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ON SUNDAY MORNING AT MATINS After the Six Psalms we sing The Lord is God to Tone 1, and the Resurrection Apolytikion twice, but the Theotokion once. Then the usual Reading from the Psalter [Kathismata 2 and 3].After the 1st reading from the Psalter [Kathisma 2], we sing Kathismata of the Resurrection. Tone 1. Model Melody. The soldiers watching your grave became as dead men at the lightning flash of the Angel who appeared and proclaimed to the Women the Resurrection. We glorify you, the destroyer of corruption; we fall down before you, risen from the grave and alone our God. Verse: Arise, Lord my God, lift up your hand; do not forget your poor for ever. You were willingly nailed to the Cross, O Merciful one, and laid in a tomb as a mortal, O Giver of life. By your death, O Powerful one, you smashed its might; for Hell’ gatekeepers trembled before you; you raised with you the dead from every age, for you alone love mankind. Glory. Both now. Theotokion.All we who with longing flee for refuge to your goodness know you to be Mother of God and after childbirth still truly Virgin; for we sinners have you as protection; in temptations we have you as salvation, the only All-blameless one. After the 2nd Psalter reading [Kathisma 3], Kathismata. When the stone was sealed. The women came to your tomb at dawn and when they saw a vision of an Angel they trembled; the tomb blazed forth life; the marvel amazed them; and so going back to the disciples they proclaimed the Resurrection: Christ has despoiled Hell, as alone mighty and powerful, and has raised up all those in corruption, dispelling the fear of condemnation by the power of the Cross. Verse: I will praise you, Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvellous works. O Life of all, you were nailed to the Cross; O immortal Lord, you were numbered among the dead. you arose, O Saviour, on the third day, and raised Adam from corruption; therefore the heavenly Powers cried out to you, O Giver of life: Glory to your sufferings, O Christ; glory to your Resurrection; glory to your condescension, only lover of mankind. Glory. Both now. Theotokion.Mary, holy vessel of the Master, raise us up who have fallen into the pit of dread despair, of offences and afflictions; for you are the salvation, the help and the mighty protection of sinners, and you save your servants. After the reading of the ‘Blameless’ [ Kathisma 17, Psalm 118], we sing the Evlogitaria. Then the little Litany and The Ypakoï. The Thief’s repentance plundered Paradise, but the Myrrh-bearers’ lament disclosed the joy that you had risen, Christ God, granting the world great mercy. The Anavathmi. 1st Antiphon. When I am afflicted, I cry to you, O Lord, hearken to my pains. For those who dwell in the desert the longing for God never ceases, for they are far from the world’s vanity. Glory. Both now. To the Holy Spirit, as to the Father and the Son, are due honour and glory; and so let us sing to the Trinity, a single might. 2nd Antiphon. Having lifted me up to the mountains of your laws, make me shine, O God, with virtues, that I may sing your praise. Take me with your right hand, O Word, guard me and keep me, lest the fire of sin scorch me. Glory. Both now. In the Holy Spirit all creation is made new and hastens back to its first condition; for he is equal in strength to the Father and the Word. 3rd Antiphon. With those who said to me: Let us journey to the courts of the Lord, my Spirit was glad and my heart rejoices. Over the house of David is great fear; for there when thrones are placed, all the tribes and tongues of the earth will be judged. Glory. Both now. To the Holy Spirit must be offered honour, worship, glory and might, as befit also the Father and the Son; for the Trinity is a Unity, in nature, but not in persons. Prokeimenon. Now I shall arise, says the Lord, I shall set him in safety, and speak boldly in him. Verse: The Lord’s words are pure words, silver tried by fire, tested in earth, seven times refined. After O God, save your people and the Ekphonesis, we begin the Canons, singing the Resurrection Canon to 4, the Cross-Resurrection to 3, that of the Mother of God to 3, and that of the Saint of the day to 4. But if the Saint is ‘feasted’ to 6 or 8. Resurrection Canon. Your triumphant right hand, in a manner fitting God, has been glorified in strength, O Immortal; for in its infinite strength it broke in pieces the enemy, and made a strange new way for the Israelites in the deep. Troparia With immaculate hands working as God, you fashioned