Where did Scripture come from? What is the basis of our faith in the Bible and the Gospel? Peter wants us to realize that the prophets of ancient times didn't bake up their own private recipes for their prophecies. Instead, they could only move and respond to what God was doing in them, not what they themselves wanted to do or say. They were human, but their message was God's word because the Holy Spirit moved them to speak and guided their words. This makes what we have in Scripture from the prophets more than precious: we are given the very words of God! (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
as always on his mind. When he was 35 years old, he was ordained priest, and he devoted himself to serve the holy church. He asked the Lord Christ by day and night to facilitate for him the parting from this world to go to the desert. The Lord Christ answered his request and he went out from the city and came to Ternot (Mareot) and from there went to the desert. The angel of God appeared to him in the form of a monk who journeyed with him and brought him to the monastery of St. Macarius in Scete. He came to the holy old men Abba Abraham and Abba Gawargah, became their disciple and remained with them for three years. Then, they took him before the altar and in the presence of the Hegumen Abba Yoanis and for three days they prayed over the monastic garb. They then ordained him a monk and dressed him with the holy Eskeem. From that hour he exerted himself with many worships, in continuous fasting and prayer and fought a great fight. He slept on the ground until his skin cleaved to his bones. He read continually the biography of Abba Simon the Stylite, and he thought of leading a solitary life. He took counsel with the holy fathers concerning that, and they approved his wish and they prayed for him. He left and came near the city of Sakha, province of Gharbia, where he dwelt in a small church. The believers built a place for him on a pillar and he went up on it. During his days, a man appeared in whom dwelt an obstinate devil, who led many people astray. He sat in the middle of the church surrounded by people listing to him, carrying tree branches. Abba Agathon sent for the possessed and had him brought to him. He prayed over him and cast out the devil who led the people astray. Similarly, a woman claimed that St. Mina conversed with her and she commanded the people of her city to dig a well in the name of St. Mina to heal everyone who bathed in it. St. Agatho prayed over that woman until he cast out from her that unclean spirit and he commanded the people to fill up that well with earth. At the hands of this holy man, St. Agathon, God worked many miracles, of healing sick people and casting out devils. The devils appeared to him in the form of angels, singing sweet songs and imparting blessings unto him, but by the might of the Lord Christ he knew their guile, he made the sign of the Cross over them, and they fled away defeated. When God wished to repose him from the labors of this world, he fell sick for a short while and delivered up his soul into the hand of God. The people who had benefitted from his sermons and teachings gathered around him and wept bitterly. This holy father lived for 100 years, of which he spent 40 years in the world and 10 years in the desert and 50 years in solitude upon that pillar. His prayers guard us against all our enemies, 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 40 : 2 - 3
Chapter 40
| 2 | He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. |
| 3 | He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. |
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 7 : 22 - 25
Chapter 7
| 22 | Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' |
| 23 | And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' |
| 24 | "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: |
| 25 | and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. |
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 89 : 24,19
Chapter 89
| 24 | "But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted. |
| 19 | Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, And said: "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. |
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 Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 13 : 23 - 30
Chapter 13
| 23 | Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, |
| 24 | "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. |
| 25 | When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from,' |
| 26 | then you will begin to say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' |
| 27 | But He will say, "I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' |
| 28 | There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. |
| 29 | They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. |
| 30 | And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last." |
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.
1 Corinthians 3 : 1 - 8
Chapter 3
| 1 | And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. |
| 2 | I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; |
| 3 | for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? |
| 4 | For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? |
| 5 | Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? |
| 6 | I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. |
| 7 | So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. |
| 8 | Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 2 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
2 Peter 1 : 1 - 11
Chapter 1
| 1 | Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: |
| 2 | Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, |
| 3 | as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, |
| 4 | by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. |
| 5 | But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, |
| 6 | to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, |
| 7 | to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. |
| 8 | For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 9 | For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. |
| 10 | Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; |
| 11 | for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. |
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 15 : 13 - 29
Chapter 15
| 13 | And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me: |
| 14 | Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. |
| 15 | And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: |
| 16 | 'After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; |
| 17 | So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD. Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.' |
| 18 | "Known to God from eternity are all His works. |
| 19 | Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, |
| 20 | but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. |
| 21 | For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." |
| 22 | Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. |
| 23 | They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. |
| 24 | Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment-- |
| 25 | it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, |
| 26 | men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 27 | We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. |
| 28 | For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: |
| 29 | that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Synaxarium
Day 14 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 Fourteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Tute
Departure of St.Agatho the Stylite
On this day departed St.Agatho the Stylite. He was from the city of Tenis. The name of his father was Matra and his mother's name was Mariam. They were righteous and feared God, and they loved to give alms and gifts to the poor and needy. The thought of monasticism moved in his mind continually. When he was thirty-five years old, he was ordained priest, he devoted himself and served the church continually. He asked the Lord Christ by day and by night to facilitate for him his departure from this world, and to help him to depart to the desert. The Lord Christ answered his request and he went out from the city and came to Ternot (Mareot) and then to the desert where the angel of God appeared to him in the form of a monk who journeyed with him and brought him to the monastery of St.Macarius in Scete. He came to the holy old men Abba Abraham and Abba Gawargah and he became their disciple and lived with them for three years. After this they took him before the altar and in the presence of Hegomen Abba Yoanis, they remained three days in prayer over his garb of monasticism. Then they dressed him in the holy Eskeem. From that hour he exerted all his efforts in continuous fasting and prayer and fought a great fight. He used to sleep on the ground till his skin cleaved to his bones. He read continually the history of the striving of Abba Simon the Stylite, and he thought of leading a solitary life. He took counsel with the holy fathers concerning that, and they approved his opinion. They prayed for him and then he left and came near the city of Sakha where he dwelt in a little church. the believers built a place for him on a pillar and he went up on it and labored strenuously leading an ascetic life for fifty years.
