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ON HOLY AND GREAT WEDNESDAY VESPERS The priest gives the blessing: Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to ages of ages. The appointed monk or the Superior reads the Opening Psalm as follows: Amen. Come let us worship and fall down before the King, our God. Psalm 103 And again The sun knew the hour of its setting: you made darkness, and it was night. How your works have been magnified, O Lord. With wisdom you have made them all! Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Litany of Peace Priest: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. And so after each petition.Priest: For the peace from on high and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.For the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy Churches of God, and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord. For this holy house, and for those who enter it with faith, reverence and the fear of God, let us pray to the Lord. For our Archbishop N., for the honoured order of presbyters, for the diaconate in Christ, for all the clergy and the people, let us pray to the Lord.[For our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Family, her Government, and all in authority, let us pray to the Lord. For our father and superior, Priest-monk N., and all our brotherhood in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.]For this city, for every city, town and village, and for the faithful who dwell in them, let us pray to the Lord. For favourable weather, an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and temperate seasons, let us pray to the Lord. For those who travel by land, air or water, for the sick, the suffering, for those in captivity, and for their safety and salvation, let us pray to the Lord. For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger and constraint, let us pray to the Lord. Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by your grace. Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God. People: To you, O Lord.Priest: For to you belong all glory, honour and worship, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.After the Litany, the appointed Kathisma of the Psalter is read by one Reader. KATHISMA EIGHTEEN Psalm 119 When I was afflicted I called to the Lord, and he heard me. O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue. What should be given you, what added to you for a treacherous tongue? The sharpened arrows of the powerful, with the coals of desolation. Alas! For my sojourning has been prolonged, I have camped among the encampments of Kedar. My soul has long been a sojourner. With those who hate peace I was peaceable. When I spoke with them, they made war on me for nothing. Psalm 120 I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains. From where will my help come? My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Do not let your foot waver. May the One who guards you not slumber. See, the One who guards Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord will guard you; the Lord is protection for you on your right hand. By day the sun will not scorch you, nor the moon by night. The Lord will guard you from every evil, the Lord will guard your soul. The Lord will guard your coming in, and your going out, from now and for ever more. Psalm 121 I rejoiced at those who said to me, ‘We shall go to the house of the Lord’. Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem built as a city, shared by all together. For there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there thrones were set for judgement, thrones over the house of David. Ask then for the things which are for Jerusalem’s peace, and prosperity for those who love you. May there be peace then in your power and prosperity in your citadels. For the sake of my brethren and neighbours, I have spoken peace concerning you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you. Psalm 122 A Song of Ascents. I have lifted my eyes to you who dwell in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to their lords’ hands, as the eyes of a maid to her mistress’s hands, so do our eyes to the Lord our God, until he take pity on us. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, for we have had our fill of contempt, our soul has been filled to overflowing. Let reproach be for the prosperous, and contempt for the proud. Psalm 123 If the Lord had not been among us, let Israel now say; if the Lord had not been among us when people rose up against us, they would have swallowed us down alive. When their fury raged against us, the water would have drowned us, our soul would have passed through the torrent, our soul would have passed through irresistible water. Blessed is the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul was delivered like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters. The snare was shattered, and we were delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Glory. Both now. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Glory to you, O God. ( x3)Lord, have mercy ( x3). Glory. Both now.Priest: Again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. .Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.People: To you, O Lord.Priest: For yours is the might, and yours the kingdom, the power and the glory, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Psalm 124 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion. One who dwells in Jerusalem will be shaken for ever. Mountains encircle her, and the Lord encircles his people from now and for ever. For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the heritage of the just, lest the just stretch out their hands in iniquities. Do good, Lord, to the good and to the upright in heart. But the Lord will drive away with those who work iniquity, those who turn aside to extortions. Peace upon Israel. Psalm 125 When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we became like those who are comforted. Then our mouth was filled with joy, and our tongue with rejoicing. Then they will say among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things with them’. The Lord has done great things with us, we have become joyful. Turn back our captivity, O Lord, like streams in the south. Those who sow in tears, will reap in joy. They went, and as they went they wept, while they sowed their seed. But when they come, they will come in joy, carrying their sheaves. Psalm 126 If the Lord does not build the house, the builders have toiled for nothing. If the Lord does not guard the city, the guard has kept vigil for nothing. Your getting up at dawn is for nothing, your rising after sitting, you that eat the bread of sorrow, when he gives sleep to those he loves, see, sons are the Lord’s inheritance, the reward of the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of a powerful man, so are the sons of the rejected. Blessed is one who satisfies his desire with them. They will not be shamed when they speak with their enemies in the gates. Psalm 127 Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the toils of your fruits. You are blest, and it will be well with you. Your wife like a luxuriant vine against the sides of your house; your sons like new olive shoots around your table. See, that is how one who fears the Lord will be blessed. The Lord bless you from Sion, and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life. And may you see your children’s children. Peace upon Israel. Psalm 128 Many times they have made war on me since my youth, let Israel now say. Many times they have made war on me since my youth, and yet they have not prevailed over me. The sinners have wrought upon my back, they have prolonged their iniquity. The Lord is just, he has broken the sinners’ necks. Let all those who hate Sion be shamed and turned back. Let them become like grass on the housetops, which withers before it is uprooted. The reaper has not filled his hand with it, nor the one who gathers the sheaves his bosom. Nor have the passers-by said, ‘The Lord’s blessing be on you. We have blessed you in the name of the Lord’. Glory. Both now. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Glory to you, O God. ( x3)Lord, have mercy. ( x3) Glory. Both now.Priest: Again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. .Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.People: To you, O Lord.Priest: For you, O God, are good and love mankind and to you we give glory, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Psalm 129 Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If you note our iniquities, Lord, Lord, who will survive? Because forgiveness is with you. For your name’s sake I have waited for you, O Lord; my soul has waited for your word, my soul has hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch until night, from the morning watch, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy and with him abundant redemption; and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Psalm 130 Lord, my heart has not been exalted, nor have my eyes become lofty, I have neither walked among great affairs, nor among marvels beyond me. If I had not been humble-minded, but exalted my soul, like a weaned child towards its mother, so you will requite my soul. Let Israel hope in the Lord, from now and for ever. Psalm 131 Lord remember David and all his meekness, how he swore to the Lord, made a vow to the God of Jacob, ‘I shall not enter the shelter of my house, climb into my bed, I shall not give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a shelter for the God of Jacob’. See, we heard of it in Ephrata, we found it in the woodland fields. We shall enter his tabernacles, we shall worship at the place where his feet have stood. Arise, Lord, into your rest, you and the ark of your sanctification. Your priests will clothe themselves with justice, and your holy ones will rejoice. For David, your servant’s sake, do not turn away the face of your Christ. The Lord has sworn truth to David, and he will not annul it, ‘From the fruit of your womb I shall place on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and these testimonies of mine which I shall teach them, their sons too will sit on your throne for ever. For the Lord has elected Sion, has chosen her as a dwelling for himself. ‘This is my resting-place for age on age. Here I shall dwell, for I have chosen her. Her door I shall bless abundantly, her poor I shall satisfy with bread. Her priests I shall clothe with salvation, and her holy ones will rejoice with great joy. There I shall make the horn of David flourish. I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. I shall clothe his enemies in shame, my sanctification will flower upon him’. Psalm 132 See how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together; like sweet ointment on the head, which runs down upon the beard, Aaron’s beard, which runs down to the hem of his garment; like the dew from Hermon, which runs down upon the mountains of Sion; for there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life for ever more. Psalm 133 Come, now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Lift up your hands by night to the Holy Place, and bless the Lord. The Lord bless you from Sion, he who made heaven and earth. Glory. Both now. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Glory to you, O God. (x3) Priest: Again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. .Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.People: To you, O Lord.Priest: For you are our God, a God of mercy and salvation, and to you we give glory, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and to ages of ages.People: Amen.We begin Lord, I have cried in Tone 1.Psalm 140 [ B] Let my prayer be directed like incense before you: the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord.[ A] Set a guard, O Lord, on my mouth: and a strong door about my lips.[ B] Do not incline my heart to evil words: to make excuses for my sins.[ A] With those who work iniquity: let me not unite with their elect.