- Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 110 : 4,5,7
Chapter 110
| 4 | The LORD has sworn And will not relent, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." |
| 5 | The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. |
| 7 | He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head. |
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 16 : 13 - 19
Chapter 16
| 13 | When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" |
| 14 | So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." |
| 15 | He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" |
| 16 | Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." |
| 17 | Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. |
| 18 | And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. |
| 19 | And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." |
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 73 : 23 - 24
Chapter 73
| 23 | Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. |
| 24 | You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. |
Psalms 73 : 28
Chapter 73
| 28 | But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works. |
Psalms 9 : 14
Chapter 9
| 14 | That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation. |
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 15 : 17 - 25
Chapter 15
| 17 | These things I command you, that you love one another. |
| 18 | "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. |
| 19 | If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. |
| 20 | Remember the word that I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. |
| 21 | But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. |
| 22 | If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. |
| 23 | He who hates Me hates My Father also. |
| 24 | If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. |
| 25 | But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, "They hated Me without a cause.' |
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.
2 Corinthians 4 : 5 - 5 : 11
Chapter 4
| 5 | For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. |
| 6 | For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. |
| 7 | But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. |
| 8 | We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; |
| 9 | persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- |
| 10 | always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. |
| 11 | For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. |
| 12 | So then death is working in us, but life in you. |
| 13 | And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, |
| 14 | knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. |
| 15 | For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. |
| 16 | Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. |
| 17 | For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, |
| 18 | while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. |
Chapter 5
| 1 | For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. |
| 2 | For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, |
| 3 | if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. |
| 4 | For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. |
| 5 | Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. |
| 6 | So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. |
| 7 | For we walk by faith, not by sight. |
| 8 | We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. |
| 9 | Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. |
| 10 | For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. |
| 11 | Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. |
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 2 : 18 - 3 : 7
Chapter 2
| 18 | Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. |
| 19 | For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. |
| 20 | For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. |
| 21 | For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: |
| 22 | "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"; |
| 23 | who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; |
| 24 | who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed. |
| 25 | For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. |
Chapter 3
| 1 | Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, |
| 2 | when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. |
| 3 | Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-- |
| 4 | rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. |
| 5 | For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, |
| 6 | as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. |
| 7 | Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. |
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 20 : 17 - 38
Chapter 20
| 17 | From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. |
| 18 | And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, |
| 19 | serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; |
| 20 | how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, |
| 21 | testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 22 | And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, |
| 23 | except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. |
| 24 | But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. |
| 25 | "And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. |
| 26 | Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. |
| 27 | For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. |
| 28 | Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. |
| 29 | For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. |
| 30 | Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. |
| 31 | Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. |
| 32 | "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. |
| 33 | I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. |
| 34 | Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. |
| 35 | I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."' |
| 36 | And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. |
| 37 | Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, |
| 38 | sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship. |
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 107 : 32,41,42
Chapter 107
| 32 | Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders. |
| 41 | Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. |
| 42 | The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth. |
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 10 : 1 - 16
Chapter 10
| 1 | "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. |
| 2 | But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. |
| 3 | To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. |
| 4 | And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. |
| 5 | Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." |
| 6 | Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. |
| 7 | Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. |
| 8 | All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. |
| 9 | I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. |
| 10 | The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. |
| 11 | "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. |
| 12 | But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. |
| 13 | The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. |
| 14 | I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. |
| 15 | As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. |
| 16 | And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. |
And Glory be to God forever.
