Presanctified Liturgy:
Wednesday in the 3rd Week
Hieromartyr Theodotus of Cyrenia
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
4 (Special Melody: “As valiant among the martyrs…”):
A most
sacred priest, /
the
foundation of the Church, /
a
pillar unshakable wast thou shown to be, O most glorious one, /
and
a wonderworker most true, /
bestowed of God, O glorious one, /
and
thou wast a most radiant and sacred luminary /
and
a garden of paradise, /
having acquired Jesus the Bestower of life as the Tree of life in thy midst,
//
O
hieromartyr Theodotus. (Twice)
Beaten
with leathern thongs, /
and
stretched out on a tree, /
and
bitterly lacerated, O right wondrous one, /
imprisoned in a dungeon, /
thy
feet cruelly pierced with nails, /
and
laid upon a heated bed of iron, /
thou wast shown to be steadfast, /
glorifying Him Who strengthened thee amide all thy torments, //
O hieromartyr
Theodotus.
Strangling
the enemy /
with the cords of thy struggles, /
thou didst vanquish his power; /
and
having been most splendidly courageous, /
thou dwellest as a crowned victor in the kingdom of heaven, /
having been accounted worthy of enlightenment /
and
the comeliness of them that hold festivals; /
and
thou prayest that they that honor thee be saved, //
O
Theodotus, thou glory of the martyrs.
Glory...
Both now...: Theotokion, in the same tone and melody:
Deliver
thou my soul /
from condemnation and grievous transgressions, /
O
all-holy Bride of God, /
and
rescue it from death by thy supplications. /
Grant
that on that day of trial /
I
may receive the justification /
which the assemblies of the saints have received; /
and
before the end show me forth as cleansed through repentance //
and
by the shedding of tears.
Prokimena
and Old Testament
Tone
4:
I
have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, and unto the ages of ages.
Stichos: Why dost thou boast in
evil, O mighty man, and in iniquity all the day long?
Tone
4:
When
God hath turned back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and
Israel shall be glad.
Stichos: The fool hath said in his
own heart: there is no God.