استشهاد القديسين بنيامين واودكسية اخت في مثل هذا اليوم استشهد القديس بنيامين وأخته القديسة أودكسية . كان والداهما مسيحيين تقيين محبين للغرباء فربياهما تربية مسيحية . ولما كبر بنيامين اشتاق أن يستشهد علي اسم المسيح فذهب إلى شطانوف وأعترف أمام الوالي بالسيد المسيح فعذبه كثيرا ثم أودعه السجن . فلما علم والداه وأخته أتوا إليه باكين فعزاهم وعرفهم بزوال هذا العالم وحياة الدهر الآتي التي لا نهاية لها فلما سمعت منه أخته ذلك له : " حي هو الرب أني لا أفارقك حتى نموت معا " فوضعهما الوالي في مكان مظلم مدة عشرين يوما . ثم أخرجهما وعلق في عنقيهما حجارة ثقيلة ، وطرحهما في البحر فنزل ملاك الرب وحل الحجارة وظلا سابحين علي وجه الماء إلى أن وصلا إلى بلدة بطره فوجدتهما فتاة عذراء وأنقذتهما فرجعا إلى الوالي واعترفا بالمسيح فأمر بقطع رأسيهما فنالا إكليل الشهادة . وبني المؤمنون لهما كنيسة في بلدهما شنشور . صلواتهم تكون معنا ولربنا المجد دائما . آمين استشهاد القديسة مريم الارمنية في مثل هذا اليوم استشهدت القديسة مريم الأرمنية . كانت أسيرة فطلب منها أن تجحد إيمانها بالسيد المسيح فلم تقبل وعذت عذابا شديدا ولكنها ظلت ثابتة علي إيمانها ولما هددت بحرقها في حفرة مشتعلة عند باب زويلة بالقاهرة ، اجتمع هناك جموع كثيرة وظلوا يصعبون عليها الأمر فقالت : " حسنا أن القي روحي بين يدي سيدي والهي ومخلصي يسوع المسيح " وبسرعة ألقت نفسها في الحفرة فنالت إكليل الشهادة . صلاتها معنا . ولربنا المجد دائما . آمين

Vespers

Psalm

From the psalms of our teacher David the prophet, may his blessings be with us Amen.

Psalm 34:17,18

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
        And delivers them out of all their troubles.
        The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
        And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Gospel

Matt 10:16-22

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
"Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

Matins

Psalm

From the psalms of our teacher David the prophet, may his blessings be with us Amen.

Psalm 34:19 & Psalm 34:20

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
        But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones;
        Not one of them is broken.

Gospel

Mk 8:34— & Mk 9:1-1

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

Pauline Epistle

From the epistle of teacher St. Paul the apostle to the (...), may his blessings be with us Amen.

Rom 8:28:39

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.

Catholic Epistle

The catholic epistle from the epistle of our teacher St. (...), may his blessings be with us Amen. My beloved.

1Pet 4:1-11

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 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. 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. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 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.
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 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 nor the things in the world. The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Amen.

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of our fathers the Apostles, may their holy blessings be with us all. Amen.

Acts 16:16-34

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe." Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."
Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed in the holy Church of God. Amen.

Stand up in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel. A chapter according to St. (...) may his blessing be with us all amen.

Psalm

From the psalms of our teacher David the prophet, may his blessings be with us Amen.

Psalm 97:11 & Psalm 97:12

Light is sown for the righteous,
        And gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
        And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

Gospel

Lk 21:12-19

But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls.

Cynthia Bourgeault continues reflecting on authentic love, distinguishing it from infatuation or romance. She begins by sharing insights from Scottish psychiatrist Maurice Nicoll (1884–1953), offering a basis for understanding union within the Gospel framework. Nicoll suggests that laying down one’s soul for our neighbor “is the supreme definition of conscious love.” Cynthia explains:

That is to say, through a life of conscious love—the persistent practice of laying down one’s life for the other, of the merging or union of wills in the effort to put the other first—the conditions will gradually come about for the creation of one soul. As long as the life goes on, in a renewed union of wills, one may speak of one soul, “for the soul is the image of the life.” [1]

This union of souls cannot be done out of sheer romanticism, that initial rush of erotic attraction that is all most of us ever know of love. It is not a product of attraction, but rather of purification: the commitment with which the partners adopt the spiritual practice of laying down their lives for each other—facing their shadows, relinquishing old patterns and agendas, allowing all self-justification to be seen, brought to the light, and released. In other words, without a mutual and conscious commitment to bring one’s human love into sympathetic vibration with the sacrificial and giving love that is the font of all creation, there is no union of wills or souls. The willingness to die, on whatever level, for the other’s becoming is the practice that gradually transmutes erotic attraction into a force of holy fusion. . . .

Love calls forth the reality of the beloved, and the act of loving calls forth our own most authentic and dynamic center. The result is a mutual thrust deeper and deeper into becoming, the unfolding of the wonder of each person. . . .

If there is a secret to love’s transforming power, surely it must lie in its uncanny ability to call forth who we truly are. “Love always seeks the ultimately real,” says [Beatrice] Bruteau [2]; it has an infallible knack for pushing though dim outer shells and inner dark places and bringing the essence of who we are into the light. Love always brings an increase in being, and it does so by giving us the courage and power to live out who we truly are. . . . Love actualizes essence.

One fact that contemporary psychology has made eminently clear to us is that wholeness can come about only if we embrace the whole of ourselves—not only what is highest in us, but the shadow as well. For majesty to grow in us, all must come to the light, both the dark parts of oneself that need healing and the light parts that need birthing. [3]

References:
[1] Maurice Nicoll, The New Man (Penguin Books: 1981), 78.

[2] Beatrice Bruteau, “Persons in Love,” The Roll (March 1996), 9-10. Quarterly newsletter of the Schola Contemplationis, 3425 Forest Lane, Pfafftown, NC.

[3] Majesty has to do with the power of actualization: the conscious shaping of the vessel that bears the light of Christ.

Cynthia Bourgeault, Love Is Stronger than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls (Monkfish Book Publishing: 1997, 2014), 19, 25, 115, 116, 117.