Daily Readings:
Week One, Day Three
The Third Day
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commmemmorated/celebrated: the Nativity Fast
+ St Petros we Paulos; St. Gebre Menfes Kidus
The Third Day
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
Lord our heavenly Father, grant us your help as we pray, and protect us day and night, so through your Fatherly support we may be able to pursue what makes for peace and mutual up building in righteousness, now and forever. Amen. Our Father...
Psalm 15: 1 – end
15:1 O Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? who shall dwell in your holy hill? 15:2 He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. 15:3 He that backbites not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour. 15:4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honours them that fear the Lord. He that swears to his own hurt, and changeth not. 15:5 He that puts not out his money to usury, nor takes reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Psalm 16: 1 – end
16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. 16:2 O my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord: my goodness extends not to thee; 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. 16:5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 16:6 The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 16:7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer your Holy One to see corruption. 16:11 Thou wilt show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Psalm 17: 1 – end
17:1 Hear the right, O Lord, attend to my cry, give ear to my prayer, that goes not out of feigned lips. 17:2 Let my sentence come forth from your presence; let your eyes behold the things that are equal. 17:3 You have proved mine heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 17:5 Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not. 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline your ear to me, and hear my speech. 17:7 Show your marvellous loving-kindness , O thou that savest by your right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings, 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. 17:10 They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; 17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 17:13 Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is your sword: 17:14 From men which are your hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with your hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 17:15 As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Proverbs 1: 2 – 5
1:2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain to wise counsels: He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet shall receive the prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 7: 21 – 25
7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle, shall receive the Apostle reward.
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 47: 1 – 2
47:1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout to God with the voice of triumph. 47:2 For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. Halleluiah! Stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. Matthew 7: 7 – 12
7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Heaven and earth shall pass away….
Concluding Prayer:
Lord Jesus, who did not demand very much of those who came to you for help. But the one thing you did ask was faith. Without faith you did not seem to be able to do very much. We humbly ask you to grant us your grace, to stand firm in faith in you, in your Father and in the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Our Father… etc
Day 3
Evening Prayer
In the name of the Father…
Opening Prayer
Lord our heavenly Father, grant us your help as we pray, and protect us day and night, so through your Fatherly support we may be able to pursue what makes for peace and mutual up building in righteousness, now and forever. Amen.
Our Father...
Psalm 18: 1 – 50
18:1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 18:2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 18:3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 18:4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 18:6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 18:7 then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. 18:8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 18:9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 18:10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 18:12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. 18:13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 18:14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightning, and discomfited them. 18:15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 18:16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18:18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. 18:19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 18:20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 18:21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 18:22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. 18:23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. 18:24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 18:25 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; 18:26 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward. 18:27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. 18:29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. 18:31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? 18:32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and makes my way perfect. 18:33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places. 18:34 He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 18:35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand hath holden me up, and your gentleness hath made me great. 18:36 You have enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. 18:37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 18:38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. 18:39 For you have girded me with strength to the battle: you have subdued under me those that rose up against me. 18:40 You have also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. 18:41 They cried, but there was none to save them: even to the Lord, but he answered them not. 18:42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. 18:43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; and you have made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. 18:44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves to me. 18:45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places. 18:46 The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 18:47 It is God that avenges me, and subdues the people under me. 18:48 He delivers me from mine enemies: yea, you lift me up above those that rise up against me: you have delivered me from the violent man. 18:49 Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises to your name. 18:50 Great deliverance gives he to his king; and shows mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed forevermore. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Daniel 4: 1 – 3
4:1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to shows signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell the earth…He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet shall receive the prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 14: 8 – 12
14:8 For whether we live, we live to the Lord; and whether we die, we die to the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost you judge your brother? or why dost you set at nought your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle, shall receive the Apostle reward.
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 147: 1 – 2
147:1 Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. 147:2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathers together the outcasts of Israel. 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 11: 1 – 13
11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say to you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one title of the law to fall.
