Fast-free week.

VESPERS ON TUESDAY EVENING

Kathisma Reading

The appointed psalms are chanted.

At Psalm 140

Tone 5

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

You were lifted up like a lamