GREAT VESPERS

At Psalm 140

In Tone 5

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

Today is the radiant and beautiful day* which marks the middle of the Savior’s feast of Resurrection!* The feast which fills the world with grace has now reached high noon!* The miracle of Christ’s rising shines on us,* revealing to us the first-fruits of incorruption,* sealed by His Ascension on high,* and manifesting the gracious coming of the Spirit:* the most joyful celebration of Pentecost!* All this grants our souls peace and great mercy!

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

As a river of divine glory* the Lord cries to all in the midst of the feast:* Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink his fill!* He is the fount of compassion, the well of mercy,* pouring out forgiveness on the world,* washing away transgressions and cleansing impurities!* He saves those who celebrate His Resurrection,* He covers with love those who honor His Ascension in glory,* and He grants to our souls peace and great mercy!

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

Who is this standing in the middle of the Temple?* Our Lord and God, whom the heavens cannot contain!* He is God by nature, yet for us He humbled himself* to be seen contained in mortal flesh.* the Word of life gushes forth from Him to all:* Cleanse your hearts! Quench the flames of passion!* Do not refuse the water of life, children of mankind!* I offer you divine grace, the kingdom of immortality!* Abide in Me,  your Creator, and be glorified!

In Tone 1

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

The beholder of ineffable revelations* and recounter of the most sublime mysteries of God,* the son of Zebedee, who set down in writing the Gospel of Christ,* has taught us to theologize* concerning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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

The harp of heavenly songs played by God,* the recorder of mysteries, the divinely eloquent mouth,* beautifully chants the hymn of hymns;* for, moving his lips as though they were strings,* and using his tongue as a plectrum,* he prays that we be saved.

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

Proclaiming with your thunderous tongue* the hidden Word of divine wisdom, O beloved of God,* you ever cry out, continually moving your lips:* In the beginning was the Word!* And you instruct every man in the knowledge of God.

In Tone 8

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

O divinely wise father Arsenius,* having illumined your mind with fountains of tears,* you conversed with God,* and by unceasing purification and effulgence* was shown to be a most radiant pillar of piety,* shining as with fire, O blessed one, boast of monks.* And now, by your supplications, preserve us all.

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

O divinely wise father Arsenius,* having girt your mind round about with abstinence,* you caused it to ascend to the primal Cause,* and, forsaking the turbulence of the world and shunning its tumults,* you truly mingled purity of mind with the utmost desire, O blessed and all-wise one.

In Tone 1, Glory…

O you of the race of man,* let us offer goodly praise as is meet to the beloved and virginal John,* the son of thunder, the foundation of the words of God, the author of theology,* the first preacher of the truth of the dogmas of the wisdom of God;* for having the Divine continually within him, he said:* In the beginning was the Word,* Who is inseparable from the Father and of the same essence with the Father,* revealing to us through himself the orthodoxy of the Holy Trinity.* And he has likewise shown us that He creates with the Father* and bears life and the light of Truth.* O awesome wonder! O uttermost wisdom!* For, full of love, he was also filled with theology through glory, honour and faith,* as a founder of our pure Faith.* Wherefore, we shall receive everlasting blessings on the day of judgment.

In Tone 6

Now…

We have assembled, O Christ, in the middle of the feast,* to praise Your wondrous mysteries:* Your Resurrection and the coming of Your Holy Spirit.* send down on us great mercy!

Readings

1 John 3:21-4:6; 1 John 4:11-16; 1 John 4:20-5:5

Lytia

In Tone 1

Rivers of theology poured forth from your honoured mouth, O apostle,* and the Church of God, watered thereby, worships the consubstantial Trinity in Orthodoxy.* Pray now to the Trinity, O theologian John,* that our souls be made steadfast and saved.

The garden of purity has emitted for us the myrrh of sweet fragrance on this present feast,* that we may cry out to him: O Apostle John,* who reclined against the Master’s breast,* who has rained down discourse upon the world* and preserved the Virgin as the apple of your eye,* beseech Christ, that He grant us great mercy.

O disciple of the Saviour, virgin and theologian, when Christ God was crucified* He committed the Virgin Theotokos to your care, in that you are virginal;* and you preserved her as the apple of your eye.* Wherefore, pray that our souls be saved.

As an eyewitness to ineffable mysteries, you cried out, exclaiming:* “In the beginning the pre-eternal Word was with God, and He was God!”* O Apostle John, intimate and faithful friend of Christ,* delight of the Trinity, unshakable confirmation of Ephesus and Patmos, our help.* Pray, O most blessed theologian, that the people who ever celebrate your memory with faith* be delivered from wicked enemies, material and noetic.

In Tone 5

O venerable father, having heard the voice of the Gospel of the Lord,* you forsook the world, holding riches and glory to be as naught.* Wherefore, you cried out to all:* “Love God and you shall find eternal grace.* Prefer nothing to His love, that when He shall come in His glory,* you shall find rest with all the saints.”* By his supplications, O Christ, preserve and save our souls.

In Tone 4

Glory… Now…

Reclining against the breast of Christ the Teacher at the Lord’s supper,* O beloved disciple, you thereby came to know ineffable things,* and has thundered forth your heavenly voice for all to hear,* saying: “In the beginning was the Word,* and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:* Christ God, the Saviour of our souls,* the Light of truth Who enlightens every man* who comes into the world.”