Concluding prayer
God of power and mercy, enlighten us with the grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit that our entire lives may be filled with faith, justice and all spiritual acts. Then we may be able to proclaim humbly your mercy in our evening prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Holy Son. Amen.
Our Father… O my Lady Mary, I salute you… Priest Benediction.
The Synaxarium:
THE FOURTH MONTH
TAHISAS 05
(December 14)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day died Nahum the prophet. This holy and righteous man was of the tribe of Simeon, and he was in prophecy the seventeenth from Moses the prophet. This righteous prophet prophesied in the days of Amos, the son of Yodae and he was also named Iyoas in the days of Uzza his son. And he rebuked the children of Israel because of their backsliding and because of their worship of idols, and he revealed in his prophecy that although God the Most High is merciful and compassionate, and abundant in mercy, yet will He take vengeance upon His adversaries, and upon those who are His enemies and heap up judgment for them. And he prophesied concerning the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and concerning the apostles who should preach it, and he called them “heralds of good things” and “preachers of peace.” And he prophesied concerning Nineveh and how waters and fire would destroy it and lay it waste. And it came to pass even as he prophesied, for God made a great earthquake to take place in it, and a fire broke out in it and burnt up the half of it, and those who had turned from the path of righteousness and worked iniquity died. Now upon those who continued steadfast in their repentance before God no evil whatsoever came. And having finished his prophecy and pleased God by his work he died in peace. Salutation to him that preached the coming of the God Whose path from Sina (Sinai) was in the earthquake.
And on this day also Saint Isidore became a martyr. Salutation to Isidore the blessed martyr.
And on this day also the blessed Eugenia became a martyr. This holy woman came from Rome, and her father’s name was Philip. there was an emperor in the city of Rome who was an infidel and worshipped idols, and whose name was Mamdeyanos, and her father was a worshipper of idols. This holy woman was born in the city of Alexandria and her mother was a Christian, and taught her the Christian Faith, and when she was grown up [her father] betrothed her to a great nobleman. When her father told her this she said unto him, “Permit me first of all to go forth into the desert of Alexandria, and let me open my eyes, and rejoice in the sight of the monasteries.” When her father heard this he assigned two eunuchs to her, and permitted her to do what she wished. And she went out into the desert and traveled about to the monasteries of the monks, and she came to a church where there was a holy and righteous bishop whose name was Theodore. And when she had come in to him she told him everything, which was in her heart, and she and her eunuchs were baptized. And she became a monk there and the abbot called her name “Eugenius,” not knowing that she was a woman. When she did not return to her father he searched for her everywhere, and when he did not find her he made an image in her likeness, and he continued to worship it evening and morning. After she had dwelt there one year, the abbot of that religious house died, and the monks chose Eugenius, and appointed her in his place. And God gave her the gift of healing, and she could cast out devils, and open the eyes of the blind; and a certain woman who had a devil in her came to her, and Saint Eugenius healed her. After this Satan cast an evil lust into the heart of a certain woman so that she spoke to Saint Eugenius, and asked him to abandon his ascetic life and marry her. And Saint Eugenius hearkened unto her voice and said unto her, “Get thee from me, O my mother, for Satan hath afflicted thee.” And having been put to shame the woman departed to the governor of Alexandria, and she said unto him, “When I visited a certain religious house a young man came unto me by night, a monk, and he wished to put me to shame, and when I cried out to my slaves and to my handmaidens, he departed from me.” When the governor, the father of Eugenia, heard this he commanded the soldiers to bring the monks before him bound in fetters. and when they arrived he handed them over to another governor to punish in his house, and some of them died. And when Saint Eugenius saw the miserable condition of the monks she said unto the governor, her father, “O my lord, swear unto me that if I tell thee the mystery which concerns me that thou wilt not hold me back from my desire.” And when he had sworn to her she took him into a secret place and showed him her mystery, and told him her desire and that she was his daughter Eugenia. When the governor heard this he said unto her, “Art thou indeed Eugenia my daughter? I will believe in thy God.” And straightway he commanded them to set free the monks and to bury those who were dead. And her father and her mother and all the men of her house were baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, One God, and became Christians. When the men of Alexandria saw the Faith of Philip, they enthroned him archbishop on the throne of Mark, and he sat for many years, and taught the Faith of Christ. And another governor, an evil man (or heretic), sent his soldiers to kill Philip secretly whilst he was praying in church; and they killed him and he became a martyr. And when the Archbishop of Rome heard the story of Saint Eugenia, he received her into his house and made her abbess of the religious house which he had built, and which contained three thousand women, and three hundred nuns who were virgins; and the two eunuchs who were with her he made bishops of the cities. And the governor seized Saint Eugenia and tortured her with divers kinds of tortures, and at length she delivered up her soul and became a martyr, for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be praise! Salutation to Theodore and to Eugenia.
