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Event Information:
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Sat02Nov2024
The Holy Martyrs Acindynus, Pegasius, Aphtonius, Elpidephorus, and Anempodistus.
VESPERS ON FRIDAY EVENING
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.
Let us hymn the company of the five martyrs:* The wise Acindynus* with Pegasus and Elpidephorus,* Aphtonius and Anempodistus!* They are valiant athletes and fervent protectors.* They pour forth abundant grace and unfailing hope,* granting them freely to the faithful!
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Neither hunger, nor tribulation,* neither life nor death,* nor boiling cauldrons nor the depths of the earth,* nor even the mouths of wild beasts* could separate your brave deeds of patient endurance from the love of Christ!* You continually directed your gaze towards Him:* Desiring Him alone, you vanquished the enemy!
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
As you delight in sweetness and are filled with light,* inheriting eternal life, divinely wise ones,* deliver those who pray to you and honour your place of martyrdom* from misfortunes, bondage and imprisonment!* For you have boldness before God and great mercy* as true imitators and followers of Christ!
Tone 6
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Walking in the footsteps of the sufferings of Christ,* the whole company of the martyrs mightily went forth to many struggles.* They confessed Him as God before ungodly tyrants and iniquitous kings,* and endured many tortures, in the hope of receiving heavenly honours.* These they now behold, rejoicing, and standing before the Lord* with the choirs of all the incorporeal hosts.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
О all-sacred shepherds, you were emulators of the Christ, the Chief Shepherd,* and preserved utterly unharmed the divinely chosen flock,* the divine treasures of piety,* driving away the wild wolves, and bringing them into the fold of heaven.* As you make your abode there, remember those who praise you with love,* and pray with boldness to Christ on behalf of our souls.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
О all you venerable fathers, who living in holiness, vanquished the demons;* and extinguishing the torments of conscience,* valiantly endured the burning of the passions, О blessed ones,* and you rejoice now with the heavenly hosts of incorporeal beings;* for in the flesh you emulated their life.* With them entreat Christ, the supremely good God,* that we who honour you may find deliverance from our falls.
Tone 6, Glory… Now…
Who would not call you blessed, O Virgin most holy?* Who would not sing a hymn of praise* to the glory of your giving birth without pain or travail?* The Only-begotten Son Himself,* begotten of the Father before all ages,* was made flesh out of you in a manner* that cannot be explained, O Woman most pure!* And for our sake, He who is God by nature* assumed the nature of a man.* He is not divided into two persons;* He is understood to have two natures* without commixion or confusion.* O noble and blessed Woman,* intercede with Him that He may have mercy on our souls.
Prokeimenon, Tone 7
O God, You are my defender* and Your mercy goes before me.
verse: Deliver me from my enemies, O God; save me from those who rise up against me.
Aposticha
Tone 6
Those who suffered martyrdom for You, O Christ,* endured a multitude of torments,* and they ever intercede on behalf of our souls.
Blessed are they whom You have chosen* and taken to Yourself, О Lord.
You Cross, O Lord, was an invincible weapon of the martyrs.* They saw death before them:* but, gazing upon the life that is to come,* they became strengthened with hope in You.* By their intercessions have mercy upon us.
Their souls* shall dwell amid good things.
Your command was to me my beginning and foundation.* For You willed to fashion me as a living creature* from natures visible and invisible:* You have made my body from the earth,* and given me a soul by Your divine and quickening breath.* Therefore, O Saviour, grant rest to Your servants in the land of the living,* in the tabernacles of the righteous.
Tone 2, Glory…
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord today:* The day of the commemoration of the passion-bearers!* Come, all who love the feasts of the Church!* Let us give glory, offering them mystical praise:* Rejoice, Acindynus!* Rejoice, Pegasus and Anempodistus!* Rejoice, Elpidephorus!* Rejoice, Aphtonius!* You drowned the deceits of idolatry in the depths of the sea;* you preached Christ the Lord openly in the arena!* Therefore, most blessed, greatly suffering ones,* ever intercede for our souls!
Now…
Save from misfortunes, your servants, O Virgin Theotokos,* for after God it is to you that we flee,* as to an impregnable rampart and protection.
Troparia
Tone 2
O victorious witnesses of the Lord,* blessed is the earth which has drunk your blood.* Holy are the tombs which have received your bodies.* In the furnace you conquered the foe and preached Christ.* Intercede with the gracious Lord to save our souls.
Glory… Now…
O Mother of God, the mysteries which surround you are exceedingly glorious* and beyond the power of understanding.* For you retained the seal of purity,* and your virginity remained inviolate;* yet you are acknowledged, without doubt,* to be the Mother who gave birth to the true God.* We beg you, therefore, to entreat Him to save our souls.
DIVINE LITURGY ON SATURDAY MORNING
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 2: O victorious witnesses of the Lord,* blessed is the earth which has drunk your blood.* Holy are the tombs which have received your bodies.* In the furnace you conquered the foe and preached Christ.* Intercede with the gracious Lord to save our souls.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 2: Christ’s soldiers were on earth like stars revolving around the Sun of Glory.* They dispelled the darkness of the passions* and generously poured out upon all people an abundance of grace,* granting an assurance of salvation to those who call upon them with faith.
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 always in my sight, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. (Psalm 15:3,8)
Epistle
2 Corinthians 11:1-6
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 9:1-6
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)