Event Information:
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Tue20Aug2024
The Holy Prophet Samuel.
Post-feast of the Dormition.
VESPERS ON MONDAY EVENING
Kathisma Reading
The appointed psalms are chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 6
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Today the all-immaculate Theotokos who gave birth to Life,* has passed on to everlasting life,* bestowing mercy upon the faithful;* and all creation now rejoices, leaping up;* companies of angels now escort her as their Queen,* making festive hymnody in songs;* and her only Son, the King of all,* has made her to dwell with Him,* as one who has dominion over all.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Born on clouds from all the ends of the earth,* the divinely eloquent apostles arrived,* born up in Sion, to behold* the glorious and truly holy dormition of the Mother of the Lord,* and to offer her splendid words* and to perform her wondrous burial,* in that she gave birth to the Lord,* and is the refuge of all the faithful,* and their truly mighty, divine and invincible protection on earth.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Let us all radiantly celebrate* on the divine dormition of her who is more highly exalted than all created beings,* offering to her gifts of light truly divine,* and those things which are fit for her:* faith, hope and serene love,* purity, sanctity, and righteousness, wherein she delights.* May she vouchsafe us a portion with her* and count us worthy of the kingdom on high.
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.
Having received you as a worthy fruit of prayer, O Samuel,* and given you to God her Benefactor as she had promised,* she who gave birth to you* made of you a right acceptable gift with her maternal hands.* Wherefore, the grace of the Spirit rested upon you, O glorious one,* causing you to grow in guilelessness,* and adorning you with wisdom.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Invested as a priest with sacred chrism,* and shown to be a prophet,* you foresaw things which were to come,* and at the command of God anointed a king;* you foretold the future,* judging with justice the people of Israel who sinned without ceasing* and withdrew themselves from their God,* O right wondrous Samuel, all-rich God-bearer.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Having put aside the gloom and heaviness of the flesh,* you now behold Him whom you desired,* not in reflections, nor in shadows, as before, but face to face;* and going about the heavens, you rejoice, O most honoured prophet,* who are the peer of the other prophets of God,* converser with the righteous,* who share in the portion of the angels.
Tone 6, Glory… Now…
O Theotokos, Mother of Life,* the apostles, who were scattered throughout the world,* were caught up in the air by clouds and borne to your dormition;* and in a single choir they stood before your all-holy body;* and, burying it with honour, they sang,* chanting to you the cry of Gabriel:* Rejoice, you who are full of grace,* Virgin Mother unwedded,* the Lord is with you!* With them entreat your Son and our God, that our souls be saved.
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
The Lord hears me* when I cry out to Him.
verse: Whenever I called, the God of my justice heard me.
Aposticha
Tone 6
Following the words of the divine Gabriel, we cry out to you:* Rejoice, O pure one!* Therefore, O all-holy Mother of the Lord,* having passed on to Him,* be mindful of them that hymn you.
Arise, O Lord, into Your rest,* You and the ark of Your holiness.
Through the Holy Spirit, the immeasurable Wisdom of God* made of you a temple for Himself,* in manner past understanding, O Theotokos;* and now He has brought you over to the immaterial mansions of heaven,* O all-hymned one.
The Lord has sworn in truth to David,* and He will not annul it.
A servant, I now approach you, the Mother of the God of all,* praying to be delivered from all temptations.* O Theotokos, who reign with your Son,* preserve the Christian race.
Tone 6, Glory… Now…
When the repose of your all-pure body drew nigh,* the apostles, standing about your bed, looked upon you with trembling;* and they, gazing at your body, were seized with awe.* And Peter cried aloud to you, weeping:* O Virgin, I behold you clearly stretched out, the life of all,* and I am amazed, for in your body* the Delight of the life to come made His abode!* O all-pure one, earnestly entreat your Son and God,* that your flock be saved unharmed.
Troparia
Tone 2
As we celebrate the memory of Your prophet, Samuel,* O Lord, we beseech You through him: “Save our souls!”
Tone 1, Glory… Now…
In giving birth you retained your virginity,* in falling asleep you did not abandon the world, O Mother of God.* You passed into life, for you are the Mother of Life,* and by your prayers* you deliver our souls from death.
DIVINE LITURGY ON TUESDAY MORNING
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 1: In giving birth you retained your virginity,* in falling asleep you did not abandon the world, O Mother of God.* You passed into life, for you are the Mother of Life,* and by your prayers* you deliver our souls from death.
Troparion, Tone 2: As we celebrate the memory of Your prophet, Samuel,* O Lord, we beseech You through him: “Save our souls!”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 4: Enlightened by the spirit* your pure heart, having seen the distant in the present* became a vessel of brilliant prophecy;* and so we honour you, O blessed and glorious prophet, Samuel.
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2: The tomb and death could not hold the Mother of God,* unceasing in her intercession and unfailing hope of patronage,* for, as the Mother of Life, she was transferred to life* by Him Who had dwelt in her ever-virgin womb.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
verse: Because he has regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold, all generations shall call me blessed. (Luke 1:46-48)
Epistle
2 Corinthians 12:20-13:2
Alleluia, Tone 8
verse: Rise up, O Lord, to the place of Your rest, You and the ark of Your holiness.
verse: The Lord swore an oath to David, and will not go back on His word. (Psalm 131:8,11)
Gospel
Mark 4:24-34
Hymn to the Mother of God
Seeing the pure one’s falling asleep, angels marvelled in wonder how the Virgin could ascend from earth to heaven.
And the Irmos: O pure Virgin, in you are conquered the bounds of nature,* for childbirth remains virginal and death is betrothed to life.* Virgin after childbearing and alive after death, O Mother of God,* never cease to save your inheritance.
Communion Hymn
I will take the chalice of salvation;* and I will call upon the name of the Lord.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 115:13)