Sunday of the Prodigal Son / Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord / Tone 2
Beatitudes on 12: Octoechos 4; Triodion 4, from Ode 6;
Feast 4, from Ode 1.
1. We offer Thee the cry of the thief, and we pray: Remember us in Thy kingdom, O Savior. 2. For the forgiveness of transgressions we offer unto Thee the Cross which Thou didst accept for our sake, O Thou who lovest mankind.
3. We bow down in worship, O Master, before Thy burial and rising, whereby Thou hast delivered the world from corruption, O Thou Who lovest mankind. 4. By Thy death hath death been slain, O Lord, and by Thy resurrection hast Thou saved the world, O Savior.
5. The depth of sin ever holds me fast, and the tempest of transgressions overwhelms me.
Pilot me, O Christ my God, to the haven of life and save me, King of glory.
6. I have wasted in evil living the riches which the Father gave me, and now am brought
to poverty. I am filled with shame and enslaved to fruitless thoughts. Therefore I cry to
Thee who lovest mankind: Take pity on me and save me.
7. I am wasted with hunger, deprived of every blessing, and an exile from Thy presence,
O Christ supreme in loving-kindness. Take pity on me as I now return, and save me as I
sing the praises of Thy love for mankind.
8. O Maiden who hast conceived Christ the Savior and Master, though in my poverty I
lack all good, count me worthy of salvation, O pure Virgin, that I may sing the praises of
thy majesty.
9. The Sun once shone with its rays upon dry land in the midst of the deep. For the water
on both sides became firm as a wall while the people crossed the sea on foot, offering this
song acceptable to God: Let us sing to the Lord; for gloriously is he glorified.
10. Let the clouds pour forth rain, for Christ the Sun Who is borne aloft upon a light
cloud is brought to the temple as a babe on the arm of the unblemished one. Wherefore,
O ye faithful, let us cry aloud: Let us sing unto the Lord, for gloriously hath He been
glorified!
11. Be strong, ye hands of Symeon feeble with age; and ye weary legs of the elder, move
quickly and straight to meet Christ, joining chorus with the incorporeal ones, chanting:
Let us sing unto the Lord, for gloriously hath He been glorified!
12. O ye heavens stretched out in wisdom, be glad; and rejoice, O thou earth! For Christ
the Artificer, having come forth from the most blessed womb of His Mother, is borne by
the Virgin Mother to God the Father as a babe, He Who was before all the ages, for
gloriously hath He been glorified!
Troparia and Kontakia
Tone 2: When
Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, /
then didst Thou slay
Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. /
And when Thou didst
also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, /
all the Hosts of the
heavens cried out: //
O Life-giver, Christ
our God, glory be to Thee.
Tone 1: Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, O Virgin Theotokos, /
for from thee hath risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, /
enlightening those in darkness. /
Rejoice, thou also, O righteous Elder, /
as thou receivest in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls, //
Who also granteth unto us the Resurrection.
Glory... Tone 3: Having
foolishly abandoned Thy paternal glory, /
I squandered on vices the wealth
which Thou gavest me. /
Wherefore, I cry unto Thee with
the voice of the Prodigal: /
I have sinned before Thee, O
compassionate Father. /
Receive me as one repentant, //
and make me as one of Thy hired
servants.
Both now... Tone 1:
Thou Who didst sanctify the
Virgin’s womb by Thy birth, /
and didst bless Symeon’s hands as was meet, /
by anticipation didst even now
save us, O Christ God. /
But grant peace in the midst of
wars unto Thy commonwealth, /
and strengthen Orthodox
Christians //
whom Thou hast loved, O only
Lover of mankind.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 2nd Tone: The Lord is my strength and my song, and
He is become my
salvation.
Choir: The Lord is my strength and my song, and
He is become my salvation.
Reader: With
chastisement hath the Lord chastened me, but He hath not given me over
unto death.
Choir: The Lord is my strength and my song, and He
is become my salvation.
Reader: 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: The Reading is
from the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the
Corinthians: [1
Corinthians 6:12-20 (§135)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 2nd Tone: The Lord
hear thee in the day of affliction; the name
of the God of Jacob
defend thee.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: O Lord,
save the king, and hearken unto us in the day when we call upon Thee.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: In the 8th
Tone: Now lettest Thou
Thy servant depart in peace, O Master,
according to Thy word.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Luke 15:11-32 (§79)]
Instead of “It is truly meet…”
we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the Canon of the
feast, Third Tone:
Refrain: O Virgin Theotokos, thou hope of Christians: Do thou
protect, preserve,
and save those that hope in
thee.
Irmos: In the shadow and the letter of the Law, let us, the faithful, discern a
figure: every male child that opens the womb shall be sanctified to God. Therefore do
we magnify the firstborn Word and Son of the Father without beginning, the firstborn
Child of a Mother who hath not known a man.
Communion
Verse:
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! I will
take the
cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!