26th
Sunday After Pentecost / Afterfeast of the Entry / GM Catherine
Beatitude Verses: Octoechos: 4; Afterfeast: 4 from Ode 7; Martyr: 4, from Ode 6.
1. Through food did the enemy lead Adam forth
from paradise; but by the Cross hath
Christ
led back to it the thief who cried:
Remember me when Thou comest in Thy
kingdom!
2. With Adam and the thief I worship Thy
sufferings and glorify Thy resurrection; and I
cry out with a splendid voice: Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest in Thy
kingdom!
3. O Sinless One, of Thine own will Thou wast crucified and placed in the Tomb, yet
Thou
didst arise as God, raising up with Thyself Adam who
crieth out: Remember me
when Thou comest in Thy kingdom!
4. Raising up the temple of Thy body by Thy
resurrection on the third day, O Christ God,
Thou
didst raise up Adam and his descendants who cry:
Remember me when Thou
comest in Thy kingdom!
5. Lo, today a joyous spring hath dawned upon
the ends of the earth, enlightening our
souls, thoughts and minds with grace: the festival of the
Theotokos. Let us mystically
feast this day!
6. Let all things — heaven and earth, the ranks
of angels and the multitude of men —
bear gifts today unto the Queen and Mother of God; and
let them cry out: Our joy and
deliverance is brought to the Temple!
7. O ye who love the
feasts of the Church, let us join chorus and hymn the pure Mistress,
honoring Joachim and Anna as is meet.
8. Prophesy, O David, giving utterance in the
Spirit: The virgins that follow after thee
shall be brought to thee into the temple of the Queen and
Mother.
9. Beholding thee all resplendent in the
radiance and beauty of virginity and empurpled
in the blood of thy martyrdom, O maiden, the good and
all-pure Word caused thee to
dwell in the mansions of heaven.
10. By the Cross wast thou able to overthrow the
dominion of the tyrants, denouncing the
vanity of earthly wisdom and pouring forth dogmas of divinely
inspired teaching, O most
wise and ever-memorable Catherine.
11. Mightily enduring the pain of thy wounds, O
most glorious martyr, thou didst cast
down to the ground him who of old drove Adam from the
sweetness of paradise through
deceit, and thou hast been crowned with the crowns of the
kingship.
12. By thine entreaties, O Mother, Virgin
Theotokos, make thy Son and our Judge, Who
delivereth us from evil circumstances, to be merciful unto me
on the day of judgment, for
in thee alone do I place my trust.
Troparia
Tone 1: When
the stone had been sealed by the Jews, /
And the soldiers were
guarding Thine immaculate Body, /
Thou didst arise on the
third day, O Savior, /
granting life unto the world. /
Wherefore, the Hosts of
the Heavens cried out to Thee, O Life-giver: /
Glory to
Thy Resurrection, O Christ. /
Glory to
Thy kingdom. //
Glory to
Thy dispensation, O only Lover of mankind.
[Troparion of
the Temple]
Tone 4: With thy virtues, as with the rays of the
sun, /
thou
didst enlighten the unbelieving philosophers; /
and,
like the most radiant moon shining on those who walk at night, /
thou
didst drive away the darkness of unbelief. /
Thou didst bring the
empress to faith /
and
didst denounce the tyrant, O divinely elect bride. /
O blessed Catherine,
with desire didst thou make haste to the heavenly bridal chamber, /
to
Christ the most comely Bridegroom, /
and
by Him hast thou been crowned with a royal crown. /
Standing with the
angels before Him, //
do
thou pray for us who keep thy most honored memory.
Both now… Tone 4: Today is the prelude of God’s good will /
and the heralding of the salvation of mankind. /
In the
and she proclaimeth Christ unto all. /
To her, then, with a great
voice let us cry aloud: /
Rejoice, O thou fulfillment
//
of the Creator’s dispensation.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 1st Tone: Let Thy mercy, O
Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee.
Choir: Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according
as we have hoped in Thee.
Reader: Rejoice
in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the
upright.
Choir: Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according
as we have hoped in Thee.
Reader: The
Prokimenon in the 4th Tone: Wondrous is God in His saints, the God of
Israel.
Choir: Wondrous is God in His saints, the God of
Israel.
Reader: The
Reading is from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Ephesians:
[Eph. 5:9-19 (§229); Eph. 6:10-17 (§ 233)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 1st Tone: O God who givest avengement unto me and hast subdued people under me.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: It is
He that magnifieth the salvation of His king and worketh mercy for His
anointed, for David and for His seed unto eternity.
Choir: Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: In the 1st Tone: The righteous cried, and the Lord heard
them, and He delivered
them out of all their tribulations.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Luke 13:10-17 (§71); Luke 21:12-19
(§106)]
Kontakia
Tone 1: As
God, Thou didst arise from the tomb in glory, /
and Thou didst raise the world together with Thyself. /
And mortal nature praiseth
Thee as God, /
and death hath vanished. /
And Adam danceth, O
Master, /
and Eve, now freed from fetters, rejoiceth as she crieth
out: /
Thou art He, O Christ, //
that grantest unto all resurrection.
[Kontakion of the
Tone 2: O ye who love
the martyrs, /
raise up an honored chorus in godly manner, /
honoring the most wise Catherine; /
for in the arena she preached Christ /
and trod upon the serpent, //
putting down the knowledge of the rhetors.
Both
now... Tone 4:
The most pure temple of the Savior, /
the most precious bridal-chamber and
Virgin, /
the sacred treasury of the glory of God,
/
is on this day brought into the house
of the Lord, /
bringing with her the grace that is in the
Divine Spirit. /
And the angels of God chant
praise unto her: //
she is the heavenly tabernacle.
Instead
of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the
First Canon of
the
feast, Fourth Tone:
Refrain: The angels beholding the entry of the most
pure one /
were struck with wonder, //
seeing how the Virgin entered into the Holy of
Holies.
Irmos: Let no profane hand touch the living Ark of
God, /
but let the lips of the faithful, chanting
unceasingly /
the words of the angel to the Theotokos, /
cry out with joy: //
Truly art thou
high above all, O pure Virgin.