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JANUARY HAVING THIRTY ONE DAYS On the 1st of the Month —The Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ AT VESPERS After the Opening Psalm we recite the 1st section of Blessed is the man. At Lord, I have cried we insert 6 Stichera and sing 3 of the Feast and 3 of the Saint. Idiomel Stichera of the Feast. The Saviour in coming down to aid the human race accepted circumvolution in swaddling clothes; he did not abhor circumcision of the flesh, when eight days old in respect of his Mother, without beginning in respect of his Father. To him let us believers cry aloud: You are our God; have mercy on us. ( Twice)The same Tone. God, the supremely good, was not ashamed to be severed by circumcision of the flesh, but gave us himself as a type and example to all for salvation. For the Maker of the Law fulfils the requirements of the Law and the sayings of the Prophets concerning him. You who hold all things in the hollow of your hand and were wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lord, glory to you! Prosomia of the Saint. Called by a name which means royal, when you had shepherded the royal priesthood, the holy nation of Christ with true wisdom and knowledge, Father, then the king of kings and Lord of all, the Son eternally of one mind and without beginning with his Begetter, adorned you, Basil, with a diadem of the kingdom; implore him to save and enlighten our souls. Dazzling in the robes of high priesthood, you proclaimed with joy the Gospel of the kingdom, Basil, pouring out for the Church teachings of orthodoxy; now enlightened by them we confess one Godhead in a Father almighty, an only-begotten Word of God and a divine Spirit, and we glorify it, inseparable in Three Persons; Implore this one Godhead to save and enlighten our souls. United and dwelling with the heavenly choirs, whose life you rivalled, Father Basil, by the radiant sincerity of your way of life, as you lived among those on earth like one without flesh while still in the body, implore Christ our God to save those who delight in your teaching, inspired by God, from dangers and the darkness of ignorance, and to enlighten our souls. Glory Tone 8. By Anatolios.You became a lover of wisdom, Venerable Father, and, preferring a life lived in companionship with God to all existing things, you abandoned concern for death, as befitted your life; for having destroyed for yourself the passions of the flesh by labours of self-mastery and by care for the Law of God, having kept dignity of your soul unenslaved by an abundance of virtue, you subdued all fleshly thought by the spirit; and so, having hated the flesh and the world and ruler of the world, as you stand before Christ, ask for our souls his great mercy. Both now The same Tone.The Saviour in coming down to aid the human race accepted circumvolution in swaddling clothes; he did not abhor circumcision of the flesh, when eight days old in respect of his Mother, without beginning in respect of his Father. To him let us believers cry aloud: You are our God; have mercy on us. Entrance, the prokeimenon of the day and the Readings. The Reading is from Genesis. The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him: I am your God. Be well pleasing before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly; and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. And your name will not be called Abram, but you will be Abraham, because I have established you as father of many nations. And I will increase you greatly, and I will establish you for nations, and kings will come forth from you. And I will set my covenant between me and you, and between your seed after you for their generations for an eternal covenant, and I will be their God. And Abraham fell upon his face and worshipped the Lord. And God said to Abraham: You are to keep my covenant and your seed after you to their generations. And this is the covenant which you are to keep between me and between your seed after you to their generations. Every male among you shall be circumcised; and you shall circumcise the foreskin of your flesh, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and you all. And every male child among you shall be circumcised at eight days for your generations. And an uncircumcised male, that is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be destroyed from its race; because it has rejected my covenant. The Reading is from Proverbs. The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works. Before the age he founded me, in the beginning before he made the earth. And before he made the deeps and before the springs of waters came forth. Before the mountains were established and before all the hills he begets me. The Lord made countries and uninhabited places and the high inhabited parts of the earth. When he was preparing the heaven I was present with him, and when he marked out his throne upon the winds. When he strengthened the clouds above and secured the springs of the earth under heaven; when he gave his commandment to the sea, and the waters will not transgress his order; and when he was making the foundations of the earth, I was by him arranging all things. I was that in which he delighted; and daily I rejoiced in his presence at every moment. The Reading from the Wisdom of Solomon. The mouth of a just man distils wisdom; the lips of men know graces. The mouth of the wise meditates wisdom; justice delivers them from death. When a just man dies hope is not lost; for a just son is born for life, and among his good things he will pluck the fruit of justice. There is light at all times for the just, and they will find grace and glory from the Lord. The tongue of the ise knows what is good, and wisdom will take its rest in their hearts. The Lord loves holy hearts; while all who are blameless in the way are acceptable to him. The wisdom of the Lord will enlighten the face of the understanding; for she anticipates those who desire her before they know it, and is easily contemplated by those who love her. One who rises for her at dawn will not toil, and one who keeps vigil because of her will be without care. For she goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and