“Wisdom does not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin” (Wisdom 1:4).
“And I also, O my master, being a sinner, teach me to repent. For you do not desire the death of a sinner, but that he should return and live” (Conclusion of the Adam Theotokion).
“Blessed are those who discipline themselves,
Blessed are those who keep their baptism pure,
Blessed are those who stay awake and pray,
Blessed are those who await the coming who will judge the living and the dead” (Saint Ephrem the Syrian).
The explanation of the readings
The readings for the five hours of this evening revolve around the main entrance to salvation, which is repentance.
The readings also warn against:
– Absence of repentance
– Deprivation of the presence and seeing God,
Therefore, words like:
“I do not know you.” (Gospel of the first hour).
“You do not see Me.” (Gospel of the third hour).
“Stand before the Son of Man”. (Gospel of the sixth hour).
“Yes, I tell you that he asks of this generation” (the Gospel of the ninth hour).
Lest He comes suddenly and finds you sleeping (the Gospel of the eleventh hour).
Repentance in the readings of the five hours has:
✞Struggle and endeavor (the first hour).
✞Divine will for our salvation (the third hour).
✞A clear stance on the flesh and the world (the sixth hour).
✞Care and warning against appearance over substance (the ninth hour).
Not being confined to seasons and times but constant vigilance (the eleventh hour).
The first hour of Tuesday Eve
The readings of this hour speak about the struggle and endeavor of our repentance and can be summarized in three words:
☞Return (prophecy)
☞Satisfy (psalm)
☞Strive (Gospel)
Prophecy (Zech 1:1-6)
The prophet here explains the essence of repentance in returning to God with all one’s heart, that is, turning away from bad ways and evil deeds.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.. Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.”
And this is what the Lord always looks at, despite the contrition of the people of Nineveh and also the king and the nobles in the dust and the severe fasting even for the animals, but the book says: “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10). Therefore, the prophet says: “So rend your heart, and not your garments;” (Joel 2:13).
Psalm (61:4, 1)
“In God is salvation and my glory; He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God. For he is my God and my Savior, my protector; I shall never be moved.”
The psalm takes us to the essence of struggle and endeavor of the repentance, which is being filled with God, delighting in Him, and rejoicing in His salvation. The negative aspect of repentance is to distance oneself and be cautious of sin, which is necessary for every person. However, the most important and greatest aspect is the positive side, which is being filled with God, delighting in His word, and having a continuous conversation with Him:
True repentance is to experience that God is our glory, salvation, hope, support, and steadfastness.
Therefore, even though we have not resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, our struggle must always be accompanied by constant looking to the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 12:4, 2). We must also compete according to the rules, which is to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:5, 1), and although sin surrounds us (Hebrews 12:1), we are enclosed in His love (2 Corinthians 5:14).
[This is what our holy fathers, Saint Basil the Great, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, explained in their interpretation of this psalm:
Saint Basil the Great sees the word “salvation” here to mean the Lord Christ Himself, as when Simeon the Elder said when he carried the child Jesus: “My eyes have seen Your salvation.”]
For this and similar mysteries, the bride desires to be inside the house that contains the mystery of wine. And after she entered it, she began to jump upwards to reach what is greater, because she was searching to fall in love. According to Saint John, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The submission of the soul to God is salvation, as David indicates (Psalm 62:1). “Bring me into the house of wine, and teach me above me love.” The bride says that He placed His love above me, I am submissive to his love; so both expressions have the same meaning.
This verse is the conclusion of the Psalm of God’s salvation for His people, and the conclusion of the collection of Psalms of God’s salvation in the church, which is the purpose of His economy from His church and His holy house, which is the subject of the Gospel of the Hour.
The link between the Psalm and the Gospel (Father Luke Sidarus)
In God is salvation and my glory…
For salvation in the Psalm is in God, not a human effort or human righteousness, but Jesus “the Savior” is our salvation.
He gave us His body and blood to live by them. He became our salvation, our glory, our help, our hope, and our protector so we do not falter.
Salvation is accepting Jesus and uniting with Him in His body, and striving constantly to enter daily through this door “the Lord Jesus” and to walk daily in the way of “the Lord Jesus”.
