Daily Readings:
Saints/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: The Nativity Fast
+ Bale Wold (Feast of Igziabher Wold)
Birth of Our Lord, God and Redeemer Jesus Christ (commoration)
St. Clement of Rome (martyr)
Week Three, Day Four
The Eighteenth Day
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father ….
Opening prayer
Lord Jesus Christ our Master, we have been baptized into your death; may we be cleaned of greed, selfishness, hate and envy, and clothed in the strength and gentleness of your grace and love. Amen. Our Father…O my Lady Mary…
Psalm 90: 1-17
90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 90:5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which grows up. 90:6 In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers. 90:7 For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath are we troubled. 90:8 You have set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. 90:9 For all our days are passed away in your wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 90:11 Who knows the power of your anger? even according to your fear, so is your wrath. 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. 90:13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning your servants. 90:14 O satisfy us early with your mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 90:15 Make us glad according to the days wherein you have afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. 90:16 Let your work appear to your servants, and your glory to their children. 90:17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 91: 1-16
91:1 He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 91:2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust: his truth shall be your shield and buckler. 91:5 Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 91:7 A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 91:8 Only with your eyes shall thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 91:9 Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation; 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling. 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all your ways. 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash your foot against a stone. 91:13 Thou shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall thou trample under feet. 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 92: 1-15
92:1 it is a good thing to give thanks to the lord, and to sing Praises to your name, O most high: 92:2 To declare your loving-kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night, 92:3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 92:4 For thou, Lord, have made me glad through your work: I will triumph in the works of your hands. 92:5 O Lord, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep. 92:6 A brutish man knows not; neither doth a fool understand this. 92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed forever: 92:8 But thou, Lord, art most high forevermore. 92:9 For, lo, your enemies, O Lord, for, lo, your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. 92:10 But my horn shall thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. 92:11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; 92:15 To show that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Reading
The Blessed Virgin Mariam
1st Reading
Wisdom 7: 15-18
7:15 God hath granted me to speak as I would, and to conceive as is meet for the things that are given me: because it is he that leads to wisdom, and directeth the wise. For in his hand are both we and our words; all wisdom also, and knowledge of workmanship. For he hath given me certain knowledge of the things that are, namely, to know how the world was made, and the operation of the elements: The beginning, ending, and midst of the times: the alterations of the turning of the sun, and the change of seasons: He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Galatians 5: 13-15
5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called to liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shall love your neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 92: 1-2
92:1 it is a good thing to give thanks to the lord, and to sing Praises to your name, o most high: 92:2 To declarethy loving-kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night, Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. Luke 15: 3-7
15:3 And he spoke this parable to them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say to you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. It is easier for heaven and to pass, than one ….
Concluding prayer
Lord God, source of all good things and creator of all good things, hear our morning prayer; inspire us with good intention and help us to fulfil them, now and forever. Amen. Our Father….O my Lady Mary…
Day 18
Evening prayer
In the name of the Father and of …
Opening prayer
Lord, our Almighty King and Father, we pray to you to let us know that the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and mutual up building; now and forever. Amen. Our Father….O my Lady Mary…
Psalm 93: 1-5
93:1 The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. 93:2 Your throne is established of old: you are from everlasting. 93:3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 93:4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 93:5 Your testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh your house, O Lord, forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 94: 1-23
94:1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show thyself. 94:2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. 94:3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? 94:4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 94:5 They break in pieces your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. 94:6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. 94:7 Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. 94:8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? 94:9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? 94:10 He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know? 94:11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. 94:12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of your law; 94:13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. 94:14 For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. 94:15 But judgment shall return to righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 94:17 Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. 94:18 When I said, My foot slips; your mercy, O Lord, held me up. 94:19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me your comforts delight my soul. 94:20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? 94:21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. 94:22 But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. 94:23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
Kidane Meheret (Covenant of Mercy)
1st Reading
Isaiah 12: 1-4
12:1 And in that day thou shall say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, your anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Galatians 2: 19-21
2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live to God. I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm. 95: 6-7
95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. Luke 18 1-8
18:1 And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one ….
