The Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos
Beatitudes on 8: Feast: 4, from the First Canon of Ode 3; Feast: 4, from Second Canon of Ode 6.

 

1.  To the Son who was begotten of the Father without change before all ages, and in the

last times was without seed made flesh of the Virgin, to Christ our God let us cry aloud:

Thou hast raised up our horn, holy art Thou, O Lord.

 

2.  Adam who, though fashioned of dust, partook of higher inspiration, yet was led to

stumble into corruption through a woman’s deceit, seeing Christ born of a woman, crieth

out: O Lord Who for my sake hast become like me, holy art Thou!

 

3.  O Lord Christ, Who, mingling with clay, madest Thyself conformable thereto,

imparting Thy divine essence by participating in vile flesh, becoming earthly, yet

remaining God, and Who hast lifted up our horn: holy art Thou!

 

4.  O Bethlehem, thou king of the princes of Judah, be glad!  For Christ Who shepherdeth

Israel, seated on the shoulders of the cherubim, hath manifestly come forth from thee,

and, having lifted up our horn, hath established His reign over all.

 

5 & 6.  Enclosed in the uttermost depths of the sea, Jonah entreated Thee to come and

still the storm.  And I, O Christ, pricked by the dart of the tyrant, call upon Thee, the

Slayer of evil, beseeching Thee to come quickly and deliver me from my slothfulness.

 

7.  God the Word, Who from the beginning was with God, intending to preserve the

nature which He Himself shareth with us, now strengtheneth it, which from of old was

weak, by another fellowship with it, straightway showing it to be free from the passions.

 

8.  He Who dwelleth in light, and, contrary to His dignity, hath now been well pleased to

dwell in a manger, cometh forth for our sake from the loins of Abraham for us who have

benightedly fallen into the darkness of transgressions, that, for the salvation of men, He

might raise up His children who have fallen low.

 

At the entrance: O come let us worship and fall down before Christ. O Son of God,

who wast born of the Virgin, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

 

Troparia & Kontakia

 

Tone 4:  Thy Nativity, O Christ our God,  /

hath shined upon the world the light of knowledge; /

for thereby, they that worshipped the stars /

were taught by a star /

to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, /

and to know Thee, the Dayspring from on high. //

O Lord, glory be to Thee.

 

Glory… Both now… Tone 6: 

He that was born before the morning star /

of the Father without mother, /

is today on earth incarnate of thee without father.  /

A star calleth the glad tidings to the Magi; /

while angels and shepherds praise thy seedless childbirth, //

O thou who art full of grace..

 

The Epistle

 

Reader: The Prokimenon in the 3rd Tone:  My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit

hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Choir:  My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Reader:  For He hath looked upon the lowliness of His handmaiden; for behold, from

henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Choir:  My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Reader: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

Choir:  And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior

 

Reader: The Reading is from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews:

[Hebrews 2:11-18 (§306)]

 

Reader: Alleluia in the 8th Tone.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy holiness.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader:  The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, and He will not annul it.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

Gospel [Matthew 2:13-23 (§4)]

 

Instead of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the

Second Canon of the feast, First Tone:

               Refrain:  Magnify, O my soul, her who is more honorable and more glorious

than the hosts on high, the most pure Virgin Theotokos.

               Irmos:  Better would it be for us to keep silence in fear, for it is without peril;

and it is difficult, O Virgin, to weave complex hymns harmoniously with love.  But grant

us, O Mother, the strength to fulfill our intent.

 

Or according to the current practice of some, the following Irmos is used (with the same

refrain, and in the same tone):

 

A strange and most wonderful mystery do I see: the cave is heaven; the Virgin the throne

of the cherubim; the manger a room, in which Christ, the God whom nothing can contain,

is laid.  Him do we praise and magnify.

 

Communion Verse:

The Lord hath sent redemption unto His people.  Alleluia!   Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 

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