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Event Information:
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Fri17Jan2020
Venerable and God-Bearing Father Anthony the Great
GREAT VESPERS
At Psalm 140
In Tone 4
- Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!
Burning with divine love and radiant with the Spirit,* your soul rose to desire truly infinite love!* You despised flesh and blood, and lived apart from the world,* yet you were united to it by great silence and abstinence.* Therefore you were fulfilled as you desired,** and as a star radiant with blessings, Anthony, you illumine our souls!
- Let Your ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.
Burning with divine love and radiant with the Spirit,* your soul rose to desire truly infinite love!* You despised flesh and blood, and lived apart from the world,* yet you were united to it by great silence and abstinence.* Therefore you were fulfilled as you desired,** and as a star radiant with blessings, Anthony, you illumine our souls!
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Burning with divine love and radiant with the Spirit,* your soul rose to desire truly infinite love!* You despised flesh and blood, and lived apart from the world,* yet you were united to it by great silence and abstinence.* Therefore you were fulfilled as you desired,** and as a star radiant with blessings, Anthony, you illumine our souls!
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Anthony, you were radiant with divine light* by the grace of the Holy Spirit;* you shattered the flying weapons of the demons;* by your godly teachings you exposed their evil snares.* You were a radiant light for monks: the first to adorn the desert;* a prayerful and skilled physician of the sick,** and the first clear example of the ascetic life.
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Anthony, you were radiant with divine light* by the grace of the Holy Spirit;* you shattered the flying weapons of the demons;* by your godly teachings you exposed their evil snares.* You were a radiant light for monks: the first to adorn the desert;* a prayerful and skilled physician of the sick,** and the first clear example of the ascetic life.
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Anthony, you were radiant with divine light* by the grace of the Holy Spirit;* you shattered the flying weapons of the demons;* by your godly teachings you exposed their evil snares.* You were a radiant light for monks: the first to adorn the desert;* a prayerful and skilled physician of the sick,** and the first clear example of the ascetic life.
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Anthony, pure in heart and soul;* an earthly angel, a heavenly man!* A teacher of chastity, a clear measure of abstinence!* Now you live with your Master, blessed saint.* As you offer Him unceasing praise with the angels, all holy monastics and martyrs,** set free from sin and danger those who ever keep your holy memory.
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Anthony, pure in heart and soul;* an earthly angel, a heavenly man!* A teacher of chastity, a clear measure of abstinence!* Now you live with your Master, blessed saint.* As you offer Him unceasing praise with the angels, all holy monastics and martyrs,** set free from sin and danger those who ever keep your holy memory.
In Tone 6, Glory...
You set your mind as master over the disturbing passions,* keeping the image unharmed through the ascetic life.* Thus you rose into the perfect likeness,* for bravely curbing nature,* you hastened to subject what is lower to that which is above:* you made the body servant to the Spirit.* Therefore you were revealed as the chief of those living the monastic life,* a citizen of the desert,* a master teaching those who hasten to you,* a perfect example of virtue.* Now the image has been broken, Anthony,* and in heaven you behold in purity the holy Trinity,** as you pray with boldness for those who honour you with faith and love!
Now...
Who would not call you blessed, O Virgin most holy?* Who would not sing a hymn of praise* to the glory of your giving birth without pain or travail?* The Only-begotten Son Himself,* begotten of the Father before all ages,* was made flesh out of you in a manner* that cannot be explained, O Woman most pure!* And for our sake, He Who is God by nature* assumed the nature of a man.* He is not divided into two persons;* He is understood to have two natures* without commixion or confusion.* O noble and blessed Woman,** intercede with Him that He may mercy on our souls.
Readings
(1) Proverbs 3:13-16, 8, 6; (2) Proverbs 10:31-32; 11:1-10; (3) Wisdom 3:1-9Aposticha
In Tone 5
Rejoice, Anthony, as you dwell on high with the angelic choirs!* For you truly learned their virtue, blessed saint.* You lived on earth, and appeared as a clear, undefiled image;* as a glass which received the brilliant lights of the Holy Spirit.* Thus enlightened, you saw what was to come,* foretelling all things taught by the divine manifestations of the light of Christ.** entreat Him to grant our souls great mercy.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!
Rejoice, leader of ascetics and their unconquered champion!* For cutting down passions to the root and opposing the attempts of devils,* you bravely laid bare their weakness and soul-destroying error.* You made plain the invincible power and might of the Saviour's cross.* Girded with it, you defeated all who reject* the divine appearance of Christ in the flesh.** Entreat Him to grant our souls great mercy.
Blessed is the man who fears the lord. He has great delight in His commandments.
You were an overshadowing cloud,* strengthened as a shining pillar of virtues,* leading those in the desert from earth to heaven.* Thus you were a seer of God!* With the staff of the cross you destroyed the sea of the passions,* and having defeated the reasoning of Amalek,* you easily found the way into heaven, blessed one of God,* and an incorruptible inheritance.* Rejoicing, you stand with the angels beside the throne of Christ.** Entreat Him to grant our souls great mercy.
In Tone 8, Glory...
We honour you, Anthony our father, the instructor of a multitude of monks!* We have indeed learned to walk rightly in your footsteps!* You are blest, for having laboured for Christ,* you denounced the power of the enemy!* Conversor with the angels, companion of Paul of Thebes!** Together with them, entreat the Lord that He may grant mercy to our souls!
Now...
O Virgin, You have never known wedlock,* Yet You conceived God in the flesh* in a manner which words can never describe.* You thus became the Mother of God on high.* O Immaculate Lady, receive the supplication of your servants* and grant us the cleansing of our sins.** Accept now our prayers and beseech God to save all of us.
Troparia
In Tone 4
By your zeal you equalled Elijah, father Anthony,* you imitated the life of John the Baptist;* you founded a city in the wilderness;* you established the Church on the firm foundation of your prayers.* Pray to Christ our God that our souls may be saved.Glory… Now…
The mystery hidden from eternity* and unknown to the angels* is manifested to those on earth through you, O Theotokos!* God being incarnate of you by union without confusion,* and of His own will freely enduring the cross for us* and raising the first-formed man,* has saved our souls from death!
DIVINE LITURGY
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 4: By your life you imitated the zealous Elias* and by following straight paths you emulated the Baptist, John.* O Father Anthony,* you peopled the desert and strengthened the world by your prayers;* intercede with Christ God to save our souls.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2: You rejected earthly worries* and finished your life in silence imitating the Baptist in every way* and so with him we honour you,* O Anthony, most venerable, first of the Fathers.
Prokeimenon, Tone 7
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His venerable ones.
verse: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has rendered to me? (Psalm 115:15,12)Epistle
Hebrews 13: 17-21Alleluia, Tone 6
verse: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments.
verse: His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth. (Psalm 111:1,2)Gospel
Luke 6: 17-23Communion Hymn
The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)