The Circumcision of
the Lord / St Basil the Great
Great
Vespers: The priest vested in
epitrachilion, cuffs, and phelonion, opens the royal doors, censes (with the
deacon) the Holy Table and Altar. The deacon, standing before the royal doors,
exclaims: Arise! O Lord, bless! And
the priest, making the sign of the Cross with the censer before the Holy Table
exclaims: Glory to the holy, and
consubstantial, and life-creating, and indivisible Trinity, and then sings O come let us worship, and then
completes the censing of the whole temple, while the choir sings the 103rd
Psalm: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
After the censing, the royal doors are shut, and exiting the altar, the priest
reads the lamp lighting prayers before the royal doors. The
litany of peace. Blessed is the man.
Lord I
have Cried, Tone 8: on 8: Feast 4 (Descending unto the human race); St. Basil 4 (O father who art the namesake of kingship); G: Hierarch (As a lover of wisdom); N: Feast (Descending unto the human race).
Entry; O Gladsome Light; Prokimenon of the day, Tone 7: O God, my helper art Thou. 3
Old Testament Readings.
Litany: Let us
all say; Vouchsafe, O Lord;
Litany: Let us complete our evening
prayer. The servers process out to the Narthex. The icons and the people
are censed.
Litia: Stichera of the Temple, and then of St. Basil (Having caused Christ, the Well-spring of
life); G: Hierarch (Grace was poured
forth in thy lips); N: Feast (Descending
unto the human race).
Litany of the Litia: Save, O God, Thy people; and the prayer: O Master plenteous in mercy.
Aposticha: Hierarch (O
most blessed Basil); G: Hierarch (Receiving the grace of
miracles from heaven); N: Feast (The
all good God was not ashamed).
Now lettest Thou Thy
servant depart; Trisagion to Our Father; Troparia: Hierarch (Thy fame hath gone
forth into all the earth) x2; Feast (Thou
Who sittest with the Eternal Father) x1.
While the Troparia are sung,
the deacon (or the priest, if there is no deacon) censes three times around the
table on which are placed 5 loaves, wheat, wine, and oil. Prayer for the
blessing of the loaves; Blessed be the name of the Lord, x3; Psalm 33: I will bless the Lord at all times; to …but they that seek the Lord shall not be
deprived of any good thing; Priest: The
blessing of the Lord; Choir: Amen;
And the reader begins the Six Psalms.
Matins:
After the Six Psalms, the litany of peace.
God is
the Lord, Tone 1; Troparia: Feast x2; G:
Hierarch; N: Feast.
After each Kathisma: Small Litany; Sessional hymns from the Hierarch and of the Feast.
Polyeleos and Magnification
of the Hierarch: We magnify thee, O holy hierarch father Basil, and we honor thy holy
memory, for thou dost pray for us to Christ our God. Psalm verse: Hear
this, all ye nations; give ear, all ye that inhabit the world.
Small litany; The Sessional
hymn after the Polyeleos: Hierarch (By
the power of thy divine words); G: Hierarch (The grace of thy divine discourses); N: Feast (The Master and Creator of all).
Hymns of Ascents, First
Antiphon, Tone 4: From
my youth.
Prokimenon, Tone 4: My mouth shall speak wisdom.
Matins Gospel: John 10:9-16
(§36).
Psalm 50; G: Through the prayers of the Holy Hierarch
Basil; N: Through the prayers of the
Theotokos; Have mercy on me, O God;
Sticheron of the Hierarch: Grace was
poured forth. Save, O God, Thy
people.
Canon: Feast 6 Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
Hierarch 8 Holy Hierarch, Father Basil, pray
to God for us.
Irmos: Come, O ye people.
Katavasia
of Theophany: The Lord mighty in battle. &
After Ode 3,
Kontakion of the Feast (The Lord of all
undergoeth circumcision), Sessional hymn of the Hierarch (Having learned the wisdom of the Word);
G/N: Feast (As Thou art an abyss of love
for mankind).
After Ode 6,
Kontakion (Thou didst prove to be an
unshakable foundation) and Ikos of the Hierarch
At Ode 9, we do not sing More Honorable, but instead sing the festal
verses for the feast and the Hierarch: Magnify, O my soul, the Lord Who hath been circumcised
in the flesh in accordance with the law, and the others as set forth
in the Menaion.
Exapostilaria: Hierarch (With the desire of love of wisdom) x2;
G/N: Feast (The Creator of the ages).
Praises, Tone 5, on 6: Feast 2 (He Who as the Word); Hierarch (Having
become a child of God through grace) 4; G: Hierarch (Grace was poured forth in thy lips); N: Feast (Descending unto the human race). After the Great Doxology: Troparion
of the Hierarch; G/N Feast; the two remaining Litanies and the dismissal: May
Christ our true God, Who on the eighth day deigned to be circumcised for our
salvation; First Hour.
Hours: Troparia: Feast; G: Hierarch;
Kontakion: Feast & Hierarch, alternating.**
Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: Beatitudes on 8: Feast 4, Ode
3; Hierarch 4, Ode 6.
After
the entrance, the choir sings: O come let us
worship and fall down before Christ, Who art wondrous in the saints, O Son of
God, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Then the
Troparion of the Feast; Troparion of the Hierarch; G: Kontakion of the
Hierarch; N: Kontakion of the Feast.
Prokimenon, Tone 6: Save, O Lord, and of the Hierarch, Tone 1: My mouth shall speak wisdom.
Epistle: Col. 2:8-12
(§254); I Tim. 3:14-4:5 (§284); Heb. 7:26-8:2 (§318).
Alleluia, Tone
8.
Gospel: Luke 2:20-21,
40-52 (§6); Matt. 3:1-11 (§5); Luke 6:17-23a (§24).
Instead of It is truly meet: All creation rejoiceth in thee.
Communion Hymn: Praise the Lord in the heavens and In everlasting remembrance.
Dismissal: May Christ our true God, Who on
the eighth day deigned to be circumcised for our salvation.
After the Liturgy: The Moleben for the New Year. However, some do this service after the vigil at midnight.
*Also sung on the apodosis of
Theophany, January 14.
** When it occurs that there
are two kontakia appointed to be read at the hours, the Kontakion that was
chanted after the 3rd Ode is read at the 1st Hour, and at the 6th Hour. The
Kontakion which was chanted after the 6th Ode is read at the 3rd Hour and at
the 9th Hour (before the Vespers of the following day).