Daily Readings:
Week Three, Day One
The Fifteenth Day
Saints/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: Fast of the Nativity
+ St. Thomas the Apostle
St. Azkir, Priest of Najran, Martyr
The Fifteenth day
Morning Prayer
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
O God, our refuge and strength, who are the author of all goodness; be ready, we beseech you, to hear our devout prayer and grant us that those things which we ask for faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Sprint, One God. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 75: 1-10
75:1 To thee, O God, do we give thanks, to thee do we give thanks: for that your name is near your wondrous works declare. 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. 75:4 I said to the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 75:7 But God is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another. 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 75:9 But I will declare forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 76: 1-12
76:1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 76:2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. 76:3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. 76:4 You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 76:5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 76:6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. 76:7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in your sight when once you are angry? 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, 76:9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain. 76:11 Vow, and pay to the Lord your God: let all that be round about him bring presents to him that ought to be feared. 76:12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 77: 1-20
77:1 I cried to God with my voice, even to God with my voice; and he gave ear to me. 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 77:4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 77:7 Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favourable no more? 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail forevermore? 77:9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 77:10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember your wonders of old. 77:12 I will meditate also of all your work, and talk of your doings. 77:13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 77:14 You are the God that doest wonders: you have declared your strength among the people. 77:15 You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 77:16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 77:17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: your arrows also went abroad. 77:18 The voice of your thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. 77:19 Your way is in the sea, and your path in the great waters, and your footsteps are not known. 77:20 Thou leddest your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Reading
1st Reading
Ecclesiastes 12: 1-4
12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of Musick shall be brought low; He who receives the Prophet by the name of the Prophet shall receive the Prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 10:20-21
10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest to them that asked not after me. 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 142: 1-2
142:1 I cried to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord did I make my supplication. 142:2 I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble. Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. St. Matthew 13: 14-15
13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Heaven and earth shall pass away….
Concluding Prayer
O Almighty God, let us praise you in our morning prayer with voice and mind and deed for your great gift, and since life itself is your gift, may all we have and are be yours; we make this our humble prayer; though our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Our Father…
Day 15
Evening Prayer
In the name of the Father ……
Opening Prayer
Almighty, ever-living God, who reign above the heavens, we humbly adore and praise you and ask you To sanctify our body, soul and spirit and guide our every thought, words and deeds according to the commandments of your holy law, so that now and forever your grace may free and save us. We ask this through the power of your holy name. Amen. Our Father who art….
Psalm 78: 1-72
78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 78:5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 78:6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God. 78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 78:10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 78:11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them. 78:12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 78:13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap. 78:14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. 78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. 78:19 Yea, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? 78:21 Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; 78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 78:23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 78:24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 78:25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. 78:26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 78:28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 78:29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 78:30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, 78:31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. 78:32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 78:33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. 78:34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. 78:36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues. 78:37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 78:39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and cometh not again. 78:40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 78:41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 78:42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. 78:43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan. 78:44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. 78:46 He gave also their increase to the caterpiller, and their labour to the locust. 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. 78:48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. 78:50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; 78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: 78:52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 78:53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 78:54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. 78:55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 78:56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: 78:57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. 78:58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 78:59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: 78:60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; 78:61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. 78:62 He gave his people over also to the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. 78:63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. 78:64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. 78:65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. 78:66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. 78:67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: 78:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever. 78:70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 78:71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Isaiah 26: 11-120
26:11 Lord, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of your enemies shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also have wrought all our works in us. He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Colossians 4: 2-6
4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 88: 1-2
88:1 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 88:2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline your ear to my cry; Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. St. Matthew 4: 23-25
4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. Heaven and earth shall pass away….
Concluding prayer
Lord, our Almighty God and King of all nations who are our beginning and end and the source of all that we do and say. Prompt our actions with your grace, and complete them with your all-powerful help. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Holy Son, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. Our Father who art……..
