Who are you waiting for? Can you think of anything more exciting than to wait for Jesus to come take us home in his glory! But ours isn't a passive wait. Jesus gave us a commission to take his story to the whole world and call others to join with us in following him. So by the power of the Holy Spirit we wait in expectation as we share Jesus' good news with passion and as we live with the character and compassion of the Father.
Day 1 of the Blessed Coptic Month of El-nasi, 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 First Day of the Blessed Month of El-Nasi
Departure of St.Eutychus
On this day, St. Eutychus, the disciple of St. John the Evangelist, departed. After he spent some time with the apostle, Eutychus asked for his permission to go to St. Paul, the Apostle, and St. John allowed him. He went to St. Paul and preached the Name of Christ with him, and returned many of the Jews and the pagans to the Lord Christ and baptized them. He converted temples of idols to churches, and he endured tribulations, imprisonment, and beatings for many days. He was cast in the fire, but he was not harmed, and was cast to the lions, which did not harm him but rather became friendly towards him. He went to Sebastia and preached there, and the angel of the Lord was with him and strengthened him. It was said, that this saint was the young man who sat in a window and "was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead," and St. Paul raised him with his prayers. (Acts 20:9)
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Pishay (Abshai), the Antiochian
On this day also, St. Pishay (Abshai), the brother of St. Bahor (Abba Hor - St. Hour), was martyred. He was from the city of Antioch, and because of his piety and knowledge, he was ordained a priest. When his brother, Abba Hour, and his mother went to Alexandria, they were martyred on the twenty-ninth of the month of Baounah. This saint gave all his possessions to the poor and the needy, and came to Alexandria to be blessed by their bodies. When he saw the two bodies, he wept much, then went to the governor and confessed the Lord Christ before him. The governor tortured him much until he delivered up his pure soul. The governor ordered his body burned along with the bodies of his brother and his mother, and the bodies of other martyrs, eighty-eight in number. Certain believers came and took the bodies of Sts. Pishay, Abba Hour, their mother, and the bodies of Sts. Tabamoun (Damon), of the city of Danbak (Debkeya), Abimachus (Bimakos), from the city of El-Baramon, and Barashenoufah (Wursunufa), of the city of Teliah (Tuluya), and carried them to the city of Ansabashy (Ablasi), where the believers received them with great reverence.
May their prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 65 : 4 - 5
Chapter 65
| 4 | Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. |
| 5 | By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 10 : 34 - 42
Chapter 10
| 34 | "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. |
| 35 | For I have come to "set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; |
| 36 | and "a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' |
| 37 | He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. |
| 38 | And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. |
| 39 | He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. |
| 40 | "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. |
| 41 | He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. |
| 42 | And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." |
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 37 : 17 - 18
Chapter 37
| 17 | For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the LORD upholds the righteous. |
| 18 | The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. |
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 John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
John 1 : 1 - 17
Chapter 1
| 1 | In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
| 2 | He was in the beginning with God. |
| 3 | All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. |
| 4 | In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. |
| 5 | And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. |
| 6 | There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. |
| 7 | This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. |
| 8 | He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. |
| 9 | That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. |
| 10 | He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. |
| 11 | He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. |
| 12 | But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: |
| 13 | who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. |
| 14 | And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. |
| 15 | John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, "He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me."' |
| 16 | And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. |
| 17 | For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. |
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 10 : 4 - 18
Chapter 10
| 4 | For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. |
| 5 | For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them." |
| 6 | But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?"' (that is, to bring Christ down from above) |
| 7 | or, Who will descend into the abyss?"' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). |
| 8 | But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): |
| 9 | that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. |
| 10 | For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. |
| 11 | For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." |
| 12 | For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. |
| 13 | For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." |
| 14 | How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? |
| 15 | And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" |
| 16 | But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "LORD, who has believed our report?" |
| 17 | So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. |
| 18 | But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world." |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 John 1 : 1 - 10
Chapter 1
| 1 | That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- |
| 2 | the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- |
| 3 | that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. |
| 4 | And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. |
| 5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. |
| 6 | If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
| 7 | But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. |
| 8 | If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. |
| 9 | If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. |
| 10 | If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. |
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 3 : 1 - 16
Chapter 3
| 1 | Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. |
| 2 | And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; |
| 3 | who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. |
| 4 | And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." |
| 5 | So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. |
| 6 | Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." |
| 7 | And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. |
| 8 | So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them--walking, leaping, and praising God. |
| 9 | And all the people saw him walking and praising God. |
| 10 | Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. |
| 11 | Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. |
| 12 | So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? |
| 13 | The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. |
| 14 | But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, |
| 15 | and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. |
| 16 | And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Synaxarium
Day 1 of the Blessed Coptic Month of El-nasi, 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 First Day of the Blessed Month of El-Nasi
Departure of St.Eutychus
On this day, St. Eutychus, the disciple of St. John the Evangelist, departed. After he spent some time with the apostle, Eutychus asked for his permission to go to St. Paul, the Apostle, and St. John allowed him. He went to St. Paul and preached the Name of Christ with him, and returned many of the Jews and the pagans to the Lord Christ and baptized them. He converted temples of idols to churches, and he endured tribulations, imprisonment, and beatings for many days. He was cast in the fire, but he was not harmed, and was cast to the lions, which did not harm him but rather became friendly towards him. He went to Sebastia and preached there, and the angel of the Lord was with him and strengthened him. It was said, that this saint was the young man who sat in a window and "was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead," and St. Paul raised him with his prayers. (Acts 20:9)
May his blessings be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Pishay (Abshai), the Antiochian
On this day also, St. Pishay (Abshai), the brother of St. Bahor (Abba Hor - St. Hour), was martyred. He was from the city of Antioch, and because of his piety and knowledge, he was ordained a priest. When his brother, Abba Hour, and his mother went to Alexandria, they were martyred on the twenty-ninth of the month of Baounah. This saint gave all his possessions to the poor and the needy, and came to Alexandria to be blessed by their bodies. When he saw the two bodies, he wept much, then went to the governor and confessed the Lord Christ before him. The governor tortured him much until he delivered up his pure soul. The governor ordered his body burned along with the bodies of his brother and his mother, and the bodies of other martyrs, eighty-eight in number. Certain believers came and took the bodies of Sts. Pishay, Abba Hour, their mother, and the bodies of Sts. Tabamoun (Damon), of the city of Danbak (Debkeya), Abimachus (Bimakos), from the city of El-Baramon, and Barashenoufah (Wursunufa), of the city of Teliah (Tuluya), and carried them to the city of Ansabashy (Ablasi), where the believers received them with great reverence.
May their prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. 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 37 : 30 - 31
Chapter 37
| 30 | The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice. |
| 31 | The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. |
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 21 : 15 - 25
Chapter 21
| 15 | So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs." |
| 16 | He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My sheep." |
| 17 | He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep. |
| 18 | Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." |
| 19 | This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me." |
| 20 | Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" |
| 21 | Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" |
| 22 | Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." |
| 23 | Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" |
| 24 | This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. |
| 25 | And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Chapter 26 [X.]— Whether Adam Received the Gift of Perseverance.
Here arises another question, not reasonably to be slighted, but to be approached and solved in the help of the Lord in whose hand are both we and our discourses. Wisdom 7:16 For I am asked, in respect of this giftof God which is to persevere in good to the end, what I think of the first man himself, who assuredly was made upright without any fault.