Coptic, Syriac, Byzantine, and Armenian Churches

Saturday of Lazarus and Palm Sunday

The Gospel of the raising of Lazarus is read on the Saturday of Lazarus in the Syriac Church during the evening Gospel (John 11:1-27) and the morning Gospel (John 11:28-46). It is also read in our Coptic Church during the Liturgy  Gospel of the Saturday of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), and similarly in the Byzantine Church.
Top of Form
(The prophecy from the Book of Genesis is recited in the Greek Church on the Eve of Palm Sunday during the Vespers service held on the evening of the Saturday of Lazarus. The fourth prophecy (Zechariah) is recited in the Greek Church during the Vespers service held on the evening of the Saturday of Lazarus.) [1]
These are the two prophecies included in the readings for the Saturday of Lazarus in the Coptic Church.
Bottom of Form
 
The Gospels of Palm Sunday in the Coptic, Syriac, Byzantine, and Armenian churches are identical with slight differences in the number of selected verses.
The Gospels of the Palm Sunday Liturgy in the Coptic Church: (Matt 21:1-17), (Mark 11:1-11), (Luke 19:29-48), (John 12:12-19).
Top of Form
The Gospel of the Palm Sunday Liturgy  in the Armenian Church: (Luke 19:29-48).
The Gospels of the Matins  prayer and the Liturgy  for Palm Sunday in the Byzantine Church:
Bottom of Form
 
Matins  prayer (Morning) for Palm Sunday: (Matthew 21: 1- 17).
Liturgy  of Palm Sunday: (John 12: 1- 18).
Days of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week.
The Gospel of the ninth hour on Monday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 21: 23- 27) is similar to the Gospel of Monday in the Byzantine Church (Matthew 21: 18- 43).
 
The afternoon service in the Syriac Church (Sunday evening) is a celebration that recalls the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and explains the importance of spiritual vigilance; it includes the readings of the sixth hour from the eve of Wednesday of Holy Week in the Coptic Church.
It is read on Tuesday in the Byzantine Church from the Gospel of (Matthew 24:36) and continues to the end and the whole chapter 25 up to verse 2 of chapter 26.
Bottom of Form
 
It is similar to the reading at eleventh hour on Tuesday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 25:14-26:2).
 
The reading of the Gospel for the Matins prayer and the Gospel of the Wednesday Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Church (John 12:17-49), (Matthew 26:6-16) is similar to the reading of the Gospel of ninth and eleventh hour on Wednesday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 26:3-16), (John 12:27-36).

Top of Form

The Greek Church refers to Judas Iscariot on this day (Wednesday) in the content of its prayers as the ignorant, the deeper, and the envious, who traded the companionship of Christ for gold.

Bottom of Form
 
The Maronite Synaxarium states regarding the designation of Wednesday of Holy Week for the commemoration of Job: Job’s friends came to comfort him in his affliction, and they reproached him for the words he spoke, but God justified him and held his friends accountable. Then He delivered him from his affliction and restored to him everything he had lost, multiplied. He lived for one hundred and forty years. This was a foreshadowing of Christ’s sufferings, where God allowed His sufferings to reveal our salvation in Christ, and then raised Him up after the sufferings, victorious in salvation.

The characters that symbolize Christ in the readings of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the Syriac Church.
 The Holy Pascha book by Father Athanasius the Macarian explains the Old Testament characters presented by the Syriac Church in the Pascha rite on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and how they symbolize Christ.
Bottom of Form
 

Monday of Holy Pascha Week

[On Monday of Holy Pascha Week, the Syriac Church commemorates Joseph the Just, and the Maronite Synaxarium explains this by saying: “This righteous and chaste man was a figure of Christ, whom his Jewish brothers envied and his disciple sold, and he was placed in a tomb’s pit, then got out victorious and reigned in Egypt, overpowering death and sin by the might of his greatness.”]

Top of Form

Tuesday of Holy Pascha Week

[As for the Antiochian Syriac Church, it commemorates Naboth the Jezreelite on Pascha Tuesday. The Maronite Synaxarium comments on this by saying: “Naboth is a symbol of Christ, whom the scribes and Pharisees wanted to seize his vineyard, meaning his people, and when they were not allowed to do so, they set up false witnesses against him, claiming he was blasphemous, and took him outside the city where they crucified him; thus, God avenged them and made them prey and killed.”]
Bottom of Form

Wednesday of Holy Pascha Week

[The Antiochian Syriac Church commemorates Job the Just and calls it “Job’s Wednesday.” The echo of this name still resonates in the Coptic Church to this day, despite the absence of readings from the Old Testament related to the Book of Job on this day in the Coptic Church.
Even the three readings excerpted from the Book of Job have only appeared on Wednesday once.]
Bottom of Form
 

Days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
Maundy Thursday
The Syriac Church and the Byzantine Church:

A reading from Chapter 26 of the Gospel of Matthew is read three times on Maundy Thursday in the Coptic Church: the third hour, the ninth hour, and the Holy Thursday Liturgy (Matt 26: 17-19). The same reading is done at the third hour and the ninth hour (Matt 26: 20-27) as part of the Holy Thursday Liturgy.

