ON FRIDAY EVENING
At, Lord, I have cried, Prosomia.
Stichera for the Master.
Mode 4. How I intended.
Lord God, I pray You shatter the passions * of my wretched heart, for they are the carriers of death. * If You yourself demolish the house of * the flesh and build the house of the spirit in its stead, * then he who wages the warfare * upon my soul watches vainly. * Save me before I utterly perish, O Lord my God. [SD]
You gave the enemy for my welfare * as a gift and scourge of discipline, tender-loving God. * For notwithstanding his evil purpose, * his wickedness cooperates with me for the good. * Yet I do not flee for refuge * unto You through thanksgiving. * Save me before I utterly perish, O Lord my God. [SD]
Additional for the Theotokos. Same Melody.
Lady, my Lady, I beg you save me * from my recollections of obscene, shameful memories, * for they pollute all the senses * of my soul and body and thus defile me. * And so I pray you, O Virgin, and I cry out in repentance: * Lady, before I utterly perish, deliver me. [GOASD]
Mother of God, grant me tears, I pray you; * also make my stony heart to be humble and contrite. * Grant me to make a complete confession * of the sinful actions of my entire life, * that I may pass the remainder * of my life in repentance, * with your help, and obtain the remission of all my sins. [SD]
Glory. Both now. Theotokion.
By you, O Lady, the Prophet David became an ancestor of God. Long ago, he sang a Psalm to Him, who would do great things for you: “The Queen stood at Your right hand.” God chose you to be the mother who would engender Life. For it was His good pleasure to become human from you without father, so that He could refashion His image, which had become distorted by the passions, and so that He could find the lost sheep that had gone astray on the mountains, and carry it on His shoulders, and bring it to His Father, and reunite it with the heavenly hosts, as He willed, and so that He could save the world, O Theotokos, since He is Christ, and He has the great and rich mercy. [GOASD]
Prokeimenon. Grave Mode.
You are my protector, O God. Your mercy shall go before me.
Verse: Rescue me from my enemies, O God, and redeem me from those who rise up against me. [SAAS]
At the Aposticha.
Aposticha. Mode 4. For the Martyrs.
O benevolent Lord, who have accepted the holy Martyrs’ endurance, do also from us accept this hymnody; and by their supplications, grant to us the great mercy. [SD]
Verse: God is wondrous in His saints. [SAAS]
Since you have confidence before the Savior, O Saints, intercede unceasingly on behalf of us sinners, requesting the forgiveness of our transgressions and great mercy upon our souls. [SD]
Verse: To the saints on His earth, in them the Lord magnified all His will. [SAAS]
O living sacrifices, rational whole-burnt offerings, O Martyrs of the Lord, and perfect sacrificial victims of God, who know God and are known by God, O lambs whose fold is inaccessible to wolves: intercede that together with you we also may be shepherded beside the still water of rest. [SD]
Verse: Blessed are they whom You have chosen and received, O Lord. And their memorial abides from generation to generation. [SAAS]
For the Dead.
Among the spirits of the righteous perfected in faith, give rest, O Savior, to the soul(s) of Your servant, keeping it (them) in the blessed life which is from You, O loving One. [GOA]
Glory. Both now. Theotokion.
Having you, O Theotokos, as our hope and protection, we are not dismayed by the schemes of the foe, for truly you save our souls. [SD]
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ON SATURDAY MORNING
MATINS
After the first Psalter reading. Kathismata for the Martyrs.
Mode 4. Come quickly.
Your prize-winning martyr Saints, equipped and armed with the cross, * defeated the machinations of the arch-evil foe * of mankind, O Christ our God. * Shining like stars in heaven, * they are guides for us mortals. * To those who with faith request them, they dispense cures and healings. * Through their intercessions we pray You to save our souls. [SD]
Your Church is arrayed in the holy blood of Your Martyrs who witnessed throughout the world, as though in purple and fine linen. Through them she cries to You, Christ our God, “Send down to Your people Your tender love, grant peace from above to Your commonwealth, and to our souls Your great mercy.” [SD]
Come quickly.
Your Martyrs, O Lord, were worthily awarded by You * the crowns of incorruption, in that they contested for You our immortal God. * Since they possessed Your power, they defeated the tyrants, * dashing the demons’ powerless displays of defiance. * O Christ God, at their fervent entreaties, save our souls. [SD]
Glory. Both now. Theotokion.
O Theotokos, revealed through you to us on earth was the mystery, that was hidden for ages and unknown by the angels. God became incarnate, uniting natures without confusion, and for us He voluntarily accepted crucifixion, through which He resurrected the first-formed man, and He saved our souls from death. [GOASD]
After the second Psalter reading. Kathisma for the Martyrs.