And on this day also Saint Victor of the city of Shaw, in the district of Asyut, became a martyr. The name of the father of this holy man was Marmar, and the name of his mother was Martha, and they were righteous folk and they served God without fear. Now they had no son, and they prayed for one continually, and gave large alms to the poor and needy. And God heard their petition, and that year the blessed woman conceived this blessed Victor, and she brought him forth on the ninth day of Genbot (May-June); and she brought him up most carefully and piously in the fear of God. When he was twenty years old his father took him to the emperor, and the emperor made him a judge in his father’s stead; now his father was far advanced in years. Then after a few days there arrived the Edict of the Emperor Diocletian to the governor of Ansna (Asna or Esneh), ordering him to kill the Christians who would not worship the gods; and the governor himself came to the city of Shaw, seeking for Christians. And certain men informed against Saint Victor, and told the governor that he worshipped Christ . . . in sincerity, and the governor forthwith ordered his soldiers to bring him to him; and they did so and set him before him. And the governor tried to force Saint Victor to sacrifice to the gods, and when he refused to do so, he commanded his soldiers to bind him in fetters in the prison house. And as he was praying there the angel of the Lord, Saint Michael, came down to him and carried him up into heaven; and when the keeper of the prison house missed him he was exceedingly disturbed. And after three days he found him, and took him to the governor who took him to the Emperor Diocletian, he himself being pitiful and tender-hearted concerning him, so that he might turn him from the worship of God. And having become weary and being unable to make Saint Victor consent, he sent him and deposited him with the governor Eutychianus, saying, “I have sent him to thee. If he offers sacrifice to the gods [good and well], and if he will not, hesitate not to kill him.” Then the soldiers tied his hands and his feet, and put an iron gag in his mouth, and he commanded them to put him in the hold of a ship; and they took him away. Whilst he was there the angel of the Lord came down and released him from his fetters. Then they brought him before the governor, and the saint kept silent before the governor as before the wicked emperor; and straightway the governor was wroth and condemned him to be tortured severely, and chained him in the prison house. Whilst he was there our Redeemer appeared in a chariot of light, and made a covenant with him. And from that day the saint performed many signs and miracles, and healed all the sick. When the governor heard this he was wroth, and commanded his soldiers to bring him to him, and he treated him kindly and urged him [to worship the gods]; but the saint reviled him and cursed his filthy gods. And straightway he commanded them to tie him to a horse’s tail and drag him about for one day, and after that they threw him into the furnace which heated the baths, and he finished his strife nobly. Now they could not bring his body out from the bath furnace, so they went down the steps, and wrapped it up in costly cloths and anointed it with scented unguents and they built a church over it. Salutation two-fold to Saint Victor.
And on this day also are commemorated Philip, and Ananias, and Barachus, and John, and Philip, the father of Eugenia the martyr.
Salutation to Eugenia who pretended that she was a eunuch for the sake of Christ, and who appeared to be like the monks her fellows.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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