Concluding prayer
King of heaven and earth, Lord God, who, of your tender love towards mankind, has send your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon himself our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; and live with him in heaven forever and ever. Amen. Our Father….O my Lady Mary…
The Synaxarium:
THE THIRD MONTH
HEDAR 29
(December 08)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day became a martyr Saint Peter, the seventeenth Archbishop of the city of Alexandria; and he was the last of the martyrs. The father of this holy man was the high priest of the city of Alexandria, and his name was Theodore; the name of his mother was Sophia. And they were fearers of God and they had no children at all. And on the fifth day of the month Hamle (July-Aug.), the day of the festival of Peter and Paul the apostles, the mother of the holy man saw many Christians with their children, and they wore festal apparel with decorations, and they were going to church; and she was exceedingly sorrowful. And she went into the church and stood up before the altar of the saint, and she besought our Lord Christ with many tears to give her a son. And that night Peter and Paul the apostles appeared unto her, and they said unto her, “Behold God hath accepted thy petition, and He will assuredly give thee a son, and thou shall call his name ‘Peter’”; and they commanded her to go to the Archbishop Theonas that the people might pray for her. And after certain days she brought forth this holy man, and she called his name “Peter”. When his days were seven years she gave him to the archbishop even as [Hannah gave] Samuel the prophet to Eli, and he became to him like a beloved son; and the archbishop made him a reader, and after that he made him a deacon, and after that he made him a priest. And he used to help the archbishop in all his divers good works and in his administration of the churches. When Abba Theonas was dying he commanded the bishops and priests to appoint Abba Peter archbishop in his place, and they appointed him Archbishop of the city of Alexandria; and when he was appointed all the people and all the churches rejoiced. And it came to pass in the days of Diocletian, the infidel emperor, that there lived in the city of Alexandria a certain judge who was of the same opinion as the emperor, and who worshipped idols with him, and he had two sons. And his wife was a Christian, but she was unable to have her sons baptized with Christian baptism in the city of Antioch, and she therefore took them and embarked on a ship in order to come to Alexandria. As they were journeying over the sea, a violent storm rose up against them, and she was afraid that her two sons would die without baptism. And she cut her breasts, and made the sign of the Cross with her blood, which she smeared over the foreheads of her sons, and she dipped them in the sea three times in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Then a great calm came, and they were saved from drowning and arrived in the city of Alexandria. And she brought her sons to the Archbishop Abba Peter so that he might baptize them with Christian baptism, together with the sons of the men of Alexandria. And when the archbishop wished to immerse her boys, the water congealed and became as hard as a stone; and he tried to immerse them three times, and each time the water became like a stone. And the archbishop marveled and asked her what had happened, and she related to him how a wind storm had risen up at sea, and how she had cut her breasts, and how she had signed the foreheads of her sons with the sign of the Cross with her blood, and how she had immersed them in the sea three times in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. When the archbishop heard this he marveled exceedingly and praised God, saying, “Thus says the Church; as one is baptism even so one is the Church.” And in the days of this father Archbishop Abba Peter one Arius, a heretic, rose up, and the saint rebuked him but he would not hearken to his words; and having rebuked him many times and Arius having refused to turn from his wicked opinion, Abba Peter anathematized him and excommunicated him. And when the Emperor Diocletian heard the report of this Saint Peter, and that he was teaching the multitudes everywhere not to worship the gods, he sent messengers to him to seize Saint Peter and to shut him up in prison. And when the men of the city knew this straightway they took their weapons of war with them and they came to the prison house to fight the messengers of the emperor. And when Saint Peter saw that there was going to be a great tumult on his account, he wished to yield up his soul to death for his people, and he wanted to be released from this world and to be with Christ. And he made all the people come to him, and he comforted them and commended them to be strong in the True Faith. When Arius knew that the blessed Peter was departing to God and leaving him under the ban of excommunication, he went to the great high priests, and told them to beseech the blessed Peter on his behalf, so that he might release him from the ban of excommunication; but when the chief priests entreated the blessed Peter on behalf of Arius, he added to the ban of excommunication which he had laid upon him. And he said unto them, “I have seen a vision this night, and behold our Lord Jesus Christ was standing with His rent raiment. And I said unto Him, My Lord, ‘Who hath rent Thy raiment?’ And He said unto me, ‘Arius hath rent My raiment; he separated Me from My Father. Beware of him.’” Then Saint Peter commanded Arkilas (Archelaus) and Alexander, and said unto them, “Ye will have to appoint an archbishop after me; beware of Arius, and have no fellowship with him in the work of the priesthood, and release him not from the ban of excommunication, for he is the enemy of Christ. And thou ‘Arkilas (Archelaus) shall be archbishop after me and before Alexander, and thou shalt meet Arius and shalt die speedily.” After this the blessed Peter took counsel with the messengers of the emperor (sic) in secret that they might bring him out from the inside of the prison house, and they dug opposite to it and took him out and finished the emperor’s command. And they did as he commanded them, and they took him and brought him outside the city, [to the place] where was the grave of the blessed Mark the evangelist. [The text of this passage is corrupt.] And Saint Peter prayed and committed his people to the care of God, and he prayed again, saying, “O my Lord Christ, let the shedding of my blood be the end of the worship of idols, and may they be brought to naught and perish throughout the world.” And a voice came from heaven, saying, “Amen! It shall be according as thou sayest”, and a certain virgin who was near that place heard these words. And Saint Peter said unto the soldiers of the emperor, “Finish what ye have been commanded to do”; and straightway they cut off his holy head with the sword and he received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of the heavens. And his body stood upright for a space of two hours. And the people made haste and went out from the city, for they were by the prison house and they did not know what had become of the saint until one told them what had happened. And they took the body of their shepherd and their chief and made it ready for burial, and they brought it to the city and took it into the church, and laid it upon his seat on which no one had ever once seen him sit, even as he told them. And when they asked him, saying, “Why dost thou not sit upon thy throne?” he answered and said unto them, “I see the power of God sitting upon it, and therefore I do not dare to sit upon it.” Then they finished making him ready for the grave, and they laid his body with the bodies of the chosen saints, the archbishops. And he sat upon the throne of Mark the evangelist fourteen years, and he was appointed archbishop in the tenth year of the reign of Diocletian. And many signs and mighty wonders took place through his body. Salutation to Peter, the preacher of the Faith, the counterpart of Paul.
