15th 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. Remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom, O God my Savior, and save me,
for Thou alone lovest mankind.
2. By a tree was Adam deceived; yet again by the Tree of the Cross was the thief saved,
who cried out: Remember me in Thy kingdom, O Lord!
3. O Bestower of life, Who hadst broken down the gates and portals of hades, Thou hast
saved all who cry out to Thee, O Savior: Glory to Thine arising!
4. O Thou Who by Thy burial hast made death captive, and by Thy resurrection hast
filled all with joy: remember me, in that Thou art compassionate.
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
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 6. Angelic hosts were above Thy tomb, /
and they that guarded Thee became as
dead. /
And Mary stood by the grave seeking Thine immaculate body. /
Thou didst despoil hades and wast
not tempted by it. /
Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst grant us
life. //
O Thou Who didst rise from the dead, O Lord,
glory be to Thee.
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
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 6:
Having by His life bestowing hand raised up all
the dead out of the dark abysses, /
Christ God, the Giver of life, hath bestowed the
Resurrection upon the fallen human race; /
for He is the Savior of all,
//
the Resurrection, and the
Life, and the God of all.
[Kontakion of the
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 7th 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
[Galatians 2:16-20; 2nd Corinthians 4:6-15; 2nd
Timothy 2:1-10]
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 4th Tone: The
righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree, and like a
cedar in
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Gospel [Mark 8:34-9:1; Matthew
22:35-46; Matthew 10:16-22]
Instead
of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th 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
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!