From kidusmarkos.org and ethiopiantewahedo.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
+ Arch angel Michael
Week Two, Day Three
The Tenth Day
The Tenth day
Morning Prayer
Make the sign of the Cross…
In the name of the Father....
Opening Prayer
O God, our refuge and our strength, who are the author of all goodness; be merciful to us, we pray that you may hear us and accept our morning prayer; and grant us the things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Saviour and our master. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 50: 1-23
50:1 The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 50:5 Gather my saints together to me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 50:6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah. 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even your God. 50:8 I will not reprove thee for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. 50:9 I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds. 50:10 Forevery beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 50:13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 50:14 Offer to God thanksgiving; and pay your vows to the most High: 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify me. 50:16 But to the wicked God saith, What have you to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in your mouth? 50:17 Seeing you hate instruction, and casts my words behind thee. 50:18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and have been partaker with adulterers. 50:19 You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frameth deceit. 50:20 Thou sittest and speakest against your brother; thou slanderest your own mother's son. 50:21 These things have you done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before your eyes. 50:22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 50:23 Whoso offers praise glorifieth me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Psalm 51: 1-19
51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving-kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shall make me to know wisdom. 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. 51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 51:11 Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me. 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit. 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted to thee. 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall declarethy praise. 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 51:18 Do good in your good pleasure to Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 51:19 Then shall thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon your altar. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Psalm 52: 1-9
52:1 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endures continually. 52:2 The tongue devises mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 52:3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 52:4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. 52:5 God shall likewise destroy thee forever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of your dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. 52:6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: 52:7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. 52:9 I will praise thee forever, because you have done it: and I will wait on your name; for it is good before your saints. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
1st Kings 9: 2-5
9:2 That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the Lord said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me: I have hallowed this house, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. He who receives the Prophet by the name of the Prophet shall receive the Prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 8: 12-17
8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 55: 1-2
55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. 55:2 Attend to me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; 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: 1-7
14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith to him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life…
Concluding Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, who are the sources of all good things, and cleanse our hearts, strengthen us in love through the Holy Spirit. Grant your grace that we may always be grateful for all the goodness you have given us and may we bear our trials with patience, today, tomorrow and always. Amen. Our Father…
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Day 10
Evening Prayer
In the Name of the Father……..
Opening Prayer
Merciful God and Father, we humbly ask you in our evening prayer to help and teach us how to love and respect to each other sincerely, and we may work for peace and welfare of those who need our help in our communities: and make us more like you in serving others. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 53: 1-6
53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. 53:2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 53:4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. 53:5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encamps against thee: you have put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 53:6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Psalm 54: 1-7
54:1 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me by your strength. 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. 54:3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah. 54:4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. 54:5 He shall reward evil to mine enemies: cut them off in your truth. 54:6 I will freely sacrifice to thee: I will praise your name, O Lord; for it is good. 54:7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Psalm 55: 1-23
55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. 55:2 Attend to me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; 55:3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. 55:4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. 55:5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. 55:6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. 55:7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. 55:8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 55:10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. 55:11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. 55:12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: 55:13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. 55:14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company. 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. 55:18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. 55:19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abides of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. 55:20 He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. 55:22 Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 55:23 But thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning…
Scripture Reading
1st Reading
1st Kings 8: 51-53 or 50-53
8:50 And forgive your people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: For they be your people, and your inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: That your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to hearken to them in all that they call for to thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be your inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses your servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. He who receives the prophet by the name of the prophet shall receive the prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Acts 2: 25-28
2:25 For David speaks concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; thou shall make me full of joy with your countenance. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’ s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 55: 1-2
55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. 55:2 Attend to me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; 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: 1-3
14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life…
Concluding Prayer
O Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who opened up our salvation through your death and resurrection, we ask you in our evening prayer to direct us in the path of true life, and write your law in our hearts. Grant us your wonderful peace throughout this coming night. Amen. Our Father….
