Third Sunday of Great Lent / Holy Cross / Forty Martyrs/ Tone 7
Beatitudes: 4 from the Octoechos; 4 from Ode 3 of the Triodion; 4 from Ode 6 of the Martyrs:

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. O come, let us sing a new song, celebrating the overthrow of hell, for Christ hath risen

from the tomb; death He hath taken captive, and saved all the world.

6. O come, ye faithful, and let us drink, not from a well of earthly water that perishes, but

from the fountain of light, as we venerate the Cross of Christ: for His Cross is our glory.

7. When now we venerate Thy Cross, which Moses once prefigured with his outstretched

arms, we put to flight the invisible Amalek, O Christ our Master, and so we gain

salvation.

8. O ye faithful, with pure eyes and lips let us venerate in joy the Cross of the Lord,

singing a song of exultation.

9. With joy the author of enmity snatched him that fell away from the forty as he had the

wretched Judas from the twelve apostles and man from Eden.

10. Being shameless, the devil rageth in vain, for as of old by the thief and Matthias, so

now by one in the office of guardsman is the tyrant also rent asunder.

11. O mighty ones, ye have been shown to be watchful and vigilant preservers of the

human race and ones who offer up supplications; and ye have been set forth as helpers of the grieving.

12. On thee have I placed my hope of salvation, O Ever-virgin Mother; and Thee have I

appointed as the steadfast and unshaken intercessor of my life.

Troparia & Kontakia

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.

Tone 1: O Lord, save Thy people/

and bless Thine inheritance. /

Grant Thou victory unto Orthodox Christians /

over their enemies, /

and by the power of Thy Cross //

do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.

Tone 1: By the pangs of Thy saints, /

be Thou entreated, O Lord, /

and heal all our diseases, we beseech Thee, //

O Thou Who lovest mankind.

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.

Glory… Tone 6: Having left every military array of the world, /

ye cleaved unto the Master in the heavens, /

O forty passion-bearers of the Lord; /

for, having passed through fire and water, O blessed ones, /

as is meet ye received glory from the heavens //

and a multitude of crowns.

Both now… Tone 7:

No longer doth the flaming sword guard the gate of Eden, /

for a strange extinction hath come upon it, even the Tree of the Cross. /

The sting hath been taken from death, /

and the victory from hades. /

And Thou, my Savior, didst appear unto those in hades, saying: //

Enter ye again into Paradise.

 
Instead of the Trisagion:  
 Before Thy Cross we bow down, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we 
glorify. 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. And Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.
 Before Thy Cross we bow down, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we 
glorify.
 

The Epistle

Reader: The Prokimenon in the 6th Tone: Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine

inheritance.

Choir: Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.

Reader: Unto Thee, O Lord, Will I cry; O my God, be not silent unto me.

Choir: Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.

Reader: In the 5th Tone: Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us and shalt preserve us from this

generation and for evermore.

Choir: Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us and shalt preserve us from this generation and for

evermore.

Reader: The Reading is from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews:

[Hebrews 4:14-5:6 & Hebrews 12:1-10]

Reader: Alleluia in the 8th Tone: Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast

purchased from the beginning.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: But God is our king before the ages, He hath wrought salvation in the midst of

the earth.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: In the 4^th Tone: Shout with jubilation unto the Lord all the earth; chant ye unto

His name, give glory in praise of Him.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Gospel [Mark 8:34-9:1 & Matthew 20:1-16]

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!

Communion Verse: The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath been signed upon us.

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!