[ B] The just will chastise me with mercy and reprove me: but let not the oil of sinners anoint my head.[ A] For yet my prayer shall be in their pleasures: their judges have been swallowed up near the rock.[ B] They will hear my words for they are sweet: as a clod of earth is crushed upon the ground their bones have been scattered at the mouth of Hell.[ A] For my eyes look to you, O Lord, my Lord: I have hoped in you, do not take away my soul.[ B] Keep me from the snare that they have hidden for me: and from the traps of evil-doers.[ A] The sinners will fall into their own net: I am alone until I pass by.Psalm 141 [ A] I will pour out my entreaty before him: and tell him all my trouble.[ B] When my spirit was faint: you knew my path.[ A] In the way where I walked: they had hidden a snare for me.[ B] I looked to my right hand and saw: but there was none who knew me.[ A] Escape is gone from me: and there is none who seeks for my soul.[ B] I cried to you, Lord, I said, ‘You are my hope: my portion in the land of the living.’[ A] Give heed to my supplication: for I am brought very low.[ B] Deliver me from those who persecute me: for they are too strong for me.For 10 verses. From the Triodion. We use those sung at Lauds, doubling the first four. [Modern Greek books often allow for only 6 verses, with none of the Stichera doubled]10. Bring my soul out of prison: that I may confess your name.Tone 1. A harlot knowing you, the Son of the Virgin, to be God, imploring you with weeping, for she had done things worthy of tears, said, ‘Loose my debt, as I unloose my hair; love one who loves, though justly hated, and along with tax-collectors I shall proclaim you, O Benefactor, who love humankind’. 9. The just will await me: until you reward me.The harlot mixed the sweet myrrh of great price with tears, poured it over your immaculate feet and kissed them. Her you justified at once, but grant us pardon, who suffered for us and save us. Psalm 129 When the sinful woman offered myrrh, then the disciple made an agreement with the lawless. The one rejoiced as she emptied out something of great price, while the other hurried to sell the One beyond price. She acknowledged the Master; he was parted from the Master. She was set free while Judas became the slave of the foe. Dreadful is sloth! Great is repentance! Grant it to me, Saviour, who suffered for us, and save us. 7. O let your ears be attentive: to the voice of my supplication.O the wretchedness of Judas! He watched the harlot kissing your feet and began plotting with guile the kiss of betrayal. She untied her locks and he was being bound by rage, bringing foul-smelling wickedness instead of myrrh; for envy does not know how to prefer its advantage. O the wretchedness of Judas! From it, O God, deliver our souls. 6. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities: Lord, who will stand? But there is forgiveness with you.Tone 2. The sinful woman ran for the myrrh, to buy myrrh of great price, to anoint with myrrh the Benefactor, and to the myrrh-seller she cried, ‘Give me the myrrh, that I may anoint the One who has wiped away all my sins’. 5. For your name’s sake I have waited for you, O Lord: my soul has waited on your word: my soul has hoped in the Lord.Tone 6. Rejected. The woman drowned by sin found you, the harbour of salvation, and emptying out myrrh with tears, she cried out to you, ‘See, the one who has authority to pardon sins. See, the One who waits for the repentance of the sinful. But, Master, save me from the tempest of my sin through your great mercy’. Tone 5. 4. From the morning watch until night, from the morning watch: let Israel hope in the Lord.Today Christ comes to the house of the Pharisee and a sinful woman draws near and flings herself at his feet, crying, ‘See one who has been drowned by sin, without hope because of her deeds, yet not rejected with loathing from your goodness, and give me, Lord, forgiveness of my evil deeds and save me’. 3. For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption: and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.The harlot spread out her hair for you, the Master; Judas spread out his hands to the lawless: she to receive forgiveness, he to receive silver. And so we cry to you, sold and who set us free, ‘Lord, glory to you!’ 2. Praise the Lord, all you nations: praise him all you peoples.A woman foul-smelling and defiled drew near, pouring tears upon your feet, O Saviour, and proclaiming your passion. ‘How can I gaze upon you, Master? For you have come yourself to save a harlot. You roused Lazarus from the tomb after four days, raise me who am dead from the deep. Accept me in my misery, Lord, and save me’. 1. For his mercy has been mighty towards us: and the truth of the Lord endures to the ages.By Monk John. Same Tone. Model melody. Rejected because of her life, well-known because of her ways, she approached you carrying sweet myrrh and crying, ‘You, who were born of a Virgin, do not cast me out, who am a harlot. Joy of the Angels, do not despise my tears; but, Lord, as I repent, accept me, whom you did not thrust from you when I sinned, through your great mercy’. Glory. Both now. Tone 8.By the Nun Kassiani. Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving your divinity, took up the role of myrrh-bearer, and with lamentation brings sweet myrrh to you before your burial. ‘Alas!’, she says, ‘for night is for me a frenzy of lust, a dark and moonless love of sin. Accept the fountains of my tears, you who from the clouds draw out the water of the sea; bow yourself down to the groanings of my heart, you who bowed the heavens by your ineffable self-emptying. I shall kiss your immaculate feet, and wipe them again with the locks of my hair, those feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise, and hid herself in fear. Who can search out the multitude of my sins and the depths of your judgements, my Saviour, saviour of souls? Do not despise me, your servant, for you have mercy without measure’ After the completion of the Verses, the Entrance with the Holy Gospel. Priest: Wisdom. Stand upright!We say THE THANKSGIVING An ancient poem, or, as some say, by the martyr Athenogenes. O joyful light of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy, blessed Father, O Jesus Christ. Now that we have come to the setting of the sun and see the evening light, we sing the praise of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is right at all times to hymn you with holy voices, Son of God, giver of life: therefore the world glorifies you. Priest: EveningReader: Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 135. Give thanks to the God of heaven: for his mercy endures for ever. Verse: Give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever.Priest: Wisdom!Reader: The reading is from Exodus.Priest: Let us attend.
