Thursday, March 13, 2025 | Paremhotep 4, 1741
Lenten | Winds of heaven
Yesterday | Today | TomorrowProphecy
From the book of Gen., may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen.From the book of Prov., may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen.From the book of Isaiah, may his holy blessings be with us all. Amen.Gen. 18:17-19:29
"And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."
Prov. 2:16-3:4
Isaiah 11:10-12:2
Prime Raising of Incense
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. Amen.
Psalms 9:11,12
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people. When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.
Alleluia.
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 20:20-26
So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me? Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?"They answered and said, "Caesars."And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods."But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.
And Glory be to God forever. Amen.
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 4:6-11
just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from the Epistle of St. James. May his blessing be upon us. Amen.
James 4:1-10
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
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. Amen.
Acts of the Apostles 28:1-6
Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live."But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God. Amen.
Synaxarium
The Fourth Day of the Blessed Coptic Month of Paremhotep, 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.
Assembly of Ecclesiastical Council in Bani-Omar against the Fourteenthians
On this day a Holy Council convened on the island of Bani-Omar against those people called the Fourteenthians. The Fourteenthians celebrated the feast of the Holy Easter with the Jews on the fourteenth of the crescent of Neesan (April), which was on any day of the week. The Bishop of the island excommunicated them, and sent to Serapion Patriarch of Antioch, Democratus Bishop of Rome, Demetrius Patriarch of Alexandria, and Symmachus Bishop of Jerusalem to inform them of the heresy of these people. Each one of them sent an epistle indicating in it that Easter was only to be celebrated on the Sunday that follows the feast of the Jews and ordered to excommunicate everyone that contradict and disobey that. A council of eighteen bishops convened and these holy epistles were read to them. They brought those heretics and read before them these epistles, some of them returned from their wrong opinion and the others insisted on their error. They prevented and excommunicated them from the Holy Church. Also, they decided to celebrate Easter as the order of the Holy Apostles saying: 'Any one that celebrate Easter on any other day than Sunday, had shared the Jews in their feasts and separated from the Christians.'
The dispute on the feast of the Christian Passover (Easter) started between Asia Minor and Rome. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, publicly announced the need of keeping the 14th of Neesan to commemorate the Crucifixion and the 16th of Neesan to commemorate the Resurrection (These were the original dates that the Crucifixion and Resurrection fall on regardless what day of the week they fell on) and the Christians of Mesopotamia, Cilicia, and Syria followed his opinion. Victor, Bishop of Rome, publicly announced the importance of putting into consideration that the Crucifixion be on a Friday and the Resurrection be on a Sunday, (since Friday is the day of the Crucifixion and Sunday is the day of the Resurrection). The Christians of Egypt, Greece, Pontus and Arabia agreed with him in that. The dispute between the two bishops intensified, nevertheless their friendship remained unchanged. Alexandria intervened in this subject, and its Patriarch Anba Demetrius the vine dresser (El-Karram), tried to mediate between these two opinions (By making the commemoration of the Crucifixion on Friday and the Resurrection on Sunday), and to be linked to the day 14th of Neesan (The Jewish Passover).
Pope Demetrius gathered the Alexandrian astronomers, among them was Ptolemy the astronomer, who was from Farma, and with their help the Patriarch established the reckoning of the Epacts, which is known by the reckoning of El-Karmah. The reckoning of the Epacts was able to determine the day of the Jewish Passover (The slaughter of the Lamb) in any Egyptian Coptic year, and fix the Sunday after to be the Feast of Resurrection. This way he fulfilled what the Apostles commend that the Jewish Passover and the Christian one not to be on the same day. The first Universal council that convened in Nicea, 325 A.D. approved that view and asked the Alexandrian Pope to issue a message on the feast and its date every year.
May the Lord Guard us against the enticement of Satan, with the blessing of the prayers of the saints. Amen.
Martyrdom of Saint Haboulyous (Hanulius) the Prince
On this day also St. Haboulyous (Hanulius) the prince of the city of Perga in Pamphylia was martyred. The love of this prince for Christ made him publicly confess his faith. Barnabakhas the Governor arrested him at Diocletian's command. He confessed the Lord Christ before him giving the Lord the honor with glorious hymns then he cursed the idols. The Prince became raged and ordered him to be crucified. The Saint praised Christ that made him worthy to be martyred in His Name. Then he delivered his soul in the hand of the Lord and received the crown of martyrdom. \r\nMay his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
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. Amen.
Psalms 9:7,8
But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
Alleluia.
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 12:44-50
Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges himthe word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."
And Glory be to God forever. Amen