Owe! Tax day. Not my favorite, how about yours? But where would we be without government, order and laws. While we may not like how the system functions today, what if we had no system. Let's be redemptive in our living and obedient in our citizenship and ask God to bless our country and bring it revival.
Day 13 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 Thirteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Martyrdom of the Saints Joshua and Joseph
On this day, the holy monks Anba Joshua and Anba Joseph were martyred. They were the disciples of St. Melius in the mount of Khorasan, and their biography is mentioned in the 28th day of Baramoudah, which is the day of martyrdom of their spiritual teacher Anba Melius.
May Their prayers be with us all. Amen.
Commemoration of Dionisa (Denisa) the Deaconess and Medius the Martyr
This day also marks the commemoration of St. Dionisa (Denisa), the deaconess who was appointed by the apostles and the commemoration of St. Medius the martyr.
May Their prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of Pope Yoannis the Seventeenth, the 105th Patriarch of Alexandria
On this day also, the distinguished Pope and prudent pontiff, Anba Yoannis the seventeenth, 105th Patriarch of Alexandria, departed. The parents of this father were pious Christians from the city of Mallawy, in Upper Egypt. When he was 25 years old, he left this futile world and went to the monastery of St. Antonios. He became a monk there and his name was Abdel Sayed. Then he went to the monastery of Anba Paula, after its renovation. He exerted himself in worship, and educated himself. He learned reading and writing, for he was illiterate, then he thoroughly studied the holy books. After he exerted himself in asceticism and a virtuous life, studying the church subjects and its books, the fathers the monks chose him as a priest for them. Pope Yoannis, 103rd Patriarch ordained him along with his fellow Mourgan El-Assuity, who became, later on, Pope Petros VI, 104th Patriarch. When Pope Petros VI, 104th Patriarch departed, the fathers the bishops, priests, and lay leaders discussed who would be fit for the Patriarchal Chair. They chose this father among others, and brought them from the monasteries to Cairo. After they prayed the Divine Liturgy for three days, they cast the lot, which fell on this father.
He was ordained a Patriarch in the church of the martyr Mercurius Abu Saifain, in Old Cairo, on Sunday, the sixth of Tubah, 1443 A.M. (January 12th., 1727 A.D.). After his ordination and before the reading of the Gospel, they opened the door to the tomb of the fathers the Patriarchs, as the custom, for the newly elected Pope to go down and take the cross and staff from the hand of his departed predecessor. After he went down and took the cross, the bones in the tomb crepitated, and he was terrified, so he ordered to stop this practice, saying that the crosses and staffs were in abundance. The purpose of this custom was that the successor will take a lesson from his departed predecessor, so he would not be deceived by the position and become arrogant, and seeing the fate of his predecessor would be a lesson and example before him always. The Pope stayed after his enthronement a week in Old Cairo, then went to the Patriarchal residence in Haret El-Rum.
This Pope dedicated himself to building churches and monasteries, their renovation and consecration. During his Papacy, a wonderful church was built in the monastery of Anba Paula, the first hermit in the Nemr Mount, and consecrated it himself. He was accompanied by Anba Ebraam, Bishop of El-Bahnasa, and an assembly of the notables. Among them was the archon Girgis El-Sourogy, who paid for the building of this church. After that, Pope Youannis built a church, refectory, and other buildings in the monastery of the honorable saint Anba Antonios, the father of all monks. He consecrated it by his blessed hands and ordained there hegumens, priests, and deacons. The honorable archon Girgis El-Sourogy also paid for these buildings. In the ninth year of his Papacy, in 1451 A.M., the Sultan ordered to raise the taxes for the Christians and Jews three folds. Later, these taxes were raised more and imposed over the monks, priests, children, poor, and beggars without exempting anyone, so the time of this father was difficult and sorrowful for the poor, professionals and trade workers.
During his time, there was also a great increase in prices and a severe earthquake shook Cairo in the middle of the night, which lasted for about an hour. The foundation of the earth violently shook, houses were destroyed, and people trembled then God Had mercy on his people and removed from them these bitter tribulations. When Anba Khristozolo III, 102nd Metropolitan of the Chair of Ethiopia, departed, a group of Ethiopian lay leaders came to Pope Yoannis, in the 17th year of his Papacy, in 1460 A.M. (1744 AD.), and asked him to ordain for them a Metropolitan. He ordained for them the monk John (Youhanna), one of the priests of the monastery of our great father Anba Antonios, and called him Youannis XIV, and returned with joy with him. This Pope lived long and lived until a good old age shepherding his flock with the best of care. When he finished his strife, he fell sick for a short illness and then departed in peace on the Monday of the Paschal week, the thirteenth of Baramoudah, year 1461 A.M. (April 20th., 1745 A.D.). He sat on the Chair 18 years, 3 months, and 8 days, and was buried in the tomb of the Patriarchs in the church of St.Mercurius Abu-Saifain in Old Cairo. He was contemporary to the Sultan Ahmed III and the Sultan Mahmoud I. The Chair remained vacant one month and ten days after his departure.
May His blessings be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Readings for Tuesday of second week of fifty Joyous Days
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 9 : 19
Chapter 9
| 19 | Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. |
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 17 : 19 - 23
Chapter 17
| 19 | Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" |
| 20 | So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. |
| 21 | However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." |
| 22 | Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, |
| 23 | and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. |
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 7 : 6,8
Chapter 7
| 6 | Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! |
| 8 | The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. |
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 9 : 27 - 31
Chapter 9
| 27 | When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" |
| 28 | And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." |
| 29 | Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." |
| 30 | And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." |
| 31 | But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. |
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 1 : 7 - 10
Chapter 1
| 7 | To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 8 | First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. |
| 9 | For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, |
| 10 | making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. |
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 : 6 - 10
Chapter 1
| 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 4 : 5 - 7
Chapter 4
| 5 | And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, |
| 6 | as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. |
| 7 | And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" |
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 7 : 6,8
Chapter 7
| 6 | Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! |
| 8 | The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. |
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 : 22 - 24
Chapter 5
| 22 | For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, |
| 23 | that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. |
| 24 | "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Gregory of Nyssa
The Cross, a Mystery of Convergence of all Creation
As to the Cross, (...) the traditional teaching which has reached us is as follows. (...) This is the very thing we learn from the figure of the Cross; it is divided into four parts, so that there are the projections, four in number, from the central point where the whole converges upon itself; because He Who at the hour of His pre-arranged death was stretched upon it is He Who binds together all things into Himself, and by Himself brings to one harmonious agreement the diverse natures of actual existences. For in these existences there is the idea either of something above, or of something below, or else the thought passes to the confines sideways. (...) Since, then, all creation looks to Him, and is about and around Him, and through Him is coherent with itself, things above being through Him conjoined to things below and things lateral to themselves, (...) the mighty Paul starts when he initiates the people of Ephesus in the mysteries, and imbues them through his instructions with the power of knowing what is that “depth and height and breadth and length” (Cf. 3:18). In fact he designates each projection of the Cross by its proper appellation. (...) Such is the lesson we learn in regard to the mystery of the Cross.
The Great Catechetical Oration, 32; NPNF, 2nd Ser., Vol. V, p. 499-500