[ 2:11-22]It came to pass in that length of days, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people, the children of Israel, and saw their forced labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, ‘Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?’ He answered, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known.’ When Pharao heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharao. He settled in the land of Madiam. On entering the land of Madiam he sat down by a well. The priest of Madiam had seven daughters, who shepherded the flocks of the father Jethro. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father Jethro’s flock. But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defence and watered their flock. When they returned to their father Jethro, he said, ‘How is it that you have come back so soon today?’ They said, ‘An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.’ He said to his daughters, ‘Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to eat bread.’ Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Sephora in marriage. She conceived and bore a son, and Moses named him Gershom; for he said, ‘I have been an alien residing in a foreign land.’ She conceived again and gave birth to a second son, and he called his name Eliezer, saying, ‘For the God of my father is my helper, and has delivered me from the hand of Pharao’. After the reading: Priest: Wisdom!Reader: Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 137.Lord, your mercy is for ever: do not scorn the work of your hands. Verse: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, and I will sing to you in the presence of the angels, for you have the words of my mouth.Reader: Command!Priest: Wisdom! Stand upright!The Light of Christ shines for all! Reader: [ 2:1-10]One day the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the devil also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to the devil, ‘Where have you come from?’ The devil answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down through the whole of it.’ The Lord said to the devil, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, an innocent, true, blameless man who fears God and turns away from every evil deed. He still persists in innocence, although you incited me to destroy his property for no reason.’ Then the devil answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will bless you to your face.’ The Lord said to the devil, ‘Very well, I hand him over to you; only spare his life.’ So the devil went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape away the discharge, and sat on the dung heap outside the city. And after a long time had passed his wife said to him, ‘How long will you persist, saying, ‘See, I am waiting yet a little while, expecting the hope of my salvation’? For see, your memorial has been abolished from the earth: the sons and daughters, pangs and labours of my womb, which I bore in vain with sorrows; while you sit among the corruption of worms, spending the night under the open sky, and I am a wanderer and a servant, going round from place to place and from house to house, waiting for the sun to set, that I may rest from the sorrows and pains which now beset me. But speak a word against the Lord, and die’. But he looked at her and said, ‘Why have you spoken thus, like one of the foolish women? If we have accepted good at the hand of God, shall we not accept bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips before God. After the reading: Priest: Peace to you.Reader: And to your spirit.[ Priest: Wisdom!]Priest: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.People: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Priest [or Reader]: Lord, I have cried to you, hear me; give heed to the voice of my supplication when I cry to you.People: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Priest [or Reader]: Set a guard, O Lord, on my mouth; and a strong door about my lips.People: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Priest [or Reader]: Let not my heart incline to evil words; to make excuses for my sins.People: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.[ Priest [or Reader]: Glory. Both now.People: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.]Priest: Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you…People: The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Then the Prayer of St Ephrem, once. Priest: Wisdom. Stand upright. Let us listen to the holy Gospel.Priest: Peace to all.Reader: And to your Spirit.Priest: The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.Reader: Glory to you, Lord, glory to you!Priest: Let us attend.[ 26:6-16]When Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very precious ointment and she poured it on his head as he sat at table. When his disciples saw they were indignant and said, ‘Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.’ But Jesus, knowing, said to them, ‘Why are you making trouble for the woman? She has performed a good deed for me. For you always have the poor with you; you do not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it for my burial. Amen I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she has done will be told also in memory of her.’ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are willing to give me if I betray him to you?’ They settled with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he was looking for an opportunity to betray him. After the reading: Reader: Glory to you, Lord, glory to you! Let us all say, with all our soul and with all our mind, let us say.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Lord almighty, the God of our fathers, we pray you, hear and have mercy.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Have mercy on us, O God, according to your great mercy, we pray you, hear and have mercy.People: Lord, have mercy. Three times. And so after the remaining petitions.Priest: Also we pray for our Archbishop N.[Also we pray for our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth, the royal family, her government and all in authority.] Also we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, pardon and forgiveness of sins for the servants of God, all devout and Orthodox Christians, those who dwell in or visit this city and parish, the wardens and members of this church and their families; [and for the servants of God N. & N. (Here he may name those for whom he has been asked to pray), and all who have asked for our prayers, unworthy though we are.]Also we pray for the blessed and ever-remembered founders of this holy church, and for all our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest before us, and who lie asleep here in the true faith; and for the Orthodox everywhere[, and for the servants of God N. & N. (Here he may name those for whom he has been asked to pray), and that they may be pardoned all their offences, both voluntary and involuntary].Also we pray for those who bring offerings, those who care for the beauty of this holy and venerable house, for those who labour in its service, for those who sing, and for the people here present, who await your great and rich mercy. People: Lord, have mercy. [Note, this last in Athonite custom is said only once.]Priest: For you, O God, are merciful and love mankind, and to you we give glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Priest: Catechumens, pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. (To each petition)Priest: Believers, let us pray for the catechumens.That the Lord will have mercy on them. Instruct them in the word of truth. Reveal to them the Gospel of righteousness. Unite them to his Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Save them, have mercy on them, help them and keep them, O God, by your grace. Catechumens, bow your heads to the Lord. People: To you, O Lord.Priest: (In a low voice)Prayer for the Catechumens God, our God, the Creator and Maker of all things, who wish that all should be saved and come the knowledge of the truth, look upon your servants the catechumens and redeem them from the ancient error and the wiles of the opponent; and call them into eternal life, enlightening their souls and bodies and numbering them with your rational flock, over which your holy name has been invoked. ( Aloud) That they also, with us, may glorify your all-honoured and majestic name, of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Priest: As many as are Catechumens, depart. Catechumens, depart. As many as are for Enlightenment, draw near. Those who are for Enlightenment pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. (And so after the following petitions)Priest: Believers, for our brethren who are preparing for holy Enlightenment, let us pray to the Lord.That the Lord our God may give them strength and power. Enlighten them with the light of knowledge and true religion. Count them worthy in due time of the bath of rebirth, the forgiveness of sins and the garment of incorruption. Give them rebirth through water and Spirit. Grant them the perfection of the Faith. Number them with his holy and chosen flock. Save them, have mercy on them, help them and keep them, O God, by your grace. Those for Enlightenment, bow your heads to the Lord. People: To you, O Lord.Priest: Prayer for those preparing for Enlightenment Reveal your countenance, Master, to those preparing for holy Enlightenment and who long to shake off the defilement of sin. Illumine their understanding; confirm them in the Faith; establish them in Hope, perfect them in Love; show them to be honourable members of your Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for our souls. ( Aloud) For you are our enlightenment, and to you we give glory, to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Priest: As many as are for Enlightenment, depart. Those who are for Enlightenment, depart. As many as are Catechumens, depart. None of the Catechumens. As many as are believers, again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy upon us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Wisdom.First Prayer of the Faithful. O God, great and to be praised, who by the life-giving death of your Christ, brought us from corruption to incorruption, free all our senses from the death of the passions, setting over them as ruler the reason that is within us. And let our eyes abstain from every evil sight, our hearing be inaccessible to idle words, our tongues cleansed of unseemly speech. Purify our lips that sing your praise you, O Lord, make out hands refrain from base actions and to do only things that are well-pleasing to you, and make our limbs and our minds secure by your grace. ( Aloud) For to you belong all glory, honour and worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and always, and to ages of ages.People: Amen.Priest: Again and again, in peace, let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord have mercy.Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy upon us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Wisdom.Second Prayer of the Faithful Master, holy and supremely good, we implore you by your rich mercy to be merciful to us sinners and to make us worth of the reception of your only-begotten Son and our God, the King of glory. For see, his most pure Body and life-giving Blood, entering at this present hour, are about to be placed on this mystical table, invisibly escorted by a multitude of the heavenly army. Grant us to communion of them without condemnation, so that, the eye of our mind being illumined through them, we may become children of light and of the day. ( Aloud) According to the gift of your Christ, with whom you are blessed, together with your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Now the hosts of heaven invisibly worship with us; for see, the King of Glory enters. See, the perfected mystical sacrifice is being borne in. After the Entrance, during which all prostrate with their faces to the ground: With faith and love, let us draw near that we may become partakers of everlasting life. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Priest: Let us complete our evening prayer to the Lord.For the precious gifts here set forth and presanctified, let us pray to the Lord. That our God, who loves mankind, having accepted them on his holy, heavenly and spiritual altar, as a sweet-smelling savour of spiritual fragrance would send down upon us his divine grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us pray. For our deliverance from all tribulation, wrath, danger and constraint, let us pray to the Lord. Help us, save, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace. That the whole evening may be perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, let us ask of the Lord. People: Grant this, O Lord.Priest: An angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask of the Lord.Pardon and forgiveness of our sins and offences, let us ask of the Lord. Things good and profitable for our souls, and peace for the world, let us ask of the Lord. That we may live out the rest of our days in peace and repentance, let us ask of the Lord. A Christian end to our life, painless, unashamed and peaceful, and a good defence before the dread judgement seat of Christ, let us ask. Having asked for the unity of the faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ, our God. [ The Hieratikon from Simonos Petra gives the usual petition here:Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.] People: To you, O Lord.Priest: God of ineffable and unseen mysteries, with whom are the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, who have revealed the service of this liturgy to us and through your great love for mankind placed us sinners to offer you gifts and sacrifices for our own sins and for those committed in ignorance by the people; do you yourself, invisible King, who do great and unfathomable things, things glorious and marvellous, which are without number, look upon us your unworthy servants, who stand at this your holy altar, as at your cherubic throne, on which, through these dread things here set forth, rests your only-begotten Son and our God. And , having freed us and your faithful people from all uncleanness, make holy the souls and bodies of us all with holiness that cannot be taken away, so that, partaking with a pure conscience, face unashamed and enlightened heart of these divine Holy Things and being given life by them, we may be united to your Christ himself, our true God, who said, ‘One who eats my flesh and rinks my blood abides in me and I in them’. So that, with your Word, Lord, abiding and dwelling in us, we may become temples of your all-holy and venerable Spirit, redeemed from every wile of the devil brought about by deed or word or in thought. And may we obtain the good things promised us with all your saints who have been well-pleasing to you from every age.( Aloud) And count us worthy, Master, with boldness, and without condemnation, to dare to call upon you, the God of heaven, as Father, and to sayThe Superior, or the designated monk: Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Priest (aloud): For yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. People: Amen.Priest: Peace to all.People: And with your spirit.Priest: Let us bow our heads to the Lord.People: To you, O Lord.Priest: God, alone good and compassion ate, who dwell in the heights and look upon lowly things, with your compassionate eye look upon all your people and guard them and count us all worthy without condemnation to partake of these your life-giving mysteries. For to you we have bowed our heads, awaiting from you your rich mercy. (Aloud) Through the grace and compassion and love towards mankind of your only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, together with your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. People: Amen.Priest: Let us attend.Priest: The presanctified Holy Things for the holy.People: One is Holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.Communion Chant: Taste and see that the Lord is good. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Priest: With fear of God, with faith and love, draw near.People: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God and has appeared to us.After the people have received Communion: Priest: O God, save your people and bless your inheritance.People: I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall always be in my mouth. Taste the heavenly Bread and the Cup of life, and see that the Lord is good. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.Priest: Now and for ever and to the ages of ages.People: Amen. Amen. Amen. For forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.Let our mouth be filled with your praise, O Lord, that we may sing your glory, for you have allowed us to share in your holy mysteries. Keep us in your holiness, as we meditate on your justice all the day long. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Priest: Stand upright. Having received the divine, holy, spotless, immortal, heavenly and life-giving dread Mysteries of Christ, let us give worthy thanks to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy. [Or, according to Athonite use: Glory to you, O God, glory to you.]Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy upon us and keep us, O God, by your grace.