me in the beginning from dust, stretched out those hands on the Cross, calling back from the earth my corruptible body, which you had taken from the Virgin. He, who by divinely breathing placed a soul in me, submitted to being slain for me and delivered his soul to death; and having freed it from eternal bonds and raised it with himself, he glorified it with incorruption. Theotokion. Hail source of grace, hail ladder and gate of heaven, hail lampstand and golden jar, and unhewn mountain, who bore for the world Christ the Giver of life. Another Canon, of Cross and Resurrection. Christ incarnate makes me divine. Christ being humbled exalts me. Christ the Giver of life by suffering the passion in the flesh makes me dispassionate. Therefore I raise a song of thanksgiving, for he has been glorified. Christ being crucified lifts me up. Christ put to death raises me with himself. Christ grants me life. Therefore as I clap my hands in gladness I sing to the Saviour a song of victory, for he has been glorified. Theotokion. All-pure Virgin, you conceived God; in virginity you gave birth to Christ who was incarnate from you, in person one only-begotten Son, known in two natures, for he has been glorified. Another Canon, to the Mother of God. What hymn worthy of you can our weakness offer? Unless the joyful one which Gabriel revealed to us: Hail Mother of God, Virgin Mother without bridegroom! To the Ever-virgin and Mother of the King of the Powers above let us the faithful cry in spirit from hearts most pure: Hail Mother of God, Virgin Mother without bridegroom! Infinite the abyss of your incomprehensible child-bearing, All-pure one; therefore with unhesitating faith we offer you our song, as we say sincerely: Hail Mother of God, Virgin Mother without bridegroom! Ode 3. The Irmos. You alone know the weakness of mortals and in compassion took its form; gird me with power from on high, to cry to you: Holy the living temple of your ineffable glory, O lover of mankind! Troparia. As you are my God, O Good one, you pitied me, fallen as I was, and were well pleased to come down to me. you have raised me up through your crucifixion to cry to you: Holy the Lord of glory, in goodness beyond compare! O Christ as Life empersonned and as compassionate God, having clothed yourself with me, corrupted one, you came down, Master, to the dust of death, tearing apart mortality, and rising on the third day you clothed the dead with incorruption. Theotokion. Having conceived God in the womb through the All-holy Spirit, O Virgin, you remained unconsumed by the flame; for to Moses the lawgiver the bush burning yet unconsumed clearly foretold you who received the unendurable fire. Of Cross and Resurrection. To Christ God, who took the wandering sheep upon his shoulders and through a tree destroyed his sin, let us cry aloud, you that exalt our horn, Holy are you, O Lord! To the One who brought from Hell Christ the great shepherd and by his priestly power, through the Apostles, shepherded in wisdom all the nations, let us in truth by the divine Spirit give adoration. Theotokion. To the Son who without seed was incarnate by his will from a Virgin, and who by his divine power kept her a pure Virgin after bearing child, to the God of all, let us cry aloud, Holy are you, O Lord! Another, of the Mother of God. Truthfully, O Virgin, following the words of the Prophet, we name you the light cloud; for on you the Lord came to destroy the Egypt’s idols of error and to enlighten those who served them. The choir of Prophets truly named you the sealed fountain and the shut gate, clearly depicting for us the symbols of your virginity, O All-praised, which you preserved even after childbirth. All-blameless Virgin, Gabriel, enabled as far as is lawful to know the mind of God, brought you a message of great gladness, plainly disclosing the conception of the Word, and proclaiming your ineffable child-bearing. Ode 4. The Irmos. Avvakoum with foreseeing eyes perceived you as a mountain overshadowed by the grace of God, from which, he foretold, the Holy one of Israel would come, for our salvation and refashioning. Troparia. Who is this Saviour who comes from Edom, crowned with thorns, his garments reddened, hanging on a tree? This is the Holy one of Israel, for our salvation and refashioning. See, disobedient people, and be ashamed! The One whom you insanely begged Pilate to hang upon a cross as a malefactor has abolished the power of death, and in a manner fitting God has risen from the tomb. Theotokion. We know you to be the tree of life, O Virgin; for from you there did not bud the fruit which bore death when eaten, but the enjoyment of eternal life for the salvation of us who sing your praise. