GREAT VESPERS
Kathisma
“Blessed is the man” is sung.
At Psalm 140
In Tone 6
- Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!
Placing all your hope upon God,
you accepted the covenant of the Heavenly Teacher,
Who said: “Let not your hearts be troubled!”
Thus, having lived in the faith joyfully,
and strengthening your souls through daily ministry,
you accepted the ascetic labours of martyrdom and confessing faith in Christ,
passing through much suffering and many torments.
And, as heavenly citizens from the lands of Ukraine,
you now shine forth from the many rooms of the Father’s house,
receiving the gift of efficacious boldness
to pray for our souls.
- Let Yours ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.
Placing all your hope upon God,
you accepted the covenant of the Heavenly Teacher,
Who said: «Let not your hearts be troubled!»
Thus, having lived in the faith joyfully,
and strengthening your souls through daily ministry,
you accepted the ascetic labours of martyrdom and confessing faith in Christ,
passing through much suffering and many torments.
And, as heavenly citizens from the lands of Ukraine,
you now shine forth from the many rooms of the Father’s house,
receiving the gift of efficacious boldness
to pray for our souls.
- If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
The Creator made everything for the sake of joy and love.
All creation was brought about not for death, but for His own glory.
But, for the sake of delivering all,
He endured the sufferings of the Cross,
instead of the joy that was rightfully His.
Likewise You, O Blessed Ones, imitating your Teacher,
having come to know the joy of faith,
– you also experienced suffering,
you came to know the Father – seeing the Face of the Sufferer,
Who, Himself passed through the way of sorrows,
and prepared for you a place
in the House of the Father.
- I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
The Creator made everything for the sake of joy and love.
All creation was brought about not for death, but for His own glory.
But, for the sake of delivering all,
He endured the sufferings of the Cross,
instead of the joy that was rightfully His.
Likewise You, O Blessed Ones, imitating your Teacher,
having come to know the joy of faith,
– you also experienced suffering,
you came to know the Father – seeing the Face of the Sufferer,
Who, Himself passed through the way of sorrows,
and prepared for you a place
in the House of the Father.
- From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Because of your unwavering faith,
all were in awe of you, O holy ones:
as the fierce persecutor was bringing the visible Church down to ruin,
you were built up in strength on account of your faithfulness to the Invisible One;
around you was the destruction of life and human dignity
and yet, it was humility and Life Indestructible, Whom you made manifest to the world;
in the face of an endless cycle of death and hatred,
you preached the Truth, even to those who persecuted you;
and, prayed for those who tormented you,
as did the One, Who strengthened you in the midst of your torments
and gave you the grace to intercede
for our souls.
- For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Because of your unwavering faith,
all were in awe of you, O holy ones:
as the fierce persecutor was bringing the visible Church down to ruin,
you were built up in strength on account of your faithfulness to the Invisible One;
around you was the destruction of life and human dignity
and yet, it was humility and Life Indestructible, Whom you made manifest to the world;
in the face of an endless cycle of death and hatred,
you preached the Truth, even to those who persecuted you;
and, prayed for those who tormented you,
as did the One, Who strengthened you in the midst of your torments
and gave you the grace to intercede
for our souls.
- Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Although the image of the visible Church was destroyed,
and though many souls were terrified by the enemy
– yet you did not give in to despair
nor did you abandon your ministry,
which our Lord willed for His friends;
since, you believed, that in the image of His death and resurrection
after the time of night – there would radiate the dawn of regeneration
and a time of reconstruction would commence,
when others would inherit the fruit of your sufferings and torments.
For, you longed to fulfil the commands of the Master
and testified that the impossible can be achieved,
by those who are filled with the love of God.
- Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
Although the image of the visible Church was destroyed,
and though many souls were terrified by the enemy
– yet you did not give in to despair
nor did you abandon your ministry,
which our Lord willed for His friends;
since, you believed, that in the image of His death and resurrection
after the time of night – there would radiate the dawn of regeneration
and a time of reconstruction would commence,
when others would inherit the fruit of your sufferings and torments.
For, you longed to fulfil the commands of the Master
and testified that the impossible can be achieved,
by those who are filled with the love of God.
In Tone 6, Glory…
The fierce and inhuman enemy
cunningly devised to destroy the Church which was not under his authority through a false reunion
with the Church which he had already profaned and enslaved.
And so with honours, benefits and temporal abundance
did he entice arch-pastors, priests and the faithful,
threatening with dire penalties and even death, those who would refuse him.
But the hierarchs proved their steadfastness
and spoke thus to their tormenters:
“We glorify God in truth and it is in righteousness that we teach the word of His truth.
We will not betray the Church by worshiping tyranny,
nor will we renounce our Chief-Apostolic Unity:
we suffer for it
and in so doing, we remain faithful!”
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 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.
Readings
Isaiah 43:9b-14a; Wisdom 3:1-9; Wisdom 5:15-23; 6:1-3b
Lytia
In Tone 1
“I will not leave you orphans”, said the Lord to his friends before His Passion.
Upon you was this word fulfilled,
O all-blessed martyrs of the land of Rus’-Ukraine!
Having known the sweetness of the Church
you experienced the bitterness of persecution;
having lived in the beauty and splendor of worshiping in a temple
you became naked, orphaned, and bereft of glory.
But the Lord did not leave you, O wise martyrs;
for, the Man of Sorrows, who endured abuse, bequeathed the saying: «I will come to you»,*
and you saw the One, Whom the world was unable to see.
You reached the heights of ecclesiastical and public life, O hierarchs,
and in but one moment you fell into the darkness of imprisonment.
Yesterday, you were surrounded by numerous clergy and a great gathering of people
today you are in the company of despairing and frightened prisoners.
