Sunday, January 1, 2023 | Koiahk 23, 1739

Koiahk Tune | Herbs and plants Season

« previous day | print page | next day »

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 86:5
And of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her."

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 8:1-3
Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmitiesMary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herods steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.
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 Mark 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 95:11,12,13
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

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.
Mark 3:28-35
"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" because they said, "He has an unclean spirit." Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."
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 Romans. May his blessings be upon us. Amen
Romans 9:6-33
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, There they shall be called sons of the living God." Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth." And as Isaiah said before: "Unless the LORD of Sabaothhad left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah." What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
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 2:24-3:3
Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised useternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
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 7:8-22
Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Josephs family became known to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. "But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his fathers house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaohs daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.

Synaxarium

The Twenty Third Day of the Blessed Coptic Month of Koiahk, 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 David the Prophet And King
On this day, of the year 2990 of the world, the great King and the saintly honored prophet David, the son of Jesse, departed. He was the second king over the children of Israel and the first among their kings to walk in virtue and in justice. He was from the tribe of Judah from Bethlehem. God chose him to be a king over Israel, when Saul, the son of Kish, disobeyed the commandment of God. God commanded the Prophet Samuel to anoint for Him one of the children of Jesse, a king over Israel. Samuel chose the eldest son who had a good appearance and was tall in stature, but God rejected him and said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' (I Samuel 16:7) Jesse called all his sons and showed them to Samuel and he chose David and anointed him king. God was with him in all his ways, for his purity of heart and his meekness. He overcame Saul who wanted to kill him on several occasions. Once Saul went out to kill David and he went into a cave to attend to his needs. David came to him secretly and cut off a corner of Saul's robe (I Samuel 24:4) to show him that he wouldn't stretch his hand to kill him. Another time David found him sleeping and he took his spear and a jug of water that was by his head and did not hurt him and spared his life for the second time. (I Samuel 26:1-25) When David's men told him to destroy Saul, David said, 'The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed.' (I Samuel 26:11) When a man announced to David the news about the death of his rival Saul saying, 'I stood over him and killed him,' David took hold of his own clothes and tore them and he mourned him. David called one of the young men and said, 'Go near and execute him,' (2 Samuel 1: 11-15) and he struck the man so that he died.

God honored this Prophet over all mankind, for he had many virtues. Besides the virtue of humility, he was a prophet, a righteous man, and a just king. In spite of that, he called himself a 'dead dog' and a 'flea'. (I Samuel 24:14) God praised him by saying, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.' (Acts 13:22; Psalms 89:20; 1 Samuel 13:14) God protected Jerusalem for his sake during his lifetime and after his death, and He made the kings of the people of Israel from his seed, and He called Himself 'his Son.' He prophesied in the Book of Psalms, which is a book full of useful teachings and good instructions. David's might and power were supported by God. When he was young and guarding his father's sheep, once a bear and another time a lion attacked his sheep and David killed both the bear and the lion. When the army of Israel faced the army of the Philistines and Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, whose height was six cubits and a span, and who was armored with a bronze helmet on his head and a coat weighing five thousand shekels of bronze, and he had bronze grieves on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders and the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; Goliath went out, stood up and cried out to the armies of Israel, 'I defy the armies of Israel this day; give us a man that we may fight together.' The Philistine presented himself for forty days, morning and evening. All of Israel heard these words and were dismayed and greatly afraid. When David came to visit his brothers and brought provisions to their camp, he saw and heard Goliath. David was moved with divine zeal and said to him, 'You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.' David took out a stone and he slung it and he struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank in his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and cut off his head and removed the reproach of Israel. (I Samuel 17) David lived 70 years, 30 years of which were before he became a king. He was born one thousand, one hundred and twenty years before Christ.
May His prayers be with us all. Amen.

Departure of Saint Timothy the Anchorite
On this day also, the fighter, St. Timothy the Anchorite (Pilgrim), departed. He was born of God-loving parents, who educated and raised him according to the church disciplines. He desired the monastic life and became a monk in one of the monasteries. He loved the solitary life and lived in a cell alone near the monastery. He lived there for some time, making a living from his handiwork. The enemy of everything that is good tried to deceive him by appearing to him in the form of a nun who approached him to buy his handiwork. Because of her frequent visits, a special relationship developed between them. They sat to eat together at one table. After a short time, the saint realized the trick of the devil to make him fall in sin. He remembered the hour of death and the awesome nature of Judgement; consequently, he arose and took flight from that place. God guided him to another place with a spring of water and a palm tree. He stayed there practicing worship and asceticism. He reached a great level in his ascetic life, to the extent that the wild beasts befriended him. This continued for 30 years, during which his hair became very long and spared him of wearing clothes. When he finished his course and fought the good fight, he departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our 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 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 79:1,2,3
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, And come and save us! Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

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 1:57-80
Now Elizabeths full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." So they made signs to his fatherwhat he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John."So they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, "What kind of child will this be?"And the hand of the Lord was with him. Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
And Glory be to God forever

« previous day | print page | next day »

Find a specific date: