Bright Saturday
Deacon: Bless, master!
Priest: Blessed is the kingdom…
Choir:
Amen.
And the clergy sing:
Christ
is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the
tombs
bestowing life. Thrice
And then choir also sings the
Troparion thrice.
The
Priest reads the stichoi, and the choir sings the
troparion after each
stichos:
Stichos
1: Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate
Him flee
from before His face.
Choir:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down
death by death, and upon
those in
the tombs bestowing life.
Stichos
2: As
smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish, as wax melteth before the \
fire.
Choir: Repeat Troparion
Stichos 3: So let the sinners perish at the presence of
God, and let the righteous
be glad.
Choir: Repeat Troparion
Stichos 4: This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice
and be glad
therein.
Priest: Glory
to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Choir: Repeat Troparion
Priest: Both
now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.
Amen.
Choir: Repeat Troparion
Priest: Christ is risen from the
dead, trampling down death by death.
Choir: And upon
those in the tombs bestowing life.
Then, in place of the usual
antiphons, we sing those of the feast:
The
First Antiphon
Stichos 1: Shout
with jubilation unto the Lord all the earth; chant ye unto His
name, give
glory in praise of Him.
Refrain: Through
the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us.
Stichos 2: Say unto God: How awesome are Thy
works! In the multitude of Thy
power shall
Thine enemies be proved false unto Thee.
Refrain: Through
the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us.
Stichos 3: Let all the earth worship Thee and chant
unto Thee; let them chant
unto Thy
name, O Most High.
Refrain: Through
the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us.
Glory
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and
unto the
ages of ages. Amen.
Refrain: Through
the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us.
The
Second Antiphon
Stichos 1: God be gracious unto us and bless us, and
cause Thy face to shine
upon us and
have mercy on us.
Refrain: O Son
of God Who didst rise from the dead, save us who sing to Thee:
Alleluia.
Stichos 2: That we
may know upon the earth Thy way, among all the nations Thy
salvation.
Refrain. O Son of God Who didst rise
from the dead, save us who sing to Thee:
Alleluia.
Stichos 3: Let all
the peoples give Thee praise, O God, let all the peoples praise
Thee.
Refrain: O Son
of God Who didst rise from the dead, save us who sing to Thee:
Alleluia.
Glory
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and
unto the ages
of ages. Amen.
O only-begotten Son and Word of God, Who art
immortal, yet didst deign for our
salvation to be incarnate of the Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and
without
change didst become man, and was crucified, O Christ God, trampling down
death by
death. Thou Who
art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, save us.
The
Third Antiphon
Reader:
Stichos 1: Let God arise and let His
enemies be scattered, and let them that
hate Him
flee from before His face.
Choir:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down
death by death, and upon
those in
the tombs bestowing life.
Stichos
2: As
smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish, as wax melteth before the
fire.
Choir: Repeat Troparion
Stichos 3: So let the sinners perish at the presence of
God, and let the righteous
be glad,
let them rejoice in the presence of God
Choir: Repeat Troparion
The
entry verse:
In congregations bless ye God,
the Lord from the wellsprings of Israel.
Then
we sing the Troparion, Hypakoe, and Kontakion of the Feast:
Tone 1: Christ is
risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in
the tombs
bestowing life.
Glory…
Tone 8: Forestalling the dawn, the women
came with Mary, /
and found the
stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and heard from
the angel: /
Why seek ye among the dead, as
though He were mortal, Him Who liveth in everlasting
light? /
Behold the grave-clothes. Go quickly and proclaim to the world that the
Lord is risen and hath slain death. //
For He is the Son of God Who saveth mankind.
Both now… Tone 8: Thou didst descend into
the tomb, O Immortal, /
Thou didst destroy the
power of death. /
In victory didst Thou
arise, O Christ God, /
proclaiming
“Rejoice!” to the myrrh-bearing women; /
granting
peace to Thine apostles, //
and
bestowing resurrection on the fallen.
Instead
of the Trisagion: As many
as have been baptized into Christ have
put on
Christ. Alleluia. Thrice.
Glory
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now
and ever,
and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Have put on Christ. Alleluia.
As
many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Alleluia.
The Epistle
Reader: The
Prokimenon in the 3rd Tone: The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom
then shall I fear
Choir: The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom then shall I fear.
Reader: The
Lord is the defender of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
Choir: The Lord is my light and my Savior; whom then shall
I fear.
Reader. The Lord is my light and my Savior.
Choir: whom then shall I fear.
Reader: The Reading is from the Acts of the Holy
Apostles:
[Acts
3:11-16 §8]
Reader: Alleluia
in the 5th Tone.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: The Lord is King, He is clothed with
majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength
and He hath girt Himself.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: For He hath established the world which
shall not be shaken.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [John 3:22-33 §11]
Instead of “It is truly
meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the
Canon of the feast,
first Tone:
Refrain: The angel cried unto her that is full of
grace: Rejoice, O pure Virgin!
And again I say, rejoice!
For thy Son is risen from the grave on the third day, and hath
raised the dead, O ye people, be joyful!
Irmos: Shine, shine, O new
Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee; dance now and be glad, O Zion, and do thou exult, O pure Theotokos,
in the arising
of Him Whom thou didst bear.
Communion Verse:
Receive ye the Body of Christ, taste ye of the Fountain of
Immortality.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
When the priest
says: “With the fear of God and with faith draw near,” instead of
“Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,” we sing:
“Christ is risen…” once.
And we also sing this instead of “We have seen the true light…”
and instead of “Let our
mouths be filled with
thy praise…”
When the priest
says: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you…” The Choir sings
“Amen.” And then the clergy sing: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death
by death.” And the Choir sings: “And upon those in the
tombs bestowing life.”
After this the
priest says the dismissal, and “Christ is risen!” thrice, while
bestowing a blessing with
the Cross.