Nativity Fast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
VESPERS ON TUESDAY 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.
You were lifted up like a lamb upon the Cross,* and laid low the uprisings of the deceiver;* and when You were slaughtered You sanctified the whole earth with Your blood.* Pierced by the spear, You commanded the flaming sword to turn away from me,* that I might dwell in paradise and partake without fear of the tree of life.* Wherefore, saved by Your sufferings, I cry out, rejoicing:* Glory be to Your divine Cross, whereby we have been delivered from the ancient curse* and receive from the Tree blessing and great mercy!
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Desiring to bring an end to the pain and afflictions of all, О supremely good Lord, my Saviour,* You endured vile crucifixion;* You tasted of gall, О Innocent One, removing the bitter taste of evil;* and wounded, О Word, by the thrust of the spear,* You heal our wounds, in that You are Master.* Wherefore, we hymn Your glorious will,* and bowing down, we honour the spear, the sponge, and the reed,* whereby You have imparted to Your world peace and great mercy.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
“How did the iniquitous multitude of the Jews condemn You to be crucified on the Cross, О Jesus,* taking no pity on You, the Compassionate One?”,* exclaimed the Virgin, weeping, when she beheld lifted up upon the Cross* Him who was born from her womb without suffering;* “and what has the iniquitous council done to You, О my Child most desired, my most beloved Son?* Make haste and save those who glorify Your crucifixion with faith,* and those who magnify me, as You promised,* in that You alone are most good!”
Tone 1
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
With the dye of your precious blood* you made make for yourself a costly robe of purple,* and, having arrayed yourself therein,* you truly dwell in the kingdom on high, standing before God, the King of all.* Entreat Him that He grant to our souls peace and great mercy.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
With Sebastian there suffered Zoe, Mark and Marcellinus,* and the divinely wise Tiburtius,* enduring threefold waves of torments;* and they have now made their abode in divine peace devoid of pain,* wherein they pray that peace and great mercy be granted to our souls.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
O blessed invincible martyrs,* having forsaken earthly things,* you have hastened to the heavens,* adorned with your wounds and splendidly arrayed in your honoured sufferings.* Pray that peace and great mercy be granted to our souls.
Tone 1, Glory… Now…
In your womb you bore Christ, the Fire of divinity, O all-pure one.* Beseech Him now that He quench the easily kindled matter of my passions,* deliver me from everlasting fire,* and vouchsafe me the splendour of the righteous* when He comes to judge all things.
Prokeimenon, Tone 1
Your mercy, O Lord, shall follow me* all the days of my life.
verse: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In green pastures He gives me repose.
Aposticha
Tone 5
О Lord, of old, in the time of Moses the Prophet,* the image of Your Cross, precisely revealed, vanquished Your enemies;* and now, possessed of that same Cross, we ask Your help:* Strengthen Your Church, for the sake of Your great mercy, О Lover of mankind!
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.
Though a tree visible by nature, Your Cross, О Christ, is invested with divine power;* and tangibly revealed to the world,* it wondrously and noetically works our salvation.* Bowing down before it, we glorify You, О Saviour.* 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.
Pray for us, О holy martyrs,* that we may be delivered from our iniquities;* for to you have been given the grace* to make supplication on our behalf.
Glory… Now…
Taking upon Himself my whole form, God the Creator clad himself therein,* desiring to refashion the fallen form of Adam;* and was willingly lifted up upon the Cross as one guilty.* But now stretching forth His hands, He heals our hands,* which of old were rendered weak by stretching forth to pluck the fruit of the tree.* And the all-pure one, beholding Him, exclaimed:* What is this Your ineffable long-suffering, О my Son?* I cannot bear to see You who holds the ends of the whole earth in the palm of Your hand,* lifted up upon the Cross!
Troparia
Tone 4
O Lord our God, your holy martyrs* have deserved the crown of immortality* on account of their good fight.* Armed with your strength, they have vanquished their persecutors* and crushed Satan’s dreadful might.* Through their supplications, O Christ our God, 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 WEDNESDAY 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
James 1:1-18
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
Mark 10:11-16
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)