Apodosis
of the Meeting of the Lord / Forgiveness Sunday / Tone 4
Beatitudes Verses: Octoechos:
4; Triodion: 4 from Ode III; Feast: 4 from Ode IX
1. By the tree was Adam
forced to depart from paradise; but by the Tree of the Cross was
the thief made to dwell in paradise. For the one by tasting, broke the commandment
of
the creator; while the other, crucified with Him,
confessed the hidden God, crying out:
Remember me in Thy kingdom!
2. O Lord Who wast lifted up upon the Cross, Who hast destroyed the power
of death and
as God hast destroyed the record of our sins, grant also
the repentance of the thief unto us
who faithfully serve Thee and cry out to thee, O Christ
God Who alone lovest mankind:
Remember us also in Thy
kingdom!
3. On the Cross Thou didst
tear asunder with the spear the record of our sins; and,
numbered among the dead, Thou didst bind the tyrant of hades,
O Lord Who lovest
mankind, Who by Thy resurrection hast delivered all from the
bonds of hades. Thereby
have we been illumined, and we cry to Thee: Remember us
also in Thy kingdom!
4. O Thou Who alone art
immortal, Who wast crucified
and as almighty didst arise from
the tomb on the third day, and hast raised up Adam, the
first created: Vouchsafe that I
also may turn to repentance with my whole heart, and may
ever cry out to Thee with
fervent faith: Remember me, O Savior, in Thy kingdom!
5. Long ago the crafty
serpent envied my honor and whispered deceit in Eve’s ear. By her
was I led astray and banished, woe is me! from the dance of life.
6. Rashly I stretched out my
hand and tasted from the tree of knowledge, though God had
ordered me on no account to eat from it; and I was bitterly
cast out from divine glory.
7. Woe to thee, my wretched
soul! How hast thou not recognized the
craftiness of the
enemy? How hast thou
not perceived his deceit and envy? But
thou wast darkened in
mind and hast transgressed the commandment of thy Maker.
8. O holy Virgin, thou art my
hope and my protection, for thou alone hast covered fallen
Adam’s nakedness: by thy
childbearing, pure Lady, clothe me once more with incorruption.
9 & 10. The ancients
were wont to offer a pair of new-born doves and two young birds,
but the godly elder and the chaste prophetess Anna serve
in their stead, magnifying the
only-begotten Son of the Father, Who was born of the Virgin and is
borne into the
temple.
11. Thou hast imparted unto
me the joy of Thy salvation, cried Symeon.
Accept Thou
Thy servant, for I am weary
of the shadow, as a mystic and sacred preacher of the new
grace, magnifying Thee in praise!
12. The aged Anna, chaste and
venerable, prophesying in sacred manner, openly
confessed the Lord in the temple, and she magnified the Theotokos,
proclaiming her to all
present.
Troparia & Kontakia
Tone 4: Having learned the joyful proclamation of the
Resurrection from the angel, /
and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, /
the women disciples of the Lord spake to the apostles
exultantly: /
Death is despoiled and
Christ God is risen, //
granting to the world great mercy.
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 6: O Thou guide unto wisdom, /
bestower of prudence, instructor of the foolish and defender
of the poor: /
Establish and grant
understanding unto my heart, O Master. /
Grant me speech, O Word of
the Father; /
for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying unto
Thee: O Merciful One, //
have mercy on me who have fallen.
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 8th Tone: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord
our God.
Choir: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God.
Reader: In
Judea is God known, His name is great in Israel.
Choir: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our
God.
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 Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Romans:
[Rom. 13:11-14:4 (§112)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 6th Tone: It is good to give praise unto the Lord and to chant
unto Thy name, O Most High.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: To
proclaim in the morning Thy mercy, and Thy truth by
night.
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 [Matt. 6:14-21 (§17)]
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!