Daily Readings:
Week Two, Day Seven
The Fourteenth Day
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
+ Kidane Mehret
The Fourteenth day
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
Stay with us, Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Justice, as we begin this new day, be our companion throughout the day. In your grace grant us your strength to fulfil our task with your peace and joy. We make our prayer; through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holt spirit. One God, forever and ever. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 71: 1-24
71:1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. 71:2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear to me, and save me. 71:3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereto I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress. 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 71:5 For you are my hope, O Lord GOD: you are my trust from my youth. 71:6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: you are he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee. 71:7 I am as a wonder to many; but you are my strong refuge. 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honour all the day. 71:9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails. 71:10 For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, 71:11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him. 71:12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. 71:13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. 71:15 My mouth shall declarethy righteousness and your salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of your righteousness, even of your only. 71:17 O God, you have taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared your wondrous works. 71:18 Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed your strength to this generation, and your power to everyone that is to come. 71:19 Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who have done great things: O God, who is like to thee! 71:20 Thou, which have showed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 71:21 Thou shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. 71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even your truth, O my God: to thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. 71:23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to thee; and my soul, which you have redeemed. 71:24 My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame, that seek my hurt. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 72: 1-20
72:1 Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. 72:2 He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment. 72:3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 72:4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 72:5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. 72:7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures. 72:8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 72:9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. 72:10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 72:12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 72:13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 72:14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 72:15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. 72:16 There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 72:17 His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 72:18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 72:19 And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 72:20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Jeremiah 16: 19-20
16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. 16:20 Shall a man make gods to himself, and they are no gods? 16:21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD. He who receives the prophet in the Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 73: 1-28
73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 73:2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 73:4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 73:5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covers them as a garment. 73:7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 73:8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 73:9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. 73:10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 73:11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 73:13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 73:14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. 73:15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of your children. 73:16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 73:18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 73:19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 73:20 As a dream when one awakes; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shall despise their image. 73:21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 73:22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: you have holden me by my right hand. 73:24 Thou shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 73:26 My flesh and my heart fails: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 73:27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: you have destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all your works. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 74: 1-23
74:1 O God, why have you cast us off forever? why doth your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old; the rod of your inheritance, which you have redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein you have dwelt. 74:3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 74:4 Your enemies roar in the midst of your congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. 74:5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 74:6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. 74:7 They have cast fire into your sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of your name to the ground. 74:8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. 74:9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long. 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? 74:11 Why withdrawest thou your hand, even your right hand? pluck it out of your bosom. 74:12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by your strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. 74:16 The day is your, the night also is your: you have prepared the light and the sun. 74:17 You have set all the borders of the earth: you have made summer and winter. 74:18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed your name. 74:19 O deliver not the soul of your turtledove to the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of your poor forever. 74:20 Have respect to the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 74:21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise your name. 74:22 Arise, O God, plead your own cause: remember how the foolish man reproaches thee daily. 74:23 Forget not the voice of your enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increases continually. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Ezekiel 37: 12-14
12:14 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Revelation 7: 15-17
7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 86: 1-2
86:1 Bow down your ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save your servant that trusts in thee. 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: 8-10
15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 15:9 And when she hath found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. It is easier for heaven and to pass, than one ….
Concluding Prayer
Lord, our heavenly Father, in your wonderful wisdom you created us, by your infinite providence you rule us; penetrate our inmost being with your holy light, so that our way of life may always be one of faithful service to you. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, forever and ever. Amen. Our Father…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 14
Evening Prayer
In the name of the Father…
Opening Prayer
We pray and ask you, O Lord, to pour your grace into our hearts; that we may worship you and serve you with firm faith in our evening prayer; through our lard Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 73: 1-28
73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 73:2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 73:4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 73:5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covers them as a garment. 73:7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 73:8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 73:9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. 73:10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 73:11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 73:13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 73:14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. 73:15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of your children. 73:16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 73:18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 73:19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 73:20 As a dream when one awakes; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shall despise their image. 73:21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 73:22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: you have holden me by my right hand. 73:24 Thou shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 73:26 My flesh and my heart fails: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 73:27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: you have destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all your works. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 74: 1-23
74:1 O God, why have you cast us off forever? why doth your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old; the rod of your inheritance, which you have redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein you have dwelt. 74:3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 74:4 Your enemies roar in the midst of your congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. 74:5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 74:6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. 74:7 They have cast fire into your sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of your name to the ground. 74:8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. 74:9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long. 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? 74:11 Why withdrawest thou your hand, even your right hand? pluck it out of your bosom. 74:12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by your strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 74:15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. 74:16 The day is your, the night also is your: you have prepared the light and the sun. 74:17 You have set all the borders of the earth: you have made summer and winter. 74:18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed your name. 74:19 O deliver not the soul of your turtledove to the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of your poor forever. 74:20 Have respect to the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 74:21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise your name. 74:22 Arise, O God, plead your own cause: remember how the foolish man reproaches thee daily. 74:23 Forget not the voice of your enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increases continually. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Ezekiel 37: 12-14
12:14 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Revelation 7: 15-17
7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading
Psalm 86: 1-2
86:1 Bow down your ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save your servant that trusts in thee. 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: 8-10
15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 15:9 And when she hath found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. It is easier for heaven and to pass, than one ….
