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Event Information:
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Wed24Apr2024
Mid-Pentecost. Holy Martyr Sabbas Stratelates (“the General”) (364-78).
VESPERS ON TUESDAY EVENING
Paschal Beginning
Kathisma Reading
The appointed psalms are chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 4
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
There is come now the middle of those days* which commence with the saving Arising* and which are sealed by the sacred Pentecost.* Illumined by both feasts and joining both,* we come to render glory and honour beforehand* to the regal Ascension.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
There is come now the middle of those days* which commence with the saving Arising* and which are sealed by the sacred Pentecost.* Illumined by both feasts and joining both,* we come to render glory and honour beforehand* to the regal Ascension.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Sion heard and rejoiced when it received the glad tidings of Christ’s Resurrection,* and all of her faithful offspring greatly rejoice upon beholding Him,* who by the grace of the Spirit* washes away the stain of the murder of the Christ,* preparing to solemnly celebrate* the joyous Mid-festival of both feasts.
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Sion heard and rejoiced when it received the glad tidings of Christ’s Resurrection,* and all of her faithful offspring greatly rejoice upon beholding Him,* who by the grace of the Spirit* washes away the stain of the murder of the Christ,* preparing to solemnly celebrate* the joyous Mid-festival of both feasts.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
The bountiful pouring forth of the Spirit upon all,* is now at hand as the Scripture says.* This is proclaimed by the mid-point of the blessed season* after Christ’s death, burial and arising,* when He gave to His disciples His unfailing and true promise,* which revealed most clearly the coming of the Comforter.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
The bountiful pouring forth of the Spirit upon all,* is now at hand as the Scripture says.* This is proclaimed by the mid-point of the blessed season* after Christ’s death, burial and arising,* when He gave to His disciples His unfailing and true promise,* which revealed most clearly the coming of the Comforter.
Tone 6, Glory… Now…
Having come together at the Mid-feast* between Your Resurrection and the divine coming of Your Holy Spirit, O Christ,* we praise the mysteries of Your wonders.* Wherefore, on this day You send down Your great mercy unto us.
Readings
(1) Micah 4:2, 3; 6:1-5, 8; (2) Isaiah 55:1-13; (3) Proverbs 9:1-11
Aposticha
Tone 1
The mid-point of the days of Pentecost has come.* Wherein Christ disclosed His divine might in part, in that He strengthened the paralytic* and by a word raised him up from his bed.* In a God-befitting manner He wrought miracles in a body of clay,* and has granted to mankind* everlasting life and great mercy.
Remember Your congregation,* which You have purchased from the beginning.
You, the Wisdom of God, came to the temple at Mid-feast,* teaching and reproving the disobedient Jews, the Pharisees, and Scribes,* and with boldness You cried to them:* He that thirsts, let him come to Me and drink living water,* and he shall never again thirst unto eternity.* From him that believes in My goodness,* rivers of eternal life shall pour forth from his noetic belly.* O how great is Your goodness and compassion,* O Christ our God! Glory be to You.
Tone 2
God is our King before the ages,* He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
When the Mid-feast had come, Jesus went up into the temple* and taught the disobedient Jews, saying:* He that thirts, let him come to Me and drink living and everlasting water,* and he shall never again thirst unto eternity.* He that believes in Me, rivers shall flow from his noetic belly,* and he shall have the light of life.
Tone 8, Glory… Now…
When You were teaching at Mid-feast, O Saviour, the Jews spoke saying:* Having never studied, how is this man learned?* For they knew not that You are the Wisdom that fashioned the world.* Glory be to You.
Troparion
Tone 8
At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* Source of life, Christ our God, glory to You!
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 8: At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: At the mid-point of the Feast according to the Law,* Maker of all things and Master,* You said to those present, O Christ God:* Come, and draw the water of immortality.* And so we fall before You crying out with faith: Grant us Your mercies , for You are the source of our life.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
Great is our Lord, and great is His strength;* and of His knowledge there is no end.
verse: Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; may praise be sweet to Him. (Psalm 146:5,1)
Epistle
Acts 14:6-18
Alleluia, Tone 1
verse: Remember Your congregation which You acquired from the beginning.
verse: But God is our king before the ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 73:2,12)
Gospel
John 7:14-30
Hymn to the Mother of God
Virginity is alien to mothers and child-bearing is foreign to virgins; yet in you, O Mother of God, both of them came together. Therefore, we and all the nations of the earth without ceasing magnify you.
Communion Hymn
Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood* abide in Me and I in them, says the Lord.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (John 6:56)
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.