Presanctified Liturgy:
Wednesday in the 6th Week
Martyr Nikon, and those with
him
Tone
5:
I
am rich in passions and clothed in the deceitful robe of hypocrisy, /
and
I rejoice in the sins of self-indulgence.
/
There
is no limit to my lack of love. /
I
neglect my spiritual understanding, /
that lies at the gate of repentance, /
starved of all good things, sick through want of care. /
O
Lord, make me like Lazarus poor in sin, /
that I be not tormented in the flame /
that never shall be quenched, /
and
pray in vain for a finger to be dipped in water /
and
laid upon my tongue. /
But
in Thy love for mankind //
make me dwell with the Patriarch Abraham.
Twice
Your
souls, O holy martyrs, /
were filled with an insatiable love; /
not
denying Christ ye endured great sufferings and torment, /
and
ye cast down the tyrants’ pride. /
Ye
kept the faith unaltered and unharmed, /
and
now ye 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.
When
Thou wast journeying in the flesh, O Jesus, /
on
the other side of the
Thou
hast said to Thy companions:
“My
friend Lazarus is already dead, /
and
now has been committed to the tomb. /
And
so for your sakes I rejoice, my friends, /
for
by this ye shall learn that I know all things, /
since I am God, inseparable from the Father, /
though in my visible appearance I am man. /
Let
us go then, to bring him back to life, /
that death may feel the defeat /
and
utter destruction that I bring upon it, //
bestowing my great mercy on the world.
O
ye faithful, let us follow the example of Martha and Mary, /
and
as intercessors let us send to the Lord our acts of righteousness, /
that He may come to raise up from the dead our spiritual understanding, /
which lies insensible within the tomb of negligence, /
lacking all feeling of the fear of God /
and
having no vital energy. /
So
let us cry: As once by Thy dead authority, O merciful Lord, /
Thou
hast raised up Thy friend Lazarus, /
so
now give life to all of us, //
and
grant us Thy great mercy.
Tone:
6:
Lazarus
has now been two days in the tomb, /
and
He sees the dead from all the ages. /
There
he beholds strange sights of terror, /
a
multitude that none can number, the prisoners of hell. /
His
sisters bitterly lament, looking upon his tomb.
/
But
Christ comes to bring His friend to life, /
that a single hymn of praise may be offered up with one accord by all: //
Blessed
art Thou, O Savior, have mercy upon us.
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 one, /
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…
Both now… in the same tone and melody:
O
all-holy Bride of God, /
deliver thou my lowly soul /
from condemnation and grievous transgressions, /
and
by thy supplications release it from death, /
and
grant that I may receive the justification /
on
the day of trial /
which the councils of the saints have received. /
Before
the end show me to be cleansed //
by repentance and the shedding of tears.
Prokimena
and Old Testament
Tone
4: I will
be well-pleasing before the Lord * in the land of the living.
Stichos: I am filled with love, for
the Lord will hear the voice of my supplication.
Tone
4: My vows
unto the Lord will I pay * in the presence of all His people.
Stichos: I believed, wherefore I
spake; I was humbled exceedingly.