Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
+ St. Thomas (not the Apostle)
Week One, Day Seven
The Seventh Day
The Seventh Day
Morning Prayer
Make the sign of the cross as you or the priest say:
In the name of the Father and the Son…
Opening Prayer
Lord God, who are the source of our lives, giver of grace we ask you to help us and to enlighten us with your grace and to fill our heart with your fatherly love, today and always. Amen. Our Father….
Psalm 35: 1-28
35:1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. 35:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. 35:3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say to my soul, I am your salvation. 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. 35:7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. 35:8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. 35:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation. 35:10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like to thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoils him? 35:11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. 35:12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. 35:14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother. 35:15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not: 35:16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. 35:17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. 35:18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. 35:19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. 35:20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land. 35:21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. 35:22 This you have seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. 35:23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even to my cause, my God and my Lord. 35:24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. 35:25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. 35:26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me. 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 35:28 And my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 36: 1-12
36:1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. 36:2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. 36:4 He devises mischief upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. 36:5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 36:6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains; your judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. 36:7 How excellent is your loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings. 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house; and thou shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures. 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in your light shall we see light. 36:10 O continue your loving kindness to them that know thee; and your righteousness to the upright in heart. 36:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. 36:12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,….
Scripture Reading
1st Reading
Deuteronomy 4: 39-40
4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Thou shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with your children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong your days upon the earth, which the Lord your God gives thee, forever.He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet shall receive the prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 14: 17-19
14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 135: 1-2
135:1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. 135:2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Halleluiah! Stand and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. John 14: 12-14
14:12 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life…
Day 7
Evening Prayer
Make the sign of the cross as you or the priest say:
In the name of the Father and the Son…
Opening Prayer
O God, our Almighty King and Lord, who are merciful, we ask you in our evening prayer; to lighten our darkness and by your great mercy to defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 37:1-40
37:1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 37:2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shall be fed. 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of your heart. 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 37:6 And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday. 37:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 37:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 37:12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes upon him with his teeth. 37:13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seesthat his day is coming. 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. 37:15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 37:16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. 37:17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholds the righteous. 37:18 The Lord knows the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. 37:19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 37:20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. 37:21 The wicked borrows, and pays not again: but the righteous shows mercy, and gives. 37:22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way. 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand. 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 37:26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 37:27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. 37:28 For the Lord loves judgment, and forsakes not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 37:29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever. 37:30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. 37:32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeks to slay him. 37:33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. 37:34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shall see it. 37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. 37:36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. 37:38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. 37:39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 37:40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. 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. 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 He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet…
2nd Reading
1st Corinthians 2: 7-10
2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 37: 27-28
37:27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. 37:28 For the Lord loves judgment, and forsakes not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Halleluiah! Stand and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. John 14: 15-17
14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeshim not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life…
Concluding Prayer
O lord our God, who never failed to help and support those you did bring up in your steadfast care and love; we pray you to you to keep us under the protection of you good providence and love. Amen. Our Father…
The Synaxarium:
THE FOURTH MONTH
TAHISAS 09
