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Event Information:
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Fri11Mar2022
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts for Friday of the Second Week of the Great Fast
LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS
ON FRIDAY EVENINGAt Psalm 140
In Tone 4
- Lead my soul forth from prison* that I may give thanks to Your name.
Behold, this is the acceptable time,* this is the day of salvation.* Visit my soul in the abundance of Your love,* and in Your unique goodness, lighten the load of my sins.
- The just shall gather around me* when You have been good to me.
Behold, this is the acceptable time,* this is the day of salvation.* Visit my soul in the abundance of Your love,* and in Your unique goodness, lighten the load of my sins.
In Tone 8
- Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!
O martyrs of the Lord,* you sanctify all places,* and you heal all diseases.* Therefore, we implore you:* Pray that our souls be delivered from the snares of the Enemy.
- Let Your ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.
O martyrs of the Lord,* we entreat you to beseech our God* and ask great mercy for our souls* and forgiveness for our many offences.
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Your martyrs, O Lord,* forgetting the things of this life* and despising torture for the sake of the life to come,* were shown to be inheritors of the eternal life.* Therefore, they rejoice exceedingly with the angels.* Through their supplications, bestow great mercy upon Your people.
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
What honour and praise can fittingly be ascribed to the saints?* They bowed their necks under the sword for You, who left the heavens and came down.* They shed their blood for You, who emptied Yourself taking the form of a servant.* By emulating Your poverty, they humbled themselves unto death.* By their prayers, have mercy on us, O Lord, according to Your great compassion.
In Tone 6
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
You were arrayed in the vestments of a bishop,* thrice-blessed one:* You entered the holy of holies,* with pure lips, like an angel, sending up praise to your Master! * As the godly shepherd of Rome,* enlightened with deifying splendour,* you taught the faithful the theology of the faith,* divinely radiant Gregory:* teacher of the church* and initiate of the mysteries of the grace of God!
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Ever cleaving to the Lord,* and united to the divine fire in purity, hierarch,* you set down the liturgy of the presanctified gifts,* thus sanctifying the faithful during the days of the fast;* rescuing them from the snares of the enemy.* You guided them into the fold of heaven,* revealing yourself to be a pillar a fire* through the splendour of your piety * and the brightness of your divine teachings,* God-bearing Father Gregory!
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Holy Gregory,* you preserved blamelessly the bishop's holy anointing.* By the grace of Christ you caused its gifts to increase like talents, * in all things you were well pleasing to the only Lord of glory: * in love and meekness, in ardour of faith,* in compassion and prayer.
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Thus, divinely eloquent one, in the meadow of salvation,* you faithfully shepherded the reason-endowed flock of Christ.* Today your divine memorial, most honoured one,* shines forth like the sun to the ends of the earth,* joyfully enlightening all the faithful with mystical splendours!* We assemble to honour it with holy psalms and hymns,* entreating you to beseech Christ, divinely glorious one,* on behalf of those who sing your praises.
In Tone 8
Glory…
I weep and lament as I consider death,* and behold our beauty fashioned in the image of God,* resting in the tombs, disfigured and deprived of glory and expression.* O, what a wonder!* What is this mystery?* Why have we been delivered to corruption?* Why subjected to death?* Indeed, as it is written, by the command of God,* for He grants rest to the departed.
Now…
Out of His love for mankind* the King of heaven appeared on earth and dwelt with men,* for He assumed a human body from the pure Virgin* and was seen in the flesh He received from her.* He is the One and only God having two natures but not two persons.* Wherefore we profess and declare the truth that Christ our God is perfect God and perfect Man.* O Mother, who knew not carnal union,* intercede with Him that He may have mercy on our souls.
Prokeimenon I, Tone 4
Your merciful love and Your truth* will guard me forever.
verse: I waited, I waited for the Lord and He stooped down to me; He heard my cry.
Reading I
Genesis 5:32-6:8
Noah was five hundred years old, and he begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now it came to pass that men began to exist in great numbers on the earth, and daughters were born to them. So when the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful, they took wives for themselves of all they chose. Then the Lord God said, “My Spirit shall not remain with these people forever, for they are flesh. So their days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Now there were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown. Then the Lord God saw man's wickedness, that it was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts within his heart was only evil continually. So God was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and He thought this over. Then God said, “I will blot out man whom I created from the face of the earth, from man to cattle, and from the creeping things to the birds of heaven, for I am grieved I made them.” But Noah found grace in the presence of the Lord God.
Prokeimenon II, Tone 6
As for me, I said: Lord, have mercy on me;* heal my soul for I have sinned against You.
verse: Blessed are those who consider the poor and the weak. The Lord will save them in the evil day.
Reading II
Proverbs 6:20-7:1
For he rejoices in everything the Lord hates,
And he shall be broken because of his soul's uncleanness:
A haughty eye, an unrighteous tongue,
Hands that shed righteous blood,
A heart that devises evil thoughts,
And feet that hasten to do evil;
As a false witness he kindles injustice
And causes quarrels between brethren.
My son, guard the laws of your father,
And do not depart from the rules of your mother.
But fasten them to your soul continually
And wear them as a collar upon your neck.
When you walk about, bring along this commandment
And let it be with you;
And as you sleep, let it guard you,
That when you arise, it may speak to you.
For a commandment of law is a lamp and a light,
And the way of life is reproof and instruction,
That you may keep yourself from a married woman
And from the slanderous tongue of a strange woman.
Do not let the desire of beauty conquer you;
Neither be caught by her eyes,
Nor captivated by her eyelids;
For the value of a prostitute is only one loaf,
And such a woman hunts for the precious souls of men.
Shall anyone bind fire to his bosom
And his garments not burn?
Or will anyone walk about on coals of fire
And not burn his feet?
Likewise is the one who goes in to a married woman;
He shall not be guiltless, nor any who touch her.
It is not surprising if anyone who steals is caught,
For he steals that he may fill his hungry soul;
But if he is caught, he will repay sevenfold,
And by giving all his goods, he shall deliver himself.
But the adulterer through his lack of discernment
Obtains the destruction of his soul;
He bears both pain and dishonor,
And his disgrace will not be wiped away forever.
For the anger of her husband is full of jealousy;
He will not spare in the day of judgment;
He will not take any ransom in exchange for his hatred,
Nor will he be reconciled by many gifts.
My son, guard my words,
And hide my commandments within yourself.