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Hieratikon
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Menaion - December 27
Memory of the Holy Protomartyr Stephen.
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LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Antiphon 1. Mode 2. Psalms 9, 110.
Verse 1: I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your wondrous things. [SAAS]
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.
Verse 2: In the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord.
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.
Verse 3: Sought out in all things with regard to His will.
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.
Verse 4: Thanksgiving and majesty are His work, and His righteousness continues unto ages of ages.
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.
Glory. Both now.
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.
Antiphon 2. Mode 2. Psalm 111.
Verse 1: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he will delight exceedingly in His commandments. [SAAS]
Save us, O Son of God, who were born of a Virgin. We sing to You, Alleluia.
Verse 2: His seed shall be mighty on earth.
Save us, O Son of God, who were born of a Virgin. We sing to You, Alleluia.
Verse 3: Glory and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness continues unto ages of ages.
Save us, O Son of God, who were born of a Virgin. We sing to You, Alleluia.
Verse 4: For the upright, light springs up in darkness.
Save us, O Son of God, who were born of a Virgin. We sing to You, Alleluia.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Only-begotten Son and Logos of God, being immortal, You condescended for our salvation to take flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary and, without change, became man. Christ, our God, You were crucified and conquered death by death. Being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit: Save us.
Antiphon 3. Mode 4. Psalm 109.
Verse 1: The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of Your feet.” [SAAS]
Verse 2: The Lord shall send forth the rod of Your power from Zion.
Verse 3: With You is the beginning in the day of Your power, in the brightness of Your saints.
Apolytikion of the Feast. Mode 4.
Your nativity, O Christ our God, has caused the light of knowledge to rise upon the world. For therein the worshippers of the stars were by a star instructed to worship You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You as Orient from on high. Glory to You, O Lord. [SD]
Entrance Hymn. Mode 2.
Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, who were born of a Virgin. We sing to You, Alleluia.
Hymns after the Entrance.
Apolytikion of the Feast.
From Menaion - - -
Mode 4.
Your nativity, O Christ our God, has caused the light of knowledge to rise upon the world. For therein the worshippers of the stars were by a star instructed to worship You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You as Orient from on high. Glory to You, O Lord. [SD]
For St. Stephen.
From Menaion - - -
Mode 4. Come quickly.
Ταχὺ προκατάλαβε.
O Stephen, a crown of royalty was laid on your head * for contests you courageously endured for Christ our God, * as first among Martyr saints. * You refuted the ravings of the Jews who accused you, * and you saw your Savior at the right hand of the Father. * We pray that you will ever entreat Him to save our souls. [GOASD]
The Apolytikion of the parish church is sung. Then:
From Menaion - - -
Kontakion.
Mode 3. Automelon.
Ἡ Παρθένος σήμερον.
On this day the Virgin gives * birth to the Super-essential. * To the Unapproachable, * earth is providing the grotto. * Angels sing and with the shepherds offer up glory. * Following a star the Magi are still proceeding. * He was born for our salvation, a newborn Child, the pre-eternal God. [SD]
Trisagios Hymn
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3)
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
The Epistle
For the Protomartyr.
Prokeimenon. Mode 4. Psalm 18.
His proclamation went forth into all the earth,. [SAAS]
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God. [SAAS]
The reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 6:8 – 15; 7:1 – 5, 47 – 60
In those days, Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, arose and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated men, who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. And the high priest said, “Is this so?” And Stephen said: “Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Depart from your land and from your kindred and go into the land which I will show you.’ Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living; yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him in possession and to his posterity after him, though he had no child. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’ You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. [RSV]
Alleluia. Mode 2. Psalm 88.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Verse 1: The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord. [SAAS]
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Verse 2: God is glorified in the counsel of saints.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Gospel
For the Protomartyr.
The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Mt. 21:33 – 42
The Lord said this parable, “There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it was marvelous in our eyes?’” [RSV]
Hymn to the Theotokos.
It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever blessed, most pure, and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Logos. We magnify you, the true Theotokos.
Communion Hymn. Psalm 18.
His proclamation went forth into all the earth, and his words to the ends of the world. [SAAS] Alleluia.
Hymn after Holy Communion.
Mode 2.
We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.
DISMISSAL
Glory to You, O Christ our God. Glory to You.
May He who was born in a cave and lay in a manger for our salvation, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother, the power of the precious and life-giving Cross, the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven, the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist, of the holy, glorious, and praiseworthy apostles, of the holy, glorious, and triumphant martyrs, of our righteous and God-bearing fathers, (local patron saint); of the holy and righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, and the holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen, whose memory we celebrate, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, as He is good, benevolent, and merciful God.
Fasting Rule
Fast Free: All foods allowed.
It is the ru.Twelve Days of Christmas