Presanctified Liturgy:
Wednesday in the 1st Week
St. Theophylact
the Confessor
Tone
8:
While
fasting with the body, brethren, let us also fast in spirit. /
Let
us loose every bond iniquity; /
let
us undo the knots of every contract made by violence; /
let
us tear up all unjust agreements; /
let
us give bread to the hungry /
and
welcome to our house the poor who have no roof to cover them, //
that
we may receive great mercy from Christ our God. (Twice)
If
there be any virtue and if there be any praise, /
rightly
are these things ascribed to the saints. /
They
bowed their necks beneath the sword, /
for
Thy sake who hast bowed the heavens and come down. /
They
shed their blood for Thee, /
who
hast emptied Thyself and taken the form of a servant; /
they
humbled themselves even unto death, /
following
the example of Thy poverty. /
At
their prayers have mercy upon us, O God, //
according
to the multitude of Thy tender mercies.
Tone
2:
Jesus,
the true spiritual Sun, /
sent
you out as lightning into all the world, /
and
by the brightness of your divine preaching. /
O
ye apostles and eyewitnesses of God, /
He
has dispersed the darkness of error /
and
given light to those held fast in the evil gloom of ignorance. /
Entreat
Him to send down upon us also //
His
illumination and great mercy.
Elijah,
glorified by fasting, /
rode
in the divine chariot of the virtues /
and
was carried up to the height of heaven. /
Eagerly
follow his example, O my humble soul, /
and
fast from every evil, /
from
envy, strife and passing pleasure. /
So
shalt thou escape the harsh and everlasting agony of Gehenna, /
crying
out to Christ: //
Glory
be to Thee, O Lord.
Tone
5:
Apostles
of God, fervent intercessors for the world, /
defenders
of the Orthodox, /
ye
who have the power to draw near with boldness unto Christ our God: /
we
beseech you, intercede on our behalf, /
that
unhindered we may keep the holy season of the Fast /
and
receive the grace of the consubstantial Trinity. /
O
great and glorious preachers, //
worthy
of all reverence, pray for our souls.
Tone
1 (to the special melody “O all-praised martyrs…”):
Watched
over by divine guardians, /
thou
wast preserved unharmed, O father Theophylact;
/
and
thou didst show thyself to be an unshaken pillar of the Church, /
undaunted
by the trials of the snares of the heretics. /
And
now do thou pray, //
that
peace and great mercy be granted to our souls. Twice
O
blessed father Theophylact, /
beholding
God accessibly and visibly, /
and
delighting in Him through a higher union, /
and
deified by this communion, /
rejoicing,
thou didst receive the Blessed One Whom alone thou didst desire,/
O
most honored hierarch, //
making
thine abode now with the angels.
Having
departed the earth, O father Theophylact, /
thou
didst soar aloft to heaven, O blessed one, /
and
wast vouchsafed to live in the heavenly mansions, /
because
of the persecution which thou didst endure for Christ. /
Him
do thou now beseech, //
that
He grant peace and great mercy to our souls.
Glory...
Now and ever... Same Tone and Melody:
Heal
thou my soul which hath been grievously afflicted by evil passions, /
O
all-holy one who gavest birth unto Christ, /
the
Healer and Savior of all, /
Who
hath healed every wound inflicted by the devil’s malice, //
and
hath abolished death for us.
Prokimena and Old Testament Readings
Tone 5: Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us
and shalt preserve us * from this generation, and forevermore.
Stichos: Save me, O Lord, for a
righteous man there is no more.
Reading: Genesis 1:24-2:3
Tone
6: Look
upon me, hear me, * O Lord my God.
Stichos: How long, O Lord, wilt
Thou utterly forget me? How long wilt Thou turn Thy face away from me?
Reading:
Proverbs 2:1-22