Daily Readings:
Week Three, Day One
The Fifteenth Day
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
+ St. Estifanos
The Fifteenth Day
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father and……..
Opening Prayer
O God, our refuge and strength, who are the author of all goodness; be ready, we beseech you, to hear our devout prayer and grant us that those things which we ask for faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Sprint, One God. Amen. Our Father…
Psalm 75: 1-10
75:1 To thee, O God, do we give thanks, to thee do we give thanks: for that your name is near your wondrous works declare. 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. 75:4 I said to the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 75:7 But God is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another. 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 75:9 But I will declare forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 76: 1-12
76:1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 76:2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. 76:3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. 76:4 You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 76:5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 76:6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. 76:7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in your sight when once you are angry? 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, 76:9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain. 76:11 Vow, and pay to the Lord your God: let all that be round about him bring presents to him that ought to be feared. 76:12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Psalm 77: 1-20
77:1 I cried to God with my voice, even to God with my voice; and he gave ear to me. 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 77:4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 77:5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 77:7 Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favourable no more? 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail forevermore? 77:9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 77:10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember your wonders of old. 77:12 I will meditate also of all your work, and talk of your doings. 77:13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 77:14 You are the God that doest wonders: you have declared your strength among the people. 77:15 You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 77:16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 77:17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: your arrows also went abroad. 77:18 The voice of your thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. 77:19 Your way is in the sea, and your path in the great waters, and your footsteps are not known. 77:20 Thou leddest your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Reading
1st Reading
Ecclesiastes 12: 1-4
12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of Musick shall be brought low; He who receives the Prophet by the name of the Prophet shall receive the Prophet’s reward. Amen
2nd Reading
Romans 10:20-21
10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest to them that asked not after me. 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 142: 1-2
142:1 I cried to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord did I make my supplication. 142:2 I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble. Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. St. Matthew 13: 14-15
13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Heaven and earth shall pass away….
Concluding Prayer
O Almighty God, let us praise you in our morning prayer with voice and mind and deed for your great gift, and since life itself is your gift, may all we have and are be yours; we make this our humble prayer; though our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Our Father…
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Day 15
Prayer
In the name of the Father ……
Opening Prayer
Almighty, ever-living God, who reign above the heavens, we humbly adore and praise you and ask you To sanctify our body, soul and spirit and guide our every thought, words and deeds according to the commandments of your holy law, so that now and forever your grace may free and save us. We ask this through the power of your holy name. Amen. Our Father who art….
Psalm 78: 1-72
78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 78:5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 78:6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God. 78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 78:10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 78:11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them. 78:12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 78:13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap. 78:14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. 78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. 78:19 Yea, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? 78:21 Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; 78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 78:23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 78:24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 78:25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. 78:26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 78:28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 78:29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 78:30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, 78:31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. 78:32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 78:33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. 78:34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. 78:36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues. 78:37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 78:39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and cometh not again. 78:40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 78:41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 78:42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. 78:43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan. 78:44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. 78:46 He gave also their increase to the caterpiller, and their labour to the locust. 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. 78:48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. 78:50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; 78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: 78:52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 78:53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 78:54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. 78:55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 78:56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: 78:57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. 78:58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 78:59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: 78:60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; 78:61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. 78:62 He gave his people over also to the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. 78:63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. 78:64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. 78:65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. 78:66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. 78:67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: 78:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever. 78:70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 78:71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning….
Scripture Readings
1st Reading
Isaiah 26: 11-120
26:11 Lord, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of your enemies shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also have wrought all our works in us. He who receives the prophet the by the name of the prophet, shall receive the prophet’s …
2nd Reading
Colossians 4: 2-6
4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open to us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. He who receives the Apostle by the name of the Apostle shall receive the Apostle’s reward. Amen
3rd Reading (Chant)
Psalm 88: 1-2
88:1 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 88:2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline your ear to my cry; Halleluiah, stand up and harken to the Holy Gospel, the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
4th Reading
The Gospel of St. St. Matthew 4: 23-25
4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. Heaven and earth shall pass away….
Concluding prayer
Lord, our Almighty God and King of all nations who are our beginning and end and the source of all that we do and say. Prompt our actions with your grace, and complete them with your all-powerful help. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Holy Son, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. Our Father who art……..
The Synaxarium:
THE FOURTH MONTH
TAHISAS 17
(December 26)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day took place the translation of the body of Saint Luke of the pillar, who came from the country of Persia. He was the captain of one hundred soldiers, but he gave up his appointment, and assumed the garb of the monastic life, and took up his abode in one of the monasteries of the country of the East; and he dwelt therein many days. And when he had finished his ascetic training and his spiritual fight showed his excellences, he was made a priest in that monastery. And at the time of his appointment he dressed himself in iron, and he wore this dress as long as he dwelt in that monastery; and he devoted himself to fasting, and from that day he fasted seven days and seven nights at a time. On the Seventh Day he consecrated the Offering, and partook of the Holy Mysteries, and then he ate a small bread cake and some herbs. After this he went up on the top of a pillar, and stood thereon for three years, and he heard the voice of an angel calling him by name, and commanding him to get down from the pillar. And the angel showed him a cross of light, and Luke descended and followed the voice, which he heard. And the cross (of light) guided him until it brought him to a certain monastery, and he dwelt therein many days, and all the men came to him and were comforted by his doctrine. Then he became a devotee of silence, and he put a stone in his mouth so that he might not talk at all with any man. Then God commanded him to go to the borders of the city of Constantinople, and he went to a certain village which was near it, and he went up on the top of a pillar, and he dwelt thereon for five and forty years and fought a great spiritual fight. And God gave him the gift of prophecy, and he performed signs and wonders, and he healed all the sick folk who came to him. And God willing that he should leave the toil of this world, Luke died on the fifteenth day of the month of Takhshash; and he who ministered unto him went and told the archbishop and the priests concerning his death. And the archbishop and the priests rose up, and carrying crosses and censers they came to his abode, and they prayed over him, and they took him up and carried him to the city of Constantinople, three days after he died. And they brought him thither on the seventeenth day of the month of Takhshash, and laid him in the sanctuary, and they finished the prayer for the third hour over his holy body; and all those who were gathered together were blessed by him. Then they put him in a sarcophagus wherein were the bodies of the saints who were his predecessors, and God made manifest from his body many signs and wonders, and [many derived] very great benefit there from, and it healed all the sick who came to it in faith. Salutation to Luke, the pillar-saint.
And on this day also are commemorated the holy martyrs ‘Eusoryays (Aularianus), and ‘Euthyos, and Suryan, and Mark, and Bartelel, and Nathaniel, the monk and toiler in the ascetic life.
Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. Amen.
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