Fourth Sunday of Great Lent / St. John Climacus / Tone 7
Beatitudes on 8, from the Octoechos.
1. The fruit which slew me was beautiful and good to eat; but Christ is the Tree of life, and eating of Him I do not die, but cry out with the thief: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy
kingdom!
2. O Compassionate One, Who wast lifted up upon the Cross, Thou hast erased the record of Adam’s ancient sin, and hast saved the whole human race from deception.
Wherefore, we hymn Thee, O Lord and Benefactor. 3. Thou didst nail our sins to the Cross, O compassionate Christ, and by Thy death Thou didst slay death, O Thou who didst raise up the dead from among the dead. Wherefore,
we worship Thy holy resurrection.
4. The serpent once poured its venom into the ears of Eve; but on the tree of the Cross, Christ poured forth the sweetness of life upon the world. Wherefore, we cry out: Remember us, O Lord, in Thy kingdom! 5. Thou wast laid in the tomb as one dead, O Christ, Thou Life of all; and Thou didst break down the gates of hades; and having risen again in glory on the third day as One
mighty, Thou hast illumined all. Glory to Thine arising!
6. Having risen from the dead on the third day, the Lord bestowed His peace upon His disciples; and having blessed them, He sent them forth saying: Lead all into My
kingdom!
7. The Father is light; the Son and Word is light; and the Holy Spirit is light. Yet the Three are one Light, for they are one God in three Persons, One in nature and origin, indivisible, unconfused and preeternal.
8. For our sake thou gavest birth in the flesh to the Son and Word of the Father, as thou thyself hast declared, O Theotokos. Wherefore, O Virgin Mother, we who are deified
through thee cry out to thee: Rejoice, O hope of Christians!
Troparia Tone 7: Thou didst destroy death by Thy Cross, /
Thou didst open paradise to the thief. /Thou didst change the lamentation of the Myrrh-bearers, /and Thou didst command Thine Apostles to proclaim /
that Thou didst arise, O Christ God, //
and grantest to the world great mercy.
[Troparion of the Temple Glory… Tone 1: O John our father, saint of
God, /
thou wast revealed as a citizen of the desert, /
an
angel in a body and a worker of miracles.
/
Through
fasting, prayer and vigils thou hast received heavenly gifts of grace, /
and
thou healest the sick and the souls of those that turn to thee with faith. /
Glory
to Him who gave thee strength; /
glory to Him who crowned thee; //
glory to Him who through thee grants to all men healing.
Both now… Tone 1: When Gabriel announced to thee, “Rejoice!”, O Virgin, /
the Master of all became incarnate within thee, the holy
tabernacle, at his cry, /
as the righteous David said. /
Thou wast shown to be more spacious than the heavens, /
having borne thy Creator. /
Glory to Him Who made His abode within thee! /
Glory to Him Who came forth from thee! //
Glory to Him Who hath set us free by thy birthgiving.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 7th Tone: The Lord will give strength unto His people;
the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Choir: The
Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with
peace.
Reader: Bring
unto the Lord, ye sons of God, bring unto the Lord the sons of rams.
Choir: The
Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with
peace.
Reader: In the Same
Tone: The saints shall boast in
glory and they shall rejoice upon
their beds.
Choir: The saints shall boast in glory and they
shall rejoice upon their beds.
Reader: The
[Hebrews
6:13-20 (§314); Ephesians 5:9-19 (§229)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 7th Tone. It is good to give praise unto the Lord, and
to chant unto Thy name, O Most High.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: To proclaim in the morning Thy mercy, and Thy truth by night.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: In the 2nd
Tone: They that are planted in the house of the Lord, in the
courts of our God they shall blossom forth.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Mark 9:17-31 (§40); Matthew 4:25-5:12
(§10)]
Kontakia
Tone 7: No longer will the dominion of death be able
to keep men captive; /
for Christ hath descended, demolishing and destroying the
powers thereof. /
Hades is bound; /
the prophets rejoice with one voice, saying: /
A Savior hath come for
them that have faith. //
Come forth, ye faithful,
for the Resurrection.
[Kontakion of the
Glory… Tone 4:
Truly the Lord hath set thee as a fixed star in the firmament of abstinence, /giving light to the ends of the earth, //
O father John our teacher.
Both now... Tone 6:
O protection of Christians
that cannot be put to shame, /
O mediation unto the
creator unfailing, /
disdain not the suppliant voices of sinners, /
but be thou quick, O good one, to help us who in faith
cry unto thee; /
hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication,
//
thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor
thee.
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!