Presanctified Liturgy: Friday in the 4th Week

St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

 

Tone 7:

My soul’s dignity I have enslaved to the passions; /

I am become like the beasts, /

and have no power to lift mine eyes to Thee, Most High. / 

But with my head bowed like the publican, /

I pray to Thee, O Christ, and cry aloud: //

God be merciful to me and save me.                Twice

 

Tone 7:

Glory be to Thee, O Christ our God, /

boast of the apostles, joy of the martyrs, //

whose preaching was the consubstantial Trinity.

 

O holy martyrs, /

who have fought the good fight and received your crowns, //

pray to the Lord for mercy on our souls.

 

Despising every earthly thing, O holy martyrs, /

and bravely preaching Christ in the arena, /

ye received from Him the due reward for all your sufferings. /

Since He is almighty God /

and ye have boldness in His presence, /

to you we run for help; /

we entreat you, pray to Him //

for the salvation of our souls.

 

O martyrs worthy of all praise, /

sheep of Christ’s spiritual flock, /

ye are a living offering /

and a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.  /

Earth did not cover you, but heaven has received you. /

Ye have become companions of the angels: /

we entreat you, pray with them to God our Savior, /

that peace be given to the world, //

and salvation to our souls.

 

 

Tone 4 (Special Melody: “As valiant among the martyrs…”):

Called the namesake of chastity /

by divine foreknowledge, O Sophronius, /

thou wast righteous and chaste in thy deeds, /

manly and wise and wholly crowned with native virtues. /

And thou didst remain flourishing in both soul and body  //

as a most eminent arbiter.                                       (Twice)

 

From thy theological mouth, /

O most blessed Sophronius, /

thou didst thunder forth the teachings of theology, /

having clearly expounded the theology /

of the unoriginate Father, /

and the Son Who is equally without beginning, /

and the co-eternal Holy Spirit --  /

the Trinity in unity and the unity in Trinity,  //

God One in essential identity.

 

Wisely didst thou, O most wise one, /

teach that the Word Who is with the Father /

is equally without beginning, /

and Who, though incorporeal, /

united flesh to His Hypostasis without change or confusion, /

Whose actions are two-fold, /

for both natures of which He is composed /

and wherein He is beheld, /

being One, undivided in essence,  //

apprehended in the one and the other.

 

Glory… Tone 7:

O Life-giver and Savior, /

give rest to our brethren /

whom Thou hast taken from this temporary life, /

for unto Thee they cry: //

O Lord, glory to Thee.

 

Both now… Tone 7:

Thou hast been known to have become a Mother /

in supernatural manner, O Theotokos, /

and hast remained a Virgin /

in manner past recounting and understanding; /

and no tongue can describe the wonder of thy birthgiving. /

For as thy conceiving is all-glorious, /

so is the manner of thy birthgiving beyond comprehension; /

for where God so willeth, the order of nature is over-ruled. /

Wherefore, knowing thee to be the Mother of God, /

we all earnestly entreat thee: //

Pray thou that our souls be saved!

 

 

Prokimena and Old Testament Readings

 

Tone 4: O Shepherd of Israel, attend, * Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.

Stichos: Thou that sittest on the cherubim, manifest Thyself.

 

Lesson: Genesis 12:1-7

 

Tone 4: Rejoice in God * our helper.

Stichos:  Take up a psalm, and bring the timbrel.

 

Lesson: Proverbs 14:15-26

 

Copyright notice