On Luke 10:22 and Matthew 11:27 § 1. This text refers not to the eternal Word but to the Incarnate. All things were delivered to Me by My Father. And none knows Who the Son is, save the Father; and Who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son wills to reveal Him. And from not perceiving this they of the sect of Arius, Eusebius and his fellows, indulge impiety against the Lord. For they say, if all things were delivered (meaning by 'all' the Lordship of Creation), there was once a time when He had them not. But if He had them not, He is not of the Father, for if He were, He would on that account have had them always, and would not have required to receive them. But this point will furnish all the clearer an exposure of their folly. For the expression in question does not refer to the Lordship over Creation, nor to presiding over the works of God, but is meant to reveal in part the intention of the Incarnation (τῆς οἰκονομίας). For if when He was speaking they 'were delivered' to Him, clearly before He received them, creation was void of the Word. What then becomes of the text in Him all things consist Colossians 1:17? But if simultaneously with the origin of the Creation it was all 'delivered' to Him, such delivery were superfluous, for 'all things were made by Him' John 1:3, and it would be unnecessary for those things of which the Lord Himself was the artificer to be delivered over to Him. For in making them He was Lord of the things which were being originated. But even supposing they were 'delivered' to Him after they were originated, see the monstrosity. For if they 'were delivered,' and upon His receiving them the Father retired, then we are in peril of falling into the fabulous tales which some tell, that He gave over [His works] to the Son, and Himself departed. Or if, while the Son has them, the Father has them also, we ought to say, not 'were delivered,' but that He took Him as partner, as Paul did Silvanus. But this is even more monstrous; for God is not imperfect , nor did He summon the Son to help Him in His need; but, being Father of the Word, He makes all things by His means, and without delivering creation over to Him, by His means and in Him exercises Providence over it, so that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father Matthew 10:29, nor is the grass clothed without God Matthew 6:30, but at once the Father works, and the Son works hitherto cf.John 5:17. Vain, therefore, is the opinion of the impious. For the expression is not what they think, but designates the Incarnation. §2. Sense in which, and end for which all things were delivered to the Incarnate Son. For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses cf.Romans 5:14, the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised cf.Psalm 49:12, while the devil was exulting against us—then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go?' Isaiah 6:8. But while all held their peace, the Son said, 'Here am I, send Me.' And then it was that, saying 'Go,' He 'delivered' to Him man, that the Word Himself might be made Flesh, and by taking the Flesh, restore it wholly. For to Him, as to a physician, man 'was delivered' to heal the bite of the serpent; as to life, to raise what was dead; as to light, to illumine the darkness; and, because He was Word, to renew the rational nature (τὸ λογικόν). Since then all things 'were delivered' to Him, and He is made Man, straightway all things were set right and perfected. Earth receives blessing instead of a curse, Paradise was opened to the robber, Hades cowered, the tombs were opened and the dead raised, the gates of Heaven were lifted up to await Him that 'comes from Edom?' Psalm 24:7, Isaiah 63:1. Why, the Saviour Himself expressly signifies in what sense 'all things were delivered' to Him, when He continues, as Matthew tells us: 'Come unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' Matthew 11:28. Yes, you 'were delivered' to Me to give rest to those who had laboured, and life to the dead. And what is written in John's Gospel harmonises with this: 'The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand' John 3:35. Given, in order that, just as all things were made by Him, so in Him all things might be renewed. For they were not 'delivered' unto Him, that being poor, He might be made rich, nor did He receive all things that He might receive power which before He lacked: far be the thought: but in order that as Saviour He might rather set all things right. For it was fitting that while 'through Him' all things came into being at the beginning, 'in Him' (note the change of phrase) all things should be set right cf. John 1:3, Ephesians 1:10. For at the beginning they came into being 'through' Him; but afterwards, all having fallen, the Word has been made Flesh, and put it on, in order that 'in Him' all should be set right. Suffering Himself, He gave us rest, hungering Himself, He nourished us, and going down into Hades He brought us back thence. For example, at the time of the creation of all things, their creation consisted in a fiat, such as 'let [the earth] bring forth,' 'let there be' Genesis 1:3, 11, but at the restoration it was fitting that all things should be 'delivered' to Him, in order that He might be made man, and all things be renewed in Him. For man, being in Him, was quickened: for this was why the Word was united to man, namely, that against man the curse might no longer prevail. This is the reason why they record the request made on behalf of mankind in the seventy-first Psalm: 'Give the King Your judgment, O God?' Psalm 72:1: asking that both the judgment of death which hung over us may be delivered to the Son, and that He may then, by dying for us, abolish it for us in Himself. This was what He signified, saying Himself, in the eighty-seventh Psalm: 'Your indignation lies hard upon me' Psalm 88:7. For He bore the indignation which lay upon us, as also He says in the hundred and thirty-seventh: 