Daily texts will return after June 20, 2024!
Event Information:
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Fri27Sep2024
The Holy Martyr Callistratus and those with him; Our Venerable Father Nilus, Founder and Hegumen of the Grottaferrata Monastery.
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
VESPERS ON THURSDAY EVENING
Kathisma Reading
There are no appointed psalms to be chanted tonight.
At Psalm 140
Tone 1
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
You stretched forth Your most pure hands upon the Cross, О Christ,* summoning those who had departed far from You and settling them near Yourself;* wherefore, I pray to You: Unite me to You,* though I have been made captive by the passions,* and grant to me the repentance which washes away* all the defilement of the passions.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
You uplifted Your most pure hands upon the Tree, О Christ,* and bloodied Your fingers, desiring to deliver Adam, the work of Your divine hands,* who because of disobedience was held fast in the realm of death, О Lover of mankind;* and You raised him up by Your authority, О Almighty.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
You endured suffering for our sake, О Saviour* who are immutable by nature and dispassionate in Your divinity;* and You were crucified with thieves, О sinless and beginningless Christ.* The sun, unable to bear the audacity, dimmed its rays,* and the whole earth quaked, acknowledging You* to be the Creator of the world.
Tone 8
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
O martyred athlete Callistratus,* with your mind illumined by the light of piety,* you unwaveringly tread the path which lead to heavenly blessedness,* having vanquished all the wiles of the adversary.* Hence, we praise you, honouring your sacred memory,* O most blessed one.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
O divinely wise martyr Callistratus, enriched by the word of life,* you guided to life those who before were dead in accursedness through ignorance;* and, dying with zeal, O glorious one, for the resurrection of us all,* they are most truly believed to dwell in Christ.* With them remember us to the all-good Lord.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
O sacred martyr Gymnasius,* beheaded by the sword, you truly drowned the Pharaoh of falsehood in the torrent of your blood;* and now you pour forth healings upon all who have recourse to your temple with faith,* who praise your struggles, and celebrate your honoured memory, O blessed one.
Tone 4, Glory…
Before Your precious Cross, death was terrifying to men;* but after Your glorious Passion, man was terrifying to death.* Thus was the athlete able to abolish all the power of the enemy:* Through his supplications save our souls, O Christ.
Now…
As she beheld You, the Lamb and Shepherd, upon the Tree,* the ewe-lamb who gave You birth lamented and exclaimed to Thee maternally:* O my Son most desired,* how is it that You are suspended upon the Tree of the Cross, O Long-suffering One?* How is it that Your hands and feet, O Word, have been pierced with nails by the iniquitous,* and You have shed Your blood, O Master?
Prokeimenon, Tone 6
My help is from the Lord,* Who made heaven and earth.
verse: I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help shall come.
Aposticha
Tone1
The Cross was set up on Golgotha,* and blossomed forth immortality for us from the ever-flowing fountain* of the Saviour’s side.
I have lifted up my eyes to You enthroned in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a maid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes on the Lord our God until He has mercy on us.
The precious Cross of the Saviour is for us an indestructible rampart;* for, placing our trust in it, we all are saved.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been filled with shame; our soul is all too full of the mockery of the rich, of the contempt of the proud.
By the supplications of all the saints and the Theotokos, О Lord,* grant us peace, and have mercy upon us,* in that You alone are compassionate.
Glory… Now…
Upon beholding Your unjust slaying, O Christ,* the Virgin, cried out to You, weeping:* “O my sweetest Child! How is it that You die unjustly?* How is it that You who has suspended the whole earth upon the waters* hangs upon the Tree?* Leave me not alone who am Your Mother and handmaiden,* I pray, O greatly merciful Benefactor!”
Troparion
Tone 4
Your martyrs, O Lord, by their passion acquired the crowns of incorruptibility from You, our God.* For possessing Your power they overcame the torturers* and shattered the feeble insolence of demons.* By their supplications, save our souls.
Glory… Now…
O Virgin, all immaculate Mother of Christ God,* a sword pierced your all-holy soul* when you saw your Son and God willingly crucified.* Therefore, O blessed One,* never cease to pray to Him* that He may grant us forgiveness of our sins.
DIVINE LITURGY ON FRIDAY MORNING
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 1: Be swayed by the pains that the saints have suffered for You, O Lord,* and heal all our pains,* O Lover of mankind, for this we pray.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2: Appearing as radiant lights, O godly martyrs,* you illumine all creation with the brilliance of your miracles,* healing infirmities, always dispelling deep darkness* and praying unceasingly to Christ our God for all of us.
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
To the saints who are in His land, the Lord has made wonderful all His desires in them.
verse: I foresaw the Lord in my sight, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. (Psalm 15:3,8)
Epistle
Philippians 1:27-2:4
Alleluia, Tone 4
verse: The just cried out and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of their afflictions.
verse: The afflictions of the just are many, and out of them all will the Lord deliver them. (Psalm 33:18,20)
Gospel
Luke 6:17-23
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)