Readings for Sunday 8 October 2023
27 Tut 1740
Fourth Sunday of Tut
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
From the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all. Amen.
Psalms 33 : 4 - 5
| 4 | For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth. |
| 5 | He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness 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 9 : 18 - 26
| 18 | While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." |
| 19 | So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. |
| 20 | And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. |
| 21 | For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." |
| 22 | But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. |
| 23 | When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, |
| 24 | He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. |
| 25 | But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. |
| 26 | And the report of this went out into all that land. |
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 : 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 Matthew the Evangelist. May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
Matthew 15 : 21 - 28
| 21 | Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. |
| 22 | And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." |
| 23 | But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." |
| 24 | But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." |
| 25 | Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" |
| 26 | But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." |
| 27 | And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." |
| 28 | Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. |
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.
2 Corinthians 1 : 1 - 14
| 1 | Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: |
| 2 | Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 3 | Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, |
| 4 | who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. |
| 5 | For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. |
| 6 | Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. |
| 7 | And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. |
| 8 | For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. |
| 9 | Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, |
| 10 | who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, |
| 11 | you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. |
| 12 | For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. |
| 13 | For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end |
| 14 | (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. John . May his blessings be upon us. Amen.
1 John 3 : 8 - 12
| 8 | He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. |
| 9 | Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. |
| 10 | In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. |
| 11 | For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, |
| 12 | not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. |
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 9 : 36 - 42
| 36 | At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. |
| 37 | But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. |
| 38 | And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. |
| 39 | Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. |
| 40 | But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. |
| 41 | Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. |
| 42 | And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. |
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 Tut.
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 Tut
Martyrdom of St.Eustathius and his Two
Sons
On
this day was the martyrdom of St.Eustathius and his two sons. He was one
of the ministers of the Roman Empire. At the beginning of his life, he
did not know God, but he used to give alms and charity in abundance, and
the Lord did not wish that his toil should be in vain. While he was in
the desert hunting wild animals, there appeared to him the figure of a
crossbetween the horns of a stag, and it reached up to heaven. He chased
the stag in the mountains to hunt it, and the Lord spoke to him and told
him about his new name which is Eustathius, for he had been called Ephlokidus
before. The Lord ordered him to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Christ
and told him that poverty should come upon him speedily. When he heard
that he descended from the mountain and went to the bishop of the city
who baptized him and his wfe and his sons, and he changed his name to Eustathius
as the Lord had ordered him. Straightaway he lost all that he had as slaves,
hand-maidens, cattle and money.
Then he took
his wife and his sons, and went forth from the city of Rome and embarked
on a ship. And as he could not pay the fare, they took his wife instead.
He took his two sons and came to a river, he crossed over to the other
side with one of them and returned to get the other, but he did not find
him because a lion had taken him, then he went back to get the first but
he did not find him either because a wolf had ceased him. He felt deep
sorrow because of the loss of his wife and his two sons. St. Eustathius
stayed for a period of time working as a guard in the garden until the
Emperor of Rome died and another reigned instead who sent messengers to
search for that saint. One of the messengers happened to enter the garden
which the saint guarded. The two men recognized each other and St. Eustathius
was taken back to the Emperor. teh Emperor honored him and returned to
his former position. It happened in that time that war broke out and they
recruited two men from every city to the army. The two sons of the saint
were saved from the lion and the wolf by the Divine Will and were brought
up in the same city. They remained for a long time not knowing each other.
Then the Divine Will arranged that both would be recruited from that city.
On one day while they were on their way, they reached a garden and sat
there talking together. They then discovered that they were brothers.
As to their mother,
the owner of the ship who had kept her in payment of the fare was a barbarian,
but God protected her from him. And she stayed in a garden which by the
Divine Will was the same garden as that her two sons had gathered in, and
she was close by her sons while they were talking and she recognized them.
The two sons were assigned to guard the treasury of their father who did
not recognize them. When the Lord wished to gather this blessed family
together, the wife entered the place where her husband was, and they recognized
each other and rejoiced for reuniting unexpectedly. Then she told him that
she hads met their sons in the garden. While she was telling him so, the
two sons joined them and she cried joyfully, "There are our two sons!"
They embraced each other in tears of joy, and they praised God who fulfilled
what he had promised and they lived in joy and peace.
After that the Emperor
died and another reigned who worshipped idols, and he summoned St. Eustathius
and his wife and his sons. he ordered them to worship the idols but they
refused so he ordered his men to torture them with fire, but they were
not harmed. Then he commanded to cast them into a brazen cauldron and set
fire under it and thus they delivered their souls into the hand of the
Lord, and received the crowns of martyrdom from our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
May their 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 28 : 8 - 9
| 8 | The LORD is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed. |
| 9 | Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever. |
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 7 : 36 - 50
| 36 | Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. |
| 37 | And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, |
| 38 | and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. |
| 39 | Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." |
| 40 | And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." |
| 41 | "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. |
| 42 | And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" |
| 43 | Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." |
| 44 | Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. |
| 45 | You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. |
| 46 | You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. |
| 47 | Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." |
| 48 | Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." |
| 49 | And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" |
| 50 | Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." |
Glory be to God forever.
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