From antiochan.org, dynamispublications.org, biblegateway.com and rongolini.com:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Feast of the Nativity (3rd Day), St. Stephen, Arch-Deacon and Proto-Martyr
Scriptural Readings:
Isaiah 11:1-10 (12/27-1/9) Fourth Reading at the Vigil of the Nativity of Christ our God
A New Beginning: Isaiah 11:1-10 SAAS, especially vs. 10: “It shall come to pass in that day that there shall be a Root of Jesse who shall arise to rule the nations. The Gentiles shall hope in Him, and His resting place shall be honorable.” Saint Cyril of Alexandria calls attention to the significance of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ: “...since, through the mercy of God it was necessary for us to be made worthy of the Spirit again by being restored to our earlier condition, then the Only-Begotten Word of God was made man. He was free from sin so that in His unique triumph of sinlessness the nature of mankind, now crowned once more, might be enriched with the Holy Spirit, and thus by sanctification it was refashioned for God....For He was constituted the first new-beginning of the race since, as God, He anointed all those who believe in Him.”
A new beginning has been released into humanity so that we might be enriched with the Holy Spirit and refashioned for God. This word is a news bulletin! Mankind has access to God! It is now possible to be restored to our earlier pristine condition before sin and death wreaked universal havoc in creation, corrupted our hearts and souls, and made human life wretched. To shepherds tending their flocks near Bethlehem, Angels announced the birth of God as man. This Divine bulletin, though unimaginable, has worldwide importance. Further statements concerning the significance of this great reversal in our human condition were earlier released in Galilee and other regions of Palestine. Evidence of the operation of this refashioning continues to be reported worldwide, via communiques from all continents and nations. Have you heard?
God released advanced information through the Prophet Isaiah about this fantastic new beginning including it three major effects: 1) the Virgin-born, Only-Begotten Word of God would not function on the basis of limited knowledge, but with Divine perception and precision; 2) He would advance the cause of the lowly on a worldwide basis, punishing the earthly-minded, and destroying ‘the ungodly one’ by righteousness and truth, and 3) the impact of His rule internationally would have a transforming effect on the predatory, poisonous, and violent elements of society so that people will turn into gentle, caring, innocent persons.
The Holy Spirit rested upon the man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was filled with “...the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness,” and “the Spirit of the fear of the God...” (vss. 2,3). With the Spirit accompanying the Lord Jesus as His equal, Christ our God is now making it possible for the Spirit to come into other men, that “...after Christ...a Comforter should not be lacking unto us,” as Saint Gregory the Theologian puts it. Thus as Christ did not “...not judge by reputation nor convict by common talk,” but with Godly acuity, so also, through the Spirit, others are being enabled to see and speak with an insight and accuracy that defies what we expect from ‘normal’ human perception.
As you know from the Gospels, the Lord aided the “...cause of the humble...” (vs. 4) by healing, teaching truth, and loving sinners. Simultaneously, He punished the earthly-minded and by “...the breath of His lips” is slaying ‘the ungodly’ one (vs. 4). He is continuing this work through His Church, that many may share in his transformation until He completes at the end.
Using the imagery of wild and domestic animals, Isaiah revealed the essence of the Lord’s restoration of human personality to meekness, tenderness, simplicity, and humility (vss. 6-9). Theodoret of Cyrus notes: “we see the accomplishment of the prophecy in the churches: emperors...soldiers, artisans, servants, and beggars partake together at the Holy Table.”
Listen, O mountains and hills and the regions about Judah: for Christ cometh to save man whom He did create; for He is the Lover of mankind.
Acts 6:8-15, 7:1-5, 47-60
Acts 6:8-15; Acts 7:1-5; Acts 7:47-60 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Acts 6:8-15
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8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
King James Version (KJV)
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Acts 7:1-5
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Acts 7
1Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
3And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
5And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
King James Version (KJV)
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Acts 7:47-60
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47But Solomon built him an house.
48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50Hath not my hand made all these things?
51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Matthew 21:33-42
Matthew 21:33-42 (King James Version)
33Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
The Synaxarion:
December 27
Third Day of the Feast of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ
Memory of the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen (+37)
Our venerable Father Theodore the Scarred, the Confessor (775-844)
One of the seven deacons chosen to aid the Apostles in the material work of the nascent Christian community, Saint Stephen was stoned to death, as it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles around the year 37. He committed his soul in pardoning his executioners. Buried by some pious men, his holy body was rediscovered in 415 at Kaphargamala, following an apparition made to Lucian the priest, and transferred to Jerusalem into the church built by Empress Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius the Younger. Destroyed by the Persians in 614, the Church of the Protomartyr Stephen was rebuilt in 1898 by the Dominicans. His name signifies, in Greek, a crown: the Troparion makes an allusion to this etymological sense of his name.
As for Saint Theodore the Scarred (775-844), he was the brother of Saint Theophanes, whose feast is on October 11, where his life is given.
Fifth Class Feast.
Antiphons and Isodikon of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Troparia: of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, of Saint Stephen, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ according to the Flesh. Epistle and Gospel of Saint Stephen. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of Saint Stephen.
In occurrence with a Saturday, the same order is followed, but the Epistle is of Saint Stephen and the Gospel is from the Saturday after the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
In occurrence with a Sunday: Typika and Beatitudes. Isodikon of the Sunday. Troparia: of the Resurrection, of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Stephen, and of the Church Patron. Kondakion of the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Epistle of Saint Stephen. Gospel of the Sunday after the Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Ordinary Hirmos. Kinonikon of the Sunday.
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