(December 18)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day died Saint Abba Ba’Amin the faithful, who became a martyr although he did not shed his blood. This holy man was from the monastery of the sons of Khadhib, to the north of the province of ‘Eshmunayn, in the country of Egypt, and from the city of Tersa; he was the steward of a certain rich man, and was beloved by everybody because of his sincerity and justice. And the rich man had a wife who loved Abba Ba’Amin, and she trusted him greatly. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin pondered about the end of the world, and he left the service of that rich man, and he went to a monastery in that [place] and became a monk therein. When the rich man heard that Saint Ba’Amin had left him, and departed, he was exceedingly sorry. And taking his wife with him he went unto him, “We cannot part from thee by any means, and we will not let thee go.” And the saint said unto them, “I cannot [return], I have vowed myself to God”; and they departed from him sorrowing greatly because of their parting from him. And this holy man fought a great and a good fight, and he lived a life of strenuous devotion to God for many years with fasting, and prayer, and vigil. And this was not enough for him, for he wished to become a martyr and to pour out his blood for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he went to the city of Antinoe where he found many Christians suffering torture, and he confessed our Lord Jesus Christ, and they inflicted severe tortures upon him, and they scourged him, and they burnt his body with fire, and they chopped off his limbs, and threw him on the wheel, and they made iron rods red-hot and burnt his flesh with them. And under all these tortures our Lord Christ strengthened him, and raised him up whole and uninjured. And whilst he was suffering in this wise the worship of idols came to an end, for Constantine the Just became emperor, and he commanded the keepers of the prisons to set free the Christians who had been shut up in the prison houses by the infidel Diocletian for the sake of Christ’s Name. And our Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto Saint Abba Ba’Amin and commanded him to go unto all those saints who were in prison, and to make them to know that our lord Christ reckoned among the martyrs those who were called “Confessors”; and the Emperor Constantine commanded [his servants] to bring seventy-two of them. And there was there with them Abba Nob, the confessor, and they went to him. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin dwelt in a monastery which was outside the city of ‘Eshmunayn, and God give him a great gift, and he healed the sick, and the report of him was noised abroad in all countries. Now a very severe illness came upon the empress, the wife of the Emperor of Rome, and it happened because of a certain God-fearing deacon who was near her, and who used to read to her every day the Book of the Vision of John the Evangelist, that is to say, “Abukalamsis (i.e. the Apocalypse).” And one of the emperor’s stewards was jealous of him and he went to the emperor and said unto him, “Know, O my lord, that John the deacon lieth with our lady the empress, thy wife, and maketh the pretence of reading to her the Book of the Vision of John every day.” When the emperor heard this he was very sorry, and he rose up straightway and went into his palace where the empress was, and he found the deacon standing before the empress and reading the Book of the Vision of John. And the emperor commanded [his soldiers] to take the deacon and his book and to sink them both in the river; and two men saw the form of a shining man descending, and he came and snatched the deacon out of the river together with his book, and he took him and placed him on an island; and when the two men saw this they marveled exceedingly, and they went to their houses and told no one connected with the emperor what they had seen. When the empress saw what they had done to that deacon she was exceedingly sorry, and her illness increased, and the disease attacked her belly; and she continued to suffer from this disease for five and twenty years. And many physicians came to her but they were unable to heal her of her sickness. And a certain learned man counseled her, saying, “If thou wert to go to the holy men who are in the land of Egypt, then thou wouldst be healed of thy sickness and tribulation.” And straightway she rose up, and there were many soldiers with her, and she arrived in the land of Egypt, and she went about and visited many monasteries and churches, but she was not healed of her sickness. When she came to the city of Antinoe the nobles who saw her marveled exceedingly concerning her coming, and she told them everything about her sickness, and they counseled her to go to Saint Abba Ba’Amin; and she embarked in a ship for the monastery of Saint Abba Ba’Amin. And one told the saint, saying, “Behold, the empress hath come to thee, and wishes to be blessed by thee.” And he said unto him, “What have I to do with the empress of the earth and her greatness?” And the brethren besought him earnestly to go out to her, and he did so; and when the empress saw him she bowed low at his feet. And Saint Abba Bawmin prayed concerning her sickness over some oil, and he anointed her therewith, and she was healed of her sickness. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin said unto her, “Knew thou that this sickness which hath come upon thee is caused by the deacon whom the emperor drowned in the river, but he is alive at this day and dwells on this island in the river, and the Book of the Vision of John Abukalamsis is with him”; and when the empress heard these words she marveled exceedingly, and she praised God and rejoiced with very great joy because the deacon was alive. And she offered to Saint Ba’Amin much money and many gifts, but he took nothing from her except money [sufficient to buy] sacred vessels for the church, a paten, a chalice, and a cross of gold; then she returned to the city of Rome praising God. And when she met the emperor she told him all that had happened to her, and how Saint Abba Ba’Amin had told her that the deacon whom he had drowned was alive at that time; and when the emperor heard this he marveled exceedingly and sent messengers to the island, and they found the deacon alive, and the Book of the Vision of John was with him; and they returned and reported this to the emperor. And the emperor sent a messenger to him a second time to entreat him to come to him; and they brought him to the emperor; and when the emperor saw him he rejoiced with very great joy, and bowed down at his feet, and he said unto him, “Forgive me my sin which I committed against thee.” And the saint said unto him, “May God forgive both of us our sins.” And after this that deacon was appointed Archbishop of the city of Rome, and he translated the Vision of John Abukalamsis. And Saint Abba Ba’Amin fought by day and by night, ceaselessly, the spiritual fight. And there was near him a certain holy bishop who made a festival of the martyrs, with several believers, in a certain monastery; and the Arian heretics took to themselves a false bishop and led astray very many of the people, and the bishop of the city came to Saint Ba’Amin and told him of his sorrow [which was caused] by those heretics. When the festival of the martyrs arrived Abba Ba’Amin prayed and entreated God, and prostrated himself with his people that He would make the counsel of the heretics void. Then he took a palm rod in his hand, and all the monks who were with him took each his palm rod in his hand, and they went to the place where the heretics were, and drove them away, and God, the Glorious and Most High, made void their counsel, and they have not returned to this day. And Saint Ba’Amin, being an aged man, fell sick of a mortal disease. And he gathered together the brethren and commanded them, and comforted them, and told them that [the end of] his days was near, and that he was going to God, and the fathers and the brethren sorrowed because of his [approaching] separation from them, and then he delivered up his soul to God his Creator. And the brethren swathed him for burial in costly cloths and they sang psalms, and hymns, and dirges over him, as was meet. And his body was a help unto all those who came to it, or to the church, in the True Faith, and what they asked for came to them. Salutation to Abba Ba’Amin who lay on a red-hot iron bed.
And this day also is the day of the deaths of Badlamo, and Yawaremya, and Zachariah the monk.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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