Aposticha

In Tone 4

Theologizing concerning the Son of the Most High,* Who with the Father is equally everlasting and of the same essence,* immutable Light from Light, the impress of the hypostasis of the Father,* Who shone forth timelessly and dispassionately from Him,* the Creator and Lord of all the ages, Christ our God,* you preached to the world, O beloved,* as the One Who brought light forth out of darkness.* Entreat Him that He save and enlighten our souls.

Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

Receiving the light of the Comforter,* illumined therewith you theologized and proclaimed to all, O beloved,* that He proceeds from the Father* and through the Son is revealed to mankind,* equal in honour, equally enthroned* and of the same essence with the unoriginate Father and God the Word.* Wherefore, we honour you in hymns as the foundation of the divine Faith,* which you preserve unshaken through your supplications to the Lord.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands.

Having ascended to the summit of theology,* you learned the ineffable mysteries of God:* the single essence of the Godhead,* His single glory, kingdom and dominion, ever distinct in three Hypostases,* yet essentially indivisible and united in unconfused divine unity.* And, rendering glory, O theologian,* you preached the indivisible Trinity.* Entreat Him that He save and enlighten our souls.

In Tone 6, Glory…

O apostle of Christ, evangelist and theologian,* as an initiate of ineffable mysteries you have thundered forth upon us* the ineffable doctrines of wisdom,* explaining to the faithful that He was in the beginning,* and discounting that there was a time when He did not exist,* thus rejecting the words of the heretics.* And as you were shown to be the beloved intimate and friend of Christ,* like the eloquent Isaiah and Moses the God-seer,* pray earnestly for our souls, in that you have boldness before God.

In Tone 8

Now…

In the middle of the feast,* before Your passion and glorious Resurrection,* You taught the unbelieving Jews in the Temple, gracious Lord,* You cried out to the scribes and Pharisees:* Let him who thirsts come to Me and drink!* From the heart of him who believes in Me,* rivers of living water — the Spirit of God — shall flow!* Your wisdom and understanding are far beyond our words!* Glory to You, our God, who perfects all things!

Troparia

In Tone 2

O beloved apostle of Christ our God,* hasten, deliver a people without defense.* He who received you when you leaned upon His breast accepts you as you bow in prayer.* Implore Him, O Theologian, to scatter the cloud of nations that besets us,* asking peace and great mercy for us. (2)

In Tone 2

Hail, Mother of God, Virgin Mary full of grace!* The Lord is with you.* Blessed are you among women,* and blessed is the fruit of your womb.* For you have borne Christ, the Saviour* and Deliverer of our souls.

 

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DIVINE LITURGY

After the priest has exclaimed, Blessed be the Kingdom… and the people have responded, Amen, the clergy sing the Paschal Troparion once and the people repeat it. Then, the clergy sing the first half, and the people conclude it.

Paschal Troparion

Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 8: At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!

Troparion, Tone 2: O beloved apostle of Christ our God,* hasten, deliver a people without defense.* He who received you when you leaned upon His breast accepts you as you bow in prayer.* Implore Him, O Theologian, to scatter the cloud of nations that besets us,* asking peace and great mercy

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

Kontakion, Tone 2: O virgin apostle, who can recount your mighty works?* For you pour out wonders and healings* and you pray for our souls as Theologian and friend of Christ.

Now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone 4: At the mid-point of the Feast according to the Law,* Maker of all things and Master,* You said to those present, O Christ God:* Come, and draw the water of immortality.* And so we fall before You crying out with faith: Grant us Your mercies , for You are the source of our life.

Prokeimenon, Tone 3

Great is our Lord, and great is His strength;* and of His knowledge there is no end.

verse: Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; may praise be sweet to Him. (Psalm 146:5,1)

Prokeimenon, Tone 8

Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth, and their word unto the ends of the world.

Epistle

Acts 10:44-11:10; 1 John 1:1-7

Alleluia, Tone 1

verse: Remember Your congregation which You acquired from the beginning.

verse: But God is our king before the ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 73:2,12)

verse: The heavens shall confess our wonders, O Lord, and Your truth in the church of the saints. (Psalm 88:6)

Gospel

John 8:21-30; John 19:25-27; 21:24-25

The Lord said to the Jews that came to Him, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will

Hymn to the Mother of God

Virginity is alien to mothers and child-bearing is foreign to virgins; yet in you, O Mother of God, both of them came together. Therefore, we and all the nations of the earth without ceasing magnify you.

Communion Hymn

Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood* abide in Me and I in them, says the Lord. (John 6:56)* Their utterance has gone forth into all the earth,* and their word unto the ends of the world.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 18:5)

Instead of “Blessed is He Who comes…” and “We have seen the true light…” we sing:

Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.

Instead of “May our mouths be filled…” we sing three times:

Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life. (3)

Instead of “Blessed be the name of the Lord…” we sing three times:

Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life. (3)

After the final “Amen”, the Troparion “Christ is risen” is sung as at the beginning of the Liturgy, but with the addition:

And to us he has granted life eternal;* we bow down before his resurrection on the third day.