Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Day 23 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Bashans, 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 Bashans
Departure of St.Junia, One of the Seventy Disciples
On this day, St. Junia, one of the seventy disciples, departed. He was born in Beth Gubrin (Jibrin) from the tribe of Judah. He was chosen by the Lord to be one of the seventy disciples, and received the Holy Spirit. He preached the Gospel with the disciples and suffered many hardships. He accompanied St. Andronicus in his preaching of the Gospel as it is mentioned on the 22nd. day of Bashans. St. Junia buried St. Andronicus, and he prayed that the Lord would take him also, and he departed in the following day. St. Paul mentioned him in Romans Chapter 16.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Julian (Yulianus) and his mother in Alexandria
On this day also, St. Julian and his mother were martyred in the city of Alexandria.
May their 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 70 : 1 - 2
Chapter 70
| 1 | Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! |
| 2 | Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt. |
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 Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Mark 8 : 10 - 15
Chapter 8
| 10 | immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. |
| 11 | Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. |
| 12 | But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." |
| 13 | And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. |
| 14 | Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. |
| 15 | Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." |
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 70 : 1,5
Chapter 70
| 1 | Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! |
| 5 | But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay. |
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 4 : 26 - 29
Chapter 4
| 26 | And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, |
| 27 | and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. |
| 28 | For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. |
| 29 | But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." |
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 3 : 37,31
Chapter 3
| 31 | Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. |
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 4 : 1 - 6
Chapter 4
| 1 | Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
| 2 | By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, |
| 3 | and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. |
| 4 | You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. |
| 5 | They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. |
| 6 | We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. |
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 5 : 34 - 36
Chapter 5
| 34 | Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. |
| 35 | And he said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. |
| 36 | For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. |
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 24 : 1,4
Chapter 24
| 1 | The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. |
| 4 | He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. |
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 10 : 34 - 38
Chapter 10
| 34 | Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, "I said, "You are gods"'? |
| 35 | If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), |
| 36 | do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming,' because I said, "I am the Son of God'? |
| 37 | If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; |
| 38 | but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." |
And Glory be to God forever.
Nevertheless, do not in any wise suppose that, when once read, it can have become sufficiently well known to you. Therefore if you desire to have it exceedingly productive, do not count it a grievance by re-perusalto make it thoroughly familiar; so that you may most accurately know what and what kind of questions they are, for the solution and satisfaction of which there arises an authority not human but divine, from which we ought not to depart if we desire to attain to the point whither we are tending.