30th Sunday After Pentecost /
Sunday of the Holy Fathers / Forefeast of Nativity
Beatitudes Verses: 4 from the Octoechos; 4 from Ode 3 of the Fathers; 4 from Ode 6 of the Forefeast
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. Faithfully preserving the glory of the image and likeness of God, with the fire of the
Spirit the children, as champions, extinguished the fire of the golden image, chanting: We
know but one Lord!
6. The captive children, clothed with the wisdom and power of the Spirit, put to shame
the wise men of Babylon and boldly cried out: None is holy save Thee, O Lord Who
lovest mankind!
7. The law doth rejoice and joineth chorus with the children and the prophets and doth
exult today before the divine advent of the Lord. And Abraham doth rejoice, for from his
seed hath the incarnate Lord appeared.
8. A conception without pain, an acceptance of thy birthgiving hath transpired in
manner beyond recounting, O Theotokos, for the Word of God, Who is God and was
proclaimed by the prophets, hath shown Himself to be a mystery beyond nature.
9 & 10. O Mistress, as a new heaven thou dost come, that Christ, the Sun of
glory, might
shine
forth in the flesh from thy womb, as through a cloud, in the cave; for, in His
boundless loving-kindness, He desireth splendidly to illumine all who are of this
earth
with
rays of His own light.
11. Thou didst perceive our infirmity and misery,
O compassionate Christ, and didst not
disdain
us; but, without leaving the Father, Thou didst abase Thyself and make Thine
abode
in the womb of her who knew not wedlock, who now cometh forth to give birth
unto
Thee, without pain, in the cave.
12. Ye mountains and hills, fields and vales,
people and generations, nations and every
creature:
exult, filled with divine gladness, for the deliverance of all, the Word of
God,
the
Timeless One, Who in His loving-kindness hath come under time, doth come with
haste.
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 2: Great are the achievements of faith! /
In the
fountain of flame, as in refreshing water, /
the Three Holy
Children rejoiced. /
And the
prophet Daniel proved a shepherd of lions as of sheep. //
By their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.
Both now… Tone 4: Make
ready, O
Prepare, O Ephratha, /
for the Tree of life hath blossomed in the cave from the Virgin. /
For her womb proved to be a spiritual paradise /
wherefrom there came the Divine Plant, /
whereof eating we shall live and not die like Adam. /
Christ is born //
to raise the image that fell of old.
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: Blessed art Thou, O
Lord, the God of our fathers.
Choir: And praised and
glorified is Thy name unto the ages.
Reader:
The
[Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40
(§328)]
Reader: Alleluia
in the 4th Tone:
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: O
God, with our ears have we heard, for our fathers have told us.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: Thou hast saved us from them that afflict us, and them that hate us hast Thou put
to shame.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Matthew 1:1-25
(§1)]
Kontakia
Glory…
Tone 1:
Rejoice, O
Ephratha,
make ready! /
for behold, the Ewe
hasteneth to give birth unto the Great Shepherd /
Whom she carrieth in her womb. /
And
seeing Him, the God-bearing Fathers rejoice, //
and with the shepherds praise the Virgin who giveth milk.
Both now… Tone 3: Today the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth ineffably /
to the Word Who was before the ages. /
Dance, O earth, at the message! /
Give glory with the angels and shepherds /
unto Him Who was willing to be gazed upon as a young child //
and is pre-eternal God.