GREAT VESPERS
Kathisma Reading
“Blessed is the man” is taken.
At Psalm 140
In Tone 5
Today is the radiant and beautiful day
which marks the middle of the Savior’s feast of Resurrection!
The feast which fills the world with grace has now reached high noon!
The miracle of Christ’s rising shines on us,
revealing to us the first-fruits of incorruption,
sealed by His Ascension on high,
and manifesting the gracious coming of the Spirit:
The most joyful celebration of Pentecost!
All this grants our souls peace and great mercy!
As a river of divine glory
the Lord cries to all in the midst of the feast:
Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink his fill!
He is the Fount of compassion, the Well of mercy,
pouring out forgiveness on the world,
washing away transgressions and cleansing impurities!
He saves those who celebrate His Resurrection,
He covers with love those who honor His Ascension in glory,
and He grants to our souls peace and great mercy!
Who is this standing in the middle of the Temple?
Our Lord and God, Whom the heavens cannot contain!
He is God by nature, yet for us He humbled himself
to be seen contained in mortal flesh.
The Word of life gushes forth from Him to all:
Cleanse your hearts! Quench the flames of passion!
Do not refuse the Water of life, children of mankind!
I offer you divine grace, the Kingdom of immortality!
Abide in Me, your Creator, and be glorified!
In Tone 4
You drew men up from the depths of vanity
with a fisher’s rod of grace.
You obeyed the commands of the Teacher, worthy James,
Who enlightened all your thoughts
and revealed you as an apostle and holy preacher,
expounding His incomprehensible divinity, most blessed one.
The illumination of the Spirit descended on you in the form of fire
and made you a divine vessel, blessed one,
dispelling with power the darkness of godlessness;
enlightening the world with the brightness of your all wise words.
Preacher of mysteries,
leader of the apostles,
James, the eye-witness of Christ.
You illumined those lying in the darkness of ignorance
with the lightning flash of your preaching, glorious James!
You revealed them to be sons through faith of the Master and God
Whose passion and death you imitated with zeal.
You became an heir of the glory, wise one,
as one speaking from God and a most faithful disciple.
In Tone 8, Glory…
Come, let us praise James with hymns of psalms:
The preacher of heavenly mysteries and expounder of the Gospel;
for he was revealed as a river of the mystical paradise,
watering spiritual furrows with heavenly streams,
revealing them to bear fruit to Christ God,
Who, by his prayers, grants cleansing, enlightenment and great mercy!
Now…
In the middle of the feast,
before Your passion and glorious Resurrection,
You taught the unbelieving Jews in the Temple, gracious Lord,
You cried out to the scribes and Pharisees:
Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink!
From the heart of him who believes in Me,
rivers of living water—the Spirit of God—shall flow!
Your wisdom and understanding are far beyond our words!
Glory to You, our God, for You perfect all things!
Readings
(1) James l:l-12; (2) James 1: 13-27; (3) James 2: 1-13
Aposticha
In Tone 8
Blessed, God-seer James,
after you listened to the voice of the Word,
you paid no heed to the service and customs of your father,
for you left behind the life of earthly cares
and passed over the spiritual sea!
You stirred its depths with the precepts of godliness
and with your heavenly thunder,
Apostle most blessed of God!
Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the universe!
All-blessed James, by your deeds you served the Word,
the Cause of life and of the future age.
Truly you deprived Israel of its first born privilege
when it forsook the worship of the true God,
while recalling it to sonship as the new Israel!
The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims His handiwork!
You are now appointed a prince over all the earth,
as it is written of you, glorious one,
since you became a disciple of the Creator of all.
in fervent zeal, you suffered murder by the transgressor’s sword,
taking you from the revered company of the twelve apostles.
In Tone 1, Glory…
You followed after Christ and despised the world,
hiding His teachings in your treasury, godly James.
You were revealed to be His apostle.
Therefore, going to the nations with the commandments of the Savior,
you enlightened the souls in the darkness of delusion and passion,
that they might believe in the consubstantial Trinity!
In Tone 6, Now…
We have assembled, O Christ,
to praise the miracle of Your mysteries:
the mid-feast of Your Resurrection and the coming of Your Holy Spirit.
Send down on us great mercy!
Troparia
In Tone 8
At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
In Tone 3, Glory… Now…
O James, worthy of all praise,* chosen apostle of Christ and only brother of the beloved theologian.* Ask God to bestow on those who hymn you forgiveness of sins* and to grant our souls great mercy.
DIVINE LITURGY
After the priest has exclaimed, Blessed be the Kingdom… and the people have responded, Amen, the clergy sing the Paschal Troparion once and the people repeat it. Then, the clergy sing the first half, and the people conclude it.
Paschal Troparion
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 8: At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
Troparion, Tone 3: O James, worthy of all praise,* chosen apostle of Christ and only brother of the beloved theologian.* Ask God to bestow on those who hymn you forgiveness of sins* and to grant our souls great mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Kontakion, Tone 2: When you heard God’s voice calling out to you,* you spurned the love of your father* and fled to Christ with your kinsman, O glorious James.* With him you were favoured to see the Lord’s divine transfiguration.
Now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: At the mid-point of the Feast according to the Law,* Maker of all things and Master,* You said to those present, O Christ God:* Come, and draw the water of immortality.* And so we fall before You crying out with faith: Grant us Your mercies , for You are the source of our life.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
Great is our Lord, and great is His strength;* and of His knowledge there is no end.
verse: Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; may praise be sweet to Him. (Psalm 146:5,1)
Prokeimenon, Tone 8
Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth, and their word unto the ends of the world. (Psalm 18:5)
Epistle
Acts 12:12-17; Acts 12:1-11
Alleluia, Tone 1
verse: Remember Your congregation which You acquired from the beginning. (Psalm 73:2)
verse: But God is our king before the ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 73:12)
verse: The heavens shall confess our wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the church of the saints. (Psalm 88:6)
verse: God is glorified in the assembly of the saints. (Psalm 88:8)
Gospel
John 8:42-51; Luke 5:1-11
Hymn to the Mother of God
Virginity is alien to mothers and child-bearing is foreign to virgins; yet in you, O Mother of God, both of them came together. Therefore, we and all the nations of the earth without ceasing magnify you.
Communion Hymn
Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood* abide in Me and I in them, says the Lord. (John 6:56)* Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth,* and their word unto the ends of the world.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 18:5)