4th week - Strict Abstinence
Baramhat 9, 1741
Prophecy Genesis 28:10-22 Isaiah 25:1-26:8 Job 18:1-21
Genesis 28:10-22
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Isaiah 25:1-26:8
O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Job 18:1-21
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 17:1-1
Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 21:28-32
But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
And Glory be to God forever
Liturgy Gospel
Paulines 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 Ephesians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Ephesians 4:1-16
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;One Lord, one faith, one baptism,One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 2 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 Peter 2:2-8
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
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.
Acts 27:1-3
And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Coptic Synaxarium
Baramhat 9, 1741
Day 9 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
Departure of St. Konan
On this day the fighter St. Konan departed. This Saint was from a city called Antanyos in the country of Syria during the days when the Apostles were preaching the Name of the Lord Christ to Whome is the glory. His father's name was Nestor, his mother's name was Theodora, and they worshipped the stars. When this Saint grew and became a man, the virtues of purity, chastity, piety, and mercy were manifested in his life.
His parents wished to wed him but he refused. They forced him to get married, but he refused to have any relation with his wife and both remained virgins. Often he prayed saying: " O God lead me to Your true Knowledge." Michael, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and ordered him to go to one of the apostles. Konan went to him, learned from him all the Laws of the Christian Faith, was baptized and received the Divine Mysteries. He went on listening to the teachings of the Apostles and he increased in purity, chastity, ascetism, and praying. God granted him the gift of performing miracles and the authority over the devil, and he attracted his parents to the faith in the Lord Christ.
Once, one of the unbelievers went to one of the temples to offer a sacrifice to satan. St. Konan knew this man, and he cried out against satan, rebuked him and commanded him to confess before the people telling them whom he was. The devil confessed that he was satan and was not a god. All the people were present cried out saying: "One is the God of St. Konan," and they believed and were baptized.
When the Governor, who had been appointed by Claudius Caesar, heard about this Saint, he had him brought before him, and the saint confessed his faith in the Lord Christ. The Governor commanded him to be bound and beaten very severely. When the people of the city heard that, and because of their love to the Saint, they wanted to kill the Governor but he fled from them. They released the Saint from his fetters, washed the blood off him, and carried him to their town. He lived for many years then departed to the Lord. The believers made his house a church and laid his body in it, from which many signs and wonders were manifested.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of the Saints Abrianus, Amrata his wife, Eusebius, Armanius, and the Forty Martyrs
On this day also was the martyrdom of Sts. Abrianus, Amrata his wife, Eusebius, Armanius, and the Forty Martyrs after they had been tortured severely in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
May their prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Divine Liturgy
Divine Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 17:6
I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Divine Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 9:57-62
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
And Glory be to God forever.
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