Saturday, May 25, 2019 | Pashons 17, 1735

Festal Tune | Winds of heaven Season

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Vespers

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. From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet. May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 128:1,2
"Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,"Let Israel now say "Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against 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.
Luke 11:17-23
But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
And Glory be to God forever

Matins

Matins Gospel

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. From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet. May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 145:10
The LORD shall reign forever Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise 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.
John 7:31-36
And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come." Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"
And Glory be to God forever

Divine Liturgy

Pauline 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 Ephesians. May his blessings be upon us. Amen
Ephesians 1:1-14
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earthin Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.

Catholic Epistle

A Reading from the 1 Epistle of St. John. May his blessing be upon us. Amen
1 John 4:15-5:1
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God,"and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
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 of the Apostles 9:36-43
At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise."And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.

Synaxarium

The Seventeenth Day of the Blessed Coptic Month of Pashons, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins are forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers, Amen.
Departure of Saint Epiphanius the Bishop of Cyprus
On this day, of the year 402 A.D., the great father St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, departed. He was born to Jewish parents, his father died, and left him with a sister and their mother brought them up well. His father left him an untrained donkey and his mother asked him to sell it. He met a Christian man called Philotheus who wanted to buy the donkey, but the donkey kicked Epiphanius in his thigh, and he fell down on the ground unconscious. Philotheus made the sign of the cross over the place of injury and Epiphanius was cured of his pain instantly. Then Philotheus cried out over that donkey asking God that the donkey would die God answered his prayer, and the donkey fell down and died. Epiphanius inquired about the secret of the donkey's death and Philotheus told him that it was the cross. He guided him to the crucified Christ, the Son of God, Whom the Jews crucified in Jerusalem by His own will for the Salvation of the world. This remained in the mind of Epiphanius.

When one of the rich Jewish men died and had no one to inherit him, he left all his inheritance to Epiphanius. He used this inheritance to spend on the teachers of religion and Law. Once, when he was walking in the road, he saw a poor man asking for charity from one of the monks, and as the monk did not have any money to give, he took off his garment and gave it to him. As the poor man took this garment, St. Epiphanius saw a white dress coming down from heaven upon the monk instead off the garment that he gave away. He was astonished and went to the monk and asked him: 'Who are you and what is your faith?' The monk told him that he was Christian. He asked the monk to guide him to the facts of the Christian faith. The monk brought him to the bishop who taught him the law of the Christian faith and baptized him. Epiphanius desired to become a monk, and the bishop sent him to the monastery of St. Lucianus. He became a disciple to St. Hilarion, and the grace of God was with him. He excelled in the church subjects, monastic virtues, and its cannons.

St. Hilarion prophesied that he would become a bishop and commanded him to go to Cyprus, and not to refuse the office of bishop if it was offered to him. When the bishop of Cyprus departed, it happened that Epiphanius entered the city to buy certain necessities, and he had two monks with him. A saintly bishop was inspired to go to the market place to choose the monk that had two clusters of grapes, whose name was Epiphanius, to ordain him a bishop for Cyprus. When the bishop went to the market, he found him with the other two monks, with two clusters of grapes in his hand. He asked him about his name and he knew that he was the chosen one by God. He took him to the church and ordained him deacon, priest, then bishop. He revealed to the people his vision about him and the prophecy of St. Helarion was fulfilled.

St. Epiphanius followed a right course of conduct in his diocese, which was well pleasing to God. He wrote many books and discourses and he always preached about mercy. It happened that John, bishop of Jerusalem, was not merciful, so St. Epiphanius borrowed from him some of his gold and silver table vessels, and sold them and gave its price to the poor and the needy. When Abba John asked him to return them, he struck him in his eyes and he became blind. John asked the Saint to pray to heal him, and he prayed, and God opened one of John's eyes.

In the year 402 A.D., Empress Eudoxia called Epiphanius to help her to drive out St. John Chrysostom (Of the Golden Mouth) from Constantinople. However, he tried to reconcile them together, but he failed. She threatened him that she would open the temples of idols and close the churches if he did not work on his removal. But since he could not reconcile the differences between her and St. John, he returned to Cyprus and departed in the same year. (His body was
relocated on the 28th of Bashans).
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.

Divine Liturgy Gospel

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. From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet. May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 14:4
In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

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 7:14-24
Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?" Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" The people answered and said, "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
And Glory be to God forever

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