2nd Saturday of Lent; All Souls Saturday

all saints_souls_350Second Saturday of Lent; All Souls Saturday; The Holy Priest-Martyr Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna (155-56); Georgonia sister of Gregory the Theologian philanthropist (372); Antiokh a desert-dweller; Damianos monk and martyr (1685); February 23.

Text from “The Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship”; Pg. 621(607)

Troparion (Tone 8): With profound wisdom and love for mankind, You arrange all things* and bestow beneficial things upon all, O only Creator and Lord.* Grant rest to the souls of your servants,* for they have placed their hope in You,* our God, Who made and shaped us.

+Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Kontakion (Tone 8): To the souls of Your servants, O Christ,* grant rest among the saints* where there is no pain,* no sorrow, no mourning,* but only life without end.

Now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Theotokion (Tone 8): In you we have a rampart and a haven,* and an intercessor most acceptable to God,* whom you bore, O virgin Mother of God,* salvation of the faithful.

Prokimenon (Tone 6): Their souls shall dwell* amidst good things (Ps 24:13).

verse:To You, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul (Ps 24:1).

Epistle (Hebrews 3:12-16): Brethren, take care, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ 
Now who were they who heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

Epistle (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) (Deceased): Brethren, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.

Alleluia (Tone 6): Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
verse: Blessed are they whom You have chosen and taken to yourself (Ps 64:5).
verse: And let their memory be from generation to generation.

Gospel (Mark 1:35-44): At that time Jesus went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’

Gospel (John 5:24-30) (Deceased):The Lord said to the Jews who had come to him: Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life. ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. ‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Communion Verse: Blessed are they whom You have chosen and taken to yourself, O Lord;* and let their memory be from generation to generation (Ps 64:5). Alleluia! (3x).


Divine Liturgy:
PDF – 2nd Saturday of Lent – ENGLISH
PDF – 2nd Saturday of Lent – UKRAINIAN
PDF – 2nd Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – ENG-UKR