Aliturgical – The Divine Liturgy is not served today. The Royal Hours are prayed today. Strict Fast. Abstention from meat and eggs (and, traditionally, dairy) and foods that contain these ingredients.

VESPERS ON SUNDAY EVENING

Kathisma Reading

There are no appointed psalms.

At Psalm 140

Tone 4

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

Let us hymn the wise Theonas and Theopemptus* for, submitting to the dogmas of Christ,* and having splendidly set at nought all ungodly worship,* they worshiped the one Lord and God* in holiness, honour and goodly hope,* confessing Him right boldly before the tyrants;* and they have been crowned from on high.

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

Having forsaken as fleeting those things of life which drag men downwards,* delight in food and glory which fades like a flower, O most lauded ones,* you cleaved to Christ, enkindled by His comely beauty,* and you offered yourselves to Him as sweet-smelling roses,* and have been divinely crowned with the diadem of the incorrupt kingdom.

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

Having hated the world you have been shown to transcend the world,* and have joined the Church of the firstborn;* and with the angels you chant incorrupt hymnody, standing together before God.* And having rejected the vile falsehood of idolatry,* as martyrs you have put to shame the mindlessness of the tyrants.

Tone 1

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

Having truly desired the glory of the fathers, you loved incorrupt glory;* forsaking that which is sweet,* you gave your body over to all manner of pain.* And, reigning with Christ, you now receive the reward of your pangs.

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

He Who permitted the devil when he asked to tempt Job,* desiring to try you like gold,* left your body to the violence of the evil one;* but having put the tempter to shame by the patient endurance of infirmities,* you have been crowned with a wreath of victory.

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

Yearning for the comely beauty of Christ the Bridegroom,* and desiring to wed yourself to Him by all manner of good works,* you adorned yourself with the pangs of abstinence;* you now reign with Him in His bridal-chamber.

Tone 4, Glory… Now…

Make ready, O River Jordan!* For, lo! Christ God comes to be baptized by John,* that in your waters He might crush the heads of the invisible serpents by His divinity!* Rejoice, O desert of Jordan!* You mountains, leap up with gladness;* for our eternal Life comes to restore Adam!* O forerunner John, you are the voice of one crying in the wilderness:* “Prepare the ways of the Lord and make straight His paths!”

Prokeimenon, Tone 8

And now bless the Lord,* all you servants of the Lord.

verse: Who stand in the temple of the Lord, in the courtyards of the house of our God.

Aposticha

Tone 4

O earth, and you that are above the earth,* leap up and rejoice!* the Torrent of sweetness is baptized in the river,* drying up the outpouring of malice;* and He pours forth divine remission.

Therefore will I remember You from the land of Jordan and Hermon.

As the Bestower of light Jesus has no need to be baptized,* yet He comes in the flesh to the streams of the Jordan,* desiring to enlighten those who are in darkness.* With fervour let us greet Him with faith!

The waters saw You, O God, the waters saw You and were afraid.

Having assumed the guise of a servant,* you come to be baptized by a servant, in the streams of the Jordan, O Christ,* delivering us from bondage to the ancient sin,* sanctifying and illumining us.

Tone 6, Glory… Now…

Let the desert of Jordan rejoice, and let it blossom like a lily;* for therein has been heard the voice of one crying in the wilderness:* “Prepare the way of the Lord!”* For He Who set forth the mountains with a measure* and the forested places with His scales,* Who as God fills all things, is baptized by a servant,* granting rich gifts at the beginning of His impoverishment.* Eve once heard: “In pain you shall give birth to children;”* but now the Virgin has heard:* “Rejoice, O you who are full of grace! The Lord is with you,* Who has great mercy!”

Troparia

Tone 4

After Elijah had gone up to heaven,* Elisha threw his mantle in the Jordan River which parted,* opening a way, a dry path between two walls of water, where he could pass,* a true symbol of our baptism by which we pass through this fleeting life.* Christ has been seen at the Jordan River* to sanctify the waters.

Glory… Now…

Make ready, O Zebulon,* and prepare yourself, O Nephtali;* O river Jordan, stop and receive with joy* the Master coming to be baptized.* O Adam, rejoice with the first mother, Eve,* and do not hide yourselves as before in paradise.* For having seen you unclothed* Christ has appeared to clothe you with the first robe:* He has appeared to renew all creation.