Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Worthy of respect! What a goal for our lives whether we are men or women! Don't you want your life to reflect the character of God because our faith expresses itself in a life of self-control and godliness? This work of the Spirit in our lives happens only as we dedicate ourselves to being what he is at work trying to accomplish in us.
My Prayer...
Father, please strengthen me through your Spirit so that I may gain better control of my passions, my speech, my example, and my habits. Help me put to death the things that would rob me of my spiritual passion and my influence for good to those who do not know Jesus. Make my faith stronger as I try to lovingly treat others and persevere in faith through difficult times. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Day 1 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Tute, 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 Tute
Feast of El-Nayrouz (Beginning of the Blessed Coptic Year)
Today is the beginning of the blessed Coptic year. It is necessary to keep it a holy day with full purity and chastity. Let us start a new demeanor as St.Paul the Apostle says, "Therefeore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; Behold, all things become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor. 5:17-18) And Isaiah the Prophet says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Isaiah 61:1-2) And David the Prophet says, "Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness." (Psalms 65:11)We ask our God to keep us without sin and help us to act according to His will with the intercessions of the pure Saint Mary and all the Martyrs and Saints. Amen.
Departure of St.Bartholomew, the Apostle
On this day also was the departure of the holy Apostle Bartholomew, one of the twelve disciples. to this Apostle fell the lot that he was to go to the oasis (the great oasis, Al-Khargah). He and Peter went together. There he proceeded and preached to the people. He called them to the knowledge of God, after performing before them signs and wonders that amazed their minds. He had originally entered the city with Peter, who sold him as a slave. He worked in the vineyards of a rich man and whenever he trimmed the vine branches, they immediately bore fruit. It happened that the son of the governor of that city died, and Bartholomew the Apostle raised him up from the dead. Then all the people believed and he strengthened them in the knowledge of God. After that, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded him to go to the land of the Berbers and sent St.Andrew, his disciple, to help him.
The people of that city were exceedingly wicked, and would not accept any of the signs or wonders the disciples performed. Yet the two disciples continued to preach and teach them until they entered the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, they appointed priests over them, built churches for them, and after that they departed. St.BAtholomew left for the cities on the Mediterranean coast, where the inhabitants knew not God, and preached unto them and converted them to the knowledge of God and the belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught them to perform the works which were worthy of Christianity and commanded them to be pure and chaste. When King Agrippa heard of him, he was exceedingly enraged and commanded his servants to put him in a hair sack, to fill the sack with sand, and cast it into the sea. And so were consumated the struggle and martyrdom of St.Bartholomew.
May his blessings and prayers be with us all. Amen.
Departure of St.Melyos, Pope of Alexandria, the Third
Also on this day in the year 98 A.D., departed St.Melyos, the third Pope of Alexandria after St.Mark. This Saint was appointed in the fifteenth year of the reign of Domitian, the son of Vespian, Emperor of Rome, fifty-five years after the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. He pastured and guarded the flock twelve years and departed in peace.
May his blessings and prayers be with us all. Amen.
Job and His Washing
On this day also Job, the righteous man, was washed in water and was healed of all his sickness. The people were then in the habit of dipping themselves in water whereby they were blessed for the rest of the year.
May his blessings be upon us all and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Readings for The Nayrouz Feast
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 96 : 1 - 2
Chapter 96
| 1 | Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. |
| 2 | Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. |
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 13 : 44 - 52
Chapter 13
| 44 | "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. |
| 45 | "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, |
| 46 | who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. |
| 47 | "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, |
| 48 | which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. |
| 49 | So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, |
| 50 | and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." |
| 51 | Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." |
| 52 | Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." |
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 98 : 1
Chapter 98
| 1 | Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. |
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 Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Mark 2 : 18 - 22
Chapter 2
| 18 | The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" |
| 19 | And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. |
| 20 | But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. |
| 21 | No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. |
| 22 | And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." |
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 5 : 11 - 21
Chapter 5
| 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. |
| 12 | For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. |
| 13 | For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. |
| 14 | For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; |
| 15 | and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. |
| 16 | Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. |
| 17 | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. |
| 18 | Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, |
| 19 | that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. |
| 20 | Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. |
| 21 | For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. |
2 Corinthians 6 : 1 - 13
Chapter 6
| 1 | We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. |
| 2 | For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. |
| 3 | We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. |
| 4 | But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, |
| 5 | in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; |
| 6 | by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, |
| 7 | by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, |
| 8 | by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; |
| 9 | as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; |
| 10 | as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. |
| 11 | O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. |
| 12 | You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. |
| 13 | Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. |
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 2 : 7 - 17
Chapter 2