At that time, the soul will be accepted before God “in Christ” and it will have an advocate when it stands for judgment, not by itself but by God Himself who became righteousness, redemption, grace, and forgiveness for us.
Gospel (Luke 13:23-30)
The warning of the Gospel is not only for the wicked but also for those who rely on their righteousness and think they are the first, relying on the form of worship, psychological matters, and personal attachment to spiritual leaders without clear change, sincere repentance, and growth in grace.
” then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity… And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
The third hour of Tuesday Eve
In the readings of this hour, we see in repentance:
God’s initiative with love (prophecy)
And the joy of salvation (the psalm)
And God’s will for His children (the Gospel)
Prophecy (Malachi 1:1-9)
Prophecy begins with the call of divine love and divine initiative in anticipation of human response, and this is the great difference between Christianity and any other religion or belief in that God is the initiator and stands at our doors knocking:
“The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you,” says the Lord.” God reproaches His people and their leaders who do not fear His name and do not declare His glory, by their contempt for worship and sacrifices and their disdain for the table of the Lord: ” A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name? “You offer defiled food on My altar. But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.”
Psalm (Psalm 12:6, 4)
“ Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death; But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”
The first part of this psalm is repeated in the psalm of the eleventh hour of Monday.
The second part announces the joy of salvation.
The entire psalm is a journey of repentance from human confusion after feeling the absence of God,
Therefore, the psalm began with the question: “How long, Lord, will you forget me?” and the phrase “How long” was repeated three times,
Feelings gradually shift with the presence and visitation of grace for our weakness and confusion to the joy of salvation at the end of the psalm, so the psalmist in the famous psalm of repentance (Psalm 50 or 51 in the Septuagint) asked, saying: Grant me the joy of your salvation.
Some say that these may have been the days that David lived, moving from sadness and confusion to the joy of salvation and praising God:
[Stuhlmueller says that it is difficult to pinpoint the reason for this sudden transformation: Did the psalmist recover quickly? It is possible that the psalm was composed through long nights of insomnia, bitter pains, desperate prayers, and harsh memories, all gradually evolving to create peace, so that even in death, human anger or sorrow turns into inner peace and steadfast love][4]
The link between the psalm and the Gospel (Father Luke Sidarous)[5]
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God…
When Herod threatens to kill Jesus, the psalm paints for us a way to confront this threat by turning to the Father saying: “Look and respond.”
Isn’t this what the Church did when the chief priests threatened the disciples and released them? The Church lifted up a prayer with one voice using the words of this psalm saying: “Look at their threats…”
Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;…
We should contemplate Jerusalem, which the Lord addresses at this hour and how He hid from her eyes so she did not look at her bridegroom… and how it is hidden from her eyes, so she did not know what was for her salvation.
Jerusalem has slept in its sins and has not known the time of its visitation, but the Lord opens the eyes of the blind and heals today and tomorrow … and … The request of the psalm is the request of the soul who strives for its salvation in the watches so that it is not overtaken by the sleep of forgetfulness and the spiritual blindness that once enveloped Jerusalem.
But I have trusted in Your mercy…
The Lord judged at this hour with His justice on Jerusalem, the one who rejects saving itself, by saying: ” Your house is left to you desolate.” And the psalm, in the face of the judgments of divine justice, urges us to rely on mercy… And so our hearing of the Gospel of this hour turns into a prayer for mercy, lest our fate becomes like that of Jerusalem, which rejected the Savior and closed its heart to Him.
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation….
Joy in salvation comes as a result of enlightenment “Enlighten my eyes”, and relying on the mercies of the Lord “In your mercy I trust” so the soul reaches to receive the Lord with the same joy, saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Gospel (Luke 13:31)
And it concludes with the Gospel that proclaims the eternal message of the Son of God in His incarnation, the divine healing for humans, from the deeds of Satan and the completion of salvation through His death and resurrection and His will in every age towards His people and His church, and a final warning of the consequence of rejecting His divine will and His outstretched hands so that houses turn into ruins due to the absence of His divine presence.
“Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected….How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate;”
The sixth hour on Tuesday Eve
The readings of this hour revolve around salvation through repentance from all dangers, wars, and distress:
And warn leaders not to be a snare to their people instead of seeking their salvation (Prophecy).
And the soul cries out to God to save it from the snare of the hunter, which is the devil (Psalms).
