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Event Information:
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Tue30Apr2024
Holy Apostle James, Brother of Saint John the Theologian (c. 44).
Polyeleos Feast.
GREAT VESPERS ON MONDAY EVENING
Paschal Beginning
Kathisma Reading
“Blessed is the man…” is sung.
At Psalm 140
Tone 1
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
The Word, who is consubstantial with God the Father,* has fashioned all things and grants life to all,* assuming flesh from the Virgin, and willingly becoming a man.* Since He is by nature good,* He has poured forth for all His wise teachings* of ineffable wisdom.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
As the Law’s Master You entered the court of the temple,* there You taught at Mid-feast, as is written, O Christ;* speaking with authority, You rebuked and censure the mindless scribes,* and all were amazed by the wisdom found in Your words* and by all the marvels that were wrought by You.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Christ, the Bestower of Wisdom, the Giver of all good things,* who pours forth divine streams from a never-ending spring,* cries out: Come to Me, all you that thirst,* draw forth and drink the water of life.* And thus shall rivers of grace and divine gifts* issue freely from within yourselves.
Tone 4
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
With the rod of grace, you drew men forth* from the deep of vanity, O right wondrous James,* obedient to the behest of your Teacher,* Who illumined your whole mind* and showed You forth as an apostle and an honoured and divine herald* of His unapproachable divinity, O all-blessed one.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
The effulgence of the Spirit descended upon you in the guise of fire* and made of you, O blessed one, a habitation of God* who dispels the darkness of ungodliness with might* and enlightens the world with the radiance of your all-wise words,* O James, initiate of the mysteries, leader of the apostles,* who beheld Christ with your own eyes.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Illumining those who sleep in the darkness of ignorance* with the splendours of your preaching, O glorious James,* you showed them forth as children, by faith, of our Master and God,* Whose suffering and death you emulated;* and, as you are an all-wise herald of God and His true disciple,* you have a share in His glory.
Tone 8, Glory…
Come, let us all praise James with hymns of psalms:* the preacher of the mysteries of heaven and recounter of the Gospel;* for he has been shown to be a river of the noetic paradise,* watering the furrows of men’s souls with heavenly showers* and showing them to be fertile for Christ God* Who granted cleansing, enlightenment and great mercy* to all through his supplications.
Tone 2, Now…
When You came into the temple at Mid-feast, O Christ God,* You taught the people, saying:* He that believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.* And the Jews, together with the Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes,* gnashed their teeth, and said:* Who is this man that speaks blasphemies?* For they knew not that You are He who are glorified from before all ages,* together with the Father and the Spirit,* O our God, glory be to You.
Aposticha
Readings
(1) James 1:1-12; (2) James 1:13-27; (3) James 2:1-13
Aposticha
Tone 8
O blessed James who beheld God,* when you heard the voice of the Word* you straightway abandoned your love for your father, and your desire to please him;* wherefore, forsaking the tumult of life, and traversing the noetic sea,* you troubled it with your teachings of piety* and with your heavenly radiance,* O you who are blessed of God.
Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
O blessed James, who with your own eyes* beheld the Word, the Author of life,* pleasing the Father to things of come by your actions,* you have deprived of his primacy the most abominable Ishmael* who worships his belly as god,* and you have tripped him and shown him to be devoid of the Father’s protection,* having no share in His blessing and inheritance.
The heavens tell the glory of God, and the firmament declares the work of His hand.
You have now been appointed prince over all the earth, O glorious one,* as was written of you before,* for you were a disciple of Him Who created all things;* and by your steadfast zeal and invincible boldness* you endured to be put to death, O blessed one,* the first slain among the honoured company of the twelve disciple.
Tone 1, Glory…
You followed after Christ, O godly James, and despised the world,* hiding His teachings in your treasury,* and were shown to be His apostle.* Wherefore, going to the nations, with the commandments of the Saviour* you enlightened souls benighted by deception and the passions,* that they might believe in the consubstantial Trinity.
Tone 3, Now…
At Mid-feast we glorify Him who has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.* In the midst of two thieves did Life hang upon a Tree;* He was silent to the one that blasphemed,* but to the other who believed, He cried aloud saying:* Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.* Having descended into the grave, He despoiled Hades,* and arose on the third day, saving our souls.
Troparion
Tone 3
O James, worthy of all praise,* chosen apostle of Christ and only brother of the beloved theologian;* ask God to bestow on those who hymn you forgiveness of sins* and to grant our souls great mercy.
Tone 8, Glory… Now…
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!
Troparion, Tone 3: O James, worthy of all praise,* chosen apostle of Christ and only brother of the beloved theologian.* Ask God to bestow on those who hymn you forgiveness of sins* and to grant our souls great mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 2: When you heard God’s voice calling out to you,* you spurned the love of your father* and fled to Christ with your kinsman, O glorious James.* With him you were favoured to see the Lord’s divine transfiguration.
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)
Prokeimenon, Tone 8
Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Epistle
Acts 12:25-13:12; Acts 12:1-11
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)
verse: The heavens shall confess our wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the church of the saints.
Gospel
John 8:51-59; Luke 5:1-11
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.* Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth,* and their words unto the ends of the world.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia.
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.