Week Two, Day Six
The Thirteenth Day
Daily Readings:
Saints/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: + St. Tekle Haimanot
24 Priests of Heaven
The Thirteenth day
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
O God our merciful Lord, we humbly beseech you to grant us, your servants, pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ your Holy Son. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 68: 1-35
68:1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 68:3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 68:4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rides upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 68:6 God sets the solitary in families: he brings out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 68:7 O God, when thou wentest forth before your people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: 68:8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 68:9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm your inheritance, when it was weary. 68:10 Your congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, have prepared of your goodness for the poor. 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. 68:12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. 68:13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. 68:14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. 68:15 The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. 68:16 Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desires to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. 68:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 68:18 You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive: you have received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. 68:20 He that is our God is the God of salvation; and to GOD the Lord belong the issues from death. 68:21 But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his trespasses. 68:22 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea: 68:23 That your foot may be dipped in the blood of your enemies, and the tongue of your dogs in the same. 68:24 They have seen your goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. 68:25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. 68:26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. 68:27 There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. 68:28 Your God hath commanded your strength: strengthen, O God, that which you have wrought for us. 68:29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents to thee. 68:30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war. 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God. 68:32 Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises to the Lord; Selah: 68:33 To him that rides upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. 68:34 Ascribe ye strength to God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 68:35 O God, you are terrible out of your holy places: the God of Israel is he that gives strength and power to his people. Blessed be God. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Deuteronomy 7: 6,8-9
7:6 For you are an holy people to the Lord your God: the Lord your God hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face. He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet
2nd Reading
1st Thessalonians 5: 9-10
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the apostle…
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 61: 1-2
61:1 Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry to thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St John 13: 34-35
13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life…
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Day 13
Evening Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
Lord, our heavenly Father, we ask that you may grant us your grace to protect us from the temptations of this world, the flesh, and the devil. And with pure hearts and minds to follow your word and to you the only God; we make this our evening prayer in your Holy name. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 69: 1-36
69:1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in to my soul. 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 69:4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. 69:5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. 69:6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 69:7 Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. 69:8 I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to my mother's children. 69:9 For the zeal of your house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. 69:10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. 69:11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. 69:12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards. 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation. 69:14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 69:15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 69:16 Hear me, O Lord; for your loving-kindness is good: turn to me according to the multitude of your tender mercies. 69:17 And hide not your face from your servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. 69:18 Draw nigh to my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 69:19 You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. 69:24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your wrathful anger take hold of them. 69:25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. 69:26 For they persecute him whom you have smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom you have wounded. 69:27 Add iniquity to their iniquity: and let them not come into your righteousness. 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. 69:29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let your salvation, O God, set me up on high. 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 69:31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. 69:32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. 69:33 For the Lord hears the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. 69:34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein. 69:35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. 69:36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Psalm 70: 1-5
70:1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O lord. 70:2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. 70:3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. 70:4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love your salvation say continually, Let God be agnified. 70:5 But I am poor and needy: make haste to me, O God: you are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Reading
1st Reading
Isaiah 49: 8-10
49:8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet...
2nd Reading
Romans 11: 34-36
11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the apostle…
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 81: 1-2
81:1 Sing aloud to God our strength: make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob. 81:2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St Mark 14: 32-41
14:32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he takes with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith to them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful to death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh, and finds them sleeping, and saith to Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spoke the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. And he cometh the third time, and saith to them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. He that hath ears to hear let him hear…
Concluding Prayer
Lord God, source of the origin our lives and our freedom. Make our lives here in this world rich with your love so that we may proclaim your glory, and praise you without ceasing in heaven. WE make this our evening prayer, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Our Father…
The Synaxarium:
THE THIRD MONTH
HEDAR 24
(December 03)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day is commemorated the festival of the Four and Twenty Priests of heaven, who are round about the throne of God, who are priests indeed, and who are beings of the spirit and have no bodies. They are exalted above all the saints and the spiritual hosts. They are saints with God and they make intercession on behalf of the race of men, and they bring unto Him the prayers of the saints like incense in the censers, which they have, in their hands. And alms and oblations cannot ascend to God except through them even as Saint John the evangelist says in the Vision of the Apocalypse, “I saw the place of Four and Twenty elders round about Him, and they were sitting on four and twenty thrones; and on their heads were four and twenty crowns, and in their hands were four and twenty censers containing sweet-smelling incense, which is the prayers of the saints who dwell upon earth, and which they make to rise up before God, the Sustainer of the Universe.” And he also says, “And I heard Four Beasts praising and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord [God] of Hosts, the heavens and the earth are filled full of the holiness of Thy glory. And straightway the four and twenty priests of heaven fell down with their faces to the ground, and they took off their crowns, and they said unto Him, Glory, and honor, and thanks are fitting for Thee. And when a command went forth from God they fell down again with their faces to the ground, saying, Glory, and power, and judgment, and righteousness belong to our God” (Rev. iv and v). And because the doctors of the Church have found statements about these Four and Twenty Priests of heaven in the Holy Scriptures, and have seen stories told of them by the Apostles and in their Canon, saying that they are nigh unto God, they have ordered and ruled, saying, “The name of him that celebrates their commemoration shall be revealed upon earth. And they shall entreat God on his behalf to forgive him all his sins.” Therefore the doctors of the Church tell the people to honor the festival of the commemoration of the Four and Twenty Priests of heaven. Salutation to you, O priests of the Law.
