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Event Information:
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Mon15Jan2024
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)