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. Who is this fair one from Edom, and the scarlet of his garments from the vine of Bosor? He is fair as God and as a mortal he has reddened his robe with the blood of his flesh. To him we faithful sing, Glory to your power, O Lord! Christ, appearing as high priest of the blessings to come, scattered our sin, and, showing a strange way by his blood, he hastened into a greater and more perfect tabernacle, our forerunner into the Holy Place. Theotokion. You paid the ancient debt of Eve, O All-praised, by the new Adam who was made manifest for our sake. For uniting to himself from a pure conception rational and animate flesh Christ came forth from you, Lord over both natures. Another, of the Mother of God. Hear wonders, O heaven, take note, O earth, for a daughter of the earthly, fallen Adam has been declared God’s daughter, and mother of her own Creator, for our salvation and refashioning. We praise your great and awe-inspiring mystery; for unknown to the Captains of the armies beyond the world, the One Who Is came down upon you, like dew upon a fleece, O All-praised, for our salvation and refashioning. All-praised Mother of God, Holy of Holies, expectation of the nations, salvation of the faithful, from you has dawned the redeemer and Giver of life and Lord. Entreat him that your servants may be saved. Ode 5. The Irmos. O Christ, who enlightened the ends of the world by the brightness of your coming, and made them radiant by your Cross, enlighten with the light of your divine knowledge the hearts of those who sing your praise with right belief. Troparia. The Jews put to death through the wood of the cross the great shepherd and Lord; but from death’s might he rescued like sheep the dead buried in Hell. When you announced the glad tidings of peace by your cross and proclaimed deliverance for captives, my Saviour, then, O Christ, you put to shame him who held them in thrall and showed him naked and destitute by your Divine Rising. Theotokion. All-praised, do not despise the prayers of those who faithfully entreat you, but receive and present them. O Pure one, to your Son, our God and only benefactor; for in you we have gained a protector. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. O the riches and depth of the wisdom of God! The Lord who catches the wise has ransomed us from their trickery; for having suffered willingly through the weakness of the flesh, through his own strength he has been raised, a life-giving corpse. Being God Christ is united to flesh for our sake, and is crucified and dies and is buried and rises up again, and goes up in splendour to the Father with his own flesh, with which he will come and save those who devoutly adore him. Theotokion. Pure Virgin, Holy of Holies, you gave birth to the Holy of Holies, who hallows all, Christ the Redeemer. And so w proclaim you as Queen and Sovereign Lady of all things, as Mother of the Creator of all that has been made. Another, of the Mother of God. Seeing you the Powers of heaven are glad, and the ranks of mortals rejoice with them; for they have been united, Virgin Mother of God, by your offspring; whom we fittingly glorify. Let every mortal tongue and mind be roused to the praise of mortal man’s true ornament; the Virgin clearly stands by the Lord, glorifying those who with faith sing the praise of her marvels. Every song and every praise of the wise offered to the Virgin and Mother of God is glorified. For the temple of God’s glory she has become; whom we fittingly glorify. Ode 6. The Irmos. The deepest abyss has surrounded us, there is none to deliver, we have been counted as sheep for the slaughter; save your people, O God, for you are the strength and restoration of the weak. Troparia. By the fault of the first-formed man, O Lord, we were grievously wounded; but by your stripes, by which you were wounded for our sakes, O Christ, we have been healed; for you are the strength and restoration of the weak. You have brought us up from Hell, Lord, by worsting the all-devouring monster of the deep, O All-powerful, and destroying his power by your might; for you are life and light and resurrection. Theotokion. The Forefathers of the race rejoice in you, immaculate Virgin, for through you they regain Eden, which they lost through transgression; for you are pure both before child-bearing and after giving birth. