Palm Sunday
Great Vespers:
Blessed is the man
Lord I have Cried, Tone 6, on 10: Feast 10 (Today the grace); G: Today the grace; N: Repeat
Entry, Prokimenon of the day,
Tone 6: The Lord is King
3
Litia: Feast (The All-Holy Spirit); G/N: Six days before the Passover.
Aposticha: Feast (Rejoice
and be glad, O city of
Troparia: In confirming the common Resurrection. x2; As by baptism we were buried with Thee. x1
Matins: God is
the Lord, Tone 1: In confirming the
common Resurrection. x2; G/N: As by baptism we were buried with Thee. x1
After each Kathisma:
Sessional hymns of the Feast
Polyeleos and Magnification
of the Feast: We magnify, we magnify Thee, O Christ the Giver of Life: Hosanna in the
highest! And we cry aloud to Thee: Blessed
is He who cometh in the name of the Lord. Psalm verse: O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is Thy Name
in all the earth.
The Evlogitaria are not sung
Sessional
hymn of the Feast (He who sits upon the
throne of the cherubim).
Hymn of Ascents, 1st
Antiphon, Tone 4: From
my youth.
Prokimenon of the Feast, Tone
4: Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast Thou perfected praise.
Matins Gospel
: Matthew 21:1-11;15-17 (§83)
Having beheld the Resurrection, is not
sung
Psalm 50; The
priest takes the censer, censes the palms crosswise, three times, and then says
the prayer for the blessing of Psalms (O
Lord, our God, Who sittest upon the cherubim), found in the Triodion page
495. Then the priest sprinkles the palms with holy water, saying: These
palms are blessed by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, through the sprinkling
of this holy water: in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Thrice.
Choir: G: Today Christ enters; N: Repeat; Have
mercy on me, O God; Today the grace
of the Holy Spirit; then the prayer: Save,
O God, Thy people.
Canon: Feast 12 Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
Katavasia: The Irmoi of the
Feast: The springs of the deep were seen
bereft of water.
After Ode 3, Hypakoe of the Feast (First they sang in praise of Christ our God with branches).
After Ode 6, Kontakion (Being
borne upon a throne in heaven) and Ikos of the Feast
At Ode 9, We do not sing More Honorable. We instead chant the Ninth ode immediately (God is the Lord).
Exapostilarion: Holy is
the Lord our God, in Tone 4, x3
Praises, Tone 4, on 6: Feast 6 (A very
great multitude); G/N: Feast (Six
days before the Passover).
After the Great Doxology: Troparion: In confirming the common Resurrection; the two remaining Litanies and Festal dismissal: May Christ our true God, Who for our salvation didst deign to ride the colt of an ass; First Hour.
The Hours: Troparia: In
confirming; G: As by baptism;
Kontakion: Feast.
Note: At Proskomedia, 4 lambs
are prepared – one for the Liturgy of the day, and 3 for the Presanctified
Liturgies of Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Liturgy of
Beatitudes on 8: 4 from Ode 3;
4 from Ode 6 of the Feast
At the entrance, the deacon (or priest if there is no deacon) says
the Festal Introit in place of the usual O come let us worship: Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us.
After the entrance: The Troparion
feast, In confirming; G: As by baptism; N: Kontakion of the Feast: Being borne upon a throne in heaven.
The Trisagion
Prokimenon, Tone 4: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us.
Epistle: Philippians 4:4-9 (§247)
Alleluia,
Tone 1
Gospel: John 12:1-18 (§41)
Instead of It is truly meet, we sing the Irmos of the canon of the 9th Ode (God is the Lord).
Communion Hymn: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared
unto us.
Festal Dismissal: May
Christ our true God, Who for our salvation didst deign to ride the colt of an
ass.
Vespers: Lord I have Cried, Tone 8, on 6:
Feast 6 (Rejoice and be glad, O
city of
Entry, Prokimenon of the day,
Tone 8: Behold now, bless ye the Lord
During the final repetition
of the prokimenon, the priest closes the royal doors, removes his phelonion and
puts on a dark epitrachilion, and goes out to the
Vouchsafe, O Lord.
Then the Litany,
Let us complete our evening prayer unto
the Lord, with the choir singing the responses according to the penitential
Lenten melody.
Aposticha: Triodion (Stichera
and verses in the Triodion, beginning with Passing
from one divine feast), G: Passing
from one divine feast; N: It is a
fearful things.
Now lettest Thou Thy servant
Troparia: O Theotokos and Virgin (with a great
prostration); G: O Baptizer of Christ (with a great prostration): N: Plead in our behalf (great prostration);
Beneath thy compassion (without a prostration).
Lord, have mercy. 40 times
G/N More Honorable.
In the name of the Lord, father
bless.
Priest: He that is is blessed.
Reader: O Heavenly King, strengthen Orthodox Christians.
Then the priest says the
prayer of St. Ephrem with 3 prostrations, then the dismissal: May
Christ our true God, the Lord Who for our salvation went
to His voluntary Passion…
Small Compline: The three-canticled
canon of Great Monday is chanted (Triodion, pages 506 – 510). After the
Trisagion the Kontakion of the Triodion is read, Jacob lamented the loss of Joseph (Triodion 513).