returned to Jerusalem. After the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, he went with Barnabas to Cyprus. After the departure of Barnabas, with the order of the Lord Christ, St. Mark went to Afrikia, Berka, and the Five Western cities. He preached the Gospel in these parts, and believed on his hands most of its people. From there, he went to Alexandria in the 1st. of Bashans 61 A.D.
When he entered the city, his shoe was torn because of the much walking in preaching and evangelism. He went to a cobbler in the city, called Anianus, to repair it. While he was repairing it the awl pierced his finger. Anianus shouted in Greek saying "EIS THEOS" which means "O, ONE GOD". When St.Mark heard these words his heart rejoiced exceedingly. He found it suitable to talk to him about the One God. The Apostle took some clay, spat on it and applied it to Anianus' finger, saying in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the wound healed immediately, as if nothing happened to it. Anianus was exceedingly amazed from this miracle that happened in the Name of Jesus Christ, and his heart opened to the word of God. The Apostle asked him about who was the only God that he cried for when he was injured. Anianus replied "I heard about him, but I do not know him." St. Mark started explaining to him from the beginning, the creation of heaven and earth, the transgression and fall of Adam, the flood, how God sent Moses, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and gave them the Law, the captivity of the children of Israel to Babylon, and the prophecies that foretold the coming of Christ.
Anianus invited him to go to his house and brought to him his children. The Saint preached and baptized them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. When the believers in the Name of Christ increased and the pagan people of the city heard that, they were raged with anger and thought of slaying St. Mark. The faithful advised him to get away for a short while for the sake of the safety of the church and its care. St. Mark ordained St. Anianus a Bishop for Alexandria, three priests and seven deacons. He went to the Five Western Cities, remained there for two years preaching, and ordained bishops, priests, and deacons. He returned to Alexandria where he found the believers had increased in number, and built a church for them in the place known as Bokalia (The place of cows), east of Alexandria on the sea shore. It came to pass, when he was celebrating the feast of the Resurrection on the 29th day of Baramudah, year 68 A.D., the same day coincided with the great pagan Celebration for the feast of the god Syrabis, a multitude of them assembled and attacked the church at Bokalia and forced their way in. They seized St. Mark, bound him with a thick rope and dragged him in the roads and streets crying, "Drag the dragon to the place of Cows." They continued dragging him with severe cruelty. His flesh was torn and scattered everywhere, and the ground of the city was covered with his blood. They cast him that night into a dark prison.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him: "O Mark, the good servant, rejoice for your name has been written in the book of life, and you have been counted among the congregation of the saints." The angel disappeared, then the Lord Christ appeared to him, and gave him peace. His soul rejoiced and was glad. The next morning (30th of Baramudah), the pagans took St. Mark from the prison. They tied his neck with a thick rope and did the same as the day before, dragging him over the rocks and stones. Finally, St. Mark delivered up his pure soul in the hand of God, and received the crown of martyrdom, the apostolic crown, the crown of evangelism, and the crown of virginity. Nevertheless, St. Mark's death did not satisfy the rage of the pagans and their hatred. They gathered much firewood and prepared an inferno to burn him. A severe storm blew and heavy rains fell. The pagans became frightened, and they fled away in fear. The believers came and took the holy body, carried it to the church they built at Bokalia, wrapped it up, prayed over him and place it in a coffin. They laid it in a secret place in this church.
The prayers of this great Saint and honorable Evangelist be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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