Sunday of the Prodigal Son / The Meeting of the Lord /`Tone 2 

Beatitudes Verses: 4 from the Octoechos, 4 from Ode III Triodion; 4 from Ode VI of the Feast

 

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 & 6.  Utterly beside myself, I have clung in madness to the sins suggested to me by the

passions.  But accept me, O Christ, as the Prodigal.

 

7. With the words of the Prodigal I cry aloud: I have sinned, O Father; like him, receive

me now in Thine embrace and reject me not.

 

8. Open Thine arms, O Christ, and in loving-kindness receive me as I return from a far

country of sin and passions.

 

9. The Elder, having seen with his eyes the salvation that was to come to the peoples,

cried aloud unto Thee: ‘O Christ that comest from God, Thou art my God.’

 

10. In Zion wast Thou set as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for the

disobedient, and the inviolate salvation of the faithful.

 

11.  Manifestly bearing the lineaments of Him Who begot Thee before the ages, Thou

hast now been clothed in the weakness of mortals in Thy lovingkindness.

 

12.  Now Thou lettest depart in peace him who worshipped Thee as the Son of the Most

High, the Son of the Virgin, God become a Child.

 

The entry verse:

 

The Lord hath made known His salvation, in the sight of the nations hath He revealed His

righteousness.

 

Troparia & 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.

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:  [1st Corinthians 6:12-20 & Hebrews 7:7-17]

 

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 & Luke 2:22-40b]

 

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 in 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!