Upcoming Days

Daily texts will return after June 20, 2024!

Event Information:

  • Tue
    02
    Jan
    2024

    Our Venerable Fathers Paul of Thebes (312-37) and John the Hut-Dweller (465-74)

    VESPERS

    There is no psalm reading.

    At Psalm 140

    Tone 2

    If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.

    When by divine inspiration you wisely left the cares of life* and set out on the labours of asceticism,* you went out with joy into the inaccessible wilderness,* inflamed with love of the Lord.* Having overcome the passions,* you lived like an angel by your perseverance in the good, O holy father.

    I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.

    Having renounced all human companionship from your youth, O holy father,* you were the first to seek the absolute solitude of the wilderness.* You surpassed all hermits, O holy Paul,* remaining unknown throughout your whole life.* But at the command of God, Anthony found you like a hidden treasure* and made you known throughout the world.

    From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.

    O holy Paul, as you lived your earthly life,* you dwelt with the wild beasts* and were served by a bird at the command of God.* Seeing this when he found you,* Anthony the Great was filled with amazement,* and he ceaselessly magnified the divine Providence of the Master of all.

    For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

    O blessed Father, when by divine inspiration* you joyfully fled from the pleasures of this world,* you renounced the broad way and chose the narrow, straight, and rugged road.* You went into a spiritual refuge where you put on the divine habit,* denying yourself and stripping yourself of all passions.

    Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.

    You conceived the amazing plan of your life,* your wondrous behaviour, in your love for Christ,* whose ineffable poverty you cherished.* Without a home, living before the threshold of your parents* you endured need and tribulations.* But you were filled with divine graces and you inherited heaven* and the treasure which no one can ever take away.

    Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.

    Having the Holy Gospel before you, O father John,* you fulfilled It when you renounced your family inheritance* and spent your whole life in hardship and repentance.* Thus you now rejoice, O venerable father, since God has glorified you* with divine consolation and endless happiness.

    Tone 2, Glory…

    Renouncing the world and all it contains, O venerable father,* you took up the Gospel of Christ and lived it completely.* In the hut where you dwelt as though in a mystic paradise,* treating your body with the utmost severity,* you put to death the murderous dragon.* Now you dwell in heaven, O holy John:* ask great mercy for us.

    Now…

    The multitude of angels, O Purest One,* praise your Son with the thrice-holy hymn.* You were like His fiery altar, His celestial palace,* and His divine bridge which always leads from earth to Him.* With the Archangel Gabriel we sing out to You:* Rejoice, O Full of Grace;* because you gave birth to the Wellspring of Joy.

    Aposticha

    Tone 8

    Angels unceasingly sing to You, O King and Master.* I fall before You as the publican and cry out:* O God, cleanse me and have mercy on me!

    I have lifted up my eyes to You enthroned in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a maid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes on the Lord our God until He has mercy on us.

    You are immortal, O my soul!* Do not be overcome by the waves of life,* but rise up and cry out to your Benefactor:* O God, cleanse me and have mercy on me!

    Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been filled with shame; our soul is all too full of the mockery of the rich, of the contempt of the proud.

    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.

    Glory… Now…

    Rejoice, O Loving Palace! O Spiritual Dove!* Rejoice, O City of our Creator!* Rejoice, O Refuge of the Faithful!* Rejoice, O Fortress and Intercession,* Rejoice, O Salvation and Deliverance of those who love you!* Rejoice, O Bridge which brings all to heaven!* Rejoice, O most Spiritual One, O holy Lady!

    Troparia

    Tone 4

    God of our fathers, You always treat us fairly.* Deprive us not of Your mercy,* but by their prayers direct our lives in peace.

    Tone 4, Glory…

    Since your early youth, you have longed with fervour for the things of the Lord:* leaving the world and its pleasures, you became an example of the monastic life.* John most blessed, you built your hut at the door of your parents' house* and overcame the devil’s guiles.* Wherefore Christ Himself has glorified you as you deserve.

    Now…

    To the One who was reared in the Temple,* close to the Holy of Holies,* and who was full of faith, wisdom, and perfect virginity,* Gabriel, the captain and leader,* offered esteem and greetings from heaven when he said:* Rejoice, O blessed One! Rejoice, O glorified One!* The Lord is with you.

     

    DIVINE LITURGY

    Troparia and Kontakia

    Troparion, Tone 8: The divine image was faithfully preserved in you, O fathers,* for taking up the Cross you followed Christ.* By your deeds you have taught us to see beyond flesh, which passes,* and care for the soul, a thing immortal.* and so, O Venerable Paul and John,* your spirits rejoices with the angels.

    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

    Kontakion, Tone 2: Divinely armed with purity of spirit* and mightily wielding the lance of unceasing prayers,* you overcame the powers of demons,* Venerable Paul and John, pray without ceasing for all of us.

    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

    1 Peter 2:21-3:9

    Alleluia, 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

    Mark 12:13-17

    Communion Hymn

    The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)