The Synaxarium:
THE FOURTH MONTH
TAHISAS 12
(December 21)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day is celebrated the festival of the glorious angel, Michael the Archangel. On this day God sent him to the city of Babylon, and he was the fourth person with the Three Children, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, in the fiery furnace, when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, threw them into it. And the flames rose up to a height of nine and forty cubits and consumed those who attended to the fire. And Michael beat out the fire with his staff, and extinguished it round about the Three Children and delivered them, and [the fire] did not touch them. And he made the inside of the furnace to be as cool as the dew at the dawn of day, and in it they praised God, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers! Praised and exalted is He for ever.” And Michael prophesied seven times that after seven hundred years Christ should be born; and after this the Three Children praised God, saying, “Let every servant of God praise God.” And he prophesied seven and thirty times that Christ should live upon the earth three and thirty years, and for this reason our Fathers the Apostles ordained that people should celebrate the festival of Michael the Archangel. Salutation to Michael.
And on this day also died Abba Samuel of Waldebba. Then name of the father of this holy man was Stephen, and the name of his mother was ‘Ammata Maryam; they were people of good family and they took this holy man to the country of ‘Aksum, and when he grew up they taught him the Books of the Church. Then when his father and mother died he went to Dabra Bankol, to Abba Madhanina Egzi’e, and he put on the garb of the monastic life, and he dwelt there and fought the fight with fasting and with prayer. He ate nothing except withered and decayed herbs, and his drink was water, and he became the servant of the monks, in the grinding of corn, and the drawing of water. And as he found it irksome when his kinfolk came to visit him, he departed to another place. And he devoted himself to fasting, and to standing up, and to prostrating himself so strenuously that at length he crushed his feet (i.e. became flat-footed). Thence he departed to the desert, and he ate no food whatsoever for forty days and forty nights. And the lions, and the leopards, and all kinds of terrifying wild beasts came to him, and bowed down before him, and licked the dust at his feet. One day as he was going along the road he arrived at a valley (or river), which was full of water. Now he had with him a book and some fire, and making a prayer he entered the water, and although it engulfed him and the current dragged him down, yet by the power of God having forced himself across to the opposite bank, he found that the fire was not extinguished, and the book uninjured. And Satan used to try him with phantoms of every kind of wild beast, but he was not frightened because his mind was bound up with confidence in his God. And as Abba Samuel was praying our Lord Jesus Christ came to him, and sealed his whole body and each limb thereof with His spittle, and he became filled with power. And from that day he bound his feet with fetters, and wore sackcloth. And he thrust all his limbs into water, and he recited the Psalms of David five times [each day], and he scourged his back with strips innumerable. And the lions used to peer into his cave like sheep, and of some he used to stroke their bodies, and of others he used to dress their wounds, and pluck out the thorns from [their paws]. And then many disciples attached themselves to him, and of these the first was Abba Zarufael. One day Abba Samuel met Abba Gabra Maskal, of Dabra Laggaso, (now they had never seen each other before,) and they passed the day in describing the great works of God. And at the time for supper, when they were making their prayers, a table came down to them from heaven, and they ate and gave thanks to God. Then one day he met a certain monk from the desert, and when they began to talk about the Mysteries which God had made for them, Abuna Samuel said, “Behold, for twelve years I have been standing in the heights and censing the throne of God with the Four and Twenty Priests of Heaven.” And when he went in and was consecrating the Offering, there came down to him bread and a chalice from heaven; and when he was reading the Praises of our Lady Maryam, he was lifted up off the ground to the height of a cubit, and our Holy Lady, the Virgin Maryam, came and gave him a precious stone which shot out light from it, and some pure incense. And when the time of his departure drew nigh Michael the Archangel came unto him, and he caught him up on his wings and showed him all the delights of the heavenly Jerusalem. And he brought him before the throne of God, and Abba Samuel received from him the promise concerning the man who should invoke his name or celebrate his commemoration. And when he returned to his bed he told his disciples everything, which he had seen, and then he died in peace. Salutation to Abba Samuel.
Salutation to the gathering together in one place of the Sixty Bishops who were against Benates (or Betnas).
And on this day also are commemorated Abba Khadre (Hydra) of Dabra ‘Aswan, and Saint John the Confessor. Salutation to Khadre.
