Wednesday of the Third Week of the Great Fast; Octoechos Tone 6; Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
At Psalm 140: In Tone 4
10. Like the prodigal I squandered my paternal inheritance,
and now I am in desolation.
I dwell in the land of the wicked.
In my folly, I became like the unreasoning beasts,
stripped of all divine grace.
So I return and cry out to You:
O merciful and compassionate Father,
I have sinned, O God.
Receive me as a penitent and have mercy on me.
9. Like the prodigal I squandered my paternal inheritance,
and now I am in desolation.
I dwell in the land of the wicked.
In my folly, I became like the unreasoning beasts,
stripped of all divine grace.
So I return and cry out to You:
O merciful and compassionate Father,
I have sinned, O God.
Receive me as a penitent and have mercy on me.
8. O martyrs of the Lord,
you are living sacrifices and spiritual offerings
and perfect incense burnt to God.
You are sheep that know God and are known to Him,
and wolves cannot break into His fold.
Pray that we may be led with you
to pasture beside the still waters.
In Tone 6
7. O apostles who have seen God,
and who reflect the light of the spiritual Sun for us,
pray for the illumination of our souls
and deliver us from the gloomy darkness of suffering.
Intercede that we may behold the day of salvation.
Through your prayers and intercessions
cleanse our heart which the Evil One has wounded,
so that, saved by faith, we may ever honour you
who brought the world salvation through your all-wise preaching.
6. Into an evil land I have wandered,
prodigal that I am;
the wealth You gave to me, O compassionate Father,
I have squandered in a life filled with vice.
And now in hunger I long for the good I lost;
I am clothed with the shame of my transgression.
I have been stripped of righteous deeds and of divine grace.
Now I cry out that I have sinned.
But I know Your righteousness, O Christ;
in Your kindness receive me as Your hired servant,
through the prayers of Your apostles who love You.
5. Apostles of the Lord and bright lights of the universe,
you made us the recipients of salvation,
and like the heavens you proclaim the glory of God;
you are adorned with wonders and bright miracles.
Intercede for us unceasingly before the Lord,
that He may receive our prayers as a pleasing aroma,
and grant that with love we may contemplate and kiss His life-giving Cross.
In Your love for humankind,
grant mercy to us who bow low before Your Cross, O Saviour.
In Tone 4
4. You desired blessedness past understanding,
so you reckoned abstinence as your food,
poverty to be your wealth,
lack of acquisitiveness as abundant possessions,
and humility as glory, wondrous one!
Therefore you received your desire
in accordance with your understanding:
You abide in the tabernacles of the saints, Basil!
3. You desired blessedness past understanding,
so you reckoned abstinence as your food,
poverty to be your wealth,
lack of acquisitiveness as abundant possessions,
and humility as glory, wondrous one!
Therefore you received your desire
in accordance with your understanding:
You abide in the tabernacles of the saints, Basil!
2. You steadfastly completed the course of abstinence and kept the faith!
Therefore you have been adorned with the crown of righteousness
which Christ has prepared for you, Father,
rewarding you in accordance with your worth
and granting you honours and rewards for your struggles.
Divinely inspired one, beseech Him to save our souls!
1. You cut off all love of pleasure, divine one,
thus freeing your body from slavery.
You harrowed your senses with the struggles of abstinence:
Through the terrible conditions in which you lived,
the endurance of temptations and evil situations.
Therefore you have received unending delight,
everlasting sweetness and ineffable joy!
In Tone 6, Glory… Now…
O Theotokos, you are the true vine,
who brought forth the fruit of Life.
Therefore we entreat you, O Lady:
intercede together with the apostles and all the saints
that our souls be granted peace and great mercy.
Prokeimenon I, Tone 4
I trust in the goodness of God* forever and ever.
verse: I will thank You forevermore; for this is Your doing.
Reading I (Genesis 7:6-9)
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
Prokeimenon II, Tone 4
When God delivers His people from bondage,* then Jacob will be glad and Israel rejoice.
verse: Fools have said in their hearts: There is no God above.
Reading II (Proverbs 9:12-18)
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”
A foolish woman is clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing.
For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
“Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of hell.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (Royaldoors.net):
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