And God advises us to pray, stay awake, and crucify the world and the body for salvation from the impending judgment (Gospel).
Prophecy (Hosea 4:15 – 5:1-7)
This prophecy carries a warning to the leaders of the people not to hinder them from repentance, and the most difficult thing is for them to be a stumbling block and a cause of stumbling in their path to salvation: “Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, Because you have been a snare to Mizpah And a net spread on Tabor.”
Naturally, when they need God for their own interests, they cannot find Him because they do not seek Him from their hearts, nor for their salvation:
“For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord… “With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.”
Psalm (Psalm 91:2,3)
“He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.”
Here, the soul cries out for salvation from the many snares surrounding it, set by the devil and his helpers, which were seen by Saint Anthony. He prayed for the salvation of the people and heard a voice saying that the humble will be saved.
As Saint Jerome says: “I rely on Him, for He will deliver me from the snare of the hunter.” In this age, there are many hunters who seek to trap our souls. As the prophet says: “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers” (Psalm 124:7), we often notice in the Bible that hunters play an adversarial role. For example, Nimrod the giant who was always rebellious against God, was a hunter. And so was Esau… We read in the Book of Proverbs: “Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.” (Proverbs 6:25). Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). There are many traps where there are many sins; and where there are many hunters, there are traps. The teachings of the heretics are traps of death. The Link between the Psalms and the Gospel (Fr. Luke Sidarous).
He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver me…
Those who rely on God express their reassurance and salvation from the trap of Satan and death, because Christ broke the thorn of death with His sufferings “the trap was broken and we were saved”, and the Lord’s command to His disciples to be vigilant and pray at all times turns into a constant prayer in the psalm “My refuge is my God, so I rely on Him”.
from the snare of the fowler…
The day of the Lord is considered like a trap for those whose hearts are weighed down by the wine and intoxication of this world, and the day of the Lord surprises them like a trap so they wake up from the intoxication of this world and find themselves in hell like the foolish rich man “O foolish one, tonight you will lose your soul”.
And on the day of the Lord, He will judge the lazy that are sleeping, like the foolish virgins, and those busy with the matters of this world… Just as it was in the days of Noah and in Sodom as well for those indulging in desires and pleasures of the flesh.
The word is disturbing…
It is the word of judgment “Depart from me, all you evildoers” (Psalm 6:8). And the Lord saves us from this disturbing word and delights us with the joyful sound of His voice saying to us: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
The Gospel (Luke 21:34)
The attention is drawn in the Gospel here to the importance of readiness and vigilance in supplication for salvation from what is to come, according to another translation: “that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass.”
Vigilance here is constant for every person because he does not know the time of his departure, and the whole church is vigilant for the great tribulation (Rev 14:7) that is expected to come before the end of the world.
The warning is against negligence and immersion in what is for the world and the flesh:
“ But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly…. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
The ninth The ninth hour on Tuesday Eve
The readings of this hour discuss:
✞The purity of repentance and its enlightenment with the light of the knowledge of God (Prophecy).
✞Rejecting the worldly thinking that could lead us to crucify Christ again (Psalms).
✞And the responsibility of knowledge and teaching (Gospel).
Prophecy (Hosea 1:12 – 2:1-2)
The Lord calls His children in this prophecy to sow righteousness, to be enlightened by the light of His knowledge, to distance themselves from hypocrisy, injustice, and lying, and not to reject His call:
” Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. Why have you passed over ungodliness in silence and reaped its wrongdoings? As they called them, So they went from them;”
Psalm (Psalm 33:11,10)
” The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. “
The talk here is about the cross intended to bring the opinions of the nations (Romans) and the thoughts of the people (Jews) and the conspiracy of the leaders (chief priests), but God’s plan will surpass, encompass, and transform all the evil schemes and plans for the sake of the salvation plan for all humanity. The link between the Psalm and the Gospel (Fr. Luke Sidarous)
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing…
The nations think globally, seeking a Savior according to their opinions and philosophies, and the Lord scatters their opinions by the cross “…the cross to the Greeks is foolishness…” God has saved the world through the foolishness of preaching, choosing the weak to shame the strong, and the ignorant to shame the wise.
