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The Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
Intent: The Overcoming of Sorrow
THE COLLECT
O our Father, our God, our Savior, our Ruler, allow us to be Thy champions, allow us to do battle for Thee! O Maiden, our Beloved, the Living fire, we shall give ourselves to Thee, we shall give our body to death for the sake of Thy body, and give our beauty for the sake of Thy fair beauty! Allow us to untie the knot of worldly attachments, to break the bond of action; allow us to lead the one gone astray, heal the long incurable disease of the passions of this world, and open our eyes to Wisdom! Give us grace so that on every side we may become bestowers of joy on those who have come to sorrow!
Amen.
THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the writings of the Holy Prophet Mani:
It is good for us to be silent; let us not think in our heart that our God is forgetful of us, for before us all hardships will disappear like gloomy shadows before the glorious Sun. Our Father’s Covenant, the profit and the loss, is shared among us, we are true sons, the heirs of their fathers! There is nothing at all that is free from suffering that will rest in the end; even the very seed that is sown finds no way to live unless it dies, but through its death it lives and gives life also. Let us too strengthen ourselves, my brothers, for see, the Rest has come to us that we may receive the blessing of all these things we have spoken of, and dwell together in the glorious Land of the Light!
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. John:
And Jesus said: Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A little while, and ye shall not see Me; and again a little while, and ye shall see Me. Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your hearts shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. Hitherto have you asked nothing in My Name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you my friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. These things I have spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
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