Day 23 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Misra, 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 Twenty-Third Day of the Blessed Month of Misra
Martyrdom of Thirty-Thousand Christians in Alexandria
On this day, is the commemoration of the martyrdom of the thirty thousand Christians in the city of Alexandria. When Emperor Marcianus banished Pope Dioscorus to the island of Gagra, he appointed Brotarius, a Patriarch, in his place. The bishops of Egypt refused to have a fellowship with him. They assembled a council against him, the Council of Chalcedon, and the tome of Leo. Brotarius became raged and with the aid of the government forces he attacked and plundered the monasteries and churches. Then he confiscated all their endowments for himself and he became wealthy. Thieves attacked him during the night, killed him, and plundered what he had. His friends sent to the Emperor saying, "The followers of Dioscorus were the ones that killed the Patriarch that was appointed by the Emperor." The Emperor became furious and sent a number of his soldiers, who killed about thirty thousand Christians in the city of Alexandria. Shortly after, Marcianus died and was succeeded by Leo the Great. The bishops of Egypt seized this opportunity and ordained Fr. Timothy a Patriarch for Alexandria. Immediately the new Pope assembled a council and excommunicated the Council of Chalcedon. The heretics informed the Emperor saying, "Those who killed Brotarius ordained for themselves a Patriarch without permission from the Emperor." The Emperor was enraged and he exiled Abba Timothy and his brother Anatolius to the island of Gagra. They remained there for seven years until Emperor Leo the Less released them. After the return of Pope Timothy, he cooperated with Abba Peter of Antioch, and assembled a council of five hundred bishops in the capital. This council judged to refuse the Council of Chalcedon, and also Pope Cyril of Alexandria (Kyrillos I) said, "The union of the Divinity and the Humanity, like the union of fire and iron, the hammering of the iron affects only the iron, but doesn't affect the fire, although it shares a unity with the iron. The union of the Divinity with the Humanity gave an infinitive value for the one Who suffered for the sake of the salvation of all the humanity. affirmed the teaching of the unity of the natures of the Lord Christ. They also presented their report to the Emperor who approved it. The Emperor issued an edict that dictated to abide by this council report only. As a result, the Sees of Alexandria, Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem were united for a long time.
May the prayers of these fathers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Damian in Antioch
On this day also, St. Damian was martyred in the city of Antioch. He suffered many tortures and endured severe afflictions until he delivered up his soul in the hand of the Lord.
May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 34 : 17 - 18
Chapter 34
| 17 | The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. |
| 18 | The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. |
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 10 : 16 - 22
Chapter 10
| 16 | "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. |
| 17 | But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. |
| 18 | You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. |
| 19 | But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; |
| 20 | for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. |
| 21 | "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. |
| 22 | And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. |
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 34 : 19 - 20
Chapter 34
| 19 | Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. |
| 20 | He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. |
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 8 : 34 - 9 : 1
Chapter 8
| 34 | When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. |
| 35 | For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. |
| 36 | For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? |
| 37 | Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? |
| 38 | For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." |
Chapter 9
| 1 | And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." |
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 8 : 28 - 39
Chapter 8
| 28 | And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. |
| 29 | For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. |
| 30 | Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. |
| 31 | What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? |
| 32 | He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? |
| 33 | Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. |
| 34 | Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. |
| 35 | Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? |
| 36 | As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." |
| 37 | Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. |
| 38 | For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, |
| 39 | nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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 4 : 1 - 11
Chapter 4
| 1 | Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, |
| 2 | that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. |
| 3 | For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. |
| 4 | In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. |
| 5 | They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
| 6 | For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. |
| 7 | But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. |
| 8 | And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." |
| 9 | Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. |
| 10 | As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. |
| 11 | If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. 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.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 16 : 16 - 34
Chapter 16
| 16 | Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. |
| 17 | This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." |
| 18 | And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. |
| 19 | But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. |
| 20 | And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; |
| 21 | and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe." |
| 22 | Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. |
| 23 | And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. |
| 24 | Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. |
| 25 | But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. |
| 26 | Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. |
| 27 | And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. |
| 28 | But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." |
| 29 | Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. |
| 30 | And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" |
| 31 | So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." |
| 32 | Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. |
| 33 | And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. |
| 34 | Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. |
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 97 : 11 - 12
Chapter 97
| 11 | Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. |
| 12 | Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. |
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 21 : 12 - 19
Chapter 21
| 12 | But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. |
| 13 | But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. |
| 14 | Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; |
| 15 | for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. |
| 16 | You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. |
| 17 | And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. |
| 18 | But not a hair of your head shall be lost. |
| 19 | By your patience possess your souls. |
And Glory be to God forever.