Presanctified Liturgy:
Friday in the 1st Week
The Great Martyr Theodore /
40 Martyrs of Sabaste
Tone
5:
Come,
ye faithful, and in the light let us perform the works of God; /
let
us walk honestly as in the day. /
Let
us cast away every unjust accusation against our neighbor, /
not
placing any cause of stumbling in his path. /
Let
us lay aside the pleasures of the flesh, /
and
increase the spiritual gifts of our soul. /
Let
us give bread to those in need, /
and
let us draw near unto Christ, crying in penitence: //
O
our God, have mercy on us. Twice
Tone
2:
Valiantly enduring real
torments, /
rejoicing in that for which they longed, /
the holy martyrs said one to another: /
“If we do not shed our garments,
/
we cannot put off the old man. /
Winter is cruel, but paradise
is sweet; /
the ice is painful, but the acquisition of the Kingdom is
delightful. /
Then, let us not give way, O
warriors! /
Let us endure but a little
while, /
that we may be crowned with crowns of victory by Christ
God, //
the Savior of our souls.”
Casting off all their
garments /
and entering the lake with trembling, /
the holy martyrs said one to another: /
“Let us not spare today our
corruptible garments, /
that we may attain the paradise which we have lost! /
Having once been clothed
because of the pernicious serpent, /
let us now unclothe ourselves for the resurrection of
all. /
Let us disdain the frigid ice
and despise the flesh, /
that we may be crowned with crowns of victory by Christ
God, //
the Savior of our souls!” Twice
Seeing tortures as delight, /
running to the frozen lake as to a warm spring, /
the holy martyrs said: /
“Let us not fear the season
of winter, /
that we may avoid the fearsome fire of Gehenna; /
let our legs be consumed by fire, /
that they may dance eternally; /
let our arms be cut off, /
that they may stretch themselves forth unto the Lord; /
let us not spare our mortal nature; /
let us submit to death, /
that we may be crowned with crowns of victory by Christ
God, //
the Savior of our souls.”
Tone
2:
Come,
all ye who love the martyrs, /
let
us rejoice in spirit and keep festival.
/
For
today Theodore the martyr has set before us a table /
laden with mystic food, /
bring joy to all of us who gladly celebrate his memory. /
Unto
him we cry: /
Rejoice,
victorious champion, /
who
has trampled underfoot the tyrants’ threats.
/
Rejoice,
thou who gavest thy body of clay to torture /
for
the sake of Christ our God. /
Rejoice,
thou who hast shown thyself, in manifold tribulations, /
a
tested warrior of the heavenly host. /
O
glory of the martyrs, //
we
entreat thee to pray for our souls.
The
God-given grace of thy miracles, O martyr Theodore, /
thou dost grant to all who turn to thee in faith. /
We
therefore praise thee, saying: /
Thou
dost deliver prisoners and heal the sick; /
thou givest riches to the poor and guardest those who sail the seas. /
Thou
restrainest slaves from useless flight, /
and
showest robbers what their punishment will be; /
thou teachest soldiers to abstain from plunder. /
In
thy loving compassion thou dost grant the prayers of children, /
and
thou art the fervent protector of all who keep thy holy memory. /
With
them we also sing the praises of thy martyrdom, O saint of God: //
pray to Christ that He may show us His great mercy.
O
martyr Theodore, thou art a matchless gift from God: /
for
after thy death as during thy lifetime,
/
thou dost grant the petitions of those who turn to thee. /
Thus
once it happened that the son of a poor widow /
was
carried off by soldiers of another faith; /
and
she came weeping to thy shrine. /
Mounted
upon a white horse, in loving compassion /
thou hast defended her child with thine invisible protection. /
And
now as then, never dost thou cease from working wonders: //
pray to Christ our God, for the salvation of our souls.
O
thrice-blessed Theodore, I honor thee: /
rightly art thou named “Gift from God”.
