October 2nd, 2025, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels.

A reading from the Book of Nehemiah.

The whole people gathered as one in the open space before the Watergate,

and they called upon Ezra the scribe to bring forth the Book of the Law of Moses

which the Lord prescribed for Israel.

On the first day of the seventh month, therefore,

Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly,

which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.

Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Watergate,

he read out of the book from daybreak until midday

in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand.

And all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion.

He opened the scroll so that all the people might see it, for he was standing higher up than

any of the people, and as he opened it, all the people rose.

Ezra blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, Amen, amen.

Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the Lord, their faces to the ground.

As the people remained in their places, Ezra read plainly from the

Book of the Law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read. Then

Nehemiah, that is His Excellency, and Ezra, the priest scribe and the Levites who were

instructing the people, said to all the people,

Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad and do not weep. For all the people were

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