Triodion

Fourth week of Lent Thursday Matins

(after the 2nd reading of the Psalter):

Sessional hymn Tone 1

Glorious apostles,

Intercessors for our souls,

By the strength of the cross you destroyed all the enemy's deceit!

Therefore you rejoice today in its veneration,//

Praying on our behalf to him who alone loves mankind!

Glory...

Glorious apostles...

Now and ever...

Mary, precious vessel that received the master,

We have fallen into an abyss of sin, tribulation and dark despair!

Raise us up again, for you are the salvation of sinners,

Their help and powerful protection//

And you save your servants!

(after the 3rd reading of the Psalter):

Sessional hymn Tone 7

Looking, Lord, at your cross that lies before us today,

We approach in faith with hymns and songs,

Venerating it in fear and joy!

Through the revelation of your cross, sanctify your servants//

And give peace to the Lord, only greatly merciful one!

Glory...

Looking, Lord, at your cross that lies before us today...

Now and ever...

Lord, we are your people and the sheep of your pasture!

Bring us back, for we have strayed into corruption.

As the shepherd, gather us together, for we have been scattered.

At the intercessions of the Theotokos,

In your love, have mercy and take pity on your flock,//

For you alone are free from sin.

TRIODION

Fourth week of Lent Thursday Matins

Apostikha

Tone 7

Faithful, let us emulate the Publican's repentance,

Not boasting like the Pharisee.

Instead, let us sigh from the depths of our hearts to God, the

benefactor of all,

For he commanded us saying:

Whoever exalts himself shall be abased,

And whoever abases himself shall be exalted!//

O God, be merciful to us sinners and save us!

Faithful, let us emulate...

Breathing one purpose and looking to a single hope,

Vying with each other in their end,

The victorious martyrs looked upon death for Christ

As the only entry into life!

Wonder! Though the torture might be postponed,

They seized hold of it as men seize hold of treasure,

And they said to one another:

If we do not die today, yet some day we shall surely die,

Obeying as we must the laws of human birth.

Let us turn this law into a labor of love,

And make willingly our own the common fate of all.

So we will purchase life with death!//

At their intercessions, O God, have mercy on us!

gne...

Through the prayers of the Theotokos, merciful one

Give peace to the lives of those who cry out://

O Lord, Glory to you!

TRIODION

Fourth week of Lent Thursday 6th hour

Troparion of the prophecy Tone 6

Before your cross

We bow down in worship, O master,//

And your holy resurrection, we glorify!

Prokeimenon of the prophecy Tone 4

God is our king before the ages; * he has worked salvation in the

midst of the earth!

Verse: O God, why do you cast us off forever?

Reading from the prophecy of Isaiah 28: 14-22

Prokeimenon Tone 4

I will rejoice forever! * I will sing praises to the God of jacob!

Verse: we give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks

to you!

TRIODION

Fourth week of Lent Thursday Vespers

"Lord I call..."

Tone 4 (by Joseph)

Lord, you have enabled us to kiss your ever-blessed cross

By which you have saved us!

We praise your goodness of heart, and we beseech you:

Restore to us all the joy of your salvation, Savior.

Grant us to behold in penitence//

Your holy sufferings and resurrection.

You endured death on the cross,

Destroying death by resurrecting the dead with your life-bearing word!

Now I beseech you to give life to my deadened soul.

Grant me compunction, deliverance from all evils//

During the holy days of your fast, lover of mankind.

(by Theodore)

You have counted us worthy to behold and embrace your holy cross with

joy.

Now we entreat you, God our Savior,

Enable us also to attain your most pure sufferings

By being strengthened through fasting

So that we may bow down and sing of your crucifixion,

The spear, the reeds, and the sponge

By which you have taken us from death,

Returning us to the joyous life of paradise.//

Lover of mankind, we now thankfully glorify you!

TRIODION

Fourth week of Lent Thursday Vespers

Prokeimenon Tone 8

Pray and make your vows * before the Lord our God.

Verse: in Judah God is known, his name is great in

Israel!

Reading from Genesis 10:32 - 11:9

Prokeimenon Tone 8

I cried to the Lord with my voice, * with my voice I made

supplication to God, and he heard me!

Verse: in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord!

Reading from Proverbs 13:20 - 14:6

TRIODION

Fourth week of Lent Thursday Vespers

Apostikha

Tone 6

Learn from the Lord, my soul:

For your sake he humbled himself even to death on a cross.

Exaltation humiliates, but humility exalts.

Do not become arrogant because of your good deeds;

Do not justify yourself by judging your neighbor, as the self-praising

Pharisee.

Instead, strive in your broken reasoning always to remember

The great number of your own transgressions.

Cry out with the Publican://

Have mercy on me a sinner, O God, have mercy on me!

Learn from the Lord...

Your martyrs, Lord,

Did not deny you,

Nor did they turn from your commandments.//

By their intercessions, have mercy on us!

gne...

When your mother beheld you crucified, O Christ,

She cried: what strange mystery do I see, my son?

How are you dying on the cross?//

Crucified in the flesh? The giver of life!