shows itself favourably to those in the ways. Wickedness will never prevail against wisdom. Because of this I too became a lover of her beauty and became her friend, and I sought her out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride; because the Master of all things loved her. For she is an initiate of the knowledge of God one who chooses his works. Her toils are virtues; she teaches sobriety and prudence; justice and courage, than which nothing is more useful in human life. If anyone longs for much experience, she knows how to compare things of old and things that are to come. She knows the twists of words and the explanations of riddles; she foresees signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times. And to all she is a good counsellor. Because immortality is in her, and fame in the fellowship of her words. Therefore I appealed to the Lord and besought him and said from my whole heart: God of my Fathers and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your word, and established humanity by your wisdom to be master over the creatures that had come into being by you, and to order the world in holiness and justice; give me Wisdom who sits by your throne, and do not reject me from among your children, for I am your servant and the son of your maid servant. Send her out from your holy dwelling and from the throne of your glory, that she may be present and teach me what is pleasing before you. And let her guide me with knowledge and guard me with her glory. For all the thoughts of mortals are wretched and their ideas are unstable. At the Liti. The idiomel of the Saint of the Monastery and the following idiomel stichera. Tone 3. By Germanos. You made Christ, the source of life, dwell in your soul through your pure life, Basil, teacher of mysteries, and so you poured out rivers of orthodox doctrines for the inhabited world; watered from which the faithful people of the Church offers grace, as the fruit of lips that confess, to him who has glorified your memory to age on age. The same Tone. Myrrh of the grace poured out upon you anointed you to minister the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, Basil revealer of God; for you became a sweet fragrance of Christ and filled the inhabited world with the scent of his knowledge; and so receiving the voices of your servants with kindness, ask for us who honour you his great mercy. By Vyzas. The same Tone. Wrapped in the priestly robe, Basil, champion of the Trinity, you took your stand before the judge's throne, braving danger for the faith; and having displayed an athlete's determination you shamed the fury of the Governor, who vaunted in the might of impiety; and you preferred the excision of your inner parts to him who zealously threatened such things; and becoming a Martyr by choice, you have been bound with a garland of victory by Christ, who has great mercy. Glory. Tone 6.Grace was poured out on your lips, Venerable Father, and you became shepherd of Christ's Church, teaching the rational sheep to believe in a consubstantial Trinity in one Godhead. Both now. Of the Feast. Tone 8.The Saviour in coming down to aid the human race accepted circumvolution in swaddling clothes; he did not abhor circumcision of the flesh, when eight days old in respect of his Mother, without beginning in respect of his Father. To him let us believers cry aloud: You are our God; have mercy on us. Aposticha. Idiomel Stichera. O godly and sacred bee of Christ’s Church, all-blessed Basil; for you armed yourself with the sting of divine longing and wounded the blasphemies of heresies hated by God; and you treasured up for the souls of the faithful the sweetness of true religion; and now, as you pass through the divine meadows of inviolate pasture, remember us also as you stand before the consubstantial Trinity. The same Tone. Verse: My tongue will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understanding.By Monk Basil. You have received the imprint of the virtues of all the Saints, our Father Basil: the meekness of Moses; the zeal of Elias; the confession of Peter; the theology of John; like Paul you do not cease to cry out: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalised, and I am not on fire? Therefore as you now dwell with them, intercede that our souls may be saved. 2nd Tone. Verse: The mouth of the just will meditate wisdom; and his tongue speak judgement.By Monk John. When you had meditated on the nature of what exists and observed the instability of all things, you found the only unmoved Being, the Creator of all things who is above being; to him you attached yourself and cast away the longing for things which are not. Intercede that we too may find divine longing, Basil teacher of mysteries. Glory. Tone 6.You received the grace of wonders from heaven and held up to public scorn the error of idols by your doctrines, and so you are the glory and support of High Priests, all-blest Basil, and the pattern of the teaching of all the Fathers. As you have boldness towards Christ, implore him that our souls may be saved. Both now. Tone 8.God the supremely good was not ashamed to be severed by circumcision of the flesh, but gave us himself as a type and example for all for salvation. For the Maker of the Law fulfilled the requirements of the Law and the sayings of the Prophets concerning him. You who hold all things in the hollow of your hand and were wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lord, glory to you! Apolytikion of the Saint. Tone 1. Your sound has gone out into all the earth, for it has received your word, through which you taught in a manner fitting God; the nature of what exists you made clear; you set in order the conduct of mankind; O Royal Priesthood, venerable Father, intercede with Christ God to grant us his great mercy. Another, of the Feast. Without change you took a human form, by nature being God, O most compassionate Lord; and fulfilling the Law, you willingly accepted circumcision in the flesh, that you might banish shadows, and strip away the covering of our passions. Glory to your goodness; glory to your compassion; glory to your ineffable condescension, O Word! And Dismissal. |
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