Love that surpasses knowledge. That's very difficult to explain, but when you have loved your spouse for decades and he or she is as close to you as any bodily organ, you experience what this means. When you love a child and do what you never dreamed you could do for another human being, you understand this phrase. And when you stand before God, adopted as a full heir of all his great riches, a full sibling to Jesus Christ the Lord, and know you are seen as holy, without reproach, and blameless, you begin to understand this phrase.
Day 29 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Bashans, 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-Ninth Day of the Blessed Month of Bashans
Departure of St.Simon the Stylite
On this day of the year 461 A.D., St. Simon departed. He was born in Antioch in 392 A.D. His father's name was John, and his mother's name was Martha. Many miraculous things happened because of him. Before his mother had conceived of him, St. John the Baptist appeared to her in a dream and told her of her conception and what he would become. At age sixteen, he became a monk in the mountain of Antioch, and he led a great ascetic life in worship and prayer. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and guided him in his monastic life to the life of St.Pachomius. He excelled in his worship to a level beyond the normal human level, so that he lived alone on a high place like a pillar, for 45 years, during which he ate grass. This father wrote many useful ascetic teachings, and explained many church books. He departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us, and glory be to God forever. Amen.
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 22 : 2
Chapter 22
| 2 | O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. |
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.
Vespers 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 4 : 38 - 41
Chapter 4
| 38 | Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. |
| 39 | So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. |
| 40 | When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. |
| 41 | And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 119 : 164 - 165
Chapter 119
| 164 | Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments. |
| 165 | Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. |
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 4 : 42 - 5 : 3
Chapter 4
| 42 | Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; |
| 43 | but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." |
| 44 | And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. |
Chapter 5
| 1 | So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, |
| 2 | and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. |
| 3 | Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. |
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 Romans .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Romans 8 : 12 - 17
Chapter 8
| 12 | Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. |
| 13 | For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. |
| 14 | For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. |
| 15 | For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." |
| 16 | The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, |
| 17 | and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 2 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 John 1 : 1 - 8
Chapter 1
| 1 | The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, |
| 2 | because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: |
| 3 | Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. |
| 4 | I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. |
| 5 | And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. |
| 6 | This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. |
| 7 | For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. |
| 8 | Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. |
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 14 : 19 - 23
Chapter 14
| 19 | Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. |
| 20 | However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. |
| 21 | And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, |
| 22 | strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." |
| 23 | So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. |
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 81 : 8,6
Chapter 81
| 8 | "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! |
| 6 | "I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets. |
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.
John 15 : 1 - 8
Chapter 15
| 1 | "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. |
| 2 | Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. |
| 3 | You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. |
| 4 | Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. |
| 5 | "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. |
| 6 | If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. |
| 7 | If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. |
| 8 | By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Chapter 10— All Perseverance is God's Gift.
Is such an one as is unwilling to be rebuked still able to say, What have I done—I who have not received?
when it appears plainly that he has received, and by his own fault has lost that which he has received? I am able,
says he, I am altogether able—when you reprove me for having of my own will relapsed from a good life into a bad one—still to say, What have I done—I who have not received? For I have received faith, which works by love, but I have not received perseverance therein to the end. Will any one dare to say that this perseverance is not the gift of God, and that so great a possession as this is ours in such wise that if any one have it the apostle could not say to him, 'For what have you which you have not received?' 1 Corinthians 4:7 since he has this in such a manner as that he has not received it?