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Event Information:
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Fri19Apr2024
Our Venerable Father John the Ancient Hermit (c. 800).
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
VESPERS ON THURSDAY EVENING
Paschal Beginning
Kathisma Reading
No psalms are assigned to be chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 8
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
When Christ had appeared, the modest myrrh-bearers followed in His steps,* ministering to Him with an upright mind and heart.* When He had reposed, you did not abandon Him;* but rather, with tears you came bearing myrrh.* Wherefore we the faithful celebrate your sacred memory.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Wishing to behold the Life of all,* as He lay dead in the grave, the godly women came by night.* And arriving at the tomb they heard the Angel say.* As Christ foretold, He has arisen,* make haste to tell His disciples;* and cast away the sorrow of your much-lamenting souls;* instead, receive inexpressible joy.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
On this day we the faithful dance for joy,* commemorating your feast, O myrrh-bearers,* and praising you we glorify our supremely good Lord,* Beseech Him ceaselessly, O all-honoured ones,* that we attain to the splendour of the Saints,* and that He grant to us eternal glory,* since you have great boldness with Him,* O blessed ones of God.
Tone 5
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
O venerable and right wondrous father John,* wounded by the divine desire of Christ God* who for your sake willingly became a wanderer,* and clothed Himself in flesh from the Virgin,* you reached a strange land, and you utterly estranged yourself* to all the sweet things of the world, O wise and all-blessed father,* and lived as a stranger, acquiring the virtues:* standing whole nights in prayer and the contemplation of death,* you restrained the passions by your abstinence,* showing yourself to be an emulator of those who fasted before you,* and with them you have been glorified.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
O venerable and all-glorious father John,* having been trained in the fold of the godly Chariton,* you drew forth grace like a sponge and poured it forth, emulating his divine ways;* and having spent your life in stillness,* you were vouchsafed honoured ordination, becoming a worthy priest, ever offering sacrifice.* And like an unblemished lamb, purified by divine effulgence and enlightened in mind,* you were borne up in mind to mystic visions, to excellent beatitude.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
O all-blessed father John, strengthened by the power of the Trinity,* you avoided all the harm of heresy,* through vision and divine activity cleaved to and attain the divine glory* which is the ultimate of all desires, O wise and blessed one,* and truly and worthily received it after your repose,* rejoicing, shining and standing before God with the angelic choirs.* Wherefore, be mindful of those who celebrate your memory as is meet,* O right wondrous one.
Tone 2, Glory… Now…
Rising up early and coming with earnestness to Your tomb,* the Myrrh-bearers sought for You so as to anoint Your immaculate Body, O Christ.* And having been told by the words of the Angel,* they preached to the Apostles the tokens of joy:* that the Author of our salvation has arisen, having despoiled death,* and granting the world eternal life and great mercy.
Aposticha
Tone 2
Let Him be crucified, cried out those who had ever enjoyed Your favours;* and those slayers of the righteous sought to receive a malefactor instead of the benefactor;* but You, O Christ, were silent, enduring their presumptuousness,* wishing to suffer and to save us,* since You are the Lover of mankind.
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.
Come let us worship God the Word,* begotten of the Father before all ages,* incarnate of the Virgin Mary;* for having endured the Cross, He was handed over for burial,* as He himself had willed,* and having risen from the dead He has saved me,* the whole man, who has gone astray.
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.
Having no desire for earthly pleasures,* the passion-bearers were deemed worthy of the good things of heaven,* and became fellow citizens of the angels.* By their intercessions, O Lord,* have mercy and save us.
Tone 4, Glory… Now…
Joseph asked for the Body of Jesus and laid it in his own new sepulchre;* for it was meet that He should come forth from the grave, as from a bridal chamber.* O You who have crushed the might of death* and hast opened the gates of Paradise to mankind,* glory be to You.
Troparia
Tone 2
When You went down to death, O Life Immortal,* You struck Hades dead with the blazing light of Your divinity.* When You raised the dead from the nether world,* all the powers of heaven cried out:* O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory be to You!
Glory…
The noble Joseph took down Your most pure Body from the tree.* He wrapped it with a clean shroud and aromatic spices,* and placed it in a new tomb.* But on the third day You arose, O Lord,* granting the world Your great mercy.
Now…
The angel stood by the tomb and cried out to the women bringing ointment:* Ointments are for the dead,* but Christ has shown Himself not subject to corruption.* So now cry out: The Lord is risen,* bestowing great mercy upon the world.
DIVINE LITURGY
After the priest has exclaimed, Blessed be the Kingdom… and the people have responded, Amen, the clergy sing the Paschal Troparion once and the people repeat it. Then, the clergy sing the first half, and the people conclude it.
Paschal Troparion
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 2: When You went down to death, O Life Immortal,* You struck Hades dead with the blazing light of Your divinity.* When You raised the dead from the nether world,* all the powers of heaven cried out:* “O Giver of Life, Christ our God, glory be to You!”
Troparion, Tone 2: The noble Joseph took down Your most pure body from the tree.* He wrapped it with a clean shroud and aromatic spices* and placed it in a new tomb.* But on the third day You arose, O Lord,* granting the world Your great mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 2: You commanded the myrrh-bearers to rejoice, O Christ God,* and ended the grief of our mother Eve by Your Resurrection.* You ordered the apostles to proclaim to all:* “The Saviour is risen from the tomb.”
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 8: Though You descended into a tomb, O Immortal One,* yet You destroyed the power of Hades;* and You rose as victor, O Christ God,* calling to the myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice!* and giving peace to Your Apostles:* You, who grant Resurrection to the fallen.
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. (Psalm 27:9,1)
Epistle
Acts 8:40-9:19
Alleluia, Tone 8
verse: You have shown favour to Your land, O Lord; You brought back the captives of Jacob.
verse: Mercy and truth have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. (Psalm 84:2,11)
Gospel
John 6:48-54
Hymn to the Mother of God
The Angel cried out to the One full of Grace: O chaste Virgin, rejoice! And again I say, Rejoice! Your Son has risen from the tomb on the third day, and raised the dead. Let all people rejoice! Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! Exult now and be glad, O Sion! And you, O chaste Mother of God, take delight in the resurrection of your Son.
Communion Hymn
Receive the Body of Christ;* taste the fountain of immortality.* Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the highest.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 148:1)
Instead of Blessed is He Who comes… we sing:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of We have seen the true light… we sing:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of May our mouths be filled… we sing three times:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of Blessed be the name of the Lord… we sing three times:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
At the dismissal, instead of Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen. we chant:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs giving life.
After the final Amen, the Troparion Christ is risen is sung as at the beginning of the Liturgy, but with the addition:
And to us He has granted life eternal;* we bow down before His resurrection on the third day.