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Event Information:
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Fri03May2024
Repose of our Venerable Father Theodosius, Hegumen of the Monastery of the Caves at Kyiv and Organizer of the Cenoebitic (Common) Life in Rus’ (1074) and the Holy Martyrs Timothy and Maura (286-305).
Polyeleos Feast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
VESPERS ON THURSDAY EVENING
Paschal Beginning
Kathisma Reading
The appointed psalms are chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 5
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
O venerable father, God-bearing Theodosius!* You laboured greatly during this earthly life:* with hymns, fasting, and persistent prayer* you became a model for your disciples.* Today you celebrate with the bodiless ones the angels,* unceasingly glorifying Christ, the Word of God, the Redeemer,* Who died on the cross and delivered the human race from deceit.* Pray to Him, venerable father,* that He grant peace and great mercy to the world.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
O venerable father, God-bearing Theodosius!* You laboured greatly during this earthly life:* with hymns, fasting, and persistent prayer* you became a model for your disciples.* Today you celebrate with the bodiless ones the angels,* unceasingly glorifying Christ, the Word of God, the Redeemer,* Who died on the cross and delivered the human race from deceit.* Pray to Him, venerable father,* that He grant peace and great mercy to the world.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
O venerable father, God-bearing Theodosius!* You truly merited the divine life,* having obtained it through purity and fasting;* for while still alive you renounced everything,* and passed over to the true life.* You now are glorifying with the heavenly hosts Him,* Who mystically took flesh from the Virgin and overthrew Hades* and raised those who had fallen asleep from time beyond memory.* Intercede with Him, O venerable father,* that He may grant peace and great mercy to the world.
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, God-bearing Theodosius!* You truly merited the divine life,* having obtained it through purity and fasting;* for while still alive you renounced everything,* and passed over to the true life.* You now are glorifying with the heavenly hosts Him,* Who mystically took flesh from the Virgin and overthrew Hades* and raised those who had fallen asleep from time beyond memory.* Intercede with Him, O venerable father,* that He may grant peace and great mercy to the world.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
O venerable father, God-bearing Theodosius!* You found life because you loved purity,* and the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelled in within you,* like a most pure light shining upon you.* You now are unceasingly glorifying Christ, Who is one God in two natures,* Who suffered on the cross in the flesh,* but as God was incapable of suffering.* Pray to Him, , O venerable father,* that He may grant peace and great mercy to the world.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
O venerable father, God-bearing Theodosius!* You found life because you loved purity,* and the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelled in within you,* like a most pure light shining upon you.* You now are unceasingly glorifying Christ, Who is one God in two natures,* Who suffered on the cross in the flesh,* but as God was incapable of suffering.* Pray to Him, venerable father,* that He may grant peace and great mercy to the world.
Tone 8, Glory…
Come, let us all gather together and extol our father, Theodosius!* For already in his youth he received a calling from above,* and was given the name Theodosius which means, “God’s gift.”* To Christ-loving princes He was a teacher of the true faith,* to the nobles an unwavering intercessor,* to orphans a merciful father,* to widows an unwearied defender,* to the afflicted a consolation,* to the poor a treasure,* to the monastics a ladder leading to the heavenly heights;* and to those who directly go to him a sprig of ever-flowing water.* He prays unceasingly for the salvation of our souls.
Tone 6, Now…
By Jacob’s Well, Jesus found the Samaritan woman.* He that covers the earth with clouds asked water of her.* O wonder! He that rides on the Cherubim speaks with a harlot woman, asking for water,* He who has suspended the earth upon the waters.* He who causes springs and pools of waters to flow forth seeks water,* for He wished to draw to Himself her that was truly ensnared by the contending enemy,* and to impart the water of life to her* who was sorely inflamed with unseemly deeds,* for He alone is compassionate and the Lover of mankind.
Readings
(1) Wisdom 4:7-15; (2) Wisdom 3:1-9; (3) Wisdom 5:15-6:3
Aposticha
Tone 8
O God-wise Theodosius!* From childhood you have been drawn to God* and have completely dedicated yourself to the almighty King.* You brought to Him the fruits of your ascetical labours* crowned with the garlands of virtue.* For this, O glorious one, you have gained a reward* for your good deeds.
Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful.
You are a teacher of ascetics a most radiant star of the land of Rus’* which illuminates the whole nation with miracles.* from your youth God chose you as a pastor of spiritual sheep.* For this reason, the assembly of venerable ascetics accepted you.* We beseech you: pray with them,* that the sins of your flock may be forgiven.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who takes delight in all His commandments.
Rejoice, O ever-praised Virgin,* who by means of a pillar of fire pointed out the pasture,* where the spiritual flock was to graze.* There, Theodosius erected in your honour a beautifully adorned church* where the faithful, standing before the relics of your ambassador,* honour your falling-asleep, O most pure Mother of God.
Tone 8, Glory…
Countless monks honour you, father Theodosius, as their teacher,* following in your footsteps,* we have truly learned to live righteously.* Blessed are you who have toiled for Christ and have brought low the power of the enemy,* O friend of the angels and companion of the venerable ascetics.* pray with them to the Lord,* that He may have mercy on our souls.
Tone 6, Now…
Thus says the Lord to the woman of Samaria:* If you knew the gift of God,* and who it is that says to you: Give Me water to drink,* you would have asked Him, and He would have given to you to drink,* that you might never thirst unto eternity, says the Lord.
Troparion
Tone 8
Raised in virtue, O father Theodosius,* from childhood you loved the monastic life* and attained your desire courageously.* You lived in a cave adorning your life with fasting and radiance* and abided in prayer like the bodiless powers.* You shone like a beacon in the land of Rus’.* Entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Tone 4, Glory... Now...
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.”
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.”
Troparion, Tone 8: Raised in virtue, O father Theodosius,* from childhood you loved the monastic life* and attained your desire courageously.* You lived in a cave adorning your life with fasting and radiance* and abided in prayer like the bodiless powers.* You shone like a beacon in the land of Rus’.* Entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 3: Today we revere the star of Rus’, blessed Theodosius,* who shone from the east and came to the west;* for he enriched this whole land and all of us* with gentleness and miraculous wonders* by the practice and the grace of the monastic rule.
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)
Prokeimenon, Tone 7
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His venerable ones.
Epistle
Acts 15:5-34; Hebrews 13:7-16
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)
verse: Your priests shall clothe themselves with justice, and Your venerable ones shall rejoice.
Gospel
John 10:17-28; Matthew 11:27-30
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.* The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* 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.