In his days there appeared a man in whom there was an obstinate devil and who led many people away. He used to sit in the midst of church and the people would gather around to hear him, and they carried branches of trees. Abba Agatho sent for the posseddsed and had him brought to him, and he prayed over him. He cast out the devil who used to lead the people astray.
Similarily, a woman claimed that St.Mina conversed with her and she commanded the people of her city to dig a well after the name of St.Mina to heal everyone who bathed therein. St.Agatho prayed over that woman until he cast out from her that unclean spirit and St.Agatho commanded the people to cover up that well with earth. At the hands of this holy man, St.Agatho, God worked many miracles, and he healed very many sick people and cast out devils. The devils appeared to him in the form of angels, singing sweet songs and imparting blessings unto him, but by the might of the Lord Christ he knew their guile, and he made the sign of the Cross over them, and they flew away defeated.
When God wished to give him rest from the labors of this world, he fell sick shortly and delivered up his soul into the hand of God. All the people who had benefited from his sermons and teachings and gathered around him and wept bitterly. This holy father lived for one hundred years, of which he spent forty years in the world and ten years in the desert and fifty years in solitude upon that pillar.
May his prayers and blessings be with 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 61 : 1 - 3
Chapter 61
| 1 | Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. |
| 2 | From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. |
| 3 | For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. |
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 14 : 25 - 35
Chapter 14
| 25 | Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, |
| 26 | "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. |
| 27 | And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. |
| 28 | For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- |
| 29 | lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, |
| 30 | saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish.' |
| 31 | Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? |
| 32 | Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. |
| 33 | So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. |
| 34 | "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? |
| 35 | It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" |
And Glory be to God forever.
ينبغي أن يصلي كل حين ولا يمل (لو18:1)
+ خلق الله الإنسان كائنا عاقلا وأعطي له نعمة الحرية, وحرية العمل, وأعطي له قلبا كمكان للقاء مع الله.
+ الصلاة تعبير عن رغبة الإنسان في الله.
+ الإنسان يقف أمام ألغاز الحياة وهو متحير. ماذا تعني حياة؟ خير؟ خطية؟ موت؟ قلق؟ هذه أسئلة الوجود الإنساني الكبيرة وليس لها إجابة إلا في الله, وبالتالي الإنسان في داخله عطش وحنين لله.. يبحث عن الله.. يرغب في المحبة.. فتزرع في داخله روح الصلاة.
أولا:ـ كيف تصلي؟
1- ضع في ذهنك قبل بدء الصلاة أنك داخل إلي الحضرة الإلهية بكل خشوع ووقار واحترام.
2- ادخل الصلاة بروح الشكر, أعمال الله مع كل إنسان لا تنتهي, فاشكره علي نعمه الكثيرة.
3- في جو الصلاة اكشف عن خطاياك, لا تقل أنك جيد ولست مثل باقي الناس.
4- تذكر مجتمعك الذي تعيش فيه (أسرتك, كنيستك, وطنك), صل من أجل هؤلاء بأسمائهم, واذكر ذاتك في النهاية كأنك تقول مع داود النبي: إلي متي يارب تنساني..؟ (مز13:1), وارفع قلبك إلي الله بهذه الصلوات بلجاجة.
ثانيا:ـ ماذا تمتلك في الصلاة؟
في صلاتك امتلك هذه الأربعة:
1- الإيمان: الذي أساسه وعود الله.
2- الانتباه: انتبه في صلاتك ولا تسمح لشيء أن يشتت ذهنك.
3- الاستمرار: يعلمنا الآباء: لكي يتعلم الإنسان عادة معينة لابد أن يمارسها أربعين يوما متصلة علي الأقل.
4- الهدوء: صل بهدوء بعيدا عن أي تشويش أو ضوضاء أو إزعاج.
ثالثا:ـ ماذا تطلب من الله في صلاتك؟
1- ملكوت السموات:
نصيبك في السماء أغلي من كل شيء, لذلك اطلبوا أولا ملكوت الله وبره (مت6:33).
2- التغيير:
بالصلاة غير الله طبيعة الأسود في قصة دانيال النبي, وطبيعة النار في قصة الثلاثة فتية, وطبيعة الماء عند عبور موسي النبي البحر الأحمر, اطلب من الله أن يغير قلبك وأن يعطيك قلبا نقيا جديدا.
3- تحقيق وعوده في الوقت المناسب.
4- فرح القلب وسعادة الحياة.
5- نزع عدو الخير من طريقك وكل أفكاره المزعجة.