Concluding Prayer
Lord, our heavenly Father, in your wonderful wisdom you created us, by your infinite providence you rule us; penetrate our inmost being with your holy light, so that our way of life may always be one of faithful service to you. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, forever and ever. Amen. Our Father…
The Synaxarium:
THE FOURTH MONTH
TAHISAS 16
(December 25)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day died Gideon, one of the judges of Israel. This just man Gideon was of the tribe of Menasseh and his father’s name was Joas; and the angel of the Lord appeared and helped him, and strengthened him, and made him judge over the children of Israel. And he commanded him to destroy the altar of idols, and to build an altar to God, and to offer up burnt offerings upon it; and Gideon burnt with fire the wooden idols, which were broken in pieces, and he did as the Lord commanded. And God also commanded him to make war upon the men of Midian, and he asked God to show him a sign, so that his heart might be strengthened thereby. And this was the sign: [He said] “Let me lay the carded woolly fleece of a sheep among the grass of the field; if the fleece be wetted by the dew and the grass of the field is not wetted, then shall I know that Thou art with me.” And he laid the fleece among the grass, and it was wetted, but the grass was not wetted. And on the following day he said, “O my Lord, behold I will lay the fleece among the grass again; if the grass be wetted and the ground, and the fleece is not wetted, then I shall know that Thou art with me and that Thou wilt fight for me.” And he did this on the following day, and it happened even as he wished. Then his heart waxed strong, and the spirit of power descended upon him from God, and he blew a horn and all the children of Israel gathered together to him. And God said unto him, “The people are too many, for when they conquer their enemies they will say that they themselves have conquered them by their own power. But let a herald go round about among them and say, ‘If there be anyone here who is timid or afraid, let him depart’”; and when the herald had been among these there turned back twenty-two thousand of the children of Israel. And then God said unto Gideon, “Even now those who are left are too many. Send them to the water and command them to drink water, and he who drinks water with his tongue like a dog, take all these, and set them apart from those who remain.” And straightway Gideon took them to the river, and they drank water as God commanded, and the number of those who drank water with their tongues like dogs were three hundred men. And God said unto him, “With these I will deliver thee, and I will give the men of Midian into thy hand.” And that night they blew trumpets among them, and they said, “The army of God and of Gideon.” And when the men of Midian heard the sound of the trumpets, God set fear in their hearts, and they were terrified and took to flight. And each man killed his neighbor next to him, and they slew their princes Oreb and Zeeb, and they slew two of their kings Zebhel and Zalmunna, and they slew of the men of Midian one hundred thousand, and twenty thousand horsemen; and the children of Israel rejoiced that day. And they said unto Gideon, “Be thou king over us, and thy children after thee.” And he answered and said unto them with lowliness of heart, “Neither am I worthy to be king nor are my children worthy to be kings over you, but it is God Who shall rule over you [as] king. But let each one of you give me the torque of gold which is on the head of every camel which ye have carried off as spoil”; and they brought them to him. And the amount of gold and silver which they gave him was one hundred thousand seven hundred dinars, besides the ornaments of the women, and the rich trappings which were on the camels. And Gideon, the just, continued to rule the children of Israel for forty years, and God was with him in all his work; and then he died in peace and was buried in the grave of his father.
Salutation to Gideon, the mighty man. By the miracle of the wetted fleece mentioned above is made manifest the Birth of Christ of Mary.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment