Daily Readings
Readings for
13 Babah 1743
Vespers Psalm & Gospel
A reading from the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 65 : 4 - 5
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 24 : 42 - 47
And Glory be to God forever.
Matins Psalm & Gospel
A reading from the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 37 : 17,18,29
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Mark 13 : 33 - 37
And Glory be to God forever.
Divine Liturgy
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 Corinthians.
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 3 : 4 - 23
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 5 : 5 - 14
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 18:24-28 Acts 19:1-6
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Synaxarium
Day 13 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Babah.
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 Thirteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Babah
The Departure of Saint Zacharias, the Monk
On this day, St. Zacharias the monk, departed. His father's name was Karyos. He was married, but he longed for the monastic life. He told his wife about what was on his mind and she agreed to it. Karyos had a son, called Zacharias and a daughter. He left them with their mother and went to the desert of Scete and became a monk at the hands of a holy old man. Shortly after, there was a great famine in the country and the wife took the two children and came to the desert where their father Karyos was. She complained to him about the tribulation which had come upon her through the famine and handed him the children. But Karyos told her, "God has divided the two children between us. You take the girl and leave the boy with me." She took her daughter and departed. Karyos took his son Zacharias and brought him to the elders who prayed over him and they prophesied that he would become a perfect monk.
Zacharias was brought up well in the desert, and advanced in every virtue. Because he was exceedingly handsome and his fair look, there were many murmurs in the desert because of him and they said, "How is it, a boy like that dwells in the desert among the monks?" When St.Zacharias heard that, he went to lake El-Natroun (which was very salty) without telling anyone. He took off his apparel, plunged his body into the lake, and remained in it for many hours. The color of his body became black and he looked like a leper. Then he went forth from the water, put on his apparel and came to his father who did not recognize him until he had stared at him closely. When he asked him about what had changed his appearance, he told him what he had done. When it was Sunday, he went with his father to the church to partake of the Holy Mysteries. The Lord revealed to St. Isidore, the priest of Scete, what St. Zacharias had done. He marvelled and said to the monks, "Zacharias received the offering last Sunday as a man, but now he has become an angel."
This saint possessed many virtues, especially the virtue of humility in which he had reached such a degree of perfection that his father said about him, "I have labored greatly in the fight, but I have never attained the extent of my son Zacharias." St. Zacharias lived a strenuous life and strove exceedingly hard for 45 years. When he came to the desert, he was seven years old and all the days of his life numbered 52 years, then he departed in peace.
May his prayers and blessings be with us all, and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Divine Liturgy Psalm & Gospel
A reading from the Psalms of our father David the prophet and the king, may his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 37 : 30 - 31
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord. Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, unto Him be the glory forever, Amen.
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 16 : 1 - 12
And Glory be to God forever.
Reference