The Synaxarium:
THE THIRD MONTH
HEDAR 26
(December 05)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day Saint Pelarianus (or Balaryanos, i.e. Valerianus) and his sister Tatbusya became martyrs. This holy man Pelarianus was a native of Rome, and his parents were infidels. They married him to a maiden, who was the daughter of one of the rich nobles of Rome, and the name of that maiden was Kilkeya, and she was a Christian and worshipped the Lord Christ. And when he went to her in the marriage-chamber he loved her dearly, and as soon as she saw that he loved her dearly she began to reveal to him the Faith of Christ, and he believe through her, and was baptized with Christian baptism. And when he shone brightly and became strong in the Divine Grace he taught his sister Tatbusya, and she was baptized with Christian baptism. And Saint Pelarianus fought a great spiritual fight, and at length the angels would come and visit him always, and they would reveal unto him everything, which he wanted [to know], and they would teach him concerning hidden things before they came to pass. When Diocletian the infidel reigned he inflicted persecution upon the Christians, and tortured them, and he slew many of them and they became martyrs. Now this holy man and his sister used to go round and take up the bodies of the martyrs and prepare them for burial, and bury them. And a certain evil man having learned concerning them went and accused them to Masius, the emperor’s friend, and the emperor commanded his soldiers to bring them to him. When they arrived they stood up and he questioned them concerning their Faith, and they confessed that they were Christians and did not deny it. And he promised them very many things if they would deny our Lord Jesus Christ, and worship idols, but they would not listen to his commands, and they did not want his promised gifts. And the emperor loved them and he said unto them, “If ye will not hearken unto me, and will not sacrifice to my gods, I will torture you with very many kinds of torture”; and they were not afraid of his tortures. When the governor saw their endurance and fortitude, he delivered them over to the headsman to cut off their heads. And when they had cut off their heads, those who were standing there saw shining angels meeting their souls with great joy. When the emperor saw this he believed in our Lord Christ. And the emperor shut the governor up in prison for three days, and on the fourth day he had him brought out from the prison house and ordered the headsman to cut off his head; and [he did so] and the saint received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens with Pelarianus, and his wife Kilkeya, and his sister Tatbusya. Salutation to Pelarianus who buried the bodies of the martyrs, and to his wife Kilkeya and his sister Tatbusya.
And on this day also is commemorated Gregory, Bishop of the island of Nusis (Nyssa). Salutation to Gregory, Bishop of the city (sic) of Nusis (Nyssa).
And on this day also the men of Nagran and Saint Khirut their father were martyred in the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor Justinus, when Abba John was Archbishop of Jerusalem, and Abba Timothy was Archbishop of Alexandria, and Abba Timothy was Archbishop of Constantinople, and Euphrasius was Archbishop of Antioch, and Caleb the righteous was King of Ethiopia. And in those days there reigned in Saba a Jew whose name was Phinehas, and he was an infidel and a man of iniquity, and one who shed the blood of men. In ancient times the country of Saba was under the rule of the Kings of Ethiopia, and the Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus having driven out the Jews subsequently inherited it. And by the side of the country of Saba was a very great city wherein lived very many believers and men who confessed Jesus Christ. And there came that Jewish king to destroy the holy and Christ-loving city, and to plunder the houses of the Christians. When he came to the city he saw the sign of the Cross all round on the walls thereof, and upon the gates and ramparts thereof were standing large numbers of mighty men of war, and the heart of the Jewish king was filled with rage. And he wished to go into the city but was unable to find any means of so doing, because God had strengthened it, but he slew the slaves who were working the ground, and whom he found outside the city, and he carried off their children into captivity, and gave them over to forced labors. And that Jew who was as foul as Diablos, the Adversary, sent a message to the men [in the city] saying, “I swear unto you by the Name of the Lord God, and by the Torah, and by the prophets, that I do not wish to do you any harm, and I do not wish to ill-treat any man of this city, and I do not wish to shed one drop of blood. But I want to see the buildings of the city, and the broad spaces thereof, and the marketplaces”; and the people of the city believed his word. Then Khirut, and son of Ka’ab, said, “Do not believe the word of this infidel Jew, for he is a man of iniquity, and do not open the gates”; and the people refused to listen to him and they opened the gates. As soon as the Jew had entered the city he commanded [his men] first of all to plunder the goods of the men of the city, and to light a fire so large that its flame reached unto heaven. Then he commanded them to bring to him Abba Paul, Bishop of the city, and when they told him that he was dead, he made them bring the bishop’s bones out of the grave and had them burned in the fire. Then he assembled the priests, and the deacons, and the monks, and the widows and those who were being taught, who passed day