Abstention from meat and foods that contain these ingredients

VESPERS ON THURSDAY EVENING

Kathisma Reading

The appointed psalms are chanted.

At Psalm 140

Tone 3

If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.

О Lord, who in Your divine nature are beyond suffering,* You endured suffering in Your human nature,* being nailed to the Cross and pierced in the side by a spear,* from whence You have poured forth upon me two rivers of ineffable mysteries.

I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.

With mockery You were wounded by the crown plaited of thorns, О King and Saviour of all,* who have torn apart the proscription of thorny sin;* and taking the reed in Your hands, in the book of heaven, You have recorded all of us who believe in You.

From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.

The undeserved envy of the Jews who crucified You* did not cease even when You were dead, О innocent Christ;* but the wicked ones slandered You as a liar and asked Pilate to guard Your tomb.* О what incurable wrath!

Tone 8

For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

O most lauded martyr Longinus,* with the stains of your blood you dyed for yourself a robe of salvation,* stripping the greatly crafty one bare by your feats of pain.* And now you live in the kingdom on high,* crowned as a victor with a never-fading wreath.* Therefore, we honour your glorious memory.

Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.

O most lauded martyr Longinus, seeing the Son of God upon the Cross,* suffering of His own will, and tasting death,* when the sun dimmed its light and the mountains quaked,* you cried out to the assembly of the Jews:* Truly, this is the Son of God, the Lord and King of all.

Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.

The Hebrew people, the all-iniquitous assembly, the ungrateful nation,* cut off your head with a sword, casting it into a dung-heap.* And a blind woman, coming upon it and touching it, received her sight.* O most blessed and lauded Longinus,* pray to the Lord for us that we be saved.

Tone 6, Glory…

Seeing the temple quake during Your suffering, O Christ,* Longinus the centurion proclaimed You to the Jews as the Son of God.* Therefore, the cruel ones, cutting off your head with a sword, cast it on a dung-heap;* and the eyes of the woman who found it, which had been shut fast in blindness, were opened.* With her we cry out: O You who have crowned him who suffered for You,* by his supplications illumine also the eyes of our hearts,* that we may glorify You, God who was nailed to the Cross in the flesh,* that You might save us.

Now…

Of old, when the unblemished ewe-lamb, the immaculate Mistress,* beheld her Lamb upon the tree of the Cross,* she exclaimed maternally, and, marvelling, cried out:* O my Child most sweet,* what is this new and most strange sight which my eyes behold?* How has the thankless synagogue betrayed You to Pilate’s tribunal* and condemns to death the Life of all?* Yet I hymn Your ineffable condescension, O Word.

Aposticha

Tone 3

I bow down, О Christ, before Your precious Cross:* the guardian of the world, the salvation of us sinners,* the great purification and boast of the whole world.

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.

Lifting up his arms in the form of the Cross on the mountain, Moses vanquished Amalek;* and You, О Saviour, stretched out upon the precious Cross, embraced me,* saving me from slavery to the enemy,* and gave it to me as the sign of life,* enabling me to evade the arrows of my adversaries.* Wherefore, О Word, I bow down before Your precious Cross.

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.

Great is the power of Your Cross!* For it was planted in one place, yet works throughout the world;* and it made apostles of fishermen and martyrs of the heathen,* that they might pray on behalf of our souls.

Tone 6, Glory…

Standing before the Cross, gazing upon the events which had transpired,* and seeing the God-man crucified upon the Tree, you cried out to Him:* Remember me in Your kingdom, O Lord!* Therefore, the Saviour exclaimed to you:* Blessed are you, O Longinus!* Your memory shall be from generation to generation!

Now…

Seeing You crucified, O Christ, she who gave birth to You cried out:* What is this strange mystery which I see, O my Son?* How is it that You die on the Tree, suspended in the flesh,* O Bestower of life?

Troparia

Tone 4

O Lord our God, Your holy martyr Longinus* has deserved the crown of immortality* on account of his good fight.* Armed with Your strength, he has vanquished his persecutors* and crushed Satan’s dreadful might.* Through his supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.

Glory… Now…

O Virgin, all immaculate Mother of Christ God,* a sword pierced your all-holy soul* when you saw your Son and God willingly crucified.* Therefore, O blessed One,* never cease to pray to Him* that He may grant us forgiveness of our sins.

AT DIVINE LITURGY ON FRIDAY MORNING

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 4: O Lord our God, Your holy martyr Longinus* has deserved the crown of immortality* on account of his good fight.* Armed with Your strength, he has vanquished his persecutors* and crushed Satan’s dreadful might.* Through his supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone 4: The Church remembers the holy martyr Longinus today,* and she is made truly happy.* She sings this song to the Lord:* You are my strength and perseverance, O Christ.

Prokeimenon, Tone 7

The just man shall be glad in the Lord and shall hope in Him.

verse: Hear, O God, my voice when I make my petition to You. (Psalm 63:11,2)

Epistle

Colossians 2:1-7

Alleluia, Tone 4

verse: The just man shall flourish like the palm tree; and he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon.

verse: They who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish the courts of our God. (Psalm 91:13,14)

Gospel

Luke 9:12-17

Communion Hymn

The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)