Fourth Saturday of Lent; All Souls Saturday; Our Venerable Father Alexius, Man of God; March 17.
Text from “The Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship”; Pg. 629 (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 6:9-12): Brethren, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Epistle (1 Corinthians 15:47-57) (Deceased): Brethren, the first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia (Tone 6):
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 7:31-37): At that time Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’
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 – Fourth Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – ENGLISH
PDF – Fourth Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – UKRAINIAN
PDF – Fourth Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – ENG-UKR
DOC – Fourth Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – ENGLISH
DOC – Fourth Saturday of Lent – All Souls Saturday – UKRAINIAN