Saint with Six Stichera.
VESPERS ON MONDAY EVENING
Kathisma Reading
The appointed psalms are chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 8, Podoben “O all-glorious wonder…”
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
Bearing myrrh with tears, O Mary Magdalene,* on reaching the divine sepulchre you saw an angel of glory* who proclaimed the divine resurrection of the Bestower of life* and the deliverance of all.* Wherefore, you hastened to make announcement to the eleven, saying joyfully:* Leap up, for Christ has risen!
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Serving Christ God, who had become like to us for our sake, O all-lauded one,* and setting your soul and mind afire with continual radiance, you became light.* And, beholding the strange vision of Him hanging upon the Cross,* you said, weeping:* “How is it that Life now accepts a voluntary death?”
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
We celebrate your sacred memory, O you who learned of Christ* and who preached His precepts for the deliverance of men’s souls, O most glorious Mary;* and we venerate with faith the shrine of your relics,* which pours forth inexhaustible grace and enlightenment* upon those who have recourse to it with love, O blessed of God.
Tone 4, Podoben “You have given a sign…”
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
You offered yourself wholly to Him* who, for your sake, endured His salvific suffering, O all-lauded father,* and you made haste with diligence* to be well-pleasing to Him in the blood of martyrdom* and to cleave to Him.* Hence, crowned by Him, you have been glorified* and enriched by the working of miracles, O all-wise one.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
By your endurance of suffering, O Phocas,* you cast down the arrogance of the iniquitous and the worship of the demons,* manifestly proclaiming the Saviour of all,* illumining the thoughts of the faithful* and dispelling the darkness of the vanity of idolatry* with the enlightenment of your miracles* and the splendour of your struggles, O blessed of God.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
We who are beset by misfortunes,* by the waves of life and the abyss of transgressions,* and are assailed by the tempest of grief,* having you as a haven of salvation, pray with faith:* by your supplications save us who honour your holy memory* from every evil circumstance,* entreating the Lord and Master, who loves mankind.
Tone 6, Glory…
Being the first to behold the divine resurrection of the First Cause of good things,* who in the goodness of His heart has deified our nature,* O Mary Magdalene, you showed yourself to be also the first evangelist,* crying out to the apostles:* “Setting aside your grief, take courage!* Come and behold the risen Christ* who grants the world great mercy!”
Now…
О most holy Virgin, show forth upon me, the wretched one,* the depths of your love for mankind,* the abyss of your tender compassion, and the countless compassions of thy goodness.* Mow down the stubble of sin, granting me chastity,* and preserve my body and soul undefiled,* О you who have given birth to the Saviour.
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
The Lord hears me* when I cry out to Him.
verse: Whenever I called, the God of my justice heard me.
Aposticha
Tone 5
O Lord, I cease not to sin,* nor do I perceive Your love for mankind which You have granted me.* Vanquish my lack of discernment, O You who alone are good,* and have mercy upon me.
I have lifted up my eyes to You enthroned in heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a maid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes on the Lord our God until He has mercy on us.
O Lord, from reverent fear of You I tremble,* yet I cease not from committing sins.* Who, when called to trial, does not fear the judge?* Or who, desiring to be healed, angers the physician, as I do?* O longsuffering Lord, have compassion upon my weakness,* and have mercy upon me.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been filled with shame; our soul is all too full of the mockery of the rich, of the contempt of the proud.
Having put on the breastplate of faith and armed themselves with the image of the Cross,* Your saints, О Lord, manfully gave themselves over to torments* and cast down the pride and deception of the devil.* As God almighty, send down peace upon the world through their entreaties,* and great mercy upon our souls.
Tone 8, Glory…
As a disciple who faithfully ministered to Christ God,* who in the excess of His compassion willingly assumed my poverty,* Mary Magdalene, when she beheld Him stretched out upon the Tree and enclosed in the sepulchre,* cried aloud, shedding tears:* “What strange sight is this, O You who give life to the dead?* How is it that You are reckoned among the dead?* What myrrh shall I bring to You who have removed from me the stench of the demons?* What tears shall I shed for You who have wiped away the tears of our first mother?”* Yet, O King of all, You appeared as a gardener,* taking away the burning heat with the dew of Your words,* and said to her:* “Go to My brethren and declare to them the joy of glad tidings;* for I shall ascend to the Father, My God and your God,* that I may bestow great mercy upon the world!”
Now…
Rejoice, praise of the universe!* Rejoice, temple of the Lord!* Rejoice, mountain overshadowed!* Rejoice, refuge of all!* Rejoice, golden candlestick!* Rejoice, honoured glory of the Orthodox!* Rejoice, Mary, Mother of Christ God!* Rejoice, paradise! Rejoice, divine table!* Rejoice, tabernacle! Rejoice, golden jar!* Rejoice, hope of all!
Troparia
Tone 1
The honourable Mary Magdalen followed after Christ,* who for our sake was born of the Virgin,* keeping His precepts and laws.* Wherefore, celebrating your most holy memory today,* through your supplications we receive remission of sins.
Tone 4, Glory…
As you shared in the ways of the apostles and occupied their throne,* you found your activity to be a passage to divine vision,* O divinely inspired one.* Wherefore, ordering the word of truth,* you suffered for the faith even to the shedding of your blood.* O hieromartyr Phocas, entreat Christ God,* that our souls be saved.
Now…
Let us poor sinners hasten with fervour to the Mother of God;* let us humbly kneel before her and say from the depth of our hearts:* O Lady, be kind to us and help us.* Hasten, for we are perishing under a multitude of sins.* Do not turn away your servants empty-handed,* for you are their only hope and protection.
DIVINE LITURGY ON TUESDAY MORNING
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion Tone 1: In keeping His commandments and laws, holy Mary Magdalene,* you followed Christ, Who for our sake was born of a Virgin,* and in celebrating your most holy memory today,* we receive forgiveness of sins by your prayers!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion Tone 4: When God, Who is transcendent in Essence,* came with flesh into the world, Myrrhbearer,* He received you as a true disciple for you turned all your love toward Him;* henceforth you would yourself work many healings.* Now that you have passed into heaven, never cease to intercede for the world!
Prokeimenon, Tone 4
God is wonderful in His saints,* the God of Israel.
verse: In the churches bless God, the Lord from the fountains of Israel. (Psalm 67:36,27)
Epistle
1 Corinthians 6:20-7:12
Alleluia, Tone 1
verse: With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and He was attentive to me, and He heard my prayer.
verse: He brought me out of the pit of misery and the mud of the swamp. (Psalm 39:2,3)
Gospel
Matthew 14:1-13
Communion Hymn
The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear*. Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)