Once, you were clothed in vestments of grace
today, stripped of all rights, you wear the garments of poverty.
But your light did not set in the darkness;
for, it is in your humiliation that the priceless worth of the treasure of Christ’s virtues was revealed.
At no time did you abandon your ministry:
neither in your becoming great, nor in your self-emptying.
O faithful and unbroken pastors,
pray for our souls.
In Tone 2
As the Lord is living,
so are you alive in His tents above the heavens,
in ineffable closeness to Him,
in the joy of contemplating His Face.
As you did not spare your earthly and temporal lives,
so now you reside in the fullness of life,
and pray that your co-citizens on earth may inherit the Light of Heaven.
In Tone 4
O Confessors of Faith in Christ, you did not abandon your ministry!
You neglected neither love for one’s neighbor nor the Church’s Rule of Prayer:
underground and in the forests, in faraway houses and in small city rooms
the Sacrifice of the Eucharist was offered by you.
О great wonder! In taking away the church buildings the enemy did not destroy the Church;
although some were slain – others were revealed as Confessors of Faith.
For the Church is alive not in church buildings alone,
since the Spirit and Truth build everywhere a temple for themselves!
Behold how the inconspicuous home of a fireman or laborer
becomes an effulgent and magnificent temple and Heaven on earth;
the man, unsightly and worn out
the priest, worthy and majestic!
The gates of Hades cannot overcome the Church
the harvest of her passion brings but greater fruit.
In Tone 5, Glory…
They did sing, to the God in the highest,
did the blessed martyrs sing!
And in prisons, dungeons and while in exile
they glorified His Name.
Becoming perfected in lives cut short,
they fulfilled longevity,
since they endured in the truth, even in the midst of evil.
And now by their prayers these holy ones obtain
for their countrymen, grace and mercy, and the care of God.
Now…
Let us sing!
To the Mother of our God, let us sing, O faithful,
and let us glorify with the liturgy of routine daily living
that Life, Whom she bore for us!
Let us nurture, as did she, the perfection of a simple heart,
that we may fulfill the first and most important commandment:
that we love God and our neighbor without guile.
Through the prayers of the Theotokos upon the children of her Son
there descends grace and mercy and the care of God.
Aposticha
In Tone 2
The Son of God, together with His Father, came and made His dwelling,
in you, who were cast out into exile,
bereft of dwellings, and thrown into prisons.
The tormenter imprisoned the shepherds, devising thereby to scatter the fold,
but the incarcerated fearlessly called out:
“You will not pull the root of the Church from our lands,
for her root is in the Heavens!”
The just cried out and the Lord heard them,* and delivered them out of all their afflictions. (Ps. 33[34]:18)
Living in the temporal, by the power of the One-Beyond-Time
and in the ordinary, by the feast of ceaseless Praise of God,
you were not afraid, when you lost everything,
and you were not tempted by the apparently good things with which the tyrant enticed you,
and thus you were able to cry out to the crucifiers:
“You will not pull the root of the Church from our lands,
for her root is in the Heavens!”
The afflictions of the just are many,* and out of them all will the Lord deliver them. (Ps. 33 [34]:20)
You lived in the peace of the Lord,
the peace, which He left for His disciples,
and so you did not receive a false peace from the world:
you did not agree to enslave the Church.
That is why your crucifiers cried out in horror:
“We will not pull the root of the Church from this land,
for her hierarchs are rooted in the Heavens!”
In Tone 4, Glory…
In recent times, the land of Rus’-Ukraine produced a multitude of martyrs
and many of their names are known to us,
and many – only to God;
we glorify all of them, known and unknown,
even when we commemorate but a small number of their community:
hierarchs, priest-martyrs, the venerable and righteous,
who did not squelch the Spirit and were well-pleasing to the Master.
Now…
A multitude of petitions do we send up before the Theotokos,
and many the human sorrows of which the Virgin is aware.
But let us look closely at her icon, known and unknown:
for, we are called to become partakers of divine nature
and together with all the saints we are to make God manifest to the entire world,
even as did she, providing a dwelling in her womb for the One, Whom nothing can contain.
Troparion
In Tone 7
Blessed Ukrainian Martyrs,* you did not break the integrity of the Body of Christ,* in giving your bodies to tribulations:* you did not give way to the flattery of the enemy nor deny the Petrine unity.* Your earthly homeland Ukraine beseeches you* together with the whole Universal Church, singing with ancient song:* Holy Martyrs, you gloriously suffered and were crowned;* So pray to the Lord to have mercy on our souls. (Thrice)
DIVINE LITURGY
Troparia
Troparion, Tone 7: Blessed Ukrainian Martyrs,* you did not break the integrity of the Body of Christ,* in giving your bodies to tribulations:* you did not give way to the flattery of the enemy nor deny the Petrine unity.* Your earthly homeland Ukraine beseeches you* together with the whole Universal Church, singing with ancient song:* Holy Martyrs, you gloriously suffered and were crowned;* So pray to the Lord to have mercy on our souls.
Glory…
Kontakion, Tone 8: Invincible martyrs crowed with victory,* we in the Church you saved* sing songs of thanksgiving to you,* written on the scrolls of our hearts.* And you whose names are written in the Book of the living God,* protect our Church with Life,* that we may cry out: Rejoice you who belong to Heaven!
Now…
Theotokion, Tone 8: Invincible Queen, in honour of victory,* we who are saved from evil, with songs of thanksgiving,* sing to you, O God-Bearer.* And whose power is unfailing,* protect us from all evils,* so that we may sing to you:* Rejoice, O Bride unwed!
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
Ephesians 6:10-17
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
Matthew 10:16-22 or Luke 21:12-19
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)