[Readingsandsaints] Readings and saints

Fri Feb 2 05:00:25 CST 2007

Scripture Readings and Saints for Fri Feb 2 2007

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------ READINGS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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Composite 6  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
The Lord spoke to Moses in that very day on which He led the children
of Israel out from the land of Egypt saying: "Sanctify to Me all the
first-born, the first-produced opening the womb among the children of
Israel." And Moses went and gathered all the people and said:
"Remember this day, in which you came out from the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand the Lord led you out
from thence; and you shall keep His law. And it shall come to pass
when the Lord your God shall bring you into the land of the
Canaanites, as He swore to your fathers: you shall set apart all the
first-born, whatever opens the womb, the males for the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that if you son asks you, saying, "What is
this?" you shall say to him: "By the strength of hand the Lord led you
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For when
Pharoah hardened _his heart_, so as not to let us go, the Lord slew
all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man
and the first-born of cattle. Therefore, I bring a sacrifice to the
Lord: every male that opens the womb; but all the first-born of my
sons I will redeem."
And it shall be a sign, set firmly before your eyes. For thus says the
Lord God Almighty: "The first-born of your sons you shall give to Me.
And it shall be that a woman who bears a male child, on the eighth day
shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin. Then for thirty-three days
she shall not enter the sanctuary of God to the priest until the days
of purification are fulfilled.
"And after this she shall bring to the Lord an unblemished lamb one
year old, as a whole-burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a
turtledove, to the doors of the tent of witness, to the priest. Or,
instead of these she shall bring before the Lord two turtledoves or
two young pigeons, and the priest shall from for her.
"For these are given to Me as a recompense from all the sons of
Israel, and I have taken them and consecrated them for Myself, instead
of the first-born of the Egyptians, in the day in which I slew all the
first-born in the land of Egypt, of both man and cattle." Thus saith
God Most High, the Holy One of Israel.
Scripture Reading 1 of 6

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Isaiah 6:1-12  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a
throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the
temple.
2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered
his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried
out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said: Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean
lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my
eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal
which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: Behold, this has touched
your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, And
who will go for Us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me.
9 And He said, Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not
understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
10 Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut
their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.
11 Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered: Until the cities are
laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The
land is utterly desolate,
12 The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many
in the midst of the land.
Scripture Reading 2 of 6

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Composite 7  (Vespers, 3rd Reading)
Behold, the Lord sits on a light cloud, and shall come to Egypt; and
the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, and their hearts
shall faint within them. And their spirit shall be troubled within
them, and He will frustrate their counsel. He will deliver Egypt into
the hands of _cruel_ lordsThus saith the Lord, the holy Lord of Hosts!
And the Egyptians shall drink the water that is by the sea, but will
fail and be dried up.
Thus saith the Lord: Where now are your wise men? Let them tell you
and make known what the Lord of Hosts has purposed against Egypt. In
that day the Egyptians will be in fear and trembling because of the
hand of the Lord of Hosts which He shall lay upon them. And there
shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a
pillar to the Lord at its border. And it shall be a sign to the Lord
of Hosts forever in the land of the Egyptians; for they shall cry to
the Lord and the Lord shall send to them a man who shall save them.
And the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the
Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and they shall offer
sacrifices and gifts, and shall pray, and they shall pay their vows to
the Lord.
Scripture Reading 3 of 6

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Luke 2:25-32  (Matins Gospel)
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and
this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of
the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According
to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your
people Israel."
Scripture Reading 4 of 6

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Hebrews 7:7-17  (Epistle, Meeting)
7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom
it is witnessed that he lives.
9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to
speak,
10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met
him.
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for
under it the people received the law), what further need was there
that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek,
and not be called according to the order of Aaron
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a
change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe,
from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe
Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek,
there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment,
but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order
of Melchizedek."
Scripture Reading 5 of 6

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Luke 2:22-40  (Gospel, Meeting)
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses
were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the
Lord
23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the
womb shall be called holy to the LORD"),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of
the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and
this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of
the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According
to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your
people Israel."
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were
spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold,
this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and
for a sign which will be spoken against
35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a
husband seven years from her virginity;
37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not
depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night
and day.
38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke
of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the
Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom;
and the grace of God was upon Him.
Scripture Reading 6 of 6

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------ SAINTS/FEASTS FOR TODAY ----------------------------
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The Meeting of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple
Today the Church commemorates an important event in the earthly life
of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 2:22-40). Forty days after His birth
the God-Infant was taken to the Jerusalem Temple, the center of the
nation's religious life. According to the Law of Moses (Lev. 12:2-8),
a woman who gave birth to a male child was forbidden to enter the
Temple of God for forty days. At the end of this time the mother came
to the Temple with the child, to offer a young lamb or pigeon to the
Lord as a purification sacrifice. The Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of
God, had no need of purification, since she had given birth to the
Source of purity and sanctity without defilement. However, she humbly
fulfilled the requirements of the Law.
At this time the righteous Elder Simeon (February 3) was living in
Jerusalem. It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he
should behold the promised Messiah. By inspiration from above, St
Simeon went to the Temple at the very moment when the Most Holy
Theotokos and St Joseph had brought the Infant Jesus to fulfill the
Law.
The God-Receiver Simeon took the divine Child in his arms, and giving
thanks to God, he spoke the words repeated by the Church each evening
at Vespers: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,
according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which
Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten
the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32). St
Simeon said to the Most Holy Virgin: "Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which
shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through your own
soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke
2:34-35).
At the Temple was the 84-year-old widow Anna the Prophetess, daughter
of Phanuel (February 3), "who did not leave the temple, but served God
with fasting and prayers night and day. She arrived just when St
Simeon met the diving Child. She also gave thanks to the Lord and
spoke of Him to all those who were looking for redemption in
Jerusalem" (Luke 2:37-38). In the icon of the Feast she holds a scroll
which reads: "This Child has established Heaven and earth."
Before Christ was born, righteous men and women lived by faith in the
promised Messiah, and awaited His coming. The Righteous Simeon and the
Prophetess Anna, the last righteous people of the Old Testament, were
deemed worthy to meet the Savior in the Temple.
The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts
of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by the holy
bishops Methodius of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360),
Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Amphilocius of Iconium (+ 394),
Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407). Despite its
early origin, this Feast was not celebrated so splendidly until the
sixth century.
In 528, during the reign of Justinian, an earthquake killed many
people in Antioch. Other misfortunes followed this one. In 541 a
terrible plague broke out in Constantinople, carrying off several
thousand people each day. During this time of widespread suffering, a
solemn prayer service (Litia) for deliverence from evils was
celebrated on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the plague
ceased. In thanksgiving to God, the Church established a more solemn
celebration of this Feast.
Church hymnographers have adorned this Feast with their hymns: St
Andrew of Crete in the seventh century; St Cosmas Bishop of Maium, St
John of Damascus, and St Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople in the
eighth century; and St Joseph, Archbishop of Thessalonica in the ninth
century.
On this day we also commemorate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos
known as "the Softening of Evil Hearts" or "Simeon's Prophecy." The
Mother of God is depicted without Her Child, with seven swords
piercing her breast: three from the left side, three from the right,
and one from below.
A similar icon, "Of the Seven Swords" (August 13) shows three swords
on the left side and four from the right.
The icon "Simeon's Prophecy" symbolizes the fulfillment of the
prophecy of the righteous Elder Simeon: "a sword shall pierce through
your own soul" (Luke 2:35).
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