The hosts of the Angels are in attendance today, for the observance of the memory of the prize-winning martyrs, to illumine the minds of the faithful, and to brighten the civilized world with grace. O God, be importuned by them, and grant us Your great mercy. [SD]
For the Dead. Come quickly.
Give rest to the souls that You translated from earth * and temporal things to be with You, the only immortal and almighty God. * Pardon them and forgive them * every sin they committed. * Merciful One, have mercy on the works of Your divine hands, * through the prayers of the Theotokos, O only benevolent Lord. [SD]
Same Melody.
Your servants who faithfully lived out their temporal lives * and finally fell asleep in death have passed on to You, * our merciful Lord and God. * Savior, we pray You put them in a place of relaxation. * Forgive and overlook any sins that they committed, * O Master, and let them stand at Your right hand on Judgment Day. [GOASD]
Glory. Both now. Theotokion. Same Melody.
Pure Virgin and Bride of God, all we believers have you * a protector and ardent intercessor, praying for us * to God to forgive our sins. * Be now an intercessor on behalf of the faithful * who passed away to God, and be their gate to salvation, * and usher them into the spaciousness of Paradise. [GOASD]
Canon for all Saints.
Mode 4. Ode i. Heirmos.
I pray You to submerge * in the sea of dispassion * the three powers of my soul, * like those powerful hosts. * And then using the deadening * of my body for a timbrel, * I may sing a triumphal hymn * unto You who born of the Virgin pure. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased.
The Red Sea was crossed.
Theotokion.
Ode iii. Heirmos.
Weakened is the bow of mighty men, * and those who are weak are girded with strength from our righteous God. * For this reason, as it is written, my heart is strengthened in the Lord. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. Not in our wisdom.
Theotokion.
Ode iv. Heirmos.
He who sits in holy glory * on the throne of divinity, * Jesus our most high God, * on a swift and light cloud has come to us, * and by the might of His undefiled hand has saved * those who cry to Him: Glory to Your strength, O Christ. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. When the Church beheld You.
Theotokion.
Ode v. Heirmos.
My Lord, You are the light. * Holy light, to the world You came * to turn people from the darkness * and the night of not knowing. And now in faith we sing Your praise. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. My Lord, You are the light.
Theotokion.
Ode vi. Heirmos.
The storm of my many sins has plunged me * into a deep depression, which encompasses me like the deep sea. * O my benevolent God, I cry to You: From corruption let my life ascend. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. I will sacrifice to You.
Theotokion.
Ode vii. Heirmos.
Servants in Babylon, of old, * those three descendants of Abraham, trampled on the furnace fire. * In hymns they cried out to You, * “O Lord and God of our fathers, You are blessed.” [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. Inside the furnace.
Theotokion.
Ode viii. Heirmos.
O almighty Redeemer of all the world, * You came down in the midst of the furnace fire, * and You bedewed those pious men, * and You taught them to sing praise, * “O all you works, to the Lord sing * a hymn as you bless the Lord.” [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. Daniel shut.
Theotokion.
Ode ix. Heirmos.
Because of the malady of disobedience, Eve received the curse within herself. * But you, O Virgin Theotokos, have blossomed forth the blessing to all the world, * by means of the One who sprang from your pregnancy. * And therefore you do we all magnify. [SD]
Troparia.
For the Dead.
Theotokion.
Canon for the Deceased. Because of the malady.
Theotokion.
Aposticha of Lauds.
For the Martyrs. Mode 4.
O holy Martyrs, after bravely proclaiming Christ in the arena, you have become companions of the Angels. First you left behind all the pleasures of the world, as if they did not exist; then you held on to the faith, as if it were unmoving anchor. Therefore, since you dismissed error and deception, you gush forth gifts of healing to the faithful, as you unceasingly intercede, for the salvation of our souls. [SD]
O holy Martyrs, how shall we not cease to marvel at your contests! You had a mortal body, and yet you routed the bodiless foes. The tyrants’ threats did not frighten you, nor did the prospects of torture cause you to shrink in fear. Worthily indeed were you glorified by Christ. And now you pray that He grant our souls the great mercy. [SD]
Precious and honorable is the death of Your saints, O Lord. They were crushed by sword and fire and frost, and they spilled their blood, with their hope in You, to receive the reward for their labor. They waited and endured, and they received the great mercy from You the Savior. [SD]
For the Dead.
We pray You let the souls of Your servants repose in Your place of rest, where all Your saints repose, O Lord, for You alone are immortal. [SD]
Glory. For the Dead.
