The Sunday of the Holy Fathers / Tone 6
Beatitude
Verses: Octoechos: 4; Feast Ode IV: 4; Fathers Ode VI: 4
1. Remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom, O God my Savior, and save me, for Thou alone lovest mankind.
2. By a tree was Adam deceived; yet again by the Tree of the Cross was the thief saved, who cried out: Remember me in Thy kingdom, O Lord!
3. O Bestower of life, Who hadst broken down the gates and portals of hades, Thou hast saved all who cry out to Thee, O Savior: Glory to Thine arising!
4. O Thou Who by Thy burial hast made death captive, and by Thy resurrection hast filled all with joy: remember me, in that Thou art compassionate.
5. & 6. Thou wast taken up in glory, O King of the Angels, that Thou mightest send us the Comforter from the Father. Wherefore we cry: Glory to Thine Ascension, O Christ.
7. As the Savior ascended in the flesh unto the Father, the arrays of the Angels were astonished at Him and cried: Glory to Thine Ascension, O Christ.
8. The hosts of the Angels cried unto those above: Lift up the gates for Christ our King; Him do we praise together with the Father and the Spirit.
9. The sower of tares, who was called the namesake of madness, was not able to escape the unspeakable judgment of providence; for having zealously emulated Judas, he, the most evil one, was rent asunder like him.
10. The divine and august assembly of the Fathers doth proclaim Thee as the Only-begotten Effulgence that shone forth from the essence of the Father, and as the Son Who was begotten before all ages, O Master.
11. In a most providential manner, by the prayers of the God-inspired priests, literally rent asunder were those bowels, even that source that gushed forth the turbid and undrinkable water of impious heresies.
12. Moses, great among the Prophets, symbolically wrote aforetime concerning thee as an ark, and table, and lamp, and an urn, signifying the incarnation of the Most High that took place in thee, O Virgin Mother.
Troparia and Kontakia
Tone 6. Angelic hosts were above
Thy tomb,
and
they that guarded Thee became as dead.
And
Mary stood by the grave seeking Thine immaculate body.
Thou
didst meet the Virgin and didst grant us life.
//
O
Thou Who didst rise from the dead, O Lord, glory be to Thee.
Tone
4: Thou
hast ascended in glory, O Christ our God, /
having
gladdened Thy disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit; /
and
they were assured by the blessing /
that
Thou art the Son of God, //
the
Redeemer of the world.
Tone
8: Most glorified art Thou, O Christ our God, /
Who
hast established our holy fathers as luminous stars upon the earth, /
and
through them didst guide us all to the true Faith. //
O
Most merciful One, glory be to Thee.
Glory... Tone 8:
The
preaching of the apostles and the doctrines of the fathers confirmed the one
Faith of the Church. /
And
wearing the garment of truth, woven from the theology on high, //
She
rightly divideth and glorifieth the great mystery of piety.
Both
now... Tone 6:
When
Thou didst fulfill Thy dispensation for our sake, /
uniting
things on earth with the heavens, /
Thou
didst ascend in glory, O Christ our God, /
departing
not hence, but remaining inseparable from us, /
and
crying unto them that love Thee: //
I
am with you, and no one shall be against you.
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 Reading is from the Acts of the Holy Apostles:
[Acts 20:16-18,28-36]
Reader:
Alleluia in the 1st Tone:
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and
He hath called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the setting thereof.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: Gather together unto Him his holy ones
who have established His covenant upon sacrifices.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [John 17:1-13]
Instead
of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the First
Canon of the feast, Fifth Tone:
Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, /
Christ the giver of life, //
Who ascended from earth to Heaven.
Irmos: O thou who art God’s
Mother transcending mind and word, /
who ineffably in time gavest birth
unto the Timeless One, /
thee do we the faithful //
magnify with one accord
Communion
Verse:
Praise the Lord in the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise
is meet for the upright. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Instead of “We have seen the true light…” we sing the
Troparion of the Feast of Ascension.