"Jesus, there's just something about that name!" The words to the song are right. Salvation from what is warped and broken in our world is found in no one else. He is our Savior because he was willing to come to this world, bear our limitations shame and sin and then triumph over them.
Day 27 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 Twenty-Seventh Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir
Departure of St.Eustathius, Patriarch of Antioch
On this day of the year 330 A.D., St. Eustathius, Patriarch of Antioch, departed in exile. He was enthroned Patriarch of Antioch during the reign of the righteous Emperor Constantine the Great. He was righteous and well learned. He attended the Nicene Council, and the fathers gathered there agreed on excommunicating Arius and exiling him and all those who believed in his teachings. Those were Eusabius the Nicomedian; Thaoghonius, Bishop of Nicea; and Eusabius, Bishop of Caesarea. After the council was concluded and the fathers went back to their parishes, those who were excommunicated pretended that they wished to go to Jerusalem, but instead they went to Antioch. There, they enticed a harlot with money and other things in order to accuse St. Eustathius the Patriarch that he fathered a child from her. She took the money and went to the church and said as they had instructed her. They pretended to disbelieve her and said, "Bring forth your proof if you are truthful in what you are saying. We will not accept your statement unless you swear on the Bible that what you claim against this father is true." She swore to them and they replied, "We do not need any more proof."
They condemned St. Eustathius and judged to strip him from his episcopal rank. They informed Emperor Constantine saying: "A council of clerics judged to remove Fr. Eustathius, Patriarch of Antioch, from his office". The Emperor believed their unfounded judgement, and he deposed and banished St. Eustathius to Thrace where the saint remained until his departure. The Lord God, Who loves His holy servants, did not neglect to reveal the truth. The woman became ill with a debilitating long illness and suffered great pain. She realized that her suffering was a punishment for her false accusation against the Saint. She came and confessed before the people of the city that the charge she had brought against St. Eustathius the patriarch was untrue. She pointed at those who bribed her with money to lie. She indicated that the Patriarch was innocent and that the child was born to another man whose name was the same as the Patriarch. They convinced her to swear against the Saint but at the same time to mean in heart her friend who was the father of the child, to be saved from falsely swearing. The priests resumed mentioning the name of St. Eustathius in the divine liturgy after his innocence was evident. He was eulogized and praised by St. John Chrysostom (of the Golden Mouth) on the day of his commemoration.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Matins
Proverbs 1 : 20 - 33 Isaiah 8 : 13 - 9 : 7
Proverbs 1 : 20 - 33
Chapter 1
| 20 | Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. |
| 21 | She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: |
| 22 | "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. |
| 23 | Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. |
| 24 | Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, |
| 25 | Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, |
| 26 | I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, |
| 27 | When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. |
| 28 | "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. |
| 29 | Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, |
| 30 | They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. |
| 31 | Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. |
| 32 | For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; |
| 33 | But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil." |
Isaiah 8 : 13 - 9 : 7
Chapter 8
| 13 | The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. |
| 14 | He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
| 15 | And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken." |
| 16 | Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples. |
| 17 | And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. |
| 18 | Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. |
| 19 | And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? |
| 20 | To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. |
| 21 | They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. |
| 22 | Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness. |
Chapter 9
| 1 | Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. |
| 2 | The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. |
| 3 | You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. |
| 4 | For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. |
| 5 | For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. |
| 6 | For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. |
| 7 | Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. |
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 32 : 1 - 2
Chapter 32
| 1 | Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. |
| 2 | Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 19 : 11 - 28
Chapter 19
| 11 | Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. |
| 12 | Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. |
| 13 | So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, "Do business till I come.' |
| 14 | But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us.' |
| 15 | "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. |
| 16 | Then came the first, saying, "Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' |
| 17 | And he said to him, "Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' |
| 18 | And the second came, saying, "Master, your mina has earned five minas.' |
| 19 | Likewise he said to him, "You also be over five cities.' |
| 20 | "Then another came, saying, "Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. |
| 21 | For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.' |
| 22 | And he said to him, "Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. |
| 23 | Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' |
| 24 | "And he said to those who stood by, "Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' |
| 25 | (But they said to him, "Master, he has ten minas.') |
| 26 | "For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. |
| 27 | But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me."' |
| 28 | When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Liturgy Gospel
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 Corinthians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 5 : 9 - 6 : 5
Chapter 5
| 9 | I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. |
| 10 | Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. |
| 11 | But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. |
| 12 | For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? |
| 13 | But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." |
Chapter 6
| 1 | Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? |
| 2 | Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? |
| 3 | Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? |
| 4 | If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? |
| 5 | I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 1 : 3 - 12
Chapter 1
| 3 | Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, |
| 4 | to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, |
| 5 | who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. |
| 6 | In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, |
| 7 | that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, |
| 8 | whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, |
| 9 | receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. |
| 10 | Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, |
| 11 | searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. |
| 12 | To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into. |
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.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 17 : 10 - 14
Chapter 17
| 10 | Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. |
| 11 | These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. |
| 12 | Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. |
| 13 | But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. |
| 14 | Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 32 : 5 - 5
Chapter 32
| 5 | I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.Selah |
Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Luke 11 : 33 - 36
Chapter 11
| 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.