[Readingsandsaints] Readings and Saints

Tue Mar 25 05:00:26 CDT 2008

Scripture Readings and Saints for Tue Mar 25 2008

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Luke 1:39-49,56  (Matins Gospel)
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with
haste, to a city of Judah,
40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that
the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit.
42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me?
44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my
ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of
those things which were told her from the Lord.
46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold,
henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His
name.
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her
house.
Scripture Reading 1 of 7

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Genesis 7:1-5  (Vespers, 1st Reading)
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your
household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in
this generation.
2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and
his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his
female;
3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the
species alive on the face of all the earth.
4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty
days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth
all living things that I have made.
5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
Scripture Reading 2 of 7

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Proverbs 8:32-9:11  (Vespers, 2nd Reading)
32 Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who
keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord;
36 But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate
me love death.
1 Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also
furnished her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places
of the city,
4 Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! As for him who lacks
understanding, she says to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.
7 He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes
a wicked man only harms himself.
8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a
just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge
of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be
added to you.
Scripture Reading 3 of 7

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Exodus 3:1-8  (Vespers, 3rd Reading, Theotokos)
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the
priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and
came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from
the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning
with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 Then Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why
the bush does not burn.
4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him
from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I
am.
5 Then He said, Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off
your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
6 Moreover He said, I am the God of your fatherthe God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was
afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said: I have surely seen the oppression of My people
who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their
taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large
land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the
Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites
Scripture Reading 4 of 7

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Proverbs 8:22-30  (Vespers, 4th Reading, Theotokos)
22 The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works
of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning,
before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no
fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought
forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primal
dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on
the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the
fountains of the deep,
29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not
transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the
earth,
30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His
delight, Rejoicing always before Him,
Scripture Reading 5 of 7

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Hebrews 2:11-18  (Epistle, Theotokos)
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are
all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of
the assembly I will sing praise to You."
13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and
the children whom God has given Me."
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He
Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might
destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to
the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that
He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining
to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to
aid those who are tempted.
Scripture Reading 6 of 7

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Luke 1:24-38  (Epistle, Theotokos)
24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid
herself five months, saying,
25 Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me,
to take away my reproach among people.
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city
of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored
one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and
considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son,
and shall call His name JESUS.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and
the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end.
34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know
a man?"
35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore,
also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her
old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called
barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.
38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to
me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
Scripture Reading 7 of 7

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The Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and
Ever-Virgin Mary
THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS
The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the earliest Christian feasts,
and was already being celebrated in the fourth century. There is a
painting of the Annunciation in the catacomb of Priscilla in Rome
dating from the second century. The Council of Toledo in 656 mentions
the Feast, and the Council in Trullo in 692 says that the Annunciation
was celebrated during Great Lent.
The Greek and Slavonic names for the Feast may be translated as "good
tidings." This, of course, refers to the Incarnation of the Son of God
and the salvation He brings. The background of the Annunciation is
found in the Gospel of St Luke (1:26-38). The troparion describes this
as the "beginning of our salvation, and the revelation of the eternal
mystery," for on this day the Son of God became the Son of Man.
There are two main components to the Annunciation: the message itself,
and the response of the Virgin. The message fulfills God's promise to
send a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15): "I will put enmity between you and the
woman, between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and
you shall lie in wait for his heel." The Fathers of the Church
understand "her seed" to refer to Christ. The prophets hinted at His
coming, which they saw dimly, but the Archangel Gabriel now proclaims
that the promise is about to be fulfilled.
We see this echoed in the Liturgy of St Basil, as well: "When man
disobeyed Thee, the only true God who had created him, and was
deceived by the guile of the serpent, becoming subject to death by his
own transgressions, Thou, O God, in Thy righteous judgment, didst send
him forth from Paradise into this world, returning him to the earth
from which he was taken, yet providing for him the salvation of
regeneration in Thy Christ Himself."
The Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth in Galilee. There he
spoke to the undefiled Virgin who was betrothed to St Joseph: "Hail,
thou who art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou
among women. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and
shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give
unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
In contrast to Eve, who was readily deceived by the serpent, the
Virgin did not immediately accept the Angel's message. In her
humility, she did not think she was deserving of such words, but was
actually troubled by them. The fact that she asked for an explanation
reveals her sobriety and prudence. She did not disbelieve the words of
the angel, but could not understand how they would be fulfilled, for
they spoke of something which was beyond nature.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a
man?" (Luke 1:34).
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth hath also conceived a
son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was
called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.' And Mary
said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy
word.' And the angel departed from her" (Luke 1: 35-38)."
In his Sermon 23 on the day of the Annunciation, St Philaret of Moscow
boldly stated that "the word of the creature brought the Creator down
into the world." He explains that salvation is not merely an act of
God's will, but also involves the Virgin's free will. She could have
refused, but she accepted God's will and chose to cooperate without
complaint or further questions.
The icon of the Feast shows the Archangel with a staff in his left
hand, indicating his role as a messenger. Sometimes one wing is
upraised, as if to show his swift descent from heaven. His right hand
is stretched toward the holy Virgin as he delivers his message.
The Virgin is depicted either standing or sitting, usually holding
yarn in her left hand. Sometimes she is shown holding a scroll. Her
right hand may be raised to indicate her surprise at the message she
is hearing. Her head is bowed, showing her consent and obedience. The
descent of the Holy Spirit upon her is depicted by a ray of light
issuing from a small sphere at the top of the icon, which symbolizes
heaven. In a famous icon from Sinai, a white dove is shown in the ray
of light.
There are several famous icons of the Annunciation. One is in the
Moscow Kremlin in the church of the Annunciation. This icon appeared
in connection with the rescue of a prisoner by the Mother of God
during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Another is to be found in the
Dormition Cathedral in Moscow (July 8). It was originally located in
Ustiug, and was the icon before which St Procopius the fool (July 8)
prayed to save the city from destruction in 1290. One of the most
highly revered icons in Greece is the Tinos icon of the Annunciation
(January 30).
The Annunciation falls during Lent, but it is always celebrated with
great joy. The Liturgy of St Basil or St John Chrysostom is served,
even on the weekdays of Lent. It is one of the two days of Great Lent
on which the fast is relaxed and fish is permitted (Palm Sunday is the
other).
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