2024

On Monday | April 22

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THE PROPHECY

READER

Prokeimenon. Mode pl. 2.

Psalm 104 (105).

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His holy name. [SAAS]

The reading is from the Prophecy of Isaiah.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Is 48:17-49:4

Thus says the Lord who delivers you, the Holy One of Israel: “I am your God, who showed you how to find the way wherein you should walk. If only you had heeded My commandments, then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness as a wave of the sea. Your seed would also be like the sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the ground. Neither would you be utterly destroyed now, nor would your name perish before Me.” Go forth from Babylon, you who are fleeing from the Chaldeans. Proclaim a voice of gladness and let it become well known. Proclaim it to the end of the earth, and say, “The Lord delivered His servant Jacob.” If they shall thirst, He will lead them through the desert, and water shall flow from the rock for them. He will split the rock, the water shall flow, and My people will drink. “There is no rejoicing,” says the Lord, “for the ungodly.” “Listen to Me, O coastlands, and take heed, you Gentiles. It will stand for a long time,” says the Lord. “He called My name from My mother’s womb. He made My mouth like a sharp sword, and hid Me under the shadow of His hand. He made Me as a chosen arrow and covered Me in His quiver. He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain and spent My strength for nothing. Therefore My judgment is from the Lord, and my labor is before My God.’” [SAAS]

Prokeimenon. Mode pl. 2.

Psalm 105 (106).

Bless the Lord God of Israel.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. [SAAS]

The Readings from Vespers

READER

Prokeimenon. Mode 4.

Psalm 106 (107).

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.

Let those redeemed by the Lord say so. [SAAS]

The reading is from the book of Genesis.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Gn 37:1-41

Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. Then make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt game for his father. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her younger son, saying, “Indeed, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the sheep and bring me from there two kids, choice and good, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it and bless you before his death.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. She also put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the exposed part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread she had prepared into the hands of her son Jacob. Thus he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” Thus he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. Then he said, “Are you my son Esau?” He said, “I am.” He said, “Bring your game to me, my son, and I will eat from it, that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing. Thus he blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field the Lord has blessed. Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. And cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you.” Now it happened, as soon as Isaac finished blessing Jacob his son, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.” And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him – and indeed, he shall be blessed.” When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me – me also, O my father!” But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” Then Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing.” So he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed, I have made him your lord, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me – me also, O my father!” But when Isaac was troubled, Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.” Thus Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. [SAAS]

Prokeimenon. Grave Mode.

Psalm 107 (108).

Be exalted above the heavens, O God.

My heart is ready, O God. [SAAS]

The reading is from the Proverbs of Solomon.

PRIEST

Wisdom. Let us be attentive.

READER

Pr 19:16-25

He who guards the commandment keeps his soul, but he who despises his ways shall perish. The one who has mercy on the poor lends to God, and He will repay him according to his gift. Instruct your son, for thus he shall be hopeful, but do not lift up your soul in arrogance. A malicious man shall be punished severely, and if he commits injury, he will also add this to his soul. Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, that you may become wise in your last days. There are many thoughts in the heart of a man, but the counsel of the Lord abides forever. Mercy is fruit to a man, and a poor righteous man is better than a rich liar. The fear of the Lord is unto life for a man, and he shall lodge without fear in places where knowledge is not examined. A man who hides his hands in his bosom unrighteously, he will not even bring them up to his mouth. When a pestilent man is punished, a man without discernment becomes more astute, but if you reprove a discerning man, he will understand perception. [SAAS]

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Stand for the reading of the Synaxarion.

Synaxarion

From the Menaion.

On April 22 we commemorate our devout father Theodore Sykeotis, Bishop of Anastasiopolis.

On this day the holy Martyr Nearchos died by fire.

On this day we also commemorate the holy Apostle Nathanael, who is also Simon the Zealot. This is the commemoration of when he met Christ.

By the intercessions of Your Saints, O Christ God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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Fasting Rule

Strict: Refrain from meat, fish, oil, dairy, and eggs.

It is a weekday in Lent.