And on this day also took place the assembling of the General Council of the Holy Bishops, and priests, and deacons in the city of Rome in the first year of the reign of Decius, the infidel, when Cornelius held the office of Archbishop of the city of Rome, and Dionysius was Archbishop of Alexandria, and Bandeyos (Flavianus) was Archbishop of Antioch, and Germanus was Archbishop of Jerusalem. And this Council was assembled because of Benates (or Betnas, Novatus), a priest of Sehet (Scete) who said, “He Who denies Christ in the time of persecution shall not be accepted when he repents; and he who hath fallen into fornication shall not be accepted when he repents.” And Cornelius rebuked him for this, once, and a second time, and a third time, but he would not accept the rebuke. And there gathered together against him sixty bishops, and eighteen learned priests, and scribes, and forty learned deacons of the city of Rome, and they disputed with Benates (Novatus?) concerning this matter. And the pretext which he put forward for his views were the words of Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews (vi, 4-6), “If they have received the light, and have tasted heavenly grace, and have received the grace of the Holy Spirit, and if they have fallen into sin they cannot be renewed by repentance a second time.” And the Fathers replied to him, and explained the matter to him, saying, “Paul the Apostle doth not say this concerning the man who repented, but concerning the man who is baptized with Christian baptism each time he falls into sin. And concerning such a man the apostle goes on to say, ‘Shall their head, the Son of God, be crucified a second time, and put to shame by them?’ The apostle makes known that the Cross could only be [found] once, but that repentance can be found at all times. And if a men hath fallen through denying Christ, or through sin, is he not to be accepted through repentance? --As thou sayest, was not the repentance of David accepted? And was not the repentance of Peter, who denied our Lord Jesus Christ, accepted? And did not God give him the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete? And did He not set him over His rational flock? And shall everyone who hath been baptized by his hand be not baptized again, but, according to what thou sayest, perish? This is great folly. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath placed repentance so that it may be found by everyone who hath denied the Faith, or who hath fallen into sin. Depart from this unclean opinion, O Benates (Novatus?), and repent of it, and be not the enemy of God and of thyself, and the enemy of all mankind.” But he would not turn from his evil opinion, and he would not accept the words of the whole Council of holy Bishops; and the bishops anathematized and excommunicated all those who believed in his words.
Salutation to Anicetus and his company who finished their martyrdom by fire.
And on this day also Saint Anicetus became a martyr in the days of Diocletian, the infidel emperor. When this martyr Anicetus saw the tortures, which the emperor inflicted on the believers in order to terrify them, he rose up from among them with a bold heart, and reviled the emperor. When the emperor heard him, he commanded his soldiers to bind him with fetters, and to keep him under guard in the theatre, and to let loose a fierce lion upon him; and when the lion came up to him he stretched out his right hand, and the lion licked the face and cheeks of Saint Anicetus. When Diocletian saw this he commanded them to cut off his head with the sword, but when the executioner had drawn his sword, he trembled and was unable to wield it. And they threw Anicetus on to the wheel under which was spread out a layer of red-hot coals, and they placed him under the wheel so that his soul might be broken quickly; but God delivered him from these tortures uninjured. And then they threw him into a cauldron in which lead was boiling, and whilst the people were looking on, the angel of the Lord came and plucked him out of the cauldron, and set him before Diocletian. And when Photinus saw this miracle, he rose up naked and embraced his brother Anicetus, and he cursed the tyrant, saying, “O disgraceful one, how wilt thou conquer my brother?” When Diocletian heard this he commanded his soldiers to put collars of iron on their necks, and fetters on their feet and to carry them off to the prison house. Then he commanded them to bring them out and to scrape their bodies with iron combs until their flesh was torn into strips. And he also commanded them to take them into the theatre and stone them with stones, but the saints remained uninjured, and they also beat their sides and backs with whips, and threw salt on their wounds; and they also cast them into the furnace of the baths which had been heated for three days, but it was to them like unto cool dew, and when they opened the bath chamber they found them in converse concerning the great things of God. When the tyrant saw this he was exceedingly wroth, and he commanded them to heat a furnace until the flames came out of the top of it, and therein they cast the righteous martyrs. And standing up in the furnace they prayed for a long time, and they made the sign of the Cross over their faces in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, One God, and they delivered up their souls into the hand of God. And their bodies lay upon the burning coals from the second until the seventh (or sixth) hour of the day, but they were unharmed, and the hair of their heads was not singed. When it was night certain believing men took the bodies and swathed them for burial in a manner befitting their honorable rank, and they buried them in a beautiful tomb, and signs and wonders appeared through them. Salutation to Anicetus and Photinus.
And on this day also are commemorated ‘Eusis (Ausis) the martyr, and Abba Antonius, and John the Confessor and teacher from Rome.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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