To confess our sins means we do two things with our sin: 1) we recognize sin for what it is in God's eyes and 2) we get rid of our secrets and are honest with another Christian about our weakness, vulnerabilities, failures, and sins. James' language is powerful. He mentions that this confession doesn't just bring forgiveness, it also brings healing.
Day 28 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, 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-Eighth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Martyrdom of St.Millius, the Ascetic
On this day, St. Milius, the ascetic, was martyred. This father was an ascetic and fighter all the days of his life. He dwelt in a cave with his two disciples in mount Khurasan. The two sons of the king of Khurasan went out to hunt wild animals and they set up their nets. This Saint fell in their net, and he was dressed in sackcloth made of hair, and his hair was exceedingly long. When they saw him they were afraid of him and asked him: "Are you a man or a demon?" He answered: "I am a sinful man and I dwell here in this mount to worship the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God." They told him: "There is no God except the sun and the fire, offer the sacrifices to them lest we kill you." He answered them: "These things have been created by God. You are not aware of the truth. It is preferable for you to worship the true God, the creator of all these things." They asked him: "Do you claim that he Whom the Jews crucified is God?" He said to them: "Yes, He Who was crucified for our sins, and Who was killed and died, is God indeed." The two princes were raged of him. They seized his two disciples, tortured, and then slew them. As for St. Milius, they continued to torture him for two weeks. Finally, they made him stand up between them and shot arrows at him until he departed in peace. On the following day they went on hunting, followed a wild beast, and shot arrows at him, and God turned their arrows into their own hearts killing them.
May The prayers of this Saint be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 56 : 6
Chapter 56
| 6 | They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 18 : 6 - 7
Chapter 18
| 6 | "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. |
| 7 | Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! |
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 57 : 1,5
Chapter 57
| 1 | Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. |
| 5 | Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 17 : 20 - 23
Chapter 17
| 20 | So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. |
| 21 | However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." |
| 22 | Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, |
| 23 | and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. |
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 2 : 8 - 13
Chapter 2
| 8 | but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, |
| 9 | tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; |
| 10 | but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. |
| 11 | For there is no partiality with God. |
| 12 | For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law |
| 13 | (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; |
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 2 : 18 - 23
Chapter 2
| 18 | Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. |
| 19 | They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. |
| 20 | But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. |
| 21 | I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. |
| 22 | Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. |
| 23 | Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. |
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 4 : 27 - 31
Chapter 4
| 27 | "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together |
| 28 | to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. |
| 29 | Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, |
| 30 | by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." |
| 31 | And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. |
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 7 : 10 - 11
Chapter 7
| 10 | My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. |
| 11 | God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. |
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 8 : 12 - 16
Chapter 8
| 12 | Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." |
| 13 | The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." |
| 14 | Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. |
| 15 | You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. |
| 16 | And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. |
And Glory be to God forever.
In Genesis, we see the divine dance in an early enigmatic story (18:1-8). “The Lord” appears to Abraham as “three men” or “three angels,” and Abraham and Sarah seem to see the Holy One in the presence of these three; they bow before them and call them “lord” (18:2-3, Jerusalem Bible). Abraham and Sarah’s first instinct is one of invitation and hospitality—to create a space of food and drink for the guests. Here we have humanity feeding God; it will take a long time to turn that around in the human imagination, to believe that we, too, could be invited to the divine table.
This story inspired a piece of devotional religious art by iconographer Andrei Rublev (c. 1360–c. 1430): The Hospitality of Abraham, or simply The Trinity. As icons do, this painting attempts to point beyond itself, inviting a sense of both the beyond and the communion that exists in our midst.
There are three significant colors in Rublev’s icon, each illustrating a facet of the Holy One:
Gold: “the Father”—perfection, fullness, wholeness, the ultimate Source
Blue: “the Incarnate Christ”—both sea and sky mirroring one another (In the icon, Christ wears blue and holds up two fingers, telling us he has put spirit and matter, divinity and humanity, together within himself. The blue of creation is undergirded with the red of suffering.)
Green: “the Spirit”—the divine photosynthesis that grows everything from within by transforming light into itself (Hildegard of Bingen [1098–1179] called this viriditas, or the greening of all things.)
The icon shows the Holy One in the form of Three, eating and drinking, in infinite hospitality and utter enjoyment between themselves. If we take the depiction of God in The Trinity seriously, we have to say, “In the beginning was the Relationship.” The gaze between the Three shows the deep respect between them as they all share from a common bowl. Notice the Spirit’s hand points toward the open and fourth place at the table! Is the Holy Spirit inviting, offering, and clearing space? I think so! And if so, for what, and for whom?
At the front of the table there appears to be a little rectangular hole. Most people just pass right over it, but some art historians believe the residue of possible glue on the original icon indicates that there was perhaps once a mirror glued to the front of the table. It’s stunning when you think about it: There was room at this table for a fourth—the one in the mirror.
The observer.
You!
Yes, you—and all of creation—are invited to sit at the divine table, to participate in the divine dance of mutual friendship and love.
The mirror seems to have been lost over the centuries, both in the icon and in our on-the-ground understanding of who God is—and therefore who we are, too!
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 28-31.