5th Sunday of the Great Fast
Heb 9:11 - 14

A reading - from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews

Brothers and sisters: When Christ came as high priest of the good things which have come to be, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this | crea|tion.

He entered not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, and achieved eternal re|demp|tion.

For if the blood of goats and bills and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh | is | cleansed,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself up unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the - living - God!

Commemoration of St. Mary of Egypt
Gal. 3:23 through 4:5

A reading - from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

Brothers and sisters: Before faith came we were under the constraint of the law, locked in until the faith that was coming should be | re|vealed.

In other words, the law was our monitor until Christ came to bring about our justification | through | faith.

But now that faith is here, we are no longer in the monitor’s charge. Each one of you is a son of God because of your faith in Christ |Je|sus.

All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him. There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ | Je|sus.

Furthermore if you belong to Christ you are descendants of Abraham, which means you inherit all that | was | promised.

Brothers and sisters: as long as a designated heir is not of age his condition is no different from that of a slave, even though in name he is master of all his | posse|ssions;

for he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the time set by | his | father.

In the same way, while we were not yet of age we were like slaves subordinated to the elements of | the | world;

but when the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son born of a woman, born under | the | law,

to deliver from the law those who were subjected to it, so that we might receive our status as adop-ted - sons.