Top of Form
The same chapter is read on Thursday in the Byzantine Church three times (Matt 26: 1-20), (Matt 26: 21-42), (Matt 26: 40-27: 1).
The reading of Maundy Thursday in the Armenian Church (Mark 14:1-16) is similar to the reading for the sixth hour of Maundy Thursday in the Coptic Church (Mark 16:12-16).

The Pauline Epistle in the Divine Liturgy of Maundy Thursday in the Syriac Church (1 Corinthians 11:23-34) is the same Epistle for the Maundy Thursday Liturgy in the Coptic Church (1 Corinthians 11:23-34) and the same Epistle in the readings of the Great Holy Thursday Liturgy in the Byzantine Church (1 Corinthians 11:23-32).
 
The readings of the Lakkan in the Byzantine Church come from (John 13:3-11, 13:12-17) and are almost identical to the Gospel reading in the Lakkan of Maundy Thursday in the Coptic Church (John 13:1-17).
Bottom of Form
 
The Gospel of the Washing of the Feet in the Syriac Church (John 13: 1-20) is similar to the Gospel of the Maundy Thursday in the Coptic Church (John 13: 1-17).
 
Top of Form

The Gospel for Thursday in the Byzantine Church comes from (Luke 22: 1-39), and the Matins Gospel for The Maundy Thursday in the Coptic Church comes from (Luke 22: 7-13), while the Gospel for the Holy Thursday Liturgy in the Syriac Church is from (Luke 22: 1-12), (Luke 22: 1-30).
Bottom of Form
 

The Armenian Church

In the Matins prayer of Great Thursday in the Armenian Church, the Gospel of John (12: 27-43) is read, which highlights the coming hour of Christ.
In the evening prayer, readings are taken from the Book of Genesis (22: 1-18), from the Book of Isaiah (61: 1-7), and from the Book of Acts (1: 15-26).

According to the tradition of the Armenian Church, the Divine Liturgy is held on Thursday after the evening prayer. It includes two readings from the New Testament:
 
The first from the epistles of Apostle Paul (1 Cor 11: 23-32),
and the second a passage from the Holy Gospel (Matt 26: 27-30) which recounts the setting of the Last Supper.

Great Friday, the eve of Great Friday in the Syriac Church and the Byzantine Church:

The Gospels of the first hour from the readings of Thursday evening (the Eve of Great Friday) in the Byzantine Church (John 13:31) – etc., (John 15, 16, 17), (John 18:1) are similar to the Gospels of the first hour of Great Friday Eve (John 13:33-14:25, 14:26-15:25, 15:26-16:33, 17:1-26).
 
Top of Form
The readings of the remaining hours on Great Friday Eve include the reading of the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 26:57-75) in the Byzantine Church, which is similar to the reading of the Gospel of Matthew in the eleventh hour of Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 26:59-75).
Bottom of Form
 
The reading of the Gospel of John in the Byzantine Church (John 18:1-28) is included in the Gospels of the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours in the Coptic Church (John 18:1, 2) – (John 18:3-9), (John 18:10-14), (John 18:10-27).

Great Friday

The readings include passages from the prophets, apostles, Gospels, and Psalms along with hymns. These readings in the Coptic Church are also recognized by the Byzantine, Syriac, and Armenian rites, although the timing of their reading may differ.

Reading from the Pauline Epistle in the Syriac Church
Two readings from the Pauline Epistle come from the first chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians:

 (1 Cor 1: 1- 17) This is the reading for the third hour of Great Friday.
(1 Cor 1: 18- 25) This is the reading for Order of the Cross Prostration (Great Friday).
These two readings are similar – in speaking about Jesus on the cross and the power of the cross – to the Pauline reading for the first hour of Great Friday in the Coptic Church (1 Cor 1: 23- 2: 4) and they also resemble the Pauline reading in the evening prayer on Great Friday in the Byzantine Church (1 Cor 1: 18- 2: 2).
Bottom of Form
 
The reading at the sixth hour of Great Friday comes from the Epistle to the Colossians (Col 2: 6-16) and is similar to the Pauline reading at the third hour of Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Col 2: 13-15).

One of the Pauline readings in the Order of the Cross Prostration (Great Friday) in the Syriac Church comes from the epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 3: 1-6), which matches the Pauline reading at the eleventh hour of Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Galatians 3: 1-6).
Top of Form
The Pauline reading at the first hour of Great Holy Friday in the Byzantine Church is the same as the Pauline reading at the sixth hour in the Coptic Church (Galatians 6: 14-18).

Reading of the Gospel

The reading of the Gospel at the third hour of the Friday of the Crucifixion in the Syriac Church (Matthew 27:1-18) is similar to the reading of the Gospel at the first hour of Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 27:1-14).
 
The reading of the Gospel at the sixth hour of the Friday of the Crucifixion in the Syriac Church (Matthew 27:19-44) is similar to the readings of the Gospel at the third and sixth hours respectively on Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 27:15-26), (Matthew 27:27-46).
 
