Sunday of the Prodigal Son / Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord / Tone 6 

Beatitudes on 12: Octoechos 4; Triodion 4, from Ode 6; Feast 4, from Ode 7.

 

1.  We offer Thee the cry of the thief, and we pray: Remember us in Thy kingdom, O Savior.

 

2.  For the forgiveness of transgressions we offer unto Thee the Cross which Thou didst accept for our sake, O Thou who lovest mankind.

 

3. We bow down in worship, O Master, before Thy burial and rising, whereby Thou hast delivered the world from corruption, O Thou Who lovest mankind.

 

4. By Thy death hath death been slain, O Lord, and by Thy resurrection hast Thou saved the world, O Savior.

 

5.  The depth of sin ever holds me fast, and the tempest of transgressions overwhelms me. Pilot me, O Christ my God, to the haven of life and save me, King of glory.

 

6.  I have wasted in evil living the riches which the Father gave me, and now am brought to poverty.  I am filled with shame and enslaved to fruitless thoughts.  Therefore I cry to Thee who lovest mankind: Take pity on me and save me.

 

7.  I am wasted with hunger, deprived of every blessing, and an exile from Thy presence, O Christ supreme in loving-kindness.  Take pity on me as I now return, and save me as I sing the praises of Thy love for mankind.

 

8.  O Maiden who hast conceived Christ the Savior and Master, though in my poverty I lack all good, count me worthy of salvation, O pure Virgin, that I may sing the praises of thy majesty.

 

9 & 10. I go to announce the glad tidings unto Adam who dwelleth in hades and unto Eve, cried Symeon, joining chorus with the prophets, singing:  Blessed is the God of our fathers!

 

11.  God Who doth deliver the mortal race shall go even unto hades; He shall grant remission to all, sight to the blind, and even the mute shall chant:  Blessed is the God of our fathers!

 

12.  And Symeon foretold to the Virgin:  A sword shall pierce thy heart, O incorrupt one, beholding thy Son upon the Cross, to Whom we cry out:  Blessed is the God of our fathers!

 

Troparia & Kontakia

 

Tone 2:  When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, /
then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. /
And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, /
all the Hosts of the heavens cried out: //
O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.

 

Tone 1:  Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, O Virgin Theotokos, /

for from thee hath risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, /

enlightening those in darkness. /

Rejoice, thou also, O righteous Elder, /

as thou receivest in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls, //

Who also granteth unto us the Resurrection.

 

Glory...  Tone 3:  Having foolishly abandoned Thy paternal glory, /

I squandered on vices the wealth which Thou gavest me. /

Wherefore, I cry unto Thee with the voice of the Prodigal: /

I have sinned before Thee, O compassionate Father. /

Receive me as one repentant, //

and make me as one of Thy hired servants.

 

Both now... Tone 1: 

Thou Who didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb by Thy birth, /

and didst bless Symeon’s hands as was meet, /

by anticipation didst even now save us, O Christ God. /

But grant peace in the midst of wars unto Thy commonwealth, /

and strengthen Orthodox Christians //

whom Thou hast loved, O only Lover of mankind.

 

The Epistle

 

Reader: The Prokimenon in the 2nd Tone:  The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation.

Choir:  The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation.

Reader:  With chastisement hath the Lord chastened me, but He hath not given me over unto death.

Choir:  The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation.

Reader:  The Lord is my strength and my song.

Choir:  And He is become my salvation.

 

Reader: The Reading is from the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians:  [1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (§135)]

 

Reader: Alleluia in the 2nd Tone

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader:  The Lord hear thee in the day of affliction; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reader:  O Lord, save the king, and hearken unto us in the day when we call upon Thee.

Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

Gospel [Luke 15:11-32 (§79)]

 

Instead of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of the 9th Ode of the Canon of the feast, Third Tone:

 

Refrain:  O Virgin Theotokos, thou hope of Christians: //

Do thou protect, preserve, and save those that hope in thee.

 

Irmos:  In the shadow and the letter of the Law, /

let us, the faithful, discern a figure: /

every male child that opens the womb /

shall be sanctified to God.  /

Therefore do we magnify the firstborn Word and Son of the Father without beginning, /

the firstborn Child of a Mother //

who hath not known a man.

 

Communion Verse: Praise the Lord in the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Alleluia! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 

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