And on this day Azkir, the priest of Nagran, and eight and thirty men who were with him became martyrs in the days of the kingdom of Sarabhel, the King of Hamir. And he commanded his soldiers to bring ‘Azkir to him, and they brought him into the prison house and shut the door on him, and he commanded the keepers of the prison that no man was to be taken to him. And when Saint ‘Azkir had prayed, the doors of the prison house were opened, and fifty men came in, and he made a cistern of water there, and he baptized them therein in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. When Sarabhel the king heard this he commanded his soldiers to bring ‘Azkir out of the prison house and to take him to another place; and the holy man met a man whose name was Cyriacus, who said unto him, “Good news for thee, O ‘Azkir; they are taking thee to martyrdom.” When the king’s guards heard this they bound Cyriacus with ‘Azkir in fetters. And on the road they met two men, and they said unto him, “Baptize us for Christ’s sake”; and ‘Azkir prayed to God, and water sprang up in the desert, and he baptized the two men and Cyriacus. When they reached the desert the guards and their beasts lacked water, and they besought Saint ‘Azkir to entreat God on their behalf because they were short of water. And ‘Azkir prayed to God and straightway a cloud came and poured down rain into the waterholes to the depth of the hand, and seven hundred men and their beasts drank of that water and were satisfied. And they brought ‘Azkir to the King of Hamir, and he said unto him, “What is this new doctrine which thou hast brought into my country?” And Saint ‘Azkir said unto him, “It is not a new doctrine, but one which the prophets have preached in the Book of the Law, and it hath been heard that the King of the Jews was crucified in the Christian Faith.” And one of the Rabbanat rose up and said unto the king, “O my lord, command [thy soldiers] to take him into the city, and let them hang him upon a tree, and burn him alive”; and the king commanded according to his words. And when they had brought ‘Azkir to the city of Nagran they hung him upon a tree and lighted a fire [under him]. And when Saint ‘Azkir had prayed, his fetters were loosed and he went forth alive from the fire. And the Jews said also, “Come, let us stone him”; and the greater number of the Jews killed him by stoning, and the rest took swords and cut off his head. Thus Saint ‘Azkir finished his martyrdom and departed to everlasting life. Salutation to ‘Azkir.
And on this day also are commemorated Claudius, and Gayyos, and Artyo, and Dioscurus the martyr, who died on this day.
And on this day also died Abba Yosef (Joseph) of the city of Sana. The parents of this holy man were rich in faith, and they had no son except Yosef (Joseph); and they brought him up very carefully and piously, and they taught him the Books of the Church. Now his form and appearance resembled those of Joseph, the son of Jacob. When he had grown up there entered into his heart the remembrance of death and the transitoriness of the world, and he went into a monastery and became a monk, and a fighter in the spirit; he devoted himself to fasting and to prayer, and he shut himself in his cell, and never went out except on the day of the Sabbath, at the time of the Offering. And the report of him was noised abroad, and the men of Adyam came to him to receive his blessing. And his father and his mother had no news of him, and they continued to make supplication to God that He would enable them to find him; and when they heard the report of him they went to him so that he might pray for the discovery of their son. When they came to him he knew them, but they did not know him, and after the men had removed themselves he made himself known unto them, and commanded them to tell no man; and he comforted them and sent them away in peace. And God bestowed upon him the power to work signs and wonders, and at length Satan was envious of him. And he went to the governor of the city and told him that this holy man had much money, and the governor sent soldiers who bound the holy man in fetters and brought him to the prison house. On the following day when they looked for him they found the fetters thrown about on the ground; and the governor was terrified and bowed down at his feet and did reverence to him and sent him into his own house. After much strenuous fighting he died in peace, and signs and wonders, which were innumerable, appeared at his grave.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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