Friday of the Fourth Week of the Great Fast; Octoechos, Tone 6; Our Venerable Father Alexis, the Man of God; March 16, 2012
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
AT PSALM 140
In Tone 7
10.
I have enslaved the dignity of my soul to the passions,
and have become like the beasts;
I can no longer raise my eyes to You, O God most high.
But, like the Publican I bow to the earth,
and I cry to You in supplication:
Forgive me, O Lord, and save me.
9.
I have enslaved the dignity of my soul to the passions,
and have become like the beasts;
I can no longer raise my eyes to You, O God most high.
But, like the Publican I bow to the earth,
and I cry to You in supplication:
Forgive me, O Lord, and save me.
In Tone 6
8.
Your martyrs did not reject You,
nor did they renounce Your commandments.
Through their prayers, have mercy on us!
7.
Your martyrs, O Christ,
have endured many sufferings for Your sake,
and have received their heavenly crowns.
Now they intercede for our souls.
6.
The suffering martyrs, citizens of heaven,
when taking part in the contest upon earth,
endured manifold torments.
By their intercessions and prayers, preserve us, O Lord.
5.
Your Cross, O Christ, has been an invincible weapon for the martyrs;
for beholding the approach of death
and foreseeing the future life,
they were made strong by the hope that lies in You.
By their intercession, have mercy on us!
In Tone 1
4.
In you we recognize “the man of God”
both by your name and by your deeds,
for you were outstanding in your virtues,
as you sought both hardship and profound poverty on earth.
Your miracles have strengthened believers in the Faith.
Intercede that our souls be granted peace and great mercy.
3.
In you we recognize “the man of God”
both by your name and by your deeds,
for you were outstanding in your virtues,
as you sought both hardship and profound poverty on earth.
Your miracles have strengthened believers in the Faith.
Intercede that our souls be granted peace and great mercy.
2.
With the dew of divine love, O Alexis,
you extinguished the burning lusts of the flesh.
For you exchanged your marriage bed for the dwelling of the Bridegroom,
and bodily pleasures for the resemblance to the bodiless angels of God.
Together with them, intercede that our souls
be granted peace and great mercy.
1.
You lived unknown at the threshold of your noble parents’ home, O blessed father,
long oppressed and mistreated by your own servants.
You were recognized, when you died, by your miracles,
banishing the destructive spirits and healing maladies.
In Tone 6, Glory…
Your creating command was my origin and formation,
for You willed to fashion me, a living creature,*out of visible and invisible nature.
From the earth You formed my body
and gave me a soul by Your divine and life-creating breath.
Therefore, O Christ, give rest to Your servant in the place of the living,
in the abodes of the just.
Now…
Who would not call you blessed, O Virgin most holy?
Who would not sing a hymn of praise to the glory of your giving birth without pain or travail?
The only-begotten Son Himself,
begotten of the Father before all ages,
was made flesh out of you in a manner that cannot be explained, O Woman most pure!
And for our sake He who is God by nature assumed the nature of man.
He is not divided into two persons;
He is understood to have two natures without commixion or confusion.
O noble and blessed Woman,
intercede with Him that He may have mercy on our souls.
PROKEIMENON I, TONE 6
O Shepherd of Israel, hear us,* You who lead Joseph’s flock.
verse: Shine forth from Your Cherubim throne.
READING I (Genesis 12:1-7)
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
PROKEIMENON II, TONE 4
Ring out your joy to God, our strength,* shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.
verse: Raise a song and sound the timbrel, the sweet-sounding harp and lute.
READING II (Proverbs 14:15-26)
The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps.
A wise man fears and departs from evil,
But a fool rages and is self-confident.
A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
And a man of wicked intentions is hated.
The simple inherit folly,
But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
The evil will bow before the good,
And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
The poor man is hated even by his own neighbour,
But the rich has many friends.
He who despises his neighbour sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Do they not go astray who devise evil?
But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.
In all labour there is profit,
But idle chatter leads only to poverty.
The crown of the wise is their riches,
But the foolishness of fools is folly.
A true witness delivers souls,
But a deceitful witness speaks lies.
In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (Royaldoors.org):
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