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Event Information:
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Sun08Sep2019
Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Octoechos Tone 4; Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
GREAT VESPERS
Kathisma Reading
“Blessed is the man...” is sung.At Psalm 140
In Tone 4
- Lead my soul forth from prison* that I may give thanks to Your name.
We never cease to adore Your life-giving Cross, O Christ our God,* And we glorify Your resurrection on the third day.* For You, Almighty One, have thereby restored the corrupted nature of all* and reopened the way to heaven,* since You alone are gracious and You love mankind.
- The just shall gather around me* when You have been good to me.
O Saviour, You have absolved the penalty of disobedience,* committed through the tree of Eden,* by willingly being nailed to the tree of the Cross.* As Almighty God, You descended into Hades* and broke asunder the bonds of death.* We, therefore, venerate Your resurrection from the dead,* and joyfully cry out to You:* Almighty Lord, glory to You!
- Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!
O Lord, You have battered down the gates of Hades,* and by Your death You have dissolved the realm of death.* You have freed mankind from corruption,* bestowing life, incorruption, and Your great mercy upon the world.
- Let Yours ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.
Come, all you people,* let us sing the praises of our Saviour’s resurrection on the third day.* For we have, thereby, been delivered from the invincible bonds of Hades,* and we have received incorruption, together with eternal life.* Therefore, we cry out to You* after Your crucifixion, burial, and resurrection:* Save us by Your resurrection, for You love mankind.
In Tone 6
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Today God who dominates the spiritual thrones of heaven* welcomes on earth the holy throne which He had prepared for Himself.* In His love for mankind,* He who established the heavens in wisdom has fashioned a living heaven.* From a barren stem He has brought forth for us His Mother* as a branch full of life.* O God of miracles and hope of those who have no hope;* O Lord, glory to You!
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
This is the day of the Lord:* Rejoice, therefore, O nations!* Behold, the chamber of Light and the scroll of the living Word* has come forth from the womb.* The gate that opens to the Rising Sun* and is ready for the entrance of the High Priest, is here today.* She is the only one who introduced Christ, and Christ alone, into the world* for the salvation of souls.
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Indeed some famous barren women have given birth by the will of God;* but the nativity of Mary surpasses all nativities* in honour and splendour* as it is worthy of the majesty of God.* For she was born in a miraculous way of a barren mother,* and she herself gave birth in the flesh to the God of all,* incarnate in her womb without human seed* against the laws of nature.* She alone is the door through which the only-begotten Son of God* has passed while leaving it sealed* as He had planned in His eternal wisdom.* Thus did He bring salvation to all.
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Today the barren gates are opened,* and the Virgin, the Gate of God, comes forth.* Today grace begins to bear fruit,* showing forth to the world the Mother of God* through whom earth is united to heaven* for the salvation of our souls.
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Today glad tidings go forth to the whole world.* Today sweet fragrance is sent forth* by the proclamation of salvation.* Today is the end of the barrenness of our nature;* for the barren one becomes a mother,* the mother of the one who will not cease to be a virgin,* even after giving birth to the One who by nature is Creator and God.* He it is who took flesh by which He brought salvation to the lost;* He is Christ, the Lover of Mankind,* and the Saviour of our souls.
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Today Anne, the barren one, gives birth to the maiden of God* who had been chosen from all the human generations* to become the dwelling place of the Creator,* Christ our God and King of all.* In her He fulfilled His divine plan* through which our human nature was renewed,* and by which we were to be transferred from corruption to eternal life.
Glory…
Today God who dominates the spiritual thrones of heaven* welcomes on earth the holy throne which He had prepared for Himself.* In His love for mankind,* He who established the heavens in wisdom has fashioned a living heaven.* From a barren stem He has brought forth for us His Mother* as a branch full of life.* O God of miracles and hope of those who have no hope;* O Lord, glory to You!
In Tone 4, Now…
O Mother of God, because of You David the Prophet* became an ancestor of God;* he foretold and sang a joyous hymn of praise* and cried out to Him who worked wonders in you:* “The Queen stood at your right hand.”* God revealed you as a life-giving mother,* when He chose to be incarnate of you without a father.* He renewed in man His image which the passions had corrupted.* He found the lost sheep in the mountains, carried it on His shoulders,* offered it to the Father, generously numbered it among the powers of heaven,* and saved the whole world, since He is Christ of great and rich mercy.
Readings
(1) Genesis 28:10-17; (2) Ezekiel 43:27-44:4; (3) Proverbs 9:1-11Lytia
In Tone 1
Today is the beginning of our salvation, O people;* for behold, the Mother and Virgin who was chosen from all generations* to be the habitation of God* is born and comes forth from the barren one.* She is the flower from Jesse and possesses the rod from his root.* May our forefather Adam rejoice and be full of joy;* for behold, she who was created from the rib of Adam* declares that her daughter and descendant is blessed.* She says: “My deliverance has been born to me.* Through her, I will be freed from the bonds of Hades.”* May David rejoice, play on his harp, and bless God;* for behold, the Virgin comes forth* from the womb of the barren woman* for the salvation of our souls.
In Tone 2
Come all you lovers of virginity and chastity,* lovingly hold aloft the boast of virginity,* the fountain of life springing up from the solid stone.* She is the bush which grows from the barren land,* the bush of the non-material fire,* who cleanses and illumines our souls.
