Tuesday 23 February 2021
16 Amshir 1737
Readings for Tuesday of Fast of Ninevah
Prophecy
From TheBook of Jonah , may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen
Jonah 2 : 2 - 10
| 2 | And he said: "I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. |
| 3 | For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. |
| 4 | Then I said, "I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.' |
| 5 | The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. |
| 6 | I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. |
| 7 | "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. |
| 8 | "Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy. |
| 9 | But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." |
| 10 | So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. |
Glory to the Holy Trinity our God into the ages of ages.
Amen
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Matins Psalm & Gospel
A reading from the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 103 : 14,15,9,10
| 14 | For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. |
| 15 | As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. |
| 9 | He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. |
| 10 | He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 13 : 6 - 9
| 6 | He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. |
| 7 | Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, "Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' |
| 8 | But he answered and said to him, "Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. |
| 9 | And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down."' |
And Glory be to God forever.
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Divine Liturgy
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Colossians.
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Colossians 1 : 21 - 29
| 21 | And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled |
| 22 | in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- |
| 23 | if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. |
| 24 | I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, |
| 25 | of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, |
| 26 | the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. |
| 27 | To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28 | Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. |
| 29 | To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 4 : 3 - 11
| 3 | For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. |
| 4 | In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. |
| 5 | They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
| 6 | For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. |
| 7 | But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. |
| 8 | And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." |
| 9 | Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. |
| 10 | As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. |
| 11 | If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. |
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 17 : 30 - 34
| 30 | Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, |
| 31 | because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." |
| 32 | And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter." |
| 33 | So Paul departed from among them. |
| 34 | However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 16 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Amshir.
May God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Sixteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir
Departure of St.Elizabeth, the Mother
of St.John the Baptist
On this day the upright and righteous
St. Elizabeth, mother of St. John the Baptist, departed. This holy woman
was born in Jerusalem to a righteous father called Matthan from the tribe
of Levi and from the house of Aaron the priest. Her mother's name was Sofia.
Matthan had three daughters. The first was called Mary, the mother of Salome,
the midwife who cared for the Virgin St. Mary during her virginal birth.
The name of the second daughter was Sofia, the mother of St. Elizabeth,
the mother of St. John the Baptist. The youngest daughter was St. Hannah,
the mother of the Virgin St. Mary, the mother of the Savior. Therefore,
Salome, Elizabeth and the Virgin St. Mary were cousins. When St. Zacharias
the priest married St. Elizabeth, they lived in righteousness and holiness
before God, as the evangelist said, "They were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
(Luke 1:6)
This upright woman was barren.
She and her husband continually supplicated God who gave them St. John
the Baptist. God was slow in answering their prayers until the time when
the Virgin Mary conceived with the Word of God. When they were stricken
in age, God sent His angel Gabriel to Zacharias to announce to him, "Your
wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John,"
(Luke 1:13) and the angel told him what would become of St. John. The Virgin
St. Mary visited St. Elizabeth to congratulate her on her pregnancy. "And
it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped
in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." (Luke 1:41)
When she gave birth to St. John, the shame of her barrenness was lifted
up from her and her people. When she completed her days in purity, righteousness
and chastity, she departed in peace.
May Her intercession be with us and Glory be to our God forever.
Amen.
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Divine Liturgy Psalm & Gospel
A reading from the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 85 : 2 - 3
| 2 | You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin.Selah |
| 3 | You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger. |
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 11 : 29 - 36
| 29 | And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. |
| 30 | For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. |
| 31 | The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. |
| 32 | The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. |
| 33 | "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. |
| 34 | The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. |
| 35 | Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. |
| 36 | If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." |
And Glory be to God forever.
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Daily Readings