15th Sunday after Pentecost / Martyr Sozon / Forefeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos

Beatitudes on 12: Octoechos: 4; Forefeast: 4, from Ode 3; Martyr: 4, from Ode 6.

 

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.  A fertile land is born of a barren land, bearing as fruit the Husbandman of all good things, the life-bearing Grain Who nourisheth all by His divine gesture.

 

6.  Today hath the rod of virginity sprouted forth, from whence our God, the Gardener, doth blossom forth as a flower, cutting down the branches of wickedness by His extreme beauty.

 

7 & 8.  Lo! the mountain unquarried, which arose from a barren rock, produceth the noetically quarried Stone, Who crusheth the falsehood of all graven idols.

 

9.  Desiring to be slain as an unblemished sacrifice, for the sake of God’s love, thou didst offer thyself up on His altar.  Wherefore, we piously honor thee, O all-lauded one.

 

10.  Having sailed over the deep of deception without foundering, thou didst attain unto the haven of the kingdom on high, O blessed martyr, enjoying everlasting calm.

 

11.  The tormentor pitilessly raked thy sides with claws of iron; but thou didst gloriously commit thy spirit into the hands of God, O ever-memorable and most blessed one.

 

12.  O wonder more recent than all wonders!  The Virgin, having conceived in her womb, without knowing man, Him Who sustaineth all things, did not confine Him.

 

Troparia & 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 despoil hades and wast not tempted by it. /

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: Mary, the divine Maiden, is born unto us today /

from the root of Jesse and the loins of David; /

and all things rejoice and are made new through joy.  /

Rejoice together, O heaven and earth!  /

Praise her, ye lands of the gentiles!  /

Joachim maketh glad, and Anna holdeth festival, crying aloud: //

A barren woman giveth birth to the Theotokos, the Nourisher of our Life!

 

[Troparion of the Temple]

 

Tone 4:  In his sufferings O Lord, /

Thy martyr Sozon hath received an imperishable crown from Thee, our God; /

for, possessed of Thy might, /

he set at nought his tormentors and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons.  //

By his supplications save Thou our souls.

 

Tone 6:

Having by His life bestowing hand raised up all the dead out of the dark abysses, /

Christ God, the Giver of life, hath bestowed the Resurrection upon the fallen human race; /

for He is the Savior of all, //

the Resurrection, and the Life, and the God of all.

 

[Kontakion of the Temple]

 

Glory...  Tone 2:  Assembling today, with a loud voice let us praise Sozon, /

the true and divinely wise martyr, the skilled athlete of piety, /

the initiate of the mysteries of grace, /

the most generous bestower of healings: //

for he entreateth Christ God in behalf of us all.

 

Both now... Tone 3: Today Mary, the Virgin and Theotokos, /

the boundless chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom, is born!  /

From a barren woman, by the counsel of God, /

the chariot of the Word is rightly adorned; //

for she was foretold as the divine portal and Mother of life.

 

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 7th Tone: The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in

Him.

Choir:  The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.

 

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

[Gal. 6:11-18 (§215); II Cor. 4:6-15 (§176); Eph. 6:10-17 (§233)]

 

Reader: Alleluia in the 1st Tone: I have raised up one chosen out of my people; with my

holy oil have I anointed him.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader: For My hand shall be unto Him an ally, and Mine arm shall strengthen him.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader:  In the 4th Tone:  The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and He

delivered them out of all their tribulations.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

Gospel [John 3:13-17 (§9); Matt. 22:35-46 (§92); John 15:17-16:2 (§52)]

 

Communion Verse:  Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

 

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