In this text, I would love to share with you about how to read the scripture.
Of course you are welcome to contact us in order to send you the whole scripture readings with ecclesiastical calendar.
The ordering of the Epistle and Gospel readings in this text is based on the ordinances contained in the TYPICON of George Regas (ΤΥΠΙΚΟΝ Οἰκονόμου Γεωργίου Ρήγα 1908 ἔκδοσις «Πατριαρχικοῦ Ἱδρύματος Πατερικῶν Μελετῶν» Θεσσαλονίκη 1994) on pgs 123-126, which are as follows:
Part 1: General Ordinances
Chapter 7: The Divine Liturgy
§ 9: The Epistle and Gospel of the Liturgy
“In the Divine Liturgy the Epistle reading is read by the reader and the Gospel reading is read by the deacon if there is one; if not, then by the priest. The reader says the Epistle from the middle of the church facing east, and the deacon says the Gospel from the ambo, but if the priest says the Gospel, he says it from the Holy Doors facing west.
Whenever two Epistles are appointed, the one is said, and then after it is finished, in continuation the second is attached; thus after the Epistle of the 2nd Saturday of the Fast, the reader attaches also the reading for the reposed straightway, saying: “But I would not have you to be ignorant...” etc. Similarly, when two Gospels are appointed, the second is read after the end of the first in continuation. For example, the Gospel reading for the Theotokos is attached to a particular Gospel reading thus: “And Mary arose...”etc.
The weekly order of the Epistle and Gospel readings are as follows:
a) The daily readings of the Epistle are read each week according to the following order: From Pascha until the Sunday of Pentecost, the Acts of the Apostles; from the Monday of the Holy Spirit until Great Saturday, the Epistles of Paul and the rest.
The Sunday readings are read in order, from the Sunday of Pascha until the Sunday of the Forefathers. From the Sunday after Theophany until the commencement of the Triodion they follow the order of the Gospel readings as defined below. The daily Epistle readings are read in order, until they are finished, until the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee.
When the thirty-three weeks are finished, and there are no more Epistle readings until the commencement of the Triodion, read the daily Epistles thus:
If one week of Epistle readings is missing, read those of the 16th week.
If two weeks are missing, read those of the 15th and 16th weeks.
If three weeks are missing, read those of the 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks.
If four weeks are missing, read those of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks.
If five weeks are missing, read those of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks.
If six weeks are missing, read those of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks.
If seven weeks are missing, read those of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks.
b) The Gospel readings are read in order each week according to the following order: a) From the Sunday of Pascha until Pentecost the Gospel readings are from the Gospel according to John. b) From the Monday of the Holy Spirit until the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross the Gospel readings are from the Gospel according to Matthew. c) From the Monday after the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross until Cheese-Fare Sunday, the Gospel readings are from the Gospel according to Luke. 4) During the Great Fast on Saturdays and Sundays the Gospel readings are from the Gospel according to Mark.
c) The Gospel readings are read in order, except the Sunday readings according to Luke which leap. But when the Sundays of Luke leap to another week, the weekday Gospel readings do not leap, only the Sunday readings leap; the weekday readings remain in their order. When the weekday Gospel readings of Luke are finished and we have not yet reached the Triodion, read the Gospel readings for the after-feasts of Theophany; and if these also are finished and Gospel readings are needed until the commencement of the Triodion, go to the Gospel readings according to Matthew and read as many weekday readings as are needed until the commencement of the Triodion. From the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, read the Gospel readings for Sundays and weekdays in continuation. The Gospel readings from the completion of Luke until the commencement of the Triodion of the daily Gospel readings according to Matthew are these:
If one week of Gospel readings is missing, read those of the 16th week of Matthew.
If two weeks are missing, read those of the 15th and 16th weeks of Matthew.
If three weeks are missing, read those of the 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks of Matthew.
If four weeks are missing, read those of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks of Matthew.
If five weeks are missing, read those of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks of Matthew.
If six weeks are missing, read those of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th weeks of Matthew.
d) The 17th Sunday of Matthew is only read in the order of Gospel readings according to Matthew when Pascha falls on March 22nd. When Pascha falls from the April 15th until the 25th, it is omitted from the order of Gospel readings according to Matthew, and read before the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee. When Pascha falls from March 23rd until April 14th, it is omitted altogether.
e) If Pascha falls on March 22nd, 23rd or 24th, the Sunday after Theophany does not happen, because the first Sunday after Theophany is the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee; in this instance the Epistle and Gospel readings are read on January 7th before the readings for St. John the Baptist.
If Pascha falls on March 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, or 31st and in a leap-year on March 24th there is only the Sunday after Theophany, and after it the Triodion commences.