What is the festive hymn that is heard today?* Joachim and Anne are mystically observing this day with honour, saying:* “Adam and Eve, rejoice with us today!* Through their transgression of old, Paradise was closed.* Now, Mary the maiden of God is being given to us as a blessed fruit.* She opens up the entrance of Paradise to all of us.”
The chosen one of the King of All,* the abode of God and divine dwelling of the ever-existing One,* comes forth today from the barren and glorious Anne.* It is through her that the shameless Hades is crushed,* and the first Eve is lead into a faithful life.* Let us worthily cry out to her:* “Blessed are you among women,* and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
In Tone 8, Glory… Now…
Let us play the spiritual flute on this noteworthy feast,* because from the seed of David* is born the Mother of the Life who dispels the darkness.* She is the renewal of Adam and the answer to Eve,* the source of incorruption and the transformation of corruption.* Because of her, we have been divinized and delivered from death.* We cry out to her with Gabriel:* “Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.* Because of you, He has granted us great mercy.”
Aposticha
In Tone 4
In being lifted upon the Cross, O Lord,* You abolished the curse which we had inherited from our ancestors.* By going down into Hades,* You freed from eternal captivity those imprisoned there,* and granted incorruption to the human race.* We, therefore, praise Your life-giving and redeeming resurrection.
The Lord reigns, He is clothed in majesty. Robed is the Lord, and girt about with strength.
By hanging on the Cross, O Almighty One,* You shook the whole creation to its foundations.* When You Yourself were laid in the grave,* You raised to life those who had been lying in the graves,* and You granted life and incorruption to mankind.* We, therefore, praise and glorify Your resurrection on the third day.
For He has made the world firm, which shall not be moved.
O Christ, the lawless people showed their ingratitude to You, their Benefactor,* by delivering You to Pilate who condemned you to be crucified.* But You willingly suffered death and burial;* and, as God, You rose by Your own power on the third day,* granting us everlasting life and great mercy.
Holiness befits Your house, O Lord, for length of days.
The women, shedding bitter tears, came to see You in Your tomb;* and not finding Your body, they lamented, saying:* O Saviour and King of All, how were You stolen?* What place holds Your life-bearing body?* An angel answered them, saying:* Do not weep, but go and proclaim that the Lord is risen,* filling our hearts with joy;* for He alone is most compassionate.
In Tone 8, Glory… Now…
Come all you faithful, and let us hasten to the Virgin;* for long before her conception in the womb,* the one who was to be born of the root of Jesse* was destined to be the Mother of God.* The one who is the treasury of virginity,* the flowering rod of Aaron, the object of prophecies,* the child of Joachim and Anne is born today,* and the world is renewed in her.* Through her birth, the Church is clothed with splendour* O holy Temple, vessel of the Godhead,* model of virgins and strength of kings,* in you the wondrous union of the two natures of Christ was realized.* We worship Him and glorify your most pure birth,* and the whole world extols you.
Troparia
In Tone 4
Your nativity, O Virgin Mother of God,* has made joy known to all the world,* for from you dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God.* He abolished the curse and gave the blessing;* and by making death of no effect He bestowed on us eternal life. (3)DIVINE LITURGY
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 4: When the disciples of the Lord learned from the angel* the glorious news of the resurrection* and cast off the ancestral condemnation,* they proudly told the apostles:* “Death has been plundered!* Christ our God is risen,* granting to the world great mercy.”Troparion, Tone 4: Your nativity, O Virgin Mother of God,* has made joy known to all the world,* for from you dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God.* He abolished the curse and gave the blessing;* and by making death of no effect He bestowed on us eternal life.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 4: My Saviour and Deliverer from the grave* as God raised out of bondage the children of the earth* and shattered the gates of Hades;* and as Master, He rose on the third day.
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: By your birth, O immaculate one,* Joachim and Anna were freed from the reproach of childlessness,* and Adam and Eve* from the corruption of death.* And your people, redeemed from the guilt of their sins,* celebrate as they cry out to you:* “The barren one gives birth to the Mother of God* and nourisher of our life.”
Prokeimenon, Tone 6
Save Your people, O Lord, * and bless Your inheritance.
verse: Unto You I will cry, O Lord, my God, lest You turn from me in silence. (Psalm27:9,1)Prokeimenon, Tone 3
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. (Luke 1:46)Epistle
Galatians 6:11-18; Philippians 2:5-11Alleuia, Tone 1
verse: I have exalted one chosen from the people and with my holy oil anointed him. (Psalm 88:20-21)
verse: My hand shall always be with him and my arm shall make him strong. (Psalm 88:22)
verse: Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear. (Psalm 44:11)
verse: The rich among the people shall entreat your countenance. (Psalm 44:13)Gospel
John 3:13-17; Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28Hymn to the Mother of God
O my soul, magnify the Virgin Mary, born from a barren womb.
And the Irmos, Tone 8: Virginity is alien to mothers* and childbearing 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
Praise the Lord from the heavens;* praise Him in the highest. (Psalm 148:1)* I will take the cup of salvation;* and I will call upon the name of the Lord.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 115:13)