Let us cleanse ourselves through fasting and prayer;
Let us serve God through acts of mercy to the poor!
Let us lament and groan with fervent tears
While we still have time for conversion,
That we may be delivered from everlasting grief in the
flames of hell!
Let us give glory to Christ who has granted repentance
for all mortals
Calling them to turn back in righteousness!
Glory...
Let us cleanse ourselves through fasting and prayer...
Now and ever...
Theotokion
Most holy Virgin,
You carried in your arms your creator, God made flesh!
Stretch out those arms towards him
And entreat him to deliver us from all passion, danger
and temptation,
For we praise you with love and we cry aloud:
Glory to him who dwelt in you!
Glory to him who came forth from you!
Glory to him who frees us through your child!
(after the 3rd reading of the Psalter):
Sessional hymn Tone 3
Made glad by the fast and greatly rejoicing in song,
Gaining mastery of all the passions through our prayers,
Let us trample underfoot all the snares of the devil
And cry aloud with one accord to Christ:
Count us worthy to behold your cross,
In your compassion granting us great mercy!
Glory...
Made glad by the fast and greatly rejoicing in song...
Now
and ever...
Theotokion
Virgin mother, blessed of God,
Heal the sickness of my soul!
I am held prisoner by my sins
And sighing from my heart I cry to you:
All-blameless Theotokos, I have greatly sinned,
Accept me that with boldness I may call to you:
Rejoice, tabernacle of God!
Apostikha Tone 7
I, a prodigal, confess that I have sinned, Lord.
From where I fell and have now become wretched,
I dare not lift my eyes to gaze at heaven!
I have sinned before heaven and before you;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
I condemn myself, seeking neither defenders nor accusers,
Because my very life of wretchedness judges me,
My nakedness confirms the shame in which I am clothed!
Tender-hearted Father, only-begotten Son and Holy
Spirit,
Receive me in repentance and have mercy on me!
I, a prodigal, confess that I have sinned, Lord...
In the arenas, before the lawless pagans,
The victorious saints cried out with joy:
O Lord, Glory to you!
Theotokion
You were born ineffably of the Virgin, O Christ,
Enlightening those who were in darkness,
Who cry out: O Lord, Glory to you!
6th hour
Troparion of the prophecy Tone 7
In the day of trouble, you are our salvation and defense,
O Lord.
Have mercy on us according to your great mercy, lover of
mankind!
Prokeimenon of the prophecy Tone 4
The Lord of hosts is with us ; * the
God of jacob is our defense!
Sing praises to our God, sing praises * sing
praises to our king, sing praises.
Verse Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud
songs of joy!
Vespers
"Lord I call..."
Tone 3(by Joseph)
Lord, you killed the deceiver by your cross,
Delivering me, a deceived sinner, from his deceit.
Now having purified me through fasting,
Enable me to perform your desires,
So that in joy I might behold your precious sufferings, O
Master!
Lord, I have been wounded by the weapon of pleasures;
Totally disabled by evil.
Heal and give life to my humble soul.
Master, you were pierced by a lance,
As my Savior, heal my soul pierced by the enemy's
arrow,
And show me to be a partaker of your precious sufferings.
Tone 2(by Theodore)
Lord, by enlightening our souls through fasting,
May we be enabled to behold your cross in joy
And to bow before it in fear!
The cross sheds light on your voluntary sufferings.
Grant us to behold them, O lover of mankind.
Prokeimenon Tone 3
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised * in
the city of our God.
Verse: In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God!
Even though I am a creature of earth,
I dare to call on you, the creator, as my Father.
I participate in your image even though I have forsaken my sonship,
Living blindly as the prodigal,
Squandering the gifts of your riches through forgetfulness.
But as you sent your only-begotten Son
To endure crucifixion and death in the flesh for my sake,
So do not forsake me now,
But bring me back from evil,
And join me to yourself, O lover of mankind!
Even though I am a creature of earth...
The company of martyrs challenged their torturers:
We fight for the Lord of hosts!
Even though you condemn us to fire and torture,
We will not deny the power of the Trinity!
Theotokion
When the lawless people, Savior,
Crucified you, the life of all, on the wood,
Your Virgin mother stood by weeping and cried:
My sweetest child, the light of my eyes:
Woe is me! You
hung the earth above the waters:
How can you be crucified among thieves?