Holy Martyr Sophia, and Her Three Daughters Faith, Hope, and Love.

Antiphon 1

O God, my God, hear me; why have You forsaken me? The words of my transgressions put salvation far from me.

Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Saviour, save us.

O God, I will call to You by day but You will not listen; and by night, yet it will not be foolish of me.

Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Saviour, save us.

But You, the praise of Israel, dwell in the holy place.

Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Saviour, save us.

Glory… Now… Only-begotten Son…

Antiphon 3

Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord, let us acclaim God, our Saviour.

Son of God, crucified in the flesh, save us who sing to You: Alleluia.

Let us come before His face with praise, and acclaim Him in psalms.

Son of God, crucified in the flesh, save us who sing to You: Alleluia.

For God is the great Lord, and the great king over all the earth.

Son of God, crucified in the flesh, save us who sing to You: Alleluia.

Entrance

Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ.

Son of God, crucified in the flesh, save us who sing to You: Alleluia.

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 1: Save Your people, O Lord, and bless Your inheritance.* Grant victory to Your faithful people against enemies,* and protect Your community by Your cross.

Troparion, Tone 4: The Church celebrates and is truly happy* over the newly born children and their radiant mother.* Named after Wisdom, she gave birth to three children* equal to the three theological virtues.* In the company of these wise virgins,* she gazes on the Word and chaste Groom.* We join her in her happiness and sing:* O thrice-blessed martyrs, Faith, Hope, and Charity,* make us firm in faith, hope, and charity.

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

Kontakion, Tone 1: Your daughters, O venerable Sophia, were Faith, Hope, and Charity.* They were like three buds of great holiness.* By the grace of Christ, they confused the false reasoning of the Greeks.* By their struggles, they obtained an incorruptible crown* from Christ the Master of all.

Now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone 4: By Your own choice, O Christ our God,* You were lifted on the cross.* Grant Your mercies to Your new community* that bears Your Name.* By Your power gladden the faithful people,* and grant them victory against enemies.* May they have the help of Your instrument of peace,* the invincible sign of victory.

Prokeimenon, Tone 7

Exalt the Lord our God,* and bow in worship at the footstool of his feet, for it is holy.

verse: The Lord reigns, let the people tremble. (Psalm 98:5,1)

Epistle

Ephesians 4:14-19

Brothers and Sisters, we must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

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)

Gospel

Mark 11:27-33

As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Hymn to the Theotokos

O my soul, magnify the most precious cross of the Lord.

And the Irmos, Tone 8: You are a mystical Paradise, O Mother of God, who though untilled, have brought forth Christ. He has planted upon earth the life-giving Tree of the Cross. Therefore today as we raise it on high we bow low and we magnify you.

Communion Hymn

Let the light of Your countenance, O Lord,* shine upon us.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 4:7)

At the end of Liturgy we sing:

To Your Cross, O Master, we bow in veneration, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection. (3)