April 20; Great Vespers with Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great on Great Saturday

Great Vespers with Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

At Psalm 140

In Tone 1

Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;* O Lord, hear my voice!

Accept our evening prayers, O holy Lord,
and grant us the remission of our sins,
for You alone have revealed to the world the Resurrection.

Let Yours ears be attentive* to the voice of my prayer.

Walk about Zion, you people, and encompass her;
and within her walls give glory to Him Who is risen from the dead.
For He is our God Who has delivered us
from our iniquities.

If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.

Come, you people, let us praise and worship Christ,
glorifying His Resurrection from the dead.
For He is our God Who has delivered the world
from the delusion of the enemy.

I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.

By Your Passion, O Christ,
we have been set free from our passions,
and by Your Resurrection
we have been delivered from corruption.
O Lord, glory be to You!

In Tone 8

From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.

Today hell groans and cries aloud:
“It had been better for me had I not accepted Mary’s Son,
for He has come to me and destroyed my power;
He has shattered the gates of brass,
and as God He raised up the souls that I once held.”
Glory to Your Cross, O Lord, and to Your Resurrection!

For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.

Today hell groans and cries aloud:
“My power has been destroyed.
I accepted a mortal man as one of the dead;
yet I cannot keep Him prisoner,
and with Him I shall lose all those whom I ruled.
I held in my power the dead from all ages;
but see, He is raising them all.”
Glory to Your Cross, O Lord, and to Your Resurrection.

Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.

Today hell groans and cries aloud:
“My dominion has been swallowed up;
the Shepherd has been crucified and He has raised Adam.
I am deprived of those whom I once ruled;
in my strength I have devoured them, but now I have cast them forth.
He who was crucified has emptied the tombs;
the power of death has no more strength.”
Glory to Your Cross, O Lord, and to Your Resurrection.

In Tone 6, Glory…

Moses the Great mystically prefigured this present day, saying:
“And God blessed the seventh day.”
For this is the blessed Sabbath, this is the day of rest,
on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works.
Suffering death in accordance with the plans of salvation,
He kept the Sabbath in the flesh;
and returning once again to what He was,
through His Resurrection He has granted us eternal life,
for He alone is good and loves mankind.

Now…

Let us praise the Virgin Mary,
glory of all the world and gate of heaven,
Daughter of men and Mother of the Lord,
song of the angelic hosts and adornment of the faithful.
For she is revealed as heaven and the temple of the Godhead.
It is she who, breaking down the middle wall of enmity,
established peace and opened the palace of the King.
With her, therefore, as anchor of our faith,
we have as our defender the Lord whom she has borne.
Be of good courage, then, people of God, be of good courage:
for in His almighty power
He will make war upon our foes.

Reading I
Genesis 1:1-13

Reading II
Isaiah 60:1-16

Reading III
Exodus 12:1-11

Reading IV
Jonah 1:1-4:11

Reading V
Joshua 5:10-15

The following reading is never omitted.

Reading VI
Exodus 13:20-15:19

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

Reader: Let us sing to the Lord.

All: For He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my fathers God, and I will exalt him.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. Pharaohs chariots and his host he cast into the sea; and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea. The floods cover them; they went down into the depths like a stone.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow Your adversaries; Your send forth Your fury, it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

All: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been clothed with glory.

Reader: Who is like You, O Lord , among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?