Fourth Sunday of Great Lent / 40 Martyrs of Sebaste / Tone 8
Beatitudes on 10: Octoechos 6; Martyrs 4, from Ode 3.
1. Remember us, O Christ, Thou Savior of the world, as Thou didst remember the thief upon the Cross; and account us all worthy of Thy heavenly kingdom, O Thou Who alone art compassionate.
2. Hearken, O Adam, and rejoice with Eve; for he who of old stripped you both naked, and by deception hath taken all of us captive, hath been set at nought by the Cross of Christ.
3. Nailed of Thine own will to the Tree, O our Savior, Thou didst deliver Adam from the curse which came through the tree, and hast rewarded that which is in Thine image with a dwelling in paradise, in that Thou art compassionate.
4. Today is Christ risen from the tomb, granting incorruption unto all the faithful; and He reneweth the joy of the myrrh-bearing women after His suffering and resurrection.
5. Rejoice, O wise myrrh-bearing women, who were first to behold the resurrection of Christ, and who proclaimed to the apostles the glad tidings of the restoration of the whole world!
6. O ye apostles, who are manifestly the friends of Christ and are to be enthroned with Him in glory: entreat Him with boldness, that He intercede for us, for ye are His disciples.
7. Disdaining the army and life, the comeliness of their bodies and wealth, the right glorious forty martyrs inherited Christ instead of all these things.
8. When the forty martyrs were beaten mercilessly with stones at the command of the tormentors, through the Spirit of God the stones were hurled back against them that commanded that they be beaten.
9. O ye martyred company and united chorus of crowned martyrs: standing before the Master, do ye ever save us that sing your praises.
10. O Virgin Bride of God: be thou the confirmation, refuge and protection of them that have recourse unto thee in faith and confess thee to be the Mother of God.
Troparia & Kontakia
Tone 8: From on high didst Thou descend, O compassionate One; /
to burial of three days hast Thou submitted /
that Thou mightest free us from our passions. //
O our Life and Resurrection, O Lord, glory be to Thee.
[Troparion of the Temple]
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 8: Having risen from the tomb, Thou didst raise up the dead and didst resurrect Adam. /
Eve also danceth at Thy Resurrection, //
and the ends of the world celebrate Thine arising from the dead, O Greatly-merciful one.
[Kontakion of the Temple]
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 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.
The Epistle
Reader: The Prokimenon in the 8th Tone: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God.
Choir: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God.
Reader: In Judea is God known, His name is great in Israel.
Choir: Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God.
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:
[Heb. 6:13-20 (§314); Heb. 12:1-10 (§331)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 8th Tone: Come let us rejoice in the Lord, let us shout with jubilation unto God our Savior.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: Let us come before His countenance with thanksgiving, and with psalms let us shout in jubilation unto Him.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: In the 4th 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 9:17-31 (§40); Matt. 20:1-16 (§80)]
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: Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!