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.
Your face shattered, your neck wounded, healthy bones broken by staves,* your feet and head burned, cruelly pricked with goads,* your ears and lips cut away, forced to drink vinegar,* cast to the wild beasts and beheaded with the sword,* you rejoiced, O martyr Tarachus.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Beaten and pricked with goads,* your sinews severed, deprived of your sight, given to be food for the wild beasts,* exposed to the fire and beheaded by the sword, you endured, O blessed one,* adornment of the martyrs and confirmation of the Church,* O glorious athlete Probus, peer of the angels.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Burned with fire, beaten with leather scourges,* raked with claws, your sinews severed,* your theologizing tongue cut out, your teeth savagely uprooted, O Andronicus,* having wrestled with wild beasts and met your end under the sword,* you finished your contest and receive your crown.
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.
As one who sustains us with wisdom, and nurtures us with purity,* O treasury of understanding, O most renowned theologian, O divine disciple,* an enlightener of the faithful, we praise you, O blessed hierarch Cosmas,* entreating the Master through you, that we all be delivered* from corruption, misfortunes, and all harm.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
You lived your life in abstinence, keeping vigils and fasting,* in chastity and humility, O glorious one,* and were in all ways enriched by the knowledge of transitory things below* and by heavenly splendours, O blessed one;* and you have manifestly thundered forth the incomprehensible, awesome, and great mystery* of the King of all.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
You were humble-minded and meek, calm and goodly of speech,* kind and guileless, chaste and righteous, most simple and wholesome, O venerable Cosmas.* And as a hierarch revealed by God in sanctity,* you shepherded your flock, O divinely wise one,* on the verdure which grows by the waters of salvation.* Wherefore, we now call you blessed.
Tone 3, Glory… Now…
O Lady most honourable,* how could we but be rapt in wonder* at your giving birth to the Incarnate God* who, without a mother, was born of a Father before all ages?* You gave Him birth in the flesh without a father,* without a man’s instrumentality.* He is God and man whose two natures are intact,* neither one losing any of its properties.* Therefore, O Virgin Mother,* intercede with Him to save the souls* of those who believe and profess in true faith* that you are the Mother of God.
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 3
Made steadfast by faith, strengthened by hope,* and spiritually united by the love of Your Cross, О Lord,* Your martyrs put an end to the tyranny of the enemy and have received crowns;* and with the incorporeal ones they pray on behalf of our souls.
Blessed are they whom You have chosen* and have taken to Yourslelf, О Lord,
All things human, which endure not after death, are vain.* Our wealth will not remain, our glory will not go with us upon the way:* for when death comes, all these things will fade away.* Therefore let us cry to Christ the immortal King:* Grant rest to our departed brethren* and grant them to dwell with the joyous.
Their souls shall dwell* amid good things.
O race of mankind, why do you trouble yourself in vain?* The path on which you run is short.* Our life is but smoke, vapour, ashes and dust;* it appears but briefly, and then vanishes.* Therefore let us cry to Christ the immortal King:* Grant rest to our departed brethren* and grant them to dwell with the joyous.
Tone 1, Glory…
Probus, Tarachus, and the wise Andronicus, the threefold company,* equal in number to the Trinity, appearing like radiant stars from the East,* summon creation to a sacred festival;* for they gave their flesh to the wild beasts* and, having stained the ground with their blood,* join chorus with the angels in the heavens, bearing crowns,* and entreating God who loves mankind, in our behalf,* that He grant us remission of transgressions and great mercy.
Now…
Truly wondrous beyond understanding* are the mighty works of your birthgiving, O Bride of God,* of which all the prophets proclaimed,* and your conception and birth giving are most glorious, O all-hymned one,* whereby your Offspring has incomprehensibly and ineffably saved the world,* in that He is merciful.
Troparia
Tone 5
The hosts of heaven marvelled at the corrections of the holy martyrs,* how in their mortal bodies they invisibly vanquished the incorporeal foe,* contending well with the power of the Cross*. And they pray to Christ, that our souls find mercy.
Tone 8, Glory…
Instructor in orthodoxy, teacher of piety and purity, beacon to the whole world,* divinely inspired adornment of hierarchs, O Cosmas most wise,* You have enlightened all by your teachings.* Entreat Christ God that our souls be saved, O harp of the Spirit.
Now…
O gracious Lord, for the sake of mankind You were born of a virgin;* through Your death on the cross You conquered Death;* and through Your resurrection You revealed Yourself as God.* O merciful Lord, do not disdain those whom You have created with Your own hands,* but show forth Your love for mankind.* Accept the intercession which the Mother who bore You makes in our behalf.* O Saviour, save Your despairing people!
DIVINE LITURGY ON SATURDAY 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
2 Corinthians 3:12-18
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
Luke 6:1-10
Communion Hymn
Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)