16^th Sunday After Pentecost / Great Martyr Nikitas / Sunday of the Exaltation

Beatitude Verses: Octoechos: 4; Cross: 4, from Ode 1; Great Martyr: 4, from Ode 6

1. The fruit which slew me was beautiful and good to eat; but Christ is the Tree of life,

and eating of Him I do not die, but cry out with the thief: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy

kingdom!

2. O Compassionate One, Who wast lifted up upon the Cross, Thou hast erased the

record of Adam’s ancient sin, and hast saved the whole human race from deception.

Wherefore, we hymn Thee, O Lord and Benefactor.

3. Thou didst nail our sins to the Cross, O compassionate Christ, and by Thy death Thou

didst slay death, O Thou who didst raise up the dead from among the dead. Wherefore,

we worship Thy holy resurrection.

4. The serpent once poured its venom into the ears of Eve; but on the tree of the Cross,

Christ poured forth the sweetness of life upon the world. Wherefore, we cry out:

Remember us, O Lord, in Thy kingdom!

5. Inscribing the invincible weapon of the Cross upon the waters, Moses marked a

straight line before him with his staff and divided the Red Sea, opening a path for Israel

who went over dry-shod. Then he marked a second line across the waters and united

them in one, overwhelming the chariots of Pharaoh. Therefore let us sing to Christ our

God, for He hath been glorified.

6. Of old, Moses, standing between the priests, prefigured in himself the image of

Christ’s most pure sufferings; for, forming a cross with his outstretched arms, he raised

up victory, vanquishing the might of the tyrant Amalek. Wherefore, let us hymn Christ

our God, for He hath been glorified.

7. Upon a pole did Moses set the cure of the deadly and venomous sting of the serpents,

and the deliverance therefrom; for to the tree, in the image of the Cross, he bound a

serpent which crawleth upon the ground, triumphing over the sinister bane therein.

Wherefore, let us hymn Christ God, for He hath been glorified.

8. The sky showed forth the victory of the Cross to the divinely wise Emperor

Constantine, the pious ruler; and therein the audacity of the hostile foe was cast down,

delusion was destroyed and the divine Faith spread to the ends of the earth. Wherefore

let us hymn Christ our God, for He hath been glorified.

9 & 10. Desiring the beauties of the Creator, O glorious one, and receiving illumination

therefrom, thou didst take wing, O martyr, and, scoring death, didst draw nigh unto Him.

11. O martyr Nikitas, preferring with chaste thought those things which are inexhaustible

to receiving transitory things, with gladness thou didst submit thy body to tortures.

12. O Mother of God, finding thee alone to be an apple amid a grove, a lily most pure

and a lily of the valley, the noetic Bridegroom dwelt within thee.

Troparia & Kontakia

Tone 7: Thou didst destroy death by Thy Cross, /

Thou didst open paradise to the thief. /

Thou didst change the lamentation of the Myrrh-bearers, /

and Thou didst command Thine Apostles to proclaim /

that Thou didst arise, O Christ God, //

and grantest to the world great mercy.

Tone 1: O Lord, save Thy people /

and bless Thine inheritance. /

Grant Thou victory unto Orthodox Christians /

over their enemies, /

and by the power of Thy Cross //

do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.

[Troparion of the Temple]

Tone 4: Taking up the Cross of Christ ardently, as it were a sword, /

thou didst make haste to do battle with the enemy, /

and, having later suffered by fire for Christ, /

thou didst commit thy sacred soul to the Lord, /

and hence thou hast been vouchsafed to receive from Him gifts of healing, /

O great-martyr Nikitas. //

Entreat Christ God that our souls be saved.

Tone 7: No longer will the dominion of death be able to keep men captive; /

for Christ hath descended, demolishing and destroying the powers thereof. /

Hades is bound; /

the prophets rejoice with one voice, saying: /

A Savior hath come for them that have faith. //

Come forth, ye faithful, for the Resurrection.

[Kontakion of the Temple]

Glory... Tone 2: Having cut down the dominion of deception by thy resistance, /

and received a crown of victory in thy sufferings, /

thou dost rejoice with the angels, /

O Nikitas, namesake of victory, /

unceasingly praying with them to Christ God //

in behalf of us all.

Both now… Tone 4:

O Thou Who wast lifted up willingly on the Cross, /

bestow Thy mercies upon the new community named after Thee, O Christ God; /

gladden with Thy power the Orthodox Christians, /

granting them victory over enemies; //

may they have as Thy help the weapon of peace, the invincible trophy.

The Epistle

Reader: The Prokimenon in the 7^th Tone: Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship the

footstool of His feet for it is holy.

Choir: Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet for it is holy.

Reader: The Lord is king, let the peoples rage.

Choir: Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet for it is holy.

Reader: In the same tone: The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.

Choir: The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.

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

[Gal. 2:16-20 (§203); II Cor. 6:1-10 (§181); II Tim. 2:1-10 (§292)]

Reader: Alleluia in the 1st Tone: Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast

purchased from the beginning.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: But God is our king before the ages, He hath wrought salvation in the midst of

the earth.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: In the 4^th Tone: The righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree, and like a

cedar in Lebanon shall he be multiplied.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Gospel [Mark 8:34-9:1 (§37); Matt. 25:14-30 (§105); Matt. 10:16-22 (§36)]

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

the feast, Eighth Tone:

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, / the most precious Cross of the Lord.

Irmos: O Theotokos, thou art a mystical Paradise, /

who untilled hast brought forth Christ. /

He hath planted upon the earth the life-giving Tree of the Cross: /

therefore at its exaltation on this day, //

we worship Him and thee do we magnify.

Communion Verse: Praise the Lord in the heavens, praise Him in the highest! In

everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

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