Variable
Portions of the Vesperal Liturgy for Annunciation
2020
At
Lord I have Cried…11 Verses are sung:
Bring my soul out of prison * that I
may confess Thy name.
Tone
1: Thou wast clothed, O my soul, /
in the
divinely-woven purple of self-mastery /
and
in the fine linen of incorruption, /
but
thou hast insulted thine own dignity. /
Thou
hast made sin thy wealth and thy delight, /
and
looked with scorn upon thy fellow men, /
like
the rich man who despised Lazarus in his poverty. /
Lest
thou share the rich man’s punishment, /
become
poor in spirit and cry to the Lord /
who
for thy sake became poor: /
Before
Thy Crucifixion Thou hast worn the purple of mockery, /
and
for my sake was nailed to the Cross: /
deliver
me from eternal shame, O Christ, //
and
clothe me in the raiment of Thy kingdom.
The righteous shall wait patiently for
me * until Thou shalt reward me.
Repeat: “Thou wast clothed, O my
soul…”
Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O
Lord; * O Lord, hear my voice.
Tone
2: Ruled by
many passions, /
weakened
by all the assaults of the evil one, /
my
heart lies shamefully in the tomb of slothfulness, /
and
it is crushed by lack of feeling as by a stone.
/
O
Savior, who by the Wood of Thy life-giving Cross /
hast
brought life to all in hell, /
awaken
me and give me life, //
that
in fear I may glorify Thy divinity.
Let Thine ears be attentive * to the voice
of my supplication.
At
the prompting of the evil one /
I
have always loved the riches of corrupting pleasure, /
and
without conscience I have delighted in vanity.
/
I
have neglected my mind when it groaned like another Lazarus /
and
hungered for God’s food. /
O
Word, deliver me in Thy tender mercy /
from
the flames to come, that I may glorify //
Thy
love for mankind.
If Thou shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, O
Lord, who shall stand? * For with Thee
there is forgiveness.
Tone
3: Today
Lazarus has died and
but
Thou, our Savior, shalt awake him from the dead. /
Through
the raising of Thy friend, Thou hast given us /
in
advance an assurance of Thine own dread Resurrection, /
of
hell’s death and Adam’s restoration to life: //
and
we therefore sing Thy praises.
For Thy name’s sake have I patiently waited
for Thee, O Lord; my soul hath patiently waited for Thy word, * my soul hath
hoped in the Lord.
Tone
4: During the sixth month /
the
archangel was sent to the pure Virgin, /
and
having pronounced a salutation to her, /
he
announced that the Deliverer would come forth from her. /
Wherefore,
having accepted the salutation, /
she
conceived Thee, the preeternal God, /
Who
wast well pleased to become ineffably incarnate //
for
the salvation of our souls.
From the morning watch until night, from the
morning watch * let
The
Theotokos heard a tongue which she knew not, /
for
the archangel spake to her words of annunciation. /
And
accepting his salutation with faith, /
she
conceived Thee, the preeternal God. /
Wherefore,
rejoicing, we cry out to Thee: /
O
God Who wast immutably incarnate of her, //
grant
peace to the world and great mercy to our souls!
For with the Lord there is mercy, and
with Him is plenteous redemption; * and He shall redeem
Behold,
our restoration hath now been revealed to us! /
God
uniteth Himself to men in manner past recounting! /
Falsehood
is dispelled by the voice of the archangel! /
For
the Virgin receiveth joy, /
an
earthly woman hath become heaven! /
The
world is released from the primal curse! /
Let
creation rejoice and chant aloud: //
O Lord,
our Creator and Deliverer, glory be to Thee!
O praise the Lord, all ye nations; *
praise Him, all ye peoples.
Tone
1 [Special Melody: “O most lauded
martyrs…”]:
The great Gabriel, the most godly, radiant and
salvific intelligence, /
who with the ranks on high beholdeth the light of
the threefold Sun /
and chanteth divine and awesome hymnody, /
prayeth that He grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
For
He hath made His mercy to prevail over us, * and the truth of the Lord abideth
forever.
The great mystery unknown before to the angels /
and kept secret from before time began /
was entrusted to thee alone, O Gabriel; /
and thou didst declare it to her who alone is pure,
/
having arrived in
With her do thou pray, /
that God grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
Who maketh his angels spirits, * and his
ministers a flame of fire.
Ever full of light, doing the will of the Almighty /
and carrying out His commands, /
O chief among the angels, most excellent Gabriel, /
save those who honor thee with love, /
ever asking, that God grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
Glory… Both
now… Tone 6:
The
Archangel Gabriel was sent from heaven /
to announce
the conception to the Virgin. /
And,
arriving in
he
pondered within himself, marveling at the wonder: /
How
is it that He Who in the highest is unapproachable /
is
born of the Virgin; /
that
He Who hath heaven for His throne and the earth for His footstool /
is
contained within the Virgin’s womb; /
that
He upon Whom the six-winged and many eyed beings cannot gaze /
hath
been well pleased to become incarnate of her by His word alone? /
This
is God’s word. /
Why,
therefore, do I stand and not say to the Virgin: /
The
Lord is with thee! /
Rejoice,
O pure Virgin! /
Rejoice,
O unwedded Bride! /
Rejoice,
O Mother of Life! //
Blessed
is the Fruit of thy womb!'?"