'Lord, You shall do vengeance for me' Psalm 137:8. §3. By 'all things' is meant the redemptive attributes and power of Christ. Thus, then, we may understand all things to have been delivered to the Saviour, and, if it be necessary to follow up understanding by explanation, that has been delivered unto Him which He did not previously possess. For He was not man previously, but became man for the sake of saving man. And the Word was not in the beginning flesh, but has been made flesh subsequently cf.John 1:1 sqq, in which Flesh, as the Apostle says, He reconciled the enmity which was against us Colossians 1:20, 2:14, Ephesians 2:15-16 and destroyed the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might make the two into one new man, making peace, and reconcile both in one body to the Father. That, however, which the Father has, belongs also to the Son, as also He says in John, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine' John 16:15, expressions which could not be improved. For when He became that which He was not, 'all things were delivered' to Him. But when He desires to declare His unity with the Father, He teaches it without any reserve, saying: 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine.' And one cannot but admire the exactness of the language. For He has not said 'all things whatsoever the Father has, He has given to Me,' lest He should appear at one time not to have possessed these things; but 'are Mine.' For these things, being in the Father's power, are equally in that of the Son. But we must in turn examine what things 'the Father has.' For if Creation is meant, the Father had nothing before creation, and proves to have received something additional from Creation; but far be it to think this. For just as He exists before creation, so before creation also He has what He has, which we also believe to belong to the Son John 16:15. For if the Son is in the Father, then all things that the Father has belong to the Son. So this expression is subversive of the perversity of the heterodox in saying that 'if all things have been delivered to the Son, then the Father has ceased to have power over what is delivered, having appointed the Son in His place. For, in fact, the Father judges none, but has given all judgment to the Son?' John 5:22. But 'let the mouth of them that speak wickedness be stopped' Psalm 63:11, (for although He has given all judgment to the Son, He is not, therefore, stripped of lordship: nor, because it is said that all things are delivered by the Father to the Son, is He any the less over all), separating as they clearly do the Only-begotten from God, Who is by nature inseparable from Him, even though in their madness they separate Him by their words, not perceiving, the impious men, that the Light can never be separated from the sun, in which it resides by nature. For one must use a poor simile drawn from tangible and familiar objects to put our idea into words, since it is over bold to intrude upon the incomprehensible nature [of God]. §4. The text John 16:15 , shows clearly the essential relation of the Son to the Father. As then the light from the Sun which illumines the world could never be supposed, by men of sound mind, to do so without the Sun, since the Sun's light is united to the Sun by nature; and as, if the Light were to say: I have received from the Sun the power of illumining all things, and of giving growth and strength to them by the heat that is in me, no one will be mad enough to think that the mention of the Sun is meant to separate him from what is his nature, namely the light; so piety would have us perceive that the Divine Essence of the Word is united by nature to His own Father. For the text before us will put our problem in the clearest possible light, seeing that the Saviour said, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine;' which shows that He is ever with the Father. For 'whatsoever He has' shows that the Father wields the Lordship, while 'are Mine' shows the inseparable union. It is necessary, then, that we should perceive that in the Father reside Everlastingness, Eternity, Immortality. Now these reside in Him not as adventitious attributes, but, as it were, in a well-spring they reside in Him, and in the Son. When then you wish to perceive what relates to the Son, learn what is in the Father, for this is what you must believe to be in the Son. If then the Father is a thing created or made, these qualities belong also to the Son. And if it is permissible to say of the Father 'there was once a time when He was not,' or 'made of nothing,' let these words be applied also to the Son. But if it is impious to ascribe these attributes to the Father, grant that it is impious also to ascribe them to the Son. For what belongs to the Father, belongs to the Son. For he that honours the Son, honours the Father that sent Him, and he that receives the Son, receives the Father with Him, because he that has seen the Son has seen the Father Matthew 10:40; John 14:9. As then the Father is not a creature, so neither is the Son; and as it is not possible to say of Him 'there was a time when He was not,' nor 'made of nothing,' so it is not proper to say the like of the Son either. But rather, as the Father's attributes are Everlastingness, Immortality, Eternity, and the being no creature, it follows that thus also we must think of the Son. For as it is written John 5:26, 'As the Father has life in Himself, so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself.' But He uses the word 'gave' in order to point to the Father who gives. As, again, life is in the Father, so also is it in the Son, so as to show Him to be inseparable and everlasting. For this is why He speaks with exactness, 'whatsoever the Father has,' in order namely that by thus mentioning the Father He may avoid being thought to be the Father Himself. For He does not say 'I am the Father,' but 'whatsoever the Father has.' By. Saint Athanasius