Top of Form
The reading of the Gospel at the ninth hour of the Friday of the Crucifixion in the Syriac Church (Matthew 27:45-56) is similar to the readings of the Gospel at the ninth and eleventh hours respectively on Great Friday in the Coptic Church (Matthew 27:46-50), (Matthew 27:51-56).
Bottom of Form
 
 The Gospel of the Order of the Cross Prostration (Great Friday) in the Syriac Church (John 19: 25- 37) is similar to the Gospels of the sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours respectively on Great Friday in the Coptic Church (John 19: 13- 27), (John 19: 28-30), (John 19: 31- 37).

Reading on Friday in the Byzantine Church

In the first hour from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 27: 1- 56), which is distributed in the Gospels of the hours of Great Friday in the Coptic Church from (Matthew 27: 1- 61) “Matins, third, sixth, ninth, eleventh, and twelfth.”
 
Top of Form
The reading of the Gospel of the third hour in the Byzantine Church (Mark 15: 16- 41) is distributed among the readings of the Gospels of the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours (Mark 15: 6- 41) in the Coptic Church.
Bottom of Form
 
Reading of the sixth hour in the Byzantine church (Luke 23: 32-49) is distributed among the readings of the Gospels of the sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours (Luke 23: 26-49) in the Coptic church.

Reading of the ninth hour in the Byzantine church (John 19: 23-37) is distributed among the readings of the Gospels of the third, sixth, and ninth hours (John 19: 13-37) in the Coptic church.

On the Saturday of Joy

The hymns of “The Golden Image of the Prophet Daniel” are also present among the Latins and Greeks.
Bottom of Form
The reading of the Pauline epistle in the Matins prayer (Matins) in the Byzantine Church comes partly from (1 Cor 5: 6, 7, 8) and is similar to the Pauline reading in the Matins of the Saturday of Joy in the Coptic Church (1 Cor 5: 7-13).
The reading of the Gospel in the Matins prayer (Matins) in the Byzantine Church (Matt 27: 62-66) is exactly the same as the reading in the Matins of the Saturday of Joy in the Coptic Church.
 
Top of Form
It also matches one of the readings in the Holy Saturday of the Syriac Church.
Similarly, the reading of the Gospel in the Divine Liturgy of Great Holy Saturday in the Byzantine Church (Matt 28: 1-20) is exactly the same as the reading of the Gospel in the Divine Liturgy of the Saturday of Joy in the Coptic Church.

The Latin Church

The text of the Gospel regarding the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11: 1-45) is read on the Sunday preceding the Pascha (which corresponds to the Sunday of the Blind Man in our church).
 
Interestingly, the text regarding the vision of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37: 1-14) is also read on the same day.
 
The text regarding the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21: 1-11) is read in the Latin Church on the Sunday corresponding to Palm Sunday in our church (the same reading in both churches).

Top of Form
The text regarding the Eucharist in Saint Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26) is read on Maundy Thursday in the Latin Church as well as in the readings of the Coptic Church for that day, and the text regarding the Lord washing the feet of His disciples (John 13: 1-15) is also read on this day.
Bottom of Form
 
The verse about boasting in the cross (Galatians 6:14) also appears on Maundy Thursday in the Latin Church, while it is included in the readings for the sixth hour of Great Friday in our Coptic Church.
 
A part of the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) is read on Great Friday in the Latin Church, which is more detailed about the sufferings at the sixth hour of Great Friday in our Coptic Church (Isaiah 53:7), etc.
Top of Form

A part of the Pauline epistle is read in the Latin Church on Great Friday (Philippians 2:8-9), corresponding to the Pauline epistle at the ninth hour on Great Friday in our Coptic Church (Philippians 2:4-11).
Bottom of Form
 
The text regarding the slaughter of the Passover lamb comes from the same chapter (Exodus 12) on Great Friday in both churches, but in our Coptic Church, it is read at eleventh hour from (Exodus 12: 1- 14), where the Lord gives the command to the prophet Moses about preparing the Passover lamb, how they will eat it, and what will happen when the destroying angel passes over. However, in the Latin Church, it is read from (Exodus 12: 21- 28), where the prophet Moses explains to the people what he received from God about the Passover lamb and placing the blood on the doorposts and the lintel for salvation when the destroying angel passes over.
Bottom of Form
 
That is, it is the same subject from the same chapter, but the words are repeated twice in it:
The first is the command of the Lord to Moses (as mentioned in the reading of Great Friday in our church).
The second is the execution of Moses with the people of the words of the Lord (as mentioned in the reading of Great Friday in the Latin church).
 Top of Form
The prophecy specific to the Book of Wisdom, which speaks of the Son of God and the stance of the people and the rulers towards Him, “He opposes our works and rejects us because of our transgressions of the law, and He reveals to us the sins of disobedience, and He has knowledge from God and is called the Son of God,” comes in the readings of the Matins of Great Friday in our Coptic church (Wisdom 2: 12-22) and also appears in the readings of Great Friday in the Latin church (Wisdom 2: 12-24).
Bottom of Form