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. Christ God, being Mind dispassionate and immaterial, mingles with the human mind that stands midway between the divine nature and the solidity of flesh; and was wholly united to the whole of me without change, that by being crucified he might hand salvation to the whole of me, who had fallen. Tripped, Adam falls and is crushed, cheated of his hope of being made divine, but he arises, deified by the union of the Word, by the Passion gains dispassion, and, as the Son, enthroned with the Father and the Spirit, is glorified. Theotokion. Not leaving the bosom of his Begetter, who is without beginning, he lodges and comes to rest in the bosom of a pure Maiden, he that is without mother incarnate without father, the God of righteousness who reigns as king. His fearful and ineffable generation is without genealogy. Another, of the Mother of God. The heavenly Ranks stand beside your Offspring like servants, fittingly struck with amazement at your child-bearing without seed, O Ever-virgin; for you are pure both before bearing child and after giving birth. The Word, who before was without flesh, who made the universe by his will, who brought the armies of the Bodiless ones into being out of nothing, as All-powerful, became incarnate from you, O All-pure. The foe has been slain by your life-bearing Fruit, O Full of God’s grace, and Hell has been manifestly trampled down, and we who were in chains have been freed; and so I cry out: Do away with the passions of my heart! Kontakion. You rose from the grave in glory as God and raised the world up with you; mortal nature sang your praise as God, and death disappeared; Adam dances, Master, and now Eve, freed from her chains, rejoices as she cries: It is you, O Christ, who grant Resurrection to all. The Ikos. Let us praise as God of all power the One who rose on the third day, smashed the gates of Hell and roused the age-long dead from the grave, who appeared to the Myrrhbearers, as it was his good pleasure to say to them first of all: Rejoice! and so revealing joy to the Apostles, as alone Giver of life. Therefore with faith the Women proclaim the tokens of victory to the Disciples; Hell groans, Death laments, the world exults and all rejoice together: For you, O Christ, have granted Resurrection to all. Ode 7. The Irmos. We the faithful recognise you, O Mother of God, as a spiritual furnace; for as he, the highly exalted, saved the three Youths, so he wholly refashioned me, humanity, in your womb, the God of our Fathers. praised and glorified above all. Troparia. The earth shuddered, the sun was turned back and with it the light was darkened, the sacred veil of the Temple was rent in two and the rocks were split; for the Just One had been made away with through a cross; the God of our Fathers. praised and glorified above all. When you, the highly exalted, had willingly for ours sakes become as one with no help and a slain corpse among the dead, you freed us all and raised us up with you with a mighty hand, the God of our fathers. praised and glorified above all. Theotokion. Hail, spring of ever-living water! Hail, Paradise of pleasure! Hail, wall for the faithful! Hail, Bride without bridegroom! Hail, joy of all the world! through whom there has dawned for us: the God of our fathers. praised and glorified above all. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. Of old the earth was cursed, made crimson with the blood of Abel by a brother’s murdering hand; but watered by your blood that flowed from God it is blessed and leaping for joy cries out, God of our Fathers, blessed are you! Let the people of the Jews, opposed to God, lament the reckless deed of putting Christ to death; but let the nations be glad and clap their hands and shout, God of our Fathers, blessed are you! Lo, the dazzling Angel cried out to the Myrrhbearing Women, Come, see the tokens of Christ’s Resurrection, the graves clothes and the tomb, and cry out, God of our Fathers, blessed are you! Another, of the Mother of God. Jacob in prophecy discerned you in the ladder, O Mother of God; for through you the Highly Exalted was well-pleased to appear and to live among men: the God of our fathers. praised and glorified above all. Hail, most revered, Adam’s fleece! The Shepherd, the highly exalted, came forth from you, truly clothed in my whole humanity, through his ineffable compassion: the God of our fathers. praised and glorified above all. The God before the ages truly bears the name new Adam, from your pure blood; pray to him now to make me, old and worn out, new, as I cry: O God of our fathers. praised and