If Pascha falls from April 1st to the 7th or in a leap-year on March 31st, after the Sunday after Theophany, there is only one Sunday until the commencement of the Triodion. The readings are as follows:
Epistle: 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 15th Sunday of Luke (Zacchaeus)
If Pascha falls from April 8th to the 14th or in a leap-year on April 7th, after the Sunday after Theophany, there are two Sundays until the commencement of the Triodion. The readings are as follows:
On the 1st Sunday - Epistle: 29th Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 12th Sunday of Luke (10 Lepers)
On the 2nd Sunday - Epistle: 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 15th Sunday of Luke (Zacchaeus)
If Pascha falls from April 15th to the 21th or in a leap-year on April 14th, after the Sunday after Theophany, there are three Sundays until the commencement of the Triodion. The readings are as follows:
On the 1st Sunday - Epistle: 29th Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 12th Sunday of Luke (10 Lepers)
On the 2nd Sunday - Epistle: 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 15th Sunday of Luke (Zacchaeus)
On the 3rd Sunday - Epistle: 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 17th Sunday of Matthew (The Canaanite Woman)
If Pascha falls from April 22nd to the 25th or in a leap-year on April 21st, after the Sunday after Theophany, there are four Sundays until the commencement of the Triodion. The readings are as follows:
On the 1st Sunday - Epistle: 29th Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 12th Sunday of Luke (10 Lepers)
On the 2nd Sunday - Epistle: 31st Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 14th Sunday of Luke
On the 3rd Sunday - Epistle: 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 15th Sunday of Luke (Zacchaeus)
On the 4th Sunday - Epistle: 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel: 17th Sunday of Matthew (The Canaanite Woman)
f) Note: Of the leaping Sundays of Luke, the 4th is said on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers: the Sunday which falls from October 11th to the 17th, the 5th Sunday of Luke is said on the Sunday which falls from October 30th to November 5th, and the 11th Sunday of Luke is said on the Sunday of the Forefathers: the Sunday which falls from December 11th to the 17th.
f) Note: Of the leaping Sundays of Luke, the 4th is said on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers: the Sunday which falls from October 11th to the 17th, the 5th Sunday of Luke is said on the Sunday which falls from October 30th to November 5th, and the 11th Sunday of Luke is said on the Sunday of the Forefathers: the Sunday which falls from December 11th to the 17th.
g) In addition to the Epistle and Gospel readings of the day, there are also other readings for each feast or the memory of a saint, and also for certain Sundays, pre-feasts, and after-feasts. These readings are found in the menologion. They are read, attached to the Epistle and Gospel readings as indicated above."
Notes
• Regarding the presence of multiple readings: We have not mandated how many readings should be read at each Divine Liturgy, rather we have provided a comprehensive listing of all possible readings for each day. The Typicon of the Great Church of Christ (1888) prescribes only one Epistle and one Gospel to be read at each Divine Liturgy. Please see the "Pocket Calendar - 2014" for the Sunday readings according to this typicon.
• On Great feasts (Feasts of the Master and Feasts of the Mother of God), Vigil-rank feasts, the Royal Hours of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany, the daily Epistle and Gospel readings are not read together with the readings of the feast, they are transferred to the nearest day feasible and are read together with that day’s daily readings. This ordinance does not apply to Sundays. They are as follows:
Feasts of the Master:
Exaltation of the Cross (Sep. 14th)
Nativity of Christ (Dec. 25th)
Theophany (Jan. 6th)
Transfiguration (Aug. 6th)
Feasts of the Mother of God:
Nativity (Sep. 8th)
Entrance (Nov. 21st)
Presentation (Feb. 2nd)
Annunciation (March 25th)
Dormition (Aug. 15th)
Vigil-rank feasts:
The Assumption of St. John the Theologian (Sep. 26th)
St. John Chrysostom (Nov. 13th)
St. Sabbas the Sanctified (Dec. 5th)
St. Nicholas of Myra (Dec. 6th)
St. Anthony the Great (Jan. 17th)
St. Euthymios the Great (Jan. 20th)
St. Gregory the Theologian (Jan. 25th)
The Three Hierarchs (Jan. 30th)
• When the eve of the Nativity of Christ (Dec. 24th) and the eve of Theophany (Jan.5th) fall on Saturday or Sunday, the Royal Hours are chanted on the previous Friday.
• When the 1st & 2nd findings of the head of St. John the Baptist (Feb. 24th) and the 3rd finding of the head of St John the Baptist (May 25th) fall on the Saturday of the Souls, the service for the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist is chanted on the previous day: Friday.
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(The text transferred from GOC of America)Editor: Rev.Spyridon Tanous
Ἐκκλησία τῶν Γ.Ο.Χ
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