Starting @ 7:00 p.m. Divine Liturgy and Emmanuel Moleben for the Nativity
Friday, November 15, 2024
Holy Martyrs and Confessors Gurias, Samonas (284-305) and Abibus (313-24).
Nativity Fast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 1: Be swayed by the pains that the saints have suffered for You, O Lord,* and heal all our pains,* O Lover of mankind, for this we pray.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2: Appearing as radiant lights, O godly martyrs,* you illumine all creation with the brilliance of your miracles,* healing infirmities, always dispelling deep darkness* and praying unceasingly to Christ our God for all of us.
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
To the saints who are in His land, the Lord has made wonderful all His desires in them.
verse: I foresaw the Lord in my sight, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. (Psalm 15:3,8)
Epistle
1 Timothy 4:4-8,16
A reading from the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy.
Timothy, my son, everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Alleluia, Tone 4
verse: The just cried out and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of their afflictions.
verse: The afflictions of the just are many, and out of them all will the Lord deliver them. (Psalm 33:18,20)
Gospel
Luke 16:15-18; 17:1-4
The Lord said to those who came to him, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.
“The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)
How to Celebrate the Nativity Fast (Advent) – The Byzantine Life
The Nativity Fast: Philip’s Fast « St. Michael’s Byzantine Catholic Church
