Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost

ELEVENTH SUNDAY OF PENTECOST SEASON

The Repentance of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

Luke 19:1-10

 He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

Feast of The Assumption of The Blessed Mother, also known as the Dormition or the Falling Asleep of The Blessed Mother



Coptic Icon

The Dormition of the The Blessed Mother(Theotokos in Greek): Κοίμησις Θεοτόκου, Koímēsis, often anglicized as Kimisis) is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos (Mary, the mother of Jesus; literally translated as God-bearer), and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15

Pslam 45 

Your throne, O God,^[c] will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.



Alleluia! O Mother who gave Life to us,
petition on our behalf
the Son who appeared from you:
may he remove from us the blows of punishment,
and keep away divisions and disputes.
May he lead us in the path of life in which we journey
at all times.
On your memorial day,
we sing praise to your only Son.

Alleluia!
Blessed are you, O Mary,
for God, who feeds all creatures,
was nourished by you
and rested on your breast.
O Wonder!
The Son of God was nourished
by a human creature!
He assumed what is ours
and gave us what is his.
On his mother's memorial let us proclaim:
Glory to you, O Lord.

Alleluia!
As dew was falling gently
over the city of Ephesus
Saint John wrote to its people.
He instructed them to celebrate
the memory of the Blessed Mary,
three times each year:
In January, during the time of planting of the seeds;
in May, during the time of harvest;
and in August, during the time of the grapes.
For the mysteries of life are prefigured in these months.

Alleluia!
On your memorial day, O Blessed Mary,
angels and mortals are overwhelmed with joy.
The dead rejoice in their tombs
because of the glory in creation.
God will bless
those who celebrate your memory with faith
and pour his mercy upon them.

Alleluia!
Who is to see a new ship
sustaining the One who is mighty;
the One who sustains and rules all creation.
Mary bore him, yet he bears all creation.
He nourishes all living creatures,
yet she nourished him with her milk.
He is the Maker of all infants,
yet he dwelt, as an infant, in her womb.
The fiery beings in the heights
sing hymns of praise to him!
Alleluia!

Maronite Icon



Maronite Catholic: Qolo (Hymn) of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Qurbono, The Book of Offering, Maronite Catholic Church | English rendering 1994 | Ancient Maronite

Qolo: Assumption Entrance Hymn

TRANSFIGURATION - August 6th

Maronite Icon - Transfiguration

All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus' first prediction of his passion and death. Peter's eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the Jewish weeklong, fall Feast of Booths.

 

One of the Transfiguration accounts is read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ's divinity to catechumens and baptized alike. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, by contrast, is the story of the temptation in the desert—affirmation of Jesus' humanity. The two distinct but inseparable natures of the Lord were a subject of much theological argument at the beginning of the Church's history; it remains hard for believers to grasp.

"At his Transfiguration Christ showed his disciples the splendor of his beauty, to which he will shape and color those who are his: 'He will reform our lowness configured to the body of his glory'" (Philippians 3:21) (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae).

Tradition names Mt. Tabor as the site of the revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on August 6. A feast in honor of the Transfiguration was celebrated in the Eastern Church from about that time. Western observance began in some localities about the eighth century.

On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the Roman calendar the following year.