glorified above all. Ode 8. The Irmos. In the furnace as in a smelter the Israelite Youths shone with the beauty of godliness brighter than gold as they said: All you his works bless the Lord, praise and highly exalt him throughout all the ages. Troparia. O Word of God, maker and transformer of all things by your will, changing the shadow of death into everlasting life by your Passion, unceasingly we, all your works, praise you as Lord, and highly exalt you throughout all the ages. By rising on the third day, O Christ, you destroyed the misery and wretchedness within the gates and strongholds of Hell. Unceasingly all your works praise you as Lord, and highly exalt you throughout all the ages. Theotokion. Let us praise her who without seed and beyond nature brought forth Christ the precious pearl from the divine lightning as we say: All you his works bless the Lord, praise and highly exalt him throughout all the ages. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. Come, peoples, let us worship the place on which stood Christ’s immaculate feet, and where his divine, life-giving palms were stretched out on a tree for the salvation of all mortals; and we circle the tomb of life let us raise the song, Let all creation bless the Lord, and highly exalt him to all the ages. The lawless slander of the Jews who slew God has been refuted; for the One they called a deceiver, has been raised as one with power, making a mockery of the seals of the lawless. And so with gladness let us raise the song, Let all creation bless the Lord, and highly exalt him to all the ages. The most pure Seraphim, as they praise the glory of the one lordship in thrice-holy hymns, like slaves they glorify with fear the three-personned Godhead. With them we too devoutly raise the song, Let all creation bless the Lord, and highly exalt him to all the ages. Another, of the Mother of God. Let us all sing the praise of the Bridal Chamber filled with light, from whom Christ, the Master of all, came forth as a bridegroom, as we cry: All you his works bless the Lord, praise and highly exalt him to all the ages. Hail, glorious throne of God! Hail wall of the faithful, through whom Christ, the light, has dawned for those in darkness, who call you blest and cry: All you his works bless the Lord, praise and highly exalt him throughout all the ages. Cause of our salvation, who bore the Lord, Virgin all-praised, intercede for all who devoutly cry: All you his works bless the Lord, praise and highly exalt him throughout all the ages. Ode 9. The Irmos. The burning bush that was not consumed was a type of your child-bearing; quench for us now the raging furnace of temptations we pray, O Mother of God, that we may unceasingly magnify you. Troparia. O how the lawless and disobedient people, having plotted evil, justified the ungodly malefactor, but condemned the Just, the Lord of glory, to the tree! him we fittingly magnify. O Saviour, the unblemished Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, we glorify you, risen on the third day, with the Father and the divine Spirit; and acknowledging you as God, as Lord of glory we magnify you. Theotokion. Save your people, Lord, whom you purchased with your precious blood, strengthening our Sovereign against enemies, and bestowing peace on your Churches, O Lover of mankind, at the entreaties of the Mother of God. Another, of Cross and Resurrection. Your Cross, O Lord, has been glorified with ineffable power; for your weakness was revealed to all as above power. Through it the powerful have been cast down to earth, while paupers have been brought safely to heaven. Our unsmiling death has been slain, for when you appeared to those in Hell, O Christ, you granted resurrection from the dead. And so as life and resurrection and empersonned life in hymns we magnify you. The nature that is without beginning and without limit is acknowledged in three single divine hypostases; one Godhead in Father, Son and Spirit, trusting in which the Sovereign wise in God is saved. Another, of the Mother of God. O Virgin, fulfilling prophecy, you sprang from David’s root; yet David too you truly glorified in giving birth to him that was foretold, the Lord of glory whom fittingly we magnify. All-pure one, every law of praise is defeated by the greatness of your glory; yet, Lady, graciously accept from unworthy suppliants, O Mother of God, the praise they offer you with love. O what wonders are yours beyond the mind’s conceiving! For you, O Virgin, alone higher than the sun, have granted to all to contemplate the newest wonder of your