Presanctified Liturgy:
Wednesday in the 4th Week
St. Porphyrius, Archbishop
of
Tone
4:
The
Fast that brings us blessings has now reached it midmost point; /
it
has helped us to receive God’s grace in the days that are past, /
and
will bring us further benefit in the days still to come. /
For
by continuing in what is right we attain yet greater gifts. /
We
therefore cry to Christ, the giver of all good: /
O
Thou who for our sakes hast fasted and endured the Cross, /
make us worthy to share uncondemned in Thy divine Passover. /
May
we spend our lives in peace //
and
rightly glorify Thee with the Father and the Spirit.
Tone
5: If we
look for a spiritual recompense, /
let
us perform our good deeds in secret; /
let
us not proclaim them in the streets /
but
keep them hidden in our hearts. /
Then
He Who sees the secrets of all men will reward us for our abstinence. /
Let
us complete the Fast, not with a sad countenance, /
but
praying in the inner chamber of our souls; /
and
without ceasing, let us cry: /
Our
Father Who art in heaven, /
lead us not into temptation, we pray, //
but
deliver us from the evil one.
Your
souls, O holy martyrs, /
were filled with an insatiable love; /
not
denying Christ ye endured great sufferings and torments, /
and
ye cast down the tyrant’s pride. /
Ye
kept the Faith unaltered and unharmed, /
and
now have gone to dwell in heaven, /
since ye have boldness before Christ, /
pray that peace be given to the world, //
and
to our souls great mercy.
Tone
1: Let us wash our souls clean in the waters of
the Fast, /
and,
approaching the precious and honored Cross of the Lord, /
let
us venerate it in faith; /
let
us draw from it divine enlightenment, //
gathering the fruit of eternal salvation, peace and great mercy.
O
Cross, glory of the apostles, /
attended by principalities and powers and archangels, /
keep safe from all harm those that venerate thee. /
Grant
us to follow rightly to the end the divine path of abstinence, //
and
to reach the day of salvation when we too shall be saved.
Tone
7: As we
venerate today the Cross of the Lord, let us cry: /
Rejoice,
Tree of Life, victor over hell; /
rejoice, joy of the world and slayer of corruption, /
for
by thy power thou scatterest the demons! /
Strong
support of the faithful, weapon that cannot be broken, //
we
pray thee, guard and sanctify those who show thee honor.
Tone
8 (Special Melody: “O most glorious wonder…”):
O
venerable father Porphyrius, /
taking the Cross of Christ upon thy shoulder /
thou didst abandon all /
and
didst attain unto the desert, /
and
armed with fasting and prayers didst do battle /
with the prince of this world. /
Wherefore,
as a temple of the Spirit of God, /
thou didst cast him down //
together with carnal mindedness. Twice
As of old God saved the three
youths /
from the fire by His Angel, /
so now by thee hath he saved three youths /
who had been dragged down into a pit; /
for when thy were borne as in a basket /
He overshadowed them with the
light of a cloud /
which formed three crosses on their bodies /
unto the reproof of those //
who oppose thee, O Porphyrius.
Who can hymn thy temptations
and pangs, /
thy misfortunes and tribulations, /
thy struggles for the faith as is meet, /
O Porphyrius? /
For thou didst show the
boldness /
which thou hast before God to be great. /
Wherefore, we entreat thee, /
for thou hast such boldness: //
Pray thou in our behalf to
the Lord, that we be saved!
Glory...
Both now… Tone 8:
Today
He who in essence is unapproachable, /
becomes approachable for me and suffers His passion, delivering me from
passions. /
He
who grants light unto the blind is spat upon by the mouths of the
transgressors, /
and
He gives His back to scourging for the sake of those that are held captive. /
When
the pure Virgin His Mother saw Him on the Cross, she cried aloud in pain: /
‘Woe
is me, my Child! What is this that Thou hast done? /
Thou
who wast in beauty fairer than all mortal men, /
dost now appear without life and form, having neither shape nor comeliness.
/
Woe
is me, my Light! I cannot bear to look upon Thee sleeping, /
and
I am wounded inwardly, a harsh sword has pierced my heart. /
I
sing the praises of Thy Passion, I venerate Thy merciful kindness: //
O
longsuffering Lord, glory to Thee!’
Prokimena
and Old Testament
Tone
4:
Blessed
is the Lord, the God of Israel, * Who alone doeth
wonders.
Stichos: O God, give Thy judgment to
the king, and Thy righteousness to the son of the king.
Tone
4:
But
it is good for me * to cleave unto God.
Stichos: How good is God to