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Having asked that the whole evening may be perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.People: To you, O Lord.Priest: We give thanks to you God, the Saviour of all things, for all the good things that you have granted us and for the communion of the holy Body and Blood of your Christ. And we pray you, Master, lover of mankind, guard us under the shelter of your wings and grant us to partake of your holy things until our last breath, for the enlightenment of soul and body, for inheritance of the Kingdom of heaven.( Aloud) For you are our sanctification, and to you we give glory, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to the ages of ages.People: Amen.Priest: Let us go forth in peace.People: In the name of the Lord.Priest: Let us pray to the Lord.People: Lord, have mercy.Priest: Master Almighty, who with wisdom fashioned all creation, who through your ineffable providence and great goodness have brought us to those most holy days for cleansing of souls and bodies, for mastery of passions, for hope of resurrection; who during forty days gave into the hand of your servant Moses the Tables in characters divinely traced, grant us too, O Good One, to fight the good fight, to complete the course of the fast, to keep the faith unchanged, to crush the head of invisible dragons, to be revealed a victors over sin, and without condemnation to attain to the worship of the holy Resurrection. For blessed and glorified is your all-honoured and majestic name, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. People: Amen.After the prayer behind the Ambo: Blessed be the name of Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. ( Prostration)Blessed be the name of Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. (Prostration) Blessed be the name of Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. (Prostration) Glory. Both now. Priest (in front of the Prothesis): Lord, our God, who have brought to these most holy days and made us partakers of your dread Mysteries, join us to your rational flock and declare us heirs of your Kingdom, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Then, as the Priest distributes the Antidoron, Psalm 33 [ Psalm 144I will exalt you, my God, my King; and I will bless your name for ever and to age on age. Every day I will bless you; and praise your name for ever and to age on age. The Lord is great and highly to be praised; and there is no limit to his greatness. Generation after generation will praise your works; and will declare your power. They will tell of the majesty of the glory of your holiness; and will recount your wonders. They will speak of the power of your dread deeds; and will recount your greatness. They will proclaim the memory of the multitude of your goodness; and rejoice in your justice. The Lord is compassionate and merciful; long-suffering and full of mercy. The Lord is good to all; and his acts of compassion are for all his works. May all your works confess you, Lord; and all your holy ones bless you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; and tell of your power. To make known your power and of the glory the majesty of your kingdom to the children of mankind. Your kingdom is a kingdom for all the ages, and your dominion for every generation. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his works. The Lord supports all who are falling, and sets upright all who are broken down. The eyes of all hope in you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, and fill every living thing with your good pleasure. The Lord is just in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is close to those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He will do the will of those who fear him, and hear their supplication and save them. The Lord guards all who love him, and all sinners he will destroy. My mouth will tell the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and to age on age.] Priest: The blessing of the Lord be upon you, by his grace and love for mankind, always, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.Reader: Amen.Priest: Glory to you, Christ God, our hope, glory to you.Reader: Glory. Both now. Lord, have mercy (x3). Holy Master, give the blessing.And the Dismissal. Priest: May he who comes to his voluntary passion, Christ our true God, through the prayers of his all-pure and holy Mother, by the power of the precious and life-giving Cross, through the protection of the honoured, Bodiless Powers of heaven, through the intercessions of the honoured, glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John, of the holy, glorious and all-praised Apostles, of the holy, glorious and triumphant Martyrs, of our venerable and God-bearing Fathers and Mothers who have shone forth in the ascetic life, of our Father among the Saints Gregory Dialogist, Pope of Rome, of the holy and righteous forebears of God, Joachim and Anna, [of Saint N. (to whom the Church is dedicated), of Saint N., whose memory we keep today,] and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for he is good and loves mankind.Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. People: Amen.At the Thanksgiving after Holy Communion we say the Apolytikion and Kontakion of St Gregory Dialogist, Pope of Rome. Tone 3. Enriched with a watchful mouth, you were revealed as noble herdsman of the divine word, Hierarch Gregory; for you became one who manifested the virtues, showing forth the radiance of justice. Venerable Father, implore Christ God to grant us his great mercy. Glory. Tone 8. To you my Champion.Let us fittingly sing the praise of the Dialogist, harp of the Church inspired by God and tongue truly possessed by divine wisdom, for imitating the zeal of the Apostles he followed clearly in their footsteps, as we say to him, Hail, Father Gregory! Both now. Theotokion.At the prayers of all your Saints and of the Mother of God, grant us your peace, Lord, and have mercy on us, for you alone love humankind. |
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