GREAT VESPERS
At Psalm 140
In Tone 4
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Come, let us go up with Jesus
as He ascends the holy mountain;
there we shall hear the voice of the living God:
the Father Who is without beginning
as He gives witness by a cloud through the Divine Spirit
to the consubstantiality of the coeternal Sonship;
Being thus enlightened in mind,
we shall see light in the light.
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Come, let us exult in anticipation,
purifying ourselves,
and faithfully prepare for the divine ascent
to the lofty dwelling place of God,
that we may witness His majesty
and receive His glory,
which the chosen from among the Apostles
were made worthy to behold,
mystically on Mount Tabor.
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Come, having today transformed ourselves,
with a more exalted transformation,
let us be well prepared for tomorrow!
That we may ascend the holy mountain of God;
and, that we may behold the unchanging radiant glory of Christ
which is brighter than the sun.
Having been illumined by the light of the Trinity,
we shall glorify the condescension of God in it.
In Tone 2
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
The Father, with His Divine Son, has made a dwelling place
in their beloved people,
who kept the word of His truth
and endured in faithfulness.
The children of God in much-suffering Ukraine
feared neither torment, persecution nor cruel death.
And so upon them, as if upon living foundation stones,
the Cathedral of the Resurrection rises up.
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
You, O Perfecter,
have transformed the souls of Your faithful friends
into a House of Wisdom
and a temple of Your invisible presence.
The temple of Your love is more formidable than walls of stone,
established as it is within the human heart, a living Holy of Holies.
From it, there blossomed forth the visible beauty
of the newly raised Cathedral of the Resurrection.
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord “Sabaoth” (of hosts)!
From of old the Ukrainian soul would huddle to
Your majestic and ancient temples;
but, in the midst of evil times, full of the darkness of hostile Godlessness
other temples faithfully shone forth:
the village home, the city room,
in every place where living torches of Your truth shone forth,
raising thereby the Cathedral of the Resurrection.
In Tone 5, Glory…
Come from the west, and the north, and the sea, and the east,
from all over Ukraine – O faithful friends of the Lord,
and let us behold the Church reborn.
Let the cathedral of our souls shine forth, as divinely radiant torches,
within that cathedral which is built above Slavutych.
And so, raised up in spirit by the Holy Spirit,
let us glorify Christ, our Pascha, unto the ages!
Now…
Come, let us ascend the mountain of the Lord
and go into the house of our God.
Let us gaze upon the glory of His Transfiguration,
the glory of the only-begotten [Son of God] of [God] the Father.
From [His] light, let us receive light;
and raised up in spirit by the Holy Spirit,
let us sing the praises of the consubstantial Trinity unto the ages.
Readings
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30; Wisdom 7:21-8:4; Proverbs 9:1-11
Aposticha
In Tone 2
Illumined by the brightness of the virtues,
let us ascend the holy mountain
so that we may gaze upon the divine Transfiguration of the Lord.
Mercy and truth have met; righteousness and peace have embraced.
Shining forth like the sun upon Mount Tabor,
before undergoing [the Passion of] the Cross,
Christ bestows a sign—worthy of His divine nature
—upon the initiates of the mysteries.
Blessed are the people who know the festal shout.
Wishing to transform the nature of Adam,
Christ ascends Mount Tabor today
so that He may reveal His divine nature
to the initiates of the mysteries.
In Tone 2, Glory…
Let us enter through the radiant gates,
which the Holy One, the True One, opens before us
—and who would be able to shut them?
For, although the Ukrainian people for a very long time did not possess the power of self-government,
yet they kept the words of Christ,
and did not deny His Name to their very end.
And those who conquer in Spirit,
the Lord will transform into pillars of His temple;
and there will be written upon them the Name of their God,
and the Name of the New Jerusalem,
the future and foreshadowed [city] already made manifest
in the Kyivan Cathedral of the Resurrection
for the salvation of our souls.
Now…
O You, Who were transfigured in glory on Mount Tabor,
and showed Your disciples the glory of Your divine nature,
pour out also upon us the light of Your knowledge, O Christ our God !
And, direct us to the way of Your [divine] commandments
since You, alone, are Good and the Lover of Mankind.
Troparia
In Tone 4
As the priceless beauty residing within the divine image of the tabernacle,* thus outwardly you manifested the holy glory of your temple O Lord.* Establish it for the ages of ages, and accept, through the prayers of the Theotokos, our supplications,* which we unceasingly offer to You, O Life and Resurrection of all.
Glory…Now…
Faithful, let us celebrate in advance the joy of Christ’s Transfiguration!* Let us rejoice and cry out in the prefeast:* The day of heavenly joy is approaching,* for the Lord is ascending Mount Tabor* where He shines with the light of His Divinity!
DIVINE LITURGY
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 4: As the priceless beauty residing within the divine image of the tabernacle,* thus outwardly you manifested the holy glory of your temple O Lord.* Establish it for the ages of ages, and accept, through the prayers of the Theotokos, our supplications,* which we unceasingly offer to You, O Life and Resurrection of all.
Troparion, Tone 4: Faithful, let us celebrate in advance the joy of Christ’s Transfiguration!* Let us rejoice and cry out in the prefeast:* The day of heavenly joy is approaching,* for the Lord is ascending Mount Tabor* where He shines with the light of His Divinity!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 4: The Synaxis of the faithful in the Cathedral of the Resurrection,* shines as a multitude of stars in heavens,* and as we offer our prayers we exclaim:* “This is the house the Lord has made.”
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: Today mankind prepares to reflect the radiance of divine splendour* wrought in the Transfiguration of Christ!* Crying joyfully: Christ is transfigured to save us all!
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
Holiness befits Your house, O Lord, for length of days.
verse: The Lord reigns! He is clothed in majesty! (Psalm 92:6, 1)
Epistle
Hebrews 3:1-14
Alleluia, Tone 2
verse: His foundations are in the holy mountains.
verse: Glorious things were said concerning you, O city of God. (Psalm 86:1, 3)
Gospel
Matthew 16:13-18
Communion Hymn
O Lord, I love the beauty of Your house,* and the place where Your glory dwells.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia (Psalm 25:8).