Presanctified Liturgy:
Wednesday in the 3rd Week
Tone
4:
As
the Prodigal I have wasted the riches /
which the Father gave me. /
Now
I am destitute and dwell in the land of wicked citizens; /
in
my thoughtlessness I have become /
like the beasts without understanding, /
and
I am stripped of all God's grace. /
But
turning back I cry to Thee, /
the
compassionate and merciful Father: /
I
have sinned, receive me in repentance, O God, //
and
have mercy upon me.
(Twice)
O
martyrs of the Lord, /
living oblations, spiritual burnt-offerings, /
perfect victims sacrificed to God, /
sheep that know God and are known by Him, /
whose fold no wolf can enter: /
pray ye that we be led with you //
to
feed beside the waters of repose.
Tone
6:
O
apostles, eyewitnesses of God, /
rays of light from the spiritual Sun, /
pray that light may be granted to our souls, /
deliver us from the gloomy darkness of the passions, /
and
ask that we may see the day of salvation. /
By your
prayers and intercessions cleanse our hearts, /
which the evil one has wounded: /
then, saved by faith, we shall for ever honor you, //
who
preserve the world by your preaching of the truth.
Like
the Prodigal Son, /
I
have journeyed into a far country of wickedness, /
and
I have wasted in evil the wealth that thou gavest me, /
O
compassionate Father. /
I
am starved of good deeds /
and
clothed in the shame of my transgression, /
for
I have been stripped bare of God's grace. /
I
cry to Thee: I have sinned, /
yet
I know Thy lovingkindness; /
accept me as one of Thy hired servants, O merciful Christ, //
at
the prayers of the apostles who loved Thee.
O
apostles of the Lord, /
ye
are lights of the inhabited earth, /
benefactors and saviors; /
as
the heavens ye declare the glory of God; /
and
ye are adorned with the starts of your miracles /
and
with your wonders of healing. /
Intercede
fervently before the Lord in our behalf, /
that our prayers may be accepted /
as
a pure and sweet-smelling fragrance, /
and
that we may all be counted worthy /
to
venerate the life-giving Cross/
and
to gaze on it with fear. /
As
we worship this Thy Cross, /
in
Thy love for man, O Savior, //
send down Thy mercy on us.
Tone
2 (Special Melody: “When from the tree…”):
Having
from childhood renounced the world /
with true faith and love, O father, /
rejoicing, thou didst follow after the crucified Christ; /
and
having mortified thy flesh with many ascetic feats, /
thou didst richly receive the grace of healings, /
to
assuage divers illnesses //
and
to expel evil spirits, greatly astonished.. (Twice)
Being
the adornment of monastics, /
thou didst assemble a countless multitude to hymn the Lord, /
O
venerable Benedict, /
and
didst guide to heaven the steps of all who followed well /
thy
divine teachings and emulate thy virtuous life, O father. /
With
them we do thee honor, //
rejoicing in thy repose in sacred manner.
Like
Elijah of old, O father, /
thou didst call down rain from the skies at thy supplication, /
and
thou didst cause the vessel to pour forth oil, /
didst resurrect a dead man and work many other miracles, /
unto the glory of the God and Savior of all, O venerable one. /
Wherefore,
with love we celebrate //
thy
glorious memory, O Benedict.
Glory...
Now and ever...: Theotokion, in the same tone and melody:
O
joy of all who sorrow, /
intercessor for the oppressed and nurturer of the hungry, /
consolation of wanderers and staff of the blind, /
visitation of the infirm, /
protection and help of them that labor, /
help of orphans: /
Mother
of God Most High art thou, O all-pure one.
/
Hasten
thou, we beseech thee, //
that
thy servants be saved!
Prokimena
and Old Testament
Tone
4:
My
trust is in the tender mercy of God forever and ever.
Stichos: Why boastest thou thyself
in mischief, O mighty man, and in iniquity all the day long?
Tone
4:
When
God shall bring back His people from captivity, Jacob shall rejoice and
Stichos: The fool has said in his
heart: there is no God.