incomprehensible birth-giving. Therefore we all magnify you. Exapostilarion, the prescribed Eothinon. At Lauds, Let everything that has breath. We insert 8 Stichera.Resurrection Stichera. Tone 1. We sing the praise of your saving Passion, O Christ, and we glorify your Resurrection. Having endured the Cross, destroyed death and risen from the dead, give peace to our life, O Lord, as you alone are All-powerful. Having despoiled Hell and raised humanity by your Resurrection, O Christ, grant that with pure hearts we may praise and glorify you. As we glorify your divine condescension, we praise you, O Christ: you were born of a Virgin, yet you were not separated from the Father; as man you suffered and willingly endured the Cross; you rose from the grave, as though coming out of your bridal chamber, that you might save the world. Lord, glory to you! Other Stichera by Anatolios When you were nailed to the Tree of the Cross, then the might of the enemy was put to death; creation was shaken in fear of you, and Hell was despoiled by your might. You raised the dead from the tombs and opened Paradise to the Thief. Christ our God, glory to you! Grieving the holy women came with haste to your grave; but finding the tomb opened and learning from the Angel the new and marvellous wonder, they announced to the Apostles, ‘The Lord has risen, granting the world his great mercy’. We bow down before the divine stripes of your sufferings, Christ God, and royal sacrifice that took place divinely revealed in Sion at the end of the ages; for you, the Sun of righteousness, enlightened those who slept in darkness, leading them by the hand to the radiance that knows no evening. Lord, glory to you! Tumultuous race of the Jews, give ear. Where are those who approached Pilate? Let the soldiers who kept watch say, where are the seals of the grave? Where has the one who was buried been moved to? Where has the One who is not for sale been sold? How has the treasure been burgled? Lawless Jews, why do you slander the Rising of the Crucified? He has risen, the One free among the dead, and grants the world his great mercy. Glory. The Eothinon.Both now. The following Theotokion.You are most blessed, O Virgin Mother of God, for through him who took flesh from you, Hell has been captured, Adam recalled, the curse slain, Eve set free, death put to death, and we given life. Therefore in praise we cry: Blessed are you, Christ our God, who have been thus well-pleased, glory to you. Then the Great Doxology and after it the Resurrection Troparion. AT THE LITURGY Typika and Beatitudes. Through food the foe led Adam out of Paradise; but through the Cross Christ led back in the Thief as he cried: Remember me when you come in your Kingdom. 7. I venerate your sufferings and I glorify your Resurrection; with Adam and the Thief I cry aloud with radiant voice: Remember me, Lord, when you come in your Kingdom.6. You were crucified, O sinless one, and willingly laid in a grave, but you arose as God; raised Adam with yourself as he cried: Remember me when you come in your Kingdom.5. Raising the temple of your body by your burial for three days, Christ God, you raised with Adam those who came from Adam as they cried: Remember me when you come in your Kingdom.4. Myrrhbearers came weeping to your grave, Christ God, very early in the morning, and found an Angel sitting clothed in white, who cried: What do you seek? Christ has risen, mourn no longer.3. Your Apostles, Lord, coming to the mountain that you, O Saviour, had appointed for them, saw you and worshipped you. And you sent them out to teach the nations and baptise them.Glory.
Both now. Theotokion.
Resurrection Apolytikion. Model Melody. When the stone had been sealed by the Jews, and while soldiers were guarding your most pure Body, you rose, O Saviour, on the third day, giving life to the world; therefore the heavenly Powers cried out to you, Giver of life: Glory to your Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to your Kingdom! Glory to your Dispensation, only lover of mankind! Ypakoï. The Thief’s repentance plundered Paradise, while the Myrrhbearers’ lament disclosed that the joy that you had risen, O Christ God, granting the world your great mercy. Kontakion. When you come upon the earth. You rose from the tomb as God in glory, and raised the world up with you. Mortal nature sang your praise as God; death disappeared. Adam dances, Master, and Eve, now freed from her chains, rejoices as she cries: It is you, O Christ, who grant resurrection to all.
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