Where are all those worldly attachments? Where are the imaginings of things that do not last? Where is the gold, where the silver? Where is the flood and fuss of assistants and servants? All of this is dust and ashes, all just a shadow. Nevertheless, come let us say to the immortal King, “Lord, grant Your eternal good things to those departed from us, and give them rest in unending blessedness.” [SD]
Both now. Theotokion.
O only pure and immaculate Virgin, who gave birth to God inexpressibly, intercede for the salvation of our souls. [SD]
When Alleluia is sung at Matins, we sing the foregoing hymns for the Martyrs as Lauds, and the following Aposticha.
Mode 4. You have given.
Frightening indeed, and quite so, is the mystery known as death, how a soul then is forcibly * separated from its frame, parting from its body; * severed is that union, which is most natural and innate, * by Your divine will. And therefore we entreat * that You who are benevolent grant the departed eternal rest, * where the saints and the righteous dwell, * O our God and the Giver of life. [SD]
Verse: Blessed are they whom You have chosen and received, O Lord. [SAAS]
Death is shown to be but slumber for believers, O Savior Christ * and the Lord of the universe, * since You were laid in a tomb, * and since You dismantled * all of death’s dominion * and You abolished all its might * that had prevailed over us for many years. * And therefore we entreat You now that You will place those who pass away * in the dwellings of all Your saints * in Your mansions that perish not. [SD]
Verse: Their souls shall dwell among good things. [SAAS]
You, O Lord, became for us sanctification and righteousness * and redemption for all our souls. * For You have presented us * to the holy Father * justified and ransomed, having accepted for our sake * the price and penalty that was owed by us. * We therefore now implore You to grant rest to those who have passed away * in a place of bright joyousness, * Benefactor and Savior Christ. [SD]
Verse: And their memorial abides from generation to generation. [SAAS]
Now the human race has been recalled from former corruption to * incorruption with no decay, * for it has been bathed and cleansed * in the blood that poured out * from Your side, O Savior; * and in Your blood You washed away * from us the sin of Adam our ancestor. * And therefore we entreat You to grant rest to those who have passed away * in eternal dwellings of Yours, * with the hosts of Your martyr saints. [SD]
Glory. Both now. Theotokion.
Following the sayings of the God-inspired, all-blameless one, * we consider you truly as * the Mother of God, for you * ineffably gave birth to * God who took a body * and then redeemed and ransomed us * who were in bonds and enslaved because of sins. * We pray you, all-pure Lady, to implore you Son to illuminate * all your servants who passed away * with His own uncreated light. [SD]
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LITURGY
The Beatitudes. Mode 4.
Adam fell by a tree, and he was evicted from Paradise. * By the tree of the Cross the Robber gained entrance to Paradise. * The former, by tasting fruit, disobeyed his Maker’s commandment not to eat. * The latter was crucified with Him, whom though hidden he confessed to be God. * Remember us as well in Your kingdom, O Savior. [SD]
Holy Martyrs, burning hot * in your pious souls was the love of Christ. * By your contests as with dew * you put out the fire of idolatry. * The Church holds you up as lamps; * and the light you shine drives away by grace divine * the darkness of illnesses * and the tribulations encountered by our souls. * Therefore each day we all dutifully honor you. [SD]
God has glorified the Saints, * for with deeds of virtue they served Him well. * Let us therefore praise them all, * and extol the great holy Hierarchs, * the Prophets inspired by God, * the devout Monastics, and all the Women Saints. * And calling them blessed now, * let us pray that by their entreaties we attain * the eternal glory and splendor of God’s elect. [SD]
For the Martyrs.
We beseech You, overlook * the sins and offenses committed by * those preceding us in death * departing this life that is full of pain. * O Savior, establish them, * Your servants, where sorrow and pain have fled away, * where hosts of the Saints now dwell, * and where Your ineffable light forever shines, * so that they may extol Your divine benevolence. [SD]
Glory.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the indivisible Trinity, * united and unconfused * in the individual qualities, * One God, three hypostases: * give rest to Your servants who died with faith in You, * at the intercessions of Your Prophets and Martyrs, Ascetics and all Saints, * and grant them Your mercy, forgiving their every sin. [SD]
Both now. Theotokion.
You conceived and bore the Word * in the flesh when He became perfect man. * Yet before the morning star, * the Father begot Him eternally. * Your Son now is recognized * as having two natures, two wills and energies. * We beg you to pray to Him, * our Lord and Creator, that He be merciful * to us who extol you, immaculate Bride of God. [SD]
END OF MODE 4