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Event Information:
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Thu02May2024
Our Father Among the Saints Athanasius the Great (373).
VESPERS ON WEDNESDAY 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.
O you who was vouchsafed life immortal* when you preached Christ the Life-giver, the Son and Word* who is consubstantial and equally everlasting* with the unoriginate Father who begat Him,* then you burned up the tinder of heresies with thy fiery tongue, O glorious one,* expelling Arius from the Church of Christ;* and with your divine discourses you enlightened the hearts or the pious, O wise one,* that they might worship the Trinity in one essence.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Like a divine river aflood with the waters of the Spirit* were you shown to be, O all-wondrous one,* overflowing with divine doctrines,* setting all the fullness of the Church afire,* and overwhelming the assembly of the heretics* in the depths of your divine words and the abyss of your understandings, O father.* For you, O all-wise one, divine Athanasius who are most rich,* preached Christ the Master who is consubstantial with the Father who begat Him.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
As a recounter of the mysteries of God and a divine hierarch,* you patiently endured* tribulations and persecutions,* attacks and lengthy exiles, O blessed one,* for the sake of the faith of Christ,* clearly proclaiming Christ to be consubstantial, equally everlasting,* equal in His activity and equally everlasting* with the primal and equally unoriginate Father.* Wherefore, He Himself has manifestly adorned you* with all-radiant teachings* and shown you to the whole world as all-splendid.
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 father, divinely revealed Athanasius,* you were known from your infancy to be a beacon for the Church,* shining with all-radiant visions and enriched by all manner of virtues,* burning up heresies with the spiritual fire of your discourses* and guiding all the faithful with the all-divine effulgence of the Trinity,* who is understood in one Godhead, sharing equally everlasting glory.* Entreat and ever make supplication to the Trinity,* that oneness of mind, peace, and great mercy* be given to all the world.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
O venerable father, divinely eloquent Athanasius,* having magnificently been called the namesake of immortality,* you tread the path which leads thereto;* and, manifestly enriched by the splendour of life, O divinely wise one,* and having acquired a pure mind, you were found to be a champion of the Word,* receiving your breath through the all-holy Spirit.* Illumined by Him, you vanquished your enemies;* protected by Him, you showed yourself to be implacable;* and, deified by Him, you communed with Him, O holy one.* Entreat Him, that He grant to all* oneness of mind, peace, and great mercy.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
O venerable father Athanasius, preacher of God,* having endured tribulations and frequent perils,* You have now been vouchsafed the food of paradise.* Residing now within the divine mansions,* you have drawn nigh, as a victor, to the tree of life incorruptible,* adorned with a crown of righteousness* and invested with the diadem of the kingdom of the Most High, O blessed one;* and, resplendent with beauty, pray to Christ, O divinely wise one,* ask of Christ, that He grant to the Church* oneness of mind, peace, and great mercy.
Tone 6, Glory…
Let us all hymn Athanasius, the holy hierarch of Christ;* for, having set at nought all the teachings of Arius,* he manifestly proclaims throughout all the world the might of the Holy Trinity,* the one indivisible God in three Persons,* whom he entreats in behalf of us who celebrate his memory with faith.
Tone 1, Now…
At the sixth hour the Well-spring of miracles* came to the well to capture the fruit of Eve,* for Eve at this same hour departed from Paradise* through the deceit of the serpent.* The Samaritan woman, therefore, drew nigh to draw water,* and the Saviour, upon seeing her, said to her:* Give Me water to drink, and I shall fill you with living water.* And running to the city, that prudent woman at once announced to the multitudes:* Come, behold Christ the Lord, the Saviour of our souls.
Aposticha
Tone 4
You have shattered the gates of Hades, O Lord,* and by Your death You have destroyed the dominion of death;* delivering mankind from corruption,* granting the world life, incorruption,* and great mercy.
Their sound has gone forth into all the earth,* and their words into the ends of the world.
You enlightened the choir of the Apostles with the Holy Spirit, O Christ.* Through them wash away the filth of our sins, O God,* and have mercy on us.
God is wondrous* is all His saints
Since you possess boldness before the Saviour, O Saints,* intercede unceasingly on behalf of us sinners,* and ask for the remission of our sins* and great mercy for our souls.
Tone 3, Glory…
Again, the Nile flowing with gold,* the namesake of immortality, arriving for his annual commemoration,* pours forth golden torrents of immortality in goodly floods,* producing the food of immortality;* and with exalted divine sounds he teaches all to worship the indivisible might of the Trinity,* pours forth divine doctrines, gives drink to the thoughts of the faithful,* and prays for our souls.
Tone 2, Now…
When the compassionate Lord came to the well,* the Samaritan woman entreated Him, saying:* Grant me the water of faith,* and I shall receive the waters of the font of baptism unto rejoicing and redemption.* O Giver of life, Lord, glory be to You.
Troparion
Tone 4
When the disciples of the Lord learned from the angel* the glorious news of the resurrection* and cast off the ancestral condemnation,* they proudly told the apostles:* “Death has been plundered!* Christ our God is risen,* granting to the world great mercy.”
Glory... Now...
O Mother of God, the mystery hidden from all eternity* and unknown even to the angels,* was revealed through you to those on earth:* God took on our human nature* and united it to His divine nature in a perfect but unconfused union.* Then, He willingly accepted the cross for our sake* and thereby raised again the first created man,*and saved our souls from death.
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 4: When the disciples of the Lord learned from the angel* the glorious news of the resurrection* and cast off the ancestral condemnation,* they proudly told the apostles:* “Death has been plundered!* Christ our God is risen,* granting to the world great mercy.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 8: Drawn to the well by faith,* the Samaritan woman beheld You, the Water of Wisdom,* and drinking abundantly of You,* she inherited the heavenly Kingdom for ever,* becoming everlastingly glorious.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing.
verse: Clap your hands, all you nations; shout unto God with the voice of joy. (Psalm 46:7,2)
Epistle
Acts 14:20-27
Alleluia, Tone 4
verse: Poise yourself and advance in triumph and reign in the cause of truth, and meekness, and justice.
verse: You have loved justice and hated iniquity. (Psalm 44:5,8)
Gospel
John 9:39-10:9
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.