/
For
thou hast shown thyself a never-setting star of the divine Light, /
and
through thy sufferings thou dost shine on all the world. /
Proving
thyself stronger than fire, thou has quenched the flames; /
and
thou hast crushed the head of the deceitful serpent. /
Therefore,
in the midst of thy sufferings, /
Christ
came and set a crown upon thy holy head. /
O
Great Martyr, who hast boldness before God, //
do
thou offer fervent intercession for our souls.
Glory…
Tone 6:
Using
as his tool the Apostate Emperor, /
the
enemy devised a cruel plot: /
with food polluted by unclean sacrifices /
he
sought to defile the people of God /
as
they purified themselves through fasting. /
But
thou hast defeated his design by a more skillful plan: /
appearing in a dream to the Archbishop, /
thou hast revealed to him the evil plot. /
Therefore
we offer thee a sacrifice of thanksgiving, /
honoring thee as our protector /
and
keeping the yearly memorial of what was done.
/
May
we be kept safe, we pray, from the designed of the enemy //
at
thine intercessions, O Martyr Theodore.
Both
now… Tone 8:
In
His love for mankind, /
the
King of heaven appeared on earth /
and
dwelt among men; /
for
He who received flesh from the pure Virgin /
and
came forth from her having received human nature, /
is
the only Son of God, two in natures but not hypostasis./
Therefore,
proclaiming Him to be truly perfect God and perfect man, /
we
confess Christ our God. /
Him
do thou beseech, O Mother unwedded, //
that our souls find mercy!
Tone
5: The Lord
hear thee in the day of affliction.
Stichos:
The name of the God of Jacob defend thee.
The Reading
from Genesis (2:20-3:20)
And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to all the fowls of the heaven, and to all the wild beasts of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help like unto him. And God brought a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs and filled up the flesh in place thereof. And the rib which He had taken from Adam, did the Lord God form into a woman, and brought her unto Adam. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was the most sagacious of all the wild beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said unto the woman, Wherefore hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, By death ye shall not die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant for the eyes to look upon, and fair to contemplate; and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave it also to her husband with her; and they did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons to go about them. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Adam, where art thou? And he said unto Him, I heard Thy voice as Thou walkedst in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And God said unto him, Who told thee that thou wast naked? except thou hast eaten of the tree whereof only I commanded thee not to eat? And Adam said, The woman, whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all the cattle, and all the wild beasts of the earth; upon thy breast and thy belly shalt thou go and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman, and between thy seed and between her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And He said unto the woman, I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pains thou shalt bring forth children, and thy recourse shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which alone I commanded thee not to eat, cursed is the ground in thy labours; in pains shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return unto the ground out of which thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she is the mother of all the living.
Tone
6: Be Thou
exalted, O Lord, in Thy strength; we will sing and chant of Thy mighty acts.
God by wisdom hath founded the earth; by prudence hath He prepared the heavens. By understanding the depths were broken up, and the clouds dropped waters. My son, let not this pass thee by: keep my counsel and understanding, that thy soul may live, and grace be upon thy neck; and it shall be health unto thy flesh, and safety to thy bones: that thou mayest go confidently in peace in all thy ways, and that thy foot may not stumble. For if thou sit down, thou shalt not be dismayed; and if thou sleep, thou shalt slumber sweetly. And thou shalt not be afraid for terror that cometh upon thee; neither of assaults of the ungodly men that come at thee. For the Lord shall be over all thy ways, and shall establish thy foot, that thou be not moved. Forbear not to do good unto the needy, whensoever thine hand have power to help. Say not, Come back another time; tomorrow will I give; for thou knowest not what the day that cometh will bring forth. Devise not evils against thy friend that dwelleth near thee, and trusteth thee. Strive not with a man without a cause, lest he do thee some evil. Procure not the reproaches of wicked men, neither do thou imitate his ways. For every transgressor is unclean in the sight of the Lord; neither doth he sit among the righteous. The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the habitations of the just are blessed. The Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. The wise shall inherit glory; but the ungodly have exalted dishonour.