GREAT VESPERS
Kathisma
Blessed is the man… is sung.
At Psalm 140
In Tone 4
- Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!
The middle of the fifty days has come,
beginning with the Saviour’s Resurrection,
and sealed by the holy Pentecost.
The first and the last glisten with splendour!
We rejoice in the union of both feasts,
as we draw near to the Lord’s Ascension:
The sign of our coming glorification.
- Let Yours ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.
The middle of the fifty days has come,
beginning with the Saviour’s Resurrection,
and sealed by the holy Pentecost.
The first and the last glisten with splendour!
We rejoice in the union of both feasts,
as we draw near to the Lord’s Ascension:
The sign of our coming glorification.
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Be glad, O Zion!
Hear the announcement of Christ’s Resurrection!
Let her faithful sons rejoice!
The filth of the daughter of Zion is washed away.
Jerusalem, stained with the blood of God’s murder, is cleansed by the Spirit!
With songs of joy she celebrates the middle of the feast!
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
As it is written,
the abundant outpouring of divine gifts is drawing near.
The chosen day of the Spirit is halfway come.
The faithful promise to the disciples
after the death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ,
heralds the coming of the Comforter.
In Tone 4
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
The wondrous Simon, boast of the apostles,
passed across the earth like a brilliant lightning bolt!
He dispelled the darkness of idolatry
with his saving, brilliant and divine teachings!
He enlightened all people to glorify one God in Three Persons,
indivisible and undivided!
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
The wondrous Simon, boast of the apostles,
passed across the earth like a brilliant lightning bolt!
He dispelled the darkness of idolatry
with his saving, brilliant and divine teachings!
He enlightened all people to glorify one God in Three Persons,
indivisible and undivided!
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Like a rolling wheel, the blessed Simon ran swiftly through the ends of the earth!
He burned away the madness of idolatry from all the land,
lighting brilliant beacons with piety,
he kindled luminous fires of grace for the faithful
that they may worship one God in Three Persons,
indivisible and undivided!
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
The most radiant and all-wondrous apostle Simon,
the teacher of the nations, the net of God,
draws us up from the depth of perdition with the height of theology!
The true preacher now wisely leads all to the knowledge of Christ.
He sets before us his accomplishments
as a pleasing feast of all good things!
In Tone 2, Glory…
You were called the namesake of zeal, admirable Simon,
for you zealously imitated the all-powerful God!
He revealed you to be filled with divine miracles,
for having unusual zeal, blessed one, you were aptly called “the Zealot,”
and obtained a calling consistent with your character!
Therefore, as you dwell on high with the choirs of heaven,
entreat the Word, O seer of God,
that He may grant us great mercy!
In Tone 6, Now…
We have assembled, O Christ,
to praise the miracle of Your mysteries:
The midfeast of Your Resurrection and the coming of Your Holy Spirit.
Send down on us great mercy!
Readings
Micah 4:2-3; 6:1-5; 8; Isaiah 55:1-13; Proverbs 9:1-11; 1 John 3:21-4:6; 1 John 4:11-16; 1 John 4:20-5:5
Aposticha
In Tone 1
The middle of the fifty days is here,
wherein Christ manifested his divine power.
He healed the paralytic, raising him from his bed by a word!
In the flesh He worked signs and wonders,
granting mankind eternal life and great mercy!
Remember Your congregation, which You have gotten of old!
You came to the Temple, Wisdom of God,
in the middle of the feast,
to teach and edify the Jews, the Scribes and the Pharisees.
Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink the water of life!
He will never thirst again!
Whoever believes in Me, streams of living water shall flow from him!
How great is Your goodness and Your compassion!
Glory to You, Christ our God!
In Tone 2
God is our King before the ages; He has worked salvation in the midst of the earth!
Jesus went up to the temple in the middle of the feast.
He proclaimed to the stiff-necked Jews:
Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink!
I will give him the water of life, and he will never thirst again.
Living streams will flow from the heart of him who believes in Me;
He will find the Light of the world!
In Tone 3, Glory…
Saviour, while You were teaching the Jews in the midst of the feast,
they murmured: How can this man be learned, who never studied?
They would not believe that You are the Wisdom Who created the world.
O Lord, glory to You!
In Tone 6, Now…
Most holy Simon, disciple and apostle of Christ,
like a high flying eagle you soared over creation!
You burned up the falsehood of idolatry with the fiery sound of your teachings,
leading the nations out of the depths of ignorance
into the knowledge of God.
Now pray to Christ that He be merciful to us on the day of judgment!
Troparia
In Tone 3
Holy apostle Simon, intercede with the merciful God* to grant forgiveness of sins to our souls.
In Tone 8, Glory… Now…
At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
DIVINE LITURGY
After the priest has exclaimed, Blessed be the Kingdom… and the people have responded, Amen, the clergy sing the Paschal Troparion once and the people repeat it. Then, the clergy sing the first half, and the people conclude it.
Paschal Troparion
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 8: At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
Troparion, Tone 3: Holy apostle Simon, intercede with the merciful God* to grant forgiveness of sins to our souls.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 2: With praises let all of us call blessed* the divinely eloquent Simon.* He diligently planted the teachings of wisdom in the hearts of the godly* and stands now at the throne of glory* rejoicing with the bodiless powers and praying unceasingly for all of us.
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: At the mid-point of the Feast according to the Law,* Maker of all things and Master,* You said to those present, O Christ God:* Come, and draw the water of immortality.* And so we fall before You crying out with faith: Grant us Your mercies , for You are the source of our life.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
Great is our Lord, and great is His strength;* and of His knowledge there is no end.
verse: Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; may praise be sweet to Him. (Psalm 146:5,1)
Prokeimenon, Tone 8
Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. (Psalm 18:5)
Epistle
Acts 14:6-18; 1 Corinthians 4:9-16
Alleluia, Tone 1
verse: Remember Your congregation which You acquired from the beginning.
verse: But God is our king before the ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 73:2,12)
verse: The heavens shall confess our wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the church of the saints.
verse: God is glorified in the assembly of the saints. (Psalm 88:6,8)
Gospel
John 7:14-30; Matthew 13:54-58
Hymn to the Mother of God
Virginity is alien to mothers and child-bearing is foreign to virgins; yet in you, O Mother of God, both of them came together. Therefore, we and all the nations of the earth without ceasing magnify you.
Communion Hymn
Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood* abide in Me and I in them, says the Lord. (John 6:56)* Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth,* and their word unto the ends of the world.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 18:5)