And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"
"Ephesians 2 : 6"
Day 18 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 Eighteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Martyrdom of St.Arsenius, Slave of St.Sousnyous
On this day St. Arsenius, the slave of St. Sousnyous, was martyred. When Emperor Diocletian was torturing St. Sousnyous, St. Sousnyous father told the Emperor that Sousnyous had a slave, whose name is Arsenius and that he worshiped Christ and denounced the worship of the idols. The Emperor brought the slave and asked him about his belief. Arsenius confessed the Divinity of the Lord Christ, and also admonished the Emperor for deserting the worship of the true God and his insistence on worshiping the idols. The Emperor became furious and ordered him to beheaded him before his master, and thus he received the crown of martyrdom.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Readings for Saturday of first week of fifty Joyous Days
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 119 : 10 - 11
Chapter 119
| 10 | With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! |
| 11 | Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. |
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 John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
John 6 : 54 - 58
Chapter 6
| 54 | Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. |
| 55 | For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. |
| 56 | He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. |
| 57 | As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. |
| 58 | This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." |
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 77 : 2
Chapter 77
| 2 | In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. |
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 John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
John 20 : 19 - 23
Chapter 20
| 19 | Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." |
| 20 | When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. |
| 21 | So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." |
| 22 | And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. |
| 23 | If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." |
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 Colossians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Colossians 1 : 12 - 23
Chapter 1
| 12 | giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. |
| 13 | He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, |
| 14 | in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. |
| 15 | He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. |
| 16 | For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. |
| 17 | And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. |
| 18 | And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. |
| 19 | For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, |
| 20 | and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. |
| 21 | And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled |
| 22 | in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- |
| 23 | if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. |
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 1 : 1 - 7
Chapter 1
| 1 | That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- |
| 2 | the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- |
| 3 | that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. |
| 4 | And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. |
| 5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. |
| 6 | If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
| 7 | But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. |
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 : 19 - 31
Chapter 4
| 19 | But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. |
| 20 | For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." |
| 21 | So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. |
| 22 | For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. |
| 23 | And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. |
| 24 | So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, |
| 25 | who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: "Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? |
| 26 | The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.' |
| 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 119 : 73 - 73
Chapter 119
| 73 | Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. |
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.
Luke 9 : 28 - 35
Chapter 9
| 28 | Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. |
| 29 | As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. |
| 30 | And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, |
| 31 | who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. |
| 32 | But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. |
| 33 | Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. |
| 34 | While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. |
| 35 | And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" |
And Glory be to God forever.
Not to be read in the Church during this time of the year.
Synaxarium
Day 18 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 Eighteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Martyrdom of St.Arsenius, Slave of St.Sousnyous
On this day St. Arsenius, the slave of St. Sousnyous, was martyred. When Emperor Diocletian was torturing St. Sousnyous, St. Sousnyous father told the Emperor that Sousnyous had a slave, whose name is Arsenius and that he worshiped Christ and denounced the worship of the idols. The Emperor brought the slave and asked him about his belief. Arsenius confessed the Divinity of the Lord Christ, and also admonished the Emperor for deserting the worship of the true God and his insistence on worshiping the idols. The Emperor became furious and ordered him to beheaded him before his master, and thus he received the crown of martyrdom.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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.