And on this day also is commemorated the Birth of our Lord and God and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, of the holy two-fold Virgin Mary, our Lady. Salutation to Thy Birth, O Thou Who didst show to Peter Thy raiment, which Arius had rent.
And on this day also are commemorated the forty-seven thousand martyrs who suffered in the time of the Emperor Diocletian. Salutation to the righteous men who fought against Diocletian. [This paragraph is wanting in the Bodleian MS.]
And on this day also became a martyr the great Saint Clement, Archbishop of the city of Rome. This holy man was a royal kinsman, and was the son of Caustus, the captain of the army of the Emperor of Rome; his excellent and honorable parents taught him all the various kinds of learning and the philosophy of the Greeks. And when Peter the apostle preached in Rome the preaching of the Gospel, Caustus the father of Clement believed through this holy man that our Lord Jesus Christ was truly [God], and he gave all his goods to the poor and needy. And when his father went to the emperor he remained many days, and the brother of the holy man Caustus thought that he would marry his wife. When the mother of the holy man knew this, she took Clement and his younger brother and embarked on a ship, to go to Athens, and to have her sons taught philosophy and learning until their father returned from the emperor. And straightway a violent storm rose up against them, and the ship was smashed, and one after another clung to one of the timbers, and the waves of the sea washed this holy Clement to the city of Alexandria, where he remained a few days. And God called Peter the apostle and said unto him, “Get thee to the city of Alexandria so that thou mayest find the servants who are fit for mercy.” And when Peter the apostle came to the city of Alexandria, and preached the preaching of the Gospel therein, no man in the city of Alexandria believed except this holy man Clement. When, however, he heard the preaching of Peter the apostle he believed on our Lord Jesus Christ, and Peter baptized him with Christian baptism, and explained to him the Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the riches and glory of those who worship Him, and how signs and wonders are wrought [in His Name]. And from that day Clement followed Peter the apostle, and he became his disciple, and he wrote the “Contendings of the Apostles,” and what happened to them with infidel kings. Then he preached in many cities, and the apostles gave unto him the Books of the Canon to proclaim, and then he was appointed Archbishop of the city of Rome. And he preached therein, and converted very many people thereof to the knowledge of God. And the Emperor Trajan, the infidel, heard of him, and he sent his guards to seize him and bring him before him, and the emperor said unto him, “Worship the idols and deny Christ.” And when Clement would not hearken unto his command he sent him away to a certain city to be tortured, for he was afraid of the men of the city of his kinsfolk, and he did not want to torture him where he was lest the people should rise up against him. So he sent him away to the governor of that city and ordered him to torture him with many tortures. And that governor hung round the neck of the holy man Clement a heavy iron implement with four feet (anchor), which is placed in ships, and he cast him into the sea. And he delivered up his soul into the hand of God, and he received the crown of martyrdom like the apostles who preached. And it came to pass that when a full year had passed he was seen in the sea, and the body of Saint Clement appeared, and he was preaching in the depths of the sea just as if he were alive. And the people came and were blessed by him, and they wished to carry him off, and they brought a splendid stone coffer, and laid him in it, and they wished to take him up and bring him out of the sea, but they were unable to move him from his place. And they knew that he was unwilling to come out of the sea and they left him there, and departed. And each year, on the day of his festival, an opening appears in the box above his body, and the people come and are blessed by him. And many believing men who have seen this have described and written down accounts of some of his miracles, such as the following. One year certain men came to be blessed by him, and when they went forth from him they forgot a little child who was behind the coffer of Saint Clement. This happened by the Will of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that He might reveal their work to His saints and friends, and the grace, which they receive from Him. And when they had gathered together above the sea, they sought for the father [of the child] and found him not. And they thought that he was dead and that the beasts, which are in the sea, had devoured him, and they wept for him, and they celebrated his commemoration, and they consecrated the Offering and offered up incense according to their custom. And when the second year had arrived and the time had come for the sea to open itself again, certain men who came according to their custom, found the child alive and standing up by the side of the coffer of Clement. And they asked him, saying, “How didst thou exist and on what didst thou live?” And he said unto them, “Saint Clement gave me food to eat and drink, and God preserved me from the wild beasts of the sea.” And when they heard this they marveled exceedingly and they praised God Who is to be praised and glorified above all His saints and martyrs who have contended for His holy Name’s sake. Salutation to Clement the author of the “Contendings of the Apostles”.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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