| 7 | Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. |
| 8 | Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. |
| 9 | He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. |
| 10 | He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. |
| 11 | But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. |
| 12 | I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. |
| 13 | I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. |
| 14 | I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. |
| 15 | Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. |
| 16 | For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. |
| 17 | And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. |
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 : 16 - 34
Chapter 17
| 16 | Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. |
| 17 | Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. |
| 18 | Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. |
| 19 | And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? |
| 20 | For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." |
| 21 | For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. |
| 22 | Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; |
| 23 | for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: |
| 24 | God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. |
| 25 | Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. |
| 26 | And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, |
| 27 | so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; |
| 28 | for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, "For we are also His offspring.' |
| 29 | Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. |
| 30 | Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, |
| 31 | because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." |
| 32 | And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter." |
| 33 | So Paul departed from among them. |
| 34 | However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. |
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 Tute, 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 Tute
Feast of El-Nayrouz (Beginning of the Blessed Coptic Year)
Today is the beginning of the blessed Coptic year. It is necessary to keep it a holy day with full purity and chastity. Let us start a new demeanor as St.Paul the Apostle says, "Therefeore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; Behold, all things become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor. 5:17-18) And Isaiah the Prophet says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Isaiah 61:1-2) And David the Prophet says, "Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness." (Psalms 65:11)We ask our God to keep us without sin and help us to act according to His will with the intercessions of the pure Saint Mary and all the Martyrs and Saints. Amen.
Departure of St.Bartholomew, the Apostle
On this day also was the departure of the holy Apostle Bartholomew, one of the twelve disciples. to this Apostle fell the lot that he was to go to the oasis (the great oasis, Al-Khargah). He and Peter went together. There he proceeded and preached to the people. He called them to the knowledge of God, after performing before them signs and wonders that amazed their minds. He had originally entered the city with Peter, who sold him as a slave. He worked in the vineyards of a rich man and whenever he trimmed the vine branches, they immediately bore fruit. It happened that the son of the governor of that city died, and Bartholomew the Apostle raised him up from the dead. Then all the people believed and he strengthened them in the knowledge of God. After that, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded him to go to the land of the Berbers and sent St.Andrew, his disciple, to help him.
The people of that city were exceedingly wicked, and would not accept any of the signs or wonders the disciples performed. Yet the two disciples continued to preach and teach them until they entered the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, they appointed priests over them, built churches for them, and after that they departed. St.BAtholomew left for the cities on the Mediterranean coast, where the inhabitants knew not God, and preached unto them and converted them to the knowledge of God and the belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught them to perform the works which were worthy of Christianity and commanded them to be pure and chaste. When King Agrippa heard of him, he was exceedingly enraged and commanded his servants to put him in a hair sack, to fill the sack with sand, and cast it into the sea. And so were consumated the struggle and martyrdom of St.Bartholomew.
May his blessings and prayers be with us all. Amen.
Departure of St.Melyos, Pope of Alexandria, the Third
Also on this day in the year 98 A.D., departed St.Melyos, the third Pope of Alexandria after St.Mark. This Saint was appointed in the fifteenth year of the reign of Domitian, the son of Vespian, Emperor of Rome, fifty-five years after the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. He pastured and guarded the flock twelve years and departed in peace.
May his blessings and prayers be with us all. Amen.
Job and His Washing
On this day also Job, the righteous man, was washed in water and was healed of all his sickness. The people were then in the habit of dipping themselves in water whereby they were blessed for the rest of the year.
May his blessings be upon us all and Glory be to 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 65:11 ; 81:1
Chapter 65
| 11 | You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. |
Chapter 81
| 1 | Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. |
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 4 : 14 - 30
Chapter 4
| 14 | Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. |
| 15 | And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. |
| 16 | So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. |
| 17 | And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: |
| 18 | "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; |
| 19 | To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." |
| 20 | Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. |
| 21 | And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." |
| 22 | So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" |
| 23 | He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, "Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country."' |
| 24 | Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. |
| 25 | But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; |
| 26 | but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. |
| 27 | And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." |
| 28 | So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, |
| 29 | and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. |
| 30 | Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Finally, certain angels, of whom the chief is he who is called the devil, became by free will outcasts from the Lord God. Yet although they fled from His goodness, wherein they had been blessed, they could not flee from His judgment, by which they were made most wretched. Others, however, by the same free will stood fast in the truth, and merited the knowledge of that most certain truththat they should never fall. For if from the Holy Scriptures we have been able to attain the knowledge that none of the holy angels shall fall evermore, how much more have they themselves attained this knowledgeby the truth more sublimely revealed to them!