Presanctified Liturgy:
Friday in the 4th Week
Martyr Nikon, and those with
him
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 The, 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
3:
Great
is the power of Thy martyrs, O Christ! /
Though
they lie in their tombs, /
they drive out evil spirits /
and
fight in defense of true devotion, /
subduing the dominion of the enemy //
through faith in the Trinity.
The
prophets, the apostles of Christ and the martyrs /
have taught mankind to sin the praises of the consubstantial Trinity; /
they have given light to the nations that were gone astray, //
and
have made the sons of men companions of the angels.
Supported
by faith and made strong by hope, /
Thy
martyrs, O Lord, destroyed the tyranny of the enemy; /
and
receiving crowns of glory, together with the angels //
thy
make intercession for our souls.
It
was set up in the place of the skull, and it acts in all the world; /
it
made the fishermen into apostles, /
and
the Gentiles into martyrs, //
that they might intercede for our souls.
Tone
4 (Special Melody: “As one valiant among the martyrs…”):
With
the bit of abstinence /
thou didst curb the pleasures of the body /
and
the recalcitrance of the flesh, O blessed on, /
vanquishing the full force of the enemy /
with the power of the Spirit, /
as
one who art brave. /
Hence,
thou wast a leader of monastics, /
who
ever followed /
thy
most wise and divine preaching, //
O
Nikon. Twice
Shining
forth from the east /
like the sun, O most glorious one, /
thou didst bring light to the whole world /
with the radiance of miracles, /
guiding the choir of thy luminous disciples like a star. /
With
them thou didst suffer mightily, /
beheaded by the sword, /
and
placing your souls //
in
the hands of the King and Master of all.
Neither
starvation, nor tribulation, /
nor
nakedness, nor wounding, /
nor
a truly violent death /
were able to separate you from the love of God, O right wondrous ones; /
but,
following the Shepherd, /
like sheep led to the slaughter, /
from the West ye reached /
the
never-ending rest of the heavenly kingdom, //
O
crown-bearing athletes.
Glory…
Tone 3:
All
human things are vain, /
and
endure not after death. /
Our
wealth will not remain, /
our
glory will not go with us upon the way; /
for
when death comes all these things will disappear. /
Therefore
let us cry to Christ who is immortal: /
Give
rest to our departed brethren //
and
make them dwell with the joyful.
Both
now… Tone 3:
How
can we not marvel /
at
thy giving birth to the God-man, O all-honored one. /
For
without having accepted the temptation of a man, /
O
all-immaculate one, /
without a father thou gavest birth in the flesh to a Son /
Who
was begotten without a mother before the ages, /
without His undergoing change, confusion or division, /
yet
preserving intact the character of both essences. /
Wherefore,
O Virgin Mother and Mistress, /
entreat Him, that the souls of those who in Orthodox manner //
confess thee to be the Theotokos be saved.
Tone
4: O
Shepherd of
Stichos:
Thou
that sittest on the cherubim, manifest Thyself.
Lesson:
Genesis 12:1-7
Tone
4: Rejoice
in God our helper.