Event Information:
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Thu19Dec2024
The Holy Martyr Boniface.
Nativity Fast.
VESPERS ON WEDNESDAY EVENING
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.
Traversing all the earth, you sowed divine teachings,* bearing the Word alone as a lamp and all riches, О disciples of the Lord;* and thereby you put emperors and torturers to shame,* and rent asunder the vain arguments of the philosophers and rhetors as though they were spiders’ webs,* calling all to recognize the Creator,* and abolishing the vain worship of demons.* Wherefore, I pray that, by your prayers,* you deliver me from those who are irrational.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
By your supplications to God, deliver us all from the turmoil of temptations,* the cruel deception of shameful heresies, the evil counsel of the demons,* the fire which burns in the absence of light,* the everlasting worm, the gnashing of teeth, and all other torments;* and beseech Him that, for the sake of your temperance and toils,* we may receive the reward of the virtues,* the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, and great mercy.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Clearly receiving all the effulgence,* and the reflected light of the ineffable dispensation of the Trinity,* insofar as human nature can so do,* the all-praised twelve perfectly manifested themselves, bringing with them the seventy-two,* and enlightening the ends of the world, darkened by the darkness of wicked heresy,* pray to Christ that He grant the world great mercy.
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.
You desired the goodly name given to martyrs, O much suffering passion-bearer,* and endured pangs with bold resolve, O most blessed one,* expecting to be translated to the rest which is devoid of pain,* and seeking to receive heavenly honours,* a dwelling-place in paradise,* never-waning light and everlasting life.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
You endured the most savage of pangs:* the tearing away of your finger-nails, cruel piercing,* molten lead and the severing of thy head,* and joined the choir of athletes, rejoicing, O much suffering one.* We celebrate your annual memorial, O athlete Boniface,* converser with the angels.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Sending you, her manservant, before her, O Boniface,* Aglais acquired a divine master who tamed the passions,* attained mastery over tyrants, cast down the enemy,* and was arrayed in a crown of victory.* Having constructed for you a holy temple all-adorned,* she enshrined you therein, praising you in sanctity.
Tone 4, Glory… Now…
I lie upon the bed of despondency, O most immaculate one,* and pass my life in slothfulness,* and I fear the time of my end, O Theotokos.* Let not the most evil serpent rend my lowly soul asunder without pity, like a lion.* Going before me in your goodness,* before my end raise me up to repentance.
Prokeimenon, Tone 5
O Lord, save me by Your name,* and in Your power be a judge for me.
verse: O God, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth.
Aposticha
Tone 5
As eyewitnesses to the mysteries of the Saviour, О disciples,* you preached the Invisible One who has no beginning, saying:* In the beginning was the Word.* You were not created before the angels, nor were you taught of men,* but by the wisdom of the Most High.* Wherefore, as you have boldness, pray on behalf of our souls.
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.
Together let us praise the apostles of the Lord with hymns,* for, having arrayed themselves in the armour of the Cross,* they abolished the delusion of the demons* and were revealed to be crowned victors.* By the supplications of them and all the saints, О God, have mercy on us.
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.
Your souls filled with insatiable love, О holy martyrs,*you did not deny Christ;* and enduring the diverse wounds of sufferings,* you cast down the audacity of the tormentors;* and having preserved the Faith intact and unharmed,* you were translated to the heavens.* Wherefore, as you have boldness before Him, ask that He grant us great mercy.
Glory… Now…
We bless you, O Virgin Theotokos,* and we, the faithful, glorify you as is meet, O unassailable city,* impregnable rampart, and steadfast intercession and refuge of our souls.
Troparia
Tone 4
O Lord our God, your holy martyr Boniface* has deserved the crown of immortality* on account of his good fight.* Armed with your strength, he has vanquished his persecutors* and crushed Satan’s dreadful might.* Through his supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Glory… Now…
O Virgin Mother of God,* we acknowledge that the Word of the Father, Christ our God,* was incarnate of you, the only pure one and the only blessed one.* Therefore, we sing to you a hymn of praise and we exalt you.
DIVINE LITURGY ON THURSDAY MORNING
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 4: Your martyr, Boniface, O Lord,* by his passion acquired the crown of incorruptibility from You, our God.* For possessing Your power he overcame the torturers* and shattered the feeble insolence of demons.* By his supplications, 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: As a bright and unerring star you appeared to the world* proclaiming with your rays the Sun, that is, Christ, O martyr, Boniface,* and you have extinguished all error.* But to us you give light, praying without ceasing for all of us.
Prokeimenon, Tone 7
The just man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.
verse: Hear, O God, my voice, when I make my petition to You. (Psalm 63:11,2)
Epistle
James 1:19-27
Alleluia, Tone 4
verse: The just man shall flourish like the palm tree; and he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon.
verse: They who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish the courts of our God. (Psalm 91:13,14)
Gospel
Mark 10:17-27
Communion Hymn
The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)