and night in reading the Holy Scriptures. [All] these he cast into the fire, and they were in number four hundred and twenty-six souls. Now he wanted to frighten the Christians by this act. Then he commanded his men to put a collar round the neck of Saint Khirut, and to load his hands and feet with fetters; and he fettered also all the nobles and chief men of the city. And he commanded a crier to go through all the city, crying, “Whosoever will not deny Christ shall die an evil death.” When the holy Christians heard this they cried out, saying, “Far be it from us! We will not do this thing. We will not deny Christ our God; in Whom we have believed, and in Whose Name we have been baptized.” When that filthy Jew heard this he killed men and women, young men and maidens, and babes and old men, in all four thousand four hundred and fifty-two souls. And as for the remaining women he commanded his soldiers to cut off their heads with the sword; now they were in number two hundred and twenty-seven souls. And then he seized Saint Demaha, the daughter of Rabe’a, the wife of Saint Khirut. Now this woman was very beautiful, as were her two daughters, and the sun had never touched them except when they sat in the verandah of their house. And they stood before the [Jew] king, and he was unable to persuade them by means of his crafty promises to deny their Faith; and when they refused he commanded his soldiers to strip off their veils, and the women of the city wept for them. And one of her two daughters, the younger, a maiden of twelve winters, spat in the face of the king; and a soldier who saw her drew his sword and cut off her head and the head of her sister. Then the filthy Jew commanded his soldiers to make Saint Demaha to drink the blood of her daughters, and as she tasted it she said, “I thank Thee, O my Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, that Thou hast made Thine handmaiden taste the blood of the Offering of her daughters.” And the king commanded them to cut off her head with the sword, and she finished her martyrdom there. Then the king commanded them to bring to him Saint Khirut, and those who were with him in the prison house; and they were in number three hundred and forty men. And the Jew tried to force Saint Khirut to abandon his Faith, but the saint answered and said, “Eight and seventy years have I served my Lord Jesus Christ, and I have come to the fourth generation. And this day I shall rejoice if I become a martyr and if I die for His holy Name. I did tell the people not to put any confidence in thine oath, and that thou wast a liar, but they would not believe my words. Moreover, it is the good pleasure of Christ that hath brought me into this fight.” When the Jew king heard this he was furiously angry, and he commanded his soldiers to take him into the valley and to cut off his head there. When Saint Khirut heard this he prayed to God to strengthen the empire of Rome and the kingdom of Ethiopia so that they might destroy the kingdom of the filthy Jew. And he blessed the people and embraced them, and then the soldiers cut off the head of the saints. And there was there a certain woman, who was a Christian, and she had a child of five winters, and she took some of the blood of the saints and smeared herself and her son therewith. And when the soldiers saw this they carried them bound to the king, and he threw the woman into the fire, but the Jew took the boy and he said unto him, “Dost thou love me or Him that is called Christ?” And the boy said, “I love Christ, and I am the slave of Him only; let me go that I may depart to my mother.” And when the Jew held him fast the child bit his foot, and the king snatched him up and cast him into the fire and he became a martyr. And they also brought a woman who was carrying a child ten months old, and his mother said unto him, “I cannot give thee to this fire”; and the child said unto her, “O my mother, let us depart quickly into everlasting life; we shall only see this fire to-day,” and they cast the woman into the fire with her son. And [the king] saw his soldiers fighting against the Christians and destroying them, some by means of fire, and others with the edge of the sword until at length all companions of the Jews were exhausted. Then there appeared in the heavens a fire, which filled the whole sky for forty days and forty nights. And when the Jew king had entered into his city he sent messengers unto the [neighboring] kings boasting of his valor. When Justinus, Emperor of Rome, heard this, he sent a letter to Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria, calling upon him to send instructions to Caleb, King of Ethiopia, to make war on that Jew, and to avenge the blood of the people of Nagran. When Caleb, the King of Ethiopia, heard this, he departed into the country of the Jew king with many soldiers, and many ships, having received the blessing of Abba Pantaleon of the Cell. Having arrived in the country he destroyed all the city of the King of Saba, and he left nothing therein, neither man nor beast. And he rebuilt the city of Nagran, and established the commemoration of the martyrs thereof. And he sent glad tidings to Justinus, Emperor of Rome, and to Timothy, the Archbishop, and there was great joy, and they gave thanks unto Christ. Salutation to the bright Stars of Nagran who have illumined all the world.
And on this day also died Saint Iyasus Mo’a, and on it Gelyos, and Mayen, Mekwas, and Maryales are commemorated. Salutation to Iyasus Mo’a, who for forty years never slept on his side.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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