Readings for Sunday of fifth week of Great Lent
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 39 : 12 - 12
Chapter 39
| 12 |
"Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. |
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 18 : 1 - 8
Chapter 18
| 1 |
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, |
| 2 |
saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. |
| 3 |
Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, "Get justice for me from my adversary.' |
| 4 |
And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, "Though I do not fear God nor regard man, |
| 5 |
yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."' |
| 6 |
Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. |
| 7 |
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? |
| 8 |
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" |
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 102 : 1,2,12
Chapter 102
| 1 |
Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You. |
| 2 |
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. |
| 12 |
But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations. |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 21 : 33 - 46
Chapter 21
| 33 |
"Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. |
| 34 |
Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. |
| 35 |
And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. |
| 36 |
Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. |
| 37 |
Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son.' |
| 38 |
But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' |
| 39 |
So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. |
| 40 |
"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?" |
| 41 |
They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons." |
| 42 |
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? |
| 43 |
"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. |
| 44 |
And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." |
| 45 |
Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. |
| 46 |
But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. |
And Glory be to God forever.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 Thessalonians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
2 Thessalonians 2 : 1 - 17
Chapter 2
| 1 |
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, |
| 2 |
not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. |
| 3 |
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, |
| 4 |
who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. |
| 5 |
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? |
| 6 |
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. |
| 7 |
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. |
| 8 |
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. |
| 9 |
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, |
| 10 |
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. |
| 11 |
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, |
| 12 |
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. |
| 13 |
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, |
| 14 |
to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 15 |
Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. |
| 16 |
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, |
| 17 |
comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 2 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 Peter 3 : 1 - 18
Chapter 3
| 1 |
Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), |
| 2 |
that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, |
| 3 |
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, |
| 4 |
and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." |
| 5 |
For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, |
| 6 |
by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. |
| 7 |
But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. |
| 8 |
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. |
| 9 |
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. |
| 10 |
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. |
| 11 |
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, |
| 12 |
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? |
| 13 |
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. |
| 14 |
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; |
| 15 |
and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, |
| 16 |
as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. |
| 17 |
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; |
| 18 |
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. |
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.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 26 : 19 - end
Chapter 26
| 19 |
"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, |
| 20 |
but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. |
| 21 |
For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. |
| 22 |
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come-- |
| 23 |
that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." |
| 24 |
Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!" |
| 25 |
But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. |
| 26 |
For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. |
| 27 |
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe." |
| 28 |
Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." |
| 29 |
And Paul said, "I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains." |
| 30 |
When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; |
| 31 |
and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, "This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains." |
| 32 |
Then Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." |
Acts 27 : 1 - 8
Chapter 27
| 1 |
And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. |
| 2 |
So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. |
| 3 |
And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. |
| 4 |
When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. |
| 5 |
And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. |
| 6 |
There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board. |
| 7 |
When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. |
| 8 |
Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
Synaxarium
Day 6 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, 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 Sixh Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
The Commemoration of the Appearance of the Lord to Thomas the Apostle after His Resurrection.
On this day is the commemoration of the appearance of the Lord Christ, to Whom is the glory, to Thomas the apostle on the eighth day from the glorious Resurrection as the Bible said: "And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:20-29) When St. Thomas put his hand in the side of the Lord, his hand was about to be burned by the fire of the Divinity, and when he confessed His Divinity his hand was healed from the pain of the burning.
May the prayers of this Apostle be with us. Amen.
The Departure of St. Mary of Egypt.
On this day also of the year 137 A.M. (421 A.D.) the hermit St. Mary of Egypt departed. She was born in the city of Alexandria about the year 61 A.M. (345 A.D.) from Christian parents. When she became twelve years old, Satan the enemy of the human race, seduced her, led her astray, and made her his net through which he caught innumerable souls. She continued in this sinful conduct for seventeen years until the mercy of God touched her life, she met people going to Jerusalem and she went with them. Since she did not have what to pay for the trip, she gave her self to the owners of the ship in return, until she came to Jerusalem. She also went on doing the same there. She wished to enter through the door of the church of the Resurrection, but she felt a hidden power pulling her from the back preventing her from entering the church. Whenever she tried to enter she felt as someone preventing her from doing so, and right away she realized that was because of her uncleanliness. She lifted up her eyes with a broken heart, and she wept interceding with St. Mary and asked her to intercede on her behalf before her Beloved Son. She felt encouraged and wished to enter with those entering, nothing prevented her from entering, and she prayed therein to God asking Him to guide her for what was pleasing to Him. She stood before the icon of the blessed and pure Virgin, and asked her fervently to guide her that she might save her soul. A voice came out of the icon saying: "If you cross the Jordan river you will find rest and salvation." She rose in haste and when she left the court yard of the resurrection and on her way she met a man who gave her three small coins with which she bought bread. Then she crossed the Jordan river to the wilderness where she lived for forty seven years. She strove strenuously for seventeen years, Satan fought against her by the fornication that she repented from. She overcame with the grace of God and she ate all this period the herbs of the desert. In the forty fifth year of her living in the desert, St. Zosima went to the wilderness, according to the custom of the monks there, during the holy Forty Days of fast for devotion and asceticism. While he was walking in the desert he saw this Saint from far and he thought that she was a shadow or mirage. He prayed to God to reveal to him the fact about this mirage, and he was inspired that it was a human being. He went toward the shadow, but it fled from him. When she saw that he is insisting on following her, she called him from behind a hill saying: "O Zosima if you wish to talk to me, throw me a rag that I may cover myself for I am naked." He marvelled for she called him by his name, he threw to her what she covered herself with, and she came to him. After the greetings and the metanias, she asked him to pray for her because he was a priest. He asked her to tell him the story of her life from the beginning to the present time. After she told him, she asked him to bring with him in the next year the Holy Eucharist to partake of it. In the next year he came to her and she partook of the Holy Mysteries, then he gave her what he had from dates and lentils, she only took a handful of lentils, and she asked him to come to her in the next year. When he came to her in the next year he found that she had departed, a lion standing beside her and writing beside her saying " Bury Mary, the poor woman, in the dust of which she was created." He marvelled from the writing and from the lion that was protecting her body and while he was thinking how he was going to dig to bury her, the lion came and dug a grave for her. He prayed over her and buried her. When he returned to his monastery, he told the monks the story of the strife of this holy woman, and they all increased in steadfastness in the Divine Mercy and progressed in the spiritual life. All the years of her life were seventy six years.
May her prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
↑ Top of Page ↑
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 33 : 5 - 6
Chapter 33
| 5 |
He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. |
| 6 |
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His 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 5 : 1 - 18
Chapter 5
| 1 |
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. |
| 2 |
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. |
| 3 |
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. |
| 4 |
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. |
| 5 |
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. |
| 6 |
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" |
| 7 |
The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." |
| 8 |
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." |
| 9 |
And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. |
| 10 |
The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." |
| 11 |
He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, "Take up your bed and walk."' |
| 12 |
Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, "Take up your bed and walk'?" |
| 13 |
But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. |
| 14 |
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." |
| 15 |
The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. |
| 16 |
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. |
| 17 |
But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." |
| 18 |
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. |
And Glory be to God forever.
