30th Sunday After Pentecost /
Sunday of the Holy Fathers / Forefeast of Nativity
Beatitudes Verses: 4 from the Octoechos; 4 from Ode 3 of the Fathers; 4 from Ode 6 of the Forefeast
1. Believing Thee to be God, O Christ, the thief
on the cross confessed Thee in a pure
manner, crying out from the depths of his heart: Remember me in Thy kingdom, O Lord!
2. Together let us hymn as Savior and Creator,
Him Who on the Cross budded forth life
for our race and caused the curse which
originated from the tree to wither up.
3. By Thy death hast Thou destroyed the power of
death, O Christ, and Thou didst raise
up with Thyself the dead of ages past, who now
hymn Thee as our true God and Savior.
4. Arriving at Thy tomb, O Christ, the honorable
women sought to anoint Thee with
myrrh, O Bestower of life; but an angel appeared
to them, crying out: The Lord is risen!
5. Faithfully preserving the glory of the image and likeness of God, with the fire of the
Spirit the children, as champions, extinguished the fire of the golden image, chanting: We
know but one Lord!
6. The captive children, clothed with the wisdom and power of the Spirit, put to shame
the wise men of
lovest mankind!
7. The law doth rejoice and joineth chorus with the children and the prophets and doth
exult today before the divine advent of the Lord. And Abraham doth rejoice, for from his
seed hath the incarnate Lord appeared.
8. A conception without pain, an acceptance of thy birthgiving hath transpired in
manner beyond recounting, O Theotokos, for the Word of God, Who is God and was
proclaimed by the prophets, hath shown Himself to be a mystery beyond nature.
9 & 10. O Mistress, as a new heaven thou
dost come, that Christ, the Sun of glory, might
shine forth in the flesh from thy
womb, as through a cloud, in the cave; for, in His
boundless loving-kindness, He desireth
splendidly to illumine all who are of this earth
with rays of His own light.
11. Thou
didst perceive our infirmity and misery, O compassionate Christ, and didst not
disdain us; but, without leaving the
Father, Thou didst abase Thyself and make Thine
abode in the womb of her who knew not
wedlock, who now cometh forth to give birth
unto Thee, without pain, in the cave.
12. Ye
mountains and hills, fields and vales, people and generations, nations and
every
creature: exult, filled with divine
gladness, for the deliverance of all, the Word of God,
the Timeless One, Who in His
loving-kindness hath come under time, doth come with
haste.
Troparia & Kontakia
Tone 5: Let us, O faithful, praise and worship the
Word /
Who
is co-unoriginate with the Father and the Spirit, /
and
Who was born of the Virgin for our salvation; /
for
He was pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh /
and
to endure death, //
and
to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
Tone 2: Great are the
achievements of faith! /
In the fountain of flame, as in refreshing water,
/
the Three Holy Children
rejoiced. /
And the prophet Daniel proved a shepherd of lions
as of sheep. //
By their prayers, O
Christ God, save our souls.
Tone 4: Make ready, O
Prepare, O Ephratha, /
for the Tree of life hath blossomed in
the cave from the Virgin. /
For her womb proved to be a spiritual
paradise /
wherefrom there came the Divine Plant, /
whereof eating we shall live and not die
like Adam. /
Christ is born //
to raise the image that fell of old.
Glory…Tone 1:
Rejoice, O
Ephratha, make ready! /
for behold, the Ewe
hasteneth to give birth unto the Great Shepherd /
Whom she carrieth in her
womb.
/
And seeing Him, the God-bearing Fathers rejoice,
//
and with the shepherds
praise the Virgin who giveth milk.
Both now… Tone 3: Today the
Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth ineffably /
to the Word Who was before the ages. /
Dance, O earth, at the
message! /
Give glory with the angels
and shepherds /
unto Him Who was willing to be gazed upon as a young child
//
and is pre-eternal God.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 4th Tone:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and praised and glorified
is Thy name unto the ages.
Choir:
Blessed
art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is
Thy name unto the ages.
Reader: For
righteous art Thou in all which Thou hast done for us.
Choir: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy
name unto the ages.
Reader: Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, the God of our fathers.
Choir: And praised and
glorified is Thy name unto the ages.
Reader:
The
[Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40 (§328)]
Reader: Alleluia
in the 4th Tone:
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: O
God, with our ears have we heard, for our fathers have told us.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: Thou hast saved us from them that afflict us, and them that hate us hast Thou put
to shame.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Matthew 1:1-25 (§1)]
Communion
Verse:
Praise the Lord in the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!