Entry
with the Gospel.
O
Gladsome Light…
Prokimena and two readings from the Lenten Lectionary, and then 2 for the feast: (1) Exod 3:1-8 and (2) Prov 8:22-30.
The First Prokimenon:
Tone 4: The fear of the Lord * is the beginning of wisdom.
Stichos: I will confess Thee, O Lord, with my whole
heart.
The First Old
Testament
Genesis 31:3-16:
The Lord said to Jacob,
“Return to the land of thy father, and to thy family, and I will be with thee.”
And Jacob sent and called Leah and Rachel to the plain where the flocks
were. And he said to them, “I see the
countenance of your father, that it is not favorable toward me as before, but
the God of my father was with me. And
you too know that with all my might I have served your father. But your father deceived me, and changed my
wages for the ten lambs, yet God did not give him the power to hurt me. If he should say thus, ‘The speckled shall be
your reward,’ then all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say,
‘The white shall be your reward,’ then would all the cattle bear white. So God has taken away all the cattle of your
father, and given them to me. And it
came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young, that I beheld with
my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats and the rams leaping on
the sheep and the female goats, speckled and streaked and spotted with
ash-colored spots. And the Angel of God
said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘What is it’? And He said, ‘Look up with thine eyes, and
behold the male goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the female goats,
speckled and streaked and spotted with ash-colored spots; for I have seen all
things that Laban does to thee. I am God
that appeared to thee in the place of God where thou anointed a pillar to Me,
and vowed to Me there a vow; now then arise and depart out of this land, depart
into the land of thy nativity, and I will be with thee.’” And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him,
“Have we yet a part or inheritance in the house of our father? Are we not considered strangers by him? For
he has sold us, and quite devoured our money.
All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it
shall be ours, and our children’s; now then do whatever God has said to thee.”
The Second Prokimenon:
Tone 4: He is merciful * and compassionate and righteous.
Stichos: Blessed is the
man that feareth the Lord.
The Second Old
Testament
Proverbs 21:3 - 21
To do justly and to speak
truth are more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices. A high-minded man is bold-hearted in his
pride, and the lamp of the ungodly is sin.
He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity on the
snares of death. Destruction shall lodge
with the ungodly, for they refuse to do justly.
To the crooked, God sends crooked ways, but as for the pure, his work is
right. It is better to dwell in a corner
on the housetop, than in plastered rooms with unrighteousness, and in an open
house. The soul of the ungodly shall not
be pitied by any man. When an
intemperate man is punished the simple becomes wiser, and a wise man will gain
knowledge. A righteous man understands
the hearts of the ungodly, and despises the ungodly for their wickedness. He that stops his ears from hearing the poor,
himself also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him. A secret gift calms anger, but he that
forbears to give stirs up strong wrath.
It is the joy of the righteous to execute judgment, but a holy man is
abominable with evildoers. A man that
wanders from the path of righteousness shall rest in the congregation of
giants. A poor man loves pleasure, and
desires wine and oil in abundance; and a transgressor is the abomination of a
righteous man. It is better to dwell in
a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman. A
desirable treasure will rest on the mouth of the wise, but foolish men will
swallow it up. The way of righteousness
and mercy will find life and glory.
And the 2
Reader:
The Prokimenon in the 4th Tone: Proclaim
from day to day the good tidings of the salvation of our God.
Choir: Proclaim from day to day the good tidings of the
salvation of our God.
Reader: O sing unto the Lord a
new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.
Choir: Proclaim from day to day the good tidings of
the salvation of our God.
Reader: Proclaim from day to day
Choir: the good tidings of the
salvation of our God.
Reader: The
Reader: Alleluia in the 1st Tone.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Reader: He shall come down like rain upon a fleece,
and like raindrops that fall upon the earth.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Reader: His name shall be blessed unto the ages,
before the sun doth his name continue.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Gospel [Luke 1:24-38]
Instead of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of
the 9th Ode of the Canon of the feast, Fourth Tone:
Refrain: Proclaim, O earth, good tidings of great joy; ye
heavens, praise the glory of God.
Irmos: Let
no profane hand touch the living Ark of God, / but let the lips of the
faithful, / chanting unceasingly the words of the angel to the Theotokos, /
with joy cry out: // Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with
thee.
But according to
other texts (such as the Festal Menaion), after the above refrain, we chant
instead (also in the fourth tone):
Let
every mortal born on earth, / radiant with light, in spirit leap for joy; / and
let the host of the angelic powers / celebrate and honor the holy feast of the
Mother of God, / and let them cry: // Rejoice!
Pure and blessed Ever-Virgin, who gavest birth to God.
Communion
Verse:
The
Lord hath elected