The Feast of the First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist /The Sunday of Orthodoxy, Tone 5Beatitudes on 12: Octoechos 4; Triodion 4, from Ode 3; Forerunner 4, from Ode 6. 1. Believing
Thee to be God, O Christ, the thief on the cross confessed Thee in a pure
manner, crying out from the depths of his
heart: Remember me in Thy kingdom, O
Lord!
2. Together
let us hymn as Savior and Creator, Him Who on the Cross budded forth life
for our race and caused the curse which originated
from the tree to wither up.
3. By Thy
death hast Thou destroyed the power of death, O Christ, and Thou didst raise
up with Thyself the dead of ages past, who now hymn
Thee as our true God and Savior.
4. Arriving
at Thy tomb, O Christ, the honorable women sought to anoint Thee with
myrrh, O Bestower of life; but an angel appeared to
them, crying out: The Lord is risen!
5. No longer
now are the impious heretics exalted in their pride: for the power of God
has firmly established Orthodoxy.
6. Today, at the restoration of the faith, let the
prophet sprinkle upon us life-giving dew
from heaven.
7. Let the mystical trumpets of Christ’s apostles
sound in God-given harmony,
proclaiming the re-establishment of the precious
icons.
8. Let us sing in praise of Christ, who has appointed
a devout and pious Empress to rule
over us, together with her son crowned by God.
9. Christ called thee a true prophet, and the most
exalted of the prophets, the Baptist and
Forerunner of Life, for thou didst behold Him Whom
the Law and prophets foretold.
10. The fountain of miracles, the treasury of grace,
thy sacred head, O Baptist, Prophet
and Forerunner, could not bear to be concealed, and,
having revealed itself, it poured
forth springs of healing.
11. The Christ-loving and right glorious city doth
set before itself thy precious and divine
head. O Forerunner, as most rich praise, a radiant
adornment and a splendid shield.
12. Moses, great among the prophets, prefigured thee
in the ark, the table, the candlestick
and the jar, signifying the incarnation of the Most
High which took place through thee, O
Virgin Mother.
Troparia
Tone 5: Let
us, O faithful, praise and worship the Word /
Who is co-unoriginate with the Father and the
Spirit, /
and Who was born of the Virgin for our salvation; /
for He was pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh
/
and to endure death, //
and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
Glory… Tone 4: The head of the Forerunner, which hath shone forth
from the earth, /
doth
shed rays of incorruption and healing upon the faithful. /
On
high it assembleth a multitude of angels, /
and
below it calleth upon the human race with one voice //
to
send up glory to Christ God.
Both now… Tone 2: We venerate Thine
immaculate Icon, O Good One, /
asking the forgiveness of our failings, O Christ
God; /
for of Thine Own will Thou was well-pleased to
ascend the Cross in the flesh /
that Thou mightest deliver from slavery to the enemy
those whom thou hadst fashioned. /
Wherefore, we cry to Thee thankfully: //
Thou didst fill all things with joy, O our Savior,
when Thou camest to save the world.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 4th Tone:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and
praised and glorified is Thy name unto the ages.
Choir: Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is
Thy name unto the ages.
Reader: For righteous art Thou in all which Thou
hast done for us.
Choir: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and praised and glorified is
Thy name unto the ages.
Reader: In
the 7th Tone: The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord,
and shall hope in
Him.
Choir: The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and
shall hope in Him.
Reader: The
[Heb.
11:24-26;32-12:2 (§329 (mid.)); II Cor. 4:6-15 (§176)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 4th Tone: Moses and
Aaron among His priests, and Samuel
among them that
call upon His name.
Choir: Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: They
called upon the Lord, and He hearkened unto them.
Choir: Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: In the 4th Tone: The
righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree, and like a
cedar in Lebanon
shall he be multiplied.
Choir: Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [John 1:43-51 (§5); Matt. 11:2-15 (§40)]
Kontakion
Tone 5: Unto
hades, O my Savior, didst Thou descend, /
and having broken its gates as one omnipotent, /
Thou, as Creator, didst raise up the dead together
with Thyself. /
And Thou didst break the sting of death, /
and didst deliver Adam from the curse, O Lover of
mankind. /
Wherefore, we all cry unto Thee: //
Save us, O Lord.
Glory… Tone 2: O prophet of God and Forerunner of grace, /
having obtained thy head from the earth like a most sacred rose, /
we ever receive healings, for again, as of old, //
thou dost preach repentance in all the world.
Both… Tone
8: The
uncircumscribable Word of the Father was circumscribed /
when He took flesh of thee, O Theotokos;
/
and when He had restored the defiled
image to its ancient state, /
He suffused it with divine beauty. //
As for us, confessing our salvation, we
record it in deed and word.
Instead of “It
is truly meet…”[Tone 8 in the Octoechos, but usually sung to one of
many special
melodies]:
All creation –
the assembly of angels and the race of man – rejoiceth in thee, O thou who
art full of
grace, O sacred temple and noetical paradise, boast of virgins, from whom
God, Who
existeth from before time, was incarnate and became a child; for He made thy
body a
throne, and thy womb He made more spacious than the heavens. All creation
rejoiceth in
thee, O thou who art full of grace.
Glory to thee!