The Lord here speaks of seeking true wisdom as the Queen of Sheba did, who came from afar, she judges this generation that hates the light and rejects the wisdom that is for Christ Himself.
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect…
The nations are the people of Israel, and their thoughts have been polluted by mingling with the nations, seeking a temporal earthly savior, and the function of the savior in their minds is to save them from earthly injustice by the power of weapons and war. And the Lord rejects their thoughts and reminds them of Jonah who became a sign by being in the belly of the fish, and that the Lord will save in His own way and His own thought and plan that He intended in Himself before the ages.
He rejects the counsels of the rulers…
And the rulers are the esteemed scribes and Pharisees considered the heads of the people, and Christ says to them, “You have taken the keys of knowledge, but the Lord rejects their conspiracies and exposes their hypocrisy.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever…
How far His judgments are from scrutiny and His ways from investigation, for whoever knows the mind of the Lord. The view of the Lord and His thoughts are one and do not change as in the days of Jonah also, and as in the days of the Queen of Sheba also, and as in the symbol, so shall be the truth which is the death of Christ and His tomb for three days in the belly of the earth and the wisdom of preaching His cross.
The plans of His heart to all generations…
Just as the wicked city of Nineveh was shown mercy when it repented in sackcloth and ashes and was overwhelmed with paternal compassion and profound pity, and the thoughts of His heart towards it were clear, so the psalm reveals most clearly the thoughts of the Lord’s heart as He speaks to the assembly of the Jews about their hypocrisy, that the Lord Christ harbored in His heart an eternal salvation and forgave the sins of the whole world.
Gospel of Luke (11:37-52)
Here the Lord rebukes the Pharisees for their worship of appearance and form over substance, and He also rebukes the lawyers who claimed knowledge but their knowledge did not benefit them because it was without life and caused stumbling for many.
” Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?….. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
Eleventh hour on Tuesday Eve
✞This reading warns against injustice, lies and hypocrisy that can lead us to the crucifixion of Christ (prophecy).
✞It also warns against being trapped in the seasons and calculations of the times that the Father has made in His authority (the Gospel)
✞The readings of this hour call for the vigilance of repentance and the Christian’s daily vigilance and clarity of purpose in his mission and work (Gospel)
✞With a life of praise and pure worship (Psalm).
Prophecy (Amos 5:6-14)
It was as if Amos the prophet accompanied the Lord in His Passion in the last days before the cross and saw the chief priests and scribes hating the Lord who rebuked them (Mt 23) and disregarded His holy word and warnings “They hated the one who rebuked in the gates, and defiled the pure word”.
He may also have seen their hypocrisy to the Romans in order to crucify the Lord: “I am aware of your many hypocrisies and your renewed sins.”
How they judged the righteous and offered a bribe for it, “You trample on the righteous and take the bribe.”
Psalm (Ps 121:4)
“ Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord. “
Here the psalm shows one of the signs of sincere repentance is worshiping purely for the glory of God and praising and confessing His name.
The connection between the Psalm and the Gospel (St. Luke Sedarus)[9]
Where the tribes go up…
The psalm refers to the children of the Lord on the day of His second coming ascending to Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all. They ascend tribe by tribe, each according to the authority given to Him, and according to God’s portion of faith given to everyone. The tribes of the martyrs, the tribes of the confessors, the tribes of the righteous, and the tribes of those who lived in purity, dwelt in the mountains, and were alienated from everything in the world because of their love for King Jesus. Thousands upon thousands and ten thousands upon ten thousands. “A great multitude that no one can count” (Rev 7:9).
To the Testimony of Israel …
These rising tribes bear witness to the new Israel, to the salvation that Christ accomplished on the cross, and a testimony against the world, as the pure testify against the uncleanness of the world, and the hermits testify against those who are tempted and attracted by the world with its joys and pleasures.
To give thanks to the name of the Lord. …
This is the praise of the chosen ones, who have testified to the Lord before the world, and their testimony remains until the coming of the Lord Jesus, and they confess His name that He is good and that His mercy endures forever.
The Gospel (Mark 13:32-14:2,1)
The Gospel concludes by emphasizing watchfulness in prayer and faithfulness in mission:
” Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.”
He also reveals the plots of the rulers who wanted to trample on the righteous and take bribes as in the prophecy:
“And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.”