AT VESPERS ON SUNDAY EVENING
Kathisma Reading
No psalms are assigned to be chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 5
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
The all-holy mid-feast of the Saviour’s Resurrection* has now appeared like the brightness of noon,* shining upon the world with the divine grace of Christ’s arising,* flashing forth with unerring signs of incorruption* revealing His Ascension into the heights.* The most bright feast of Pentecost is manifestly radiant* with the Holy Spirit’s descent to us.* Therefore it bestows upon our souls* peace and great mercy.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
Having reached the feast of Mid-Pentecost,* The Lord now imparts the streams of His great compassion,* like a Divine River of Glory, crying aloud to all:* “You that are thirsty, come to me and draw forth abundantly.* For I am a well-spring of sympathy and an abyss of mercy,* pouring forth forgiveness upon the world,* purging sins, and expunging maladies.”* And He saves them that keep His Resurrection’s memorial,* and protects them that honour and with love celebrate His Ascension in glory,* granting to our souls peace and great mercy.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Having stood within the temple’s court,* He who is the uncircumscribable God and Lord,* who by nature is God,* and for our sake became incarnate, and circumscribed in the flesh* poured forth for all mankind vivifying teachings, saying:* Be purified in your souls;* Quench the burning heat of the passions.* Let no one be deprived of this draught,* for upon him that drinks I bestow the divine grace* of an immortal and better heavenly Kingdom,* which he shall share with Me, the Creator,* and thus be glorified.
Tone 4
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
When at the behest of God you were instructed by divine words, O blessed one,* like glorious and fertile earth you received the seed of the Word in the furrows of your heart* and produced grain an hundredfold* for all who honour you with faith, O martyr Pelagia,* truly delighting their hearts with grace.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Seeking the beauty of Christ, who alone loves us,* you rushed past the beauties of this world* and hastened to the ever-living fountains of holy baptism;* and, filled therewith, you straightway burned with thirst for martyrdom;* wherefore, zealously entering into the vessel greatly heated,* you were vouchsafed a divine end.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
As a chosen and pure bride, you became a bride for Him* who was born of her who knew not wedlock,* having first, in your uprightness of mind,* spurned a transitory bridegroom and earthly raiment richly dyed;* wherefore, O martyr Pelagia, you have now received everlasting glory* and the vesture of incorruption.
Tone 8, Glory… Now…
You, the Wisdom of God,* came to the temple at Mid-feast,* teaching and reproving the disobedient Jews, the Pharisees, and Scribes,* and with boldness You cried to them:* He that thirsts, let him come to Me and drink living water,* and he shall never again thirst to eternity.* From him that believeth in My goodness,* rivers of eternal life shall pour forth from his noetic belly.* O how great is Your goodness and compassion,* O Christ our God! Glory be to You.
Aposticha
Tone 4
Unceasingly worshiping Your life-giving Cross, O Christ God,* we glorify Your Resurrection on the third day,* for through it, O All-powerful one,* You have renewed corrupted human nature* and shown us the way to heaven,* since You alone are good and the Lover of mankind.
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, I desired to blot out with my tears* the handwriting of all my iniquities,* and thus to please You with repentance for the rest of my life,* but the enemy beguiles me and ever wars against my soul.* O Lord, before I utterly perish, save 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.
O You who are glorified in the memorial of You Saints, O Christ God:* since You are entreated by them,* send down upon us Your great mercy.
Tone 6, Glory… Now…
Having come together on the Mid-feast* between Your Resurrection and the divine coming of Your Holy Spirit, O Christ,* We praise the mysteries of Your wonders.* Therefore, on this day, send down Your great mercy to us.
Troparion, Tone 4
Your lamb, Pelagia, O Jesus, cries in a loud voice:* “You, O my Bridegroom, I love; and, seeking You, I undergo martyrdom.* And with You I am crucified and buried in Your baptism,* and I suffer for Your sake that I may reign with You.* And I die on Your behalf that I may live in You.* Receive me as a spotless sacrifice,* sacrificed for You with love.”* Through her intercession in Your mercy save our souls.
Tone 8, Glory… Now…
At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* Source of life, Christ our God, glory to You!
AT DIVINE LITURGY ON MONDAY MORNING
After the priest has exclaimed, Blessed be the Kingdom… and the people have responded, Amen, the clergy sing the Paschal Troparion once and the people repeat it. Then, the clergy sing the first half, and the people conclude it.
Paschal Troparion
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Troparia and Kontakia
Troparion, Tone 8: At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour,* water my thirsty soul with streams of true godliness;* for You cried out to all: Let any who thirst, come to Me and drink.* O Source of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4: At the mid-point of the Feast according to the Law,* Maker of all things and Master,* You said to those present, O Christ God:* Come, and draw the water of immortality.* And so we fall before You crying out with faith: Grant us Your mercies , for You are the source of our life.
Prokeimenon, Tone 3
Great is our Lord, and great is His strength;* and of His knowledge there is no end.
verse: Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; may praise be sweet to Him. (Psalm 146:5,1)
Epistle
Acts 12:12-17
Alleluia, Tone 1
verse: Remember Your congregation which You acquired from the beginning.
verse: But God is our king before the ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 73:2,12)
Gospel
John 8:42-51
Hymn to the Theotokos
Virginity is alien to mothers and child-bearing is foreign to virgins; yet in you, O Mother of God, both of them came together. Therefore, we and all the nations of the earth without ceasing magnify you.
Communion Hymn
Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood* abide in Me and I in them, says the Lord.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (John 6:56)
Instead of Blessed is He Who comes… we sing:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of We have seen the true light… we sing:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of May our mouths be filled… we sing three times:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
Instead of Blessed be the name of the Lord… we sing three times:
Christ is risen from the dead,* trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs* giving life.
At the dismissal, instead of Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen. we chant:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death,* and to those in the tombs giving life.
After the final Amen, the Troparion Christ is risen is sung as at the beginning of the Liturgy, but with the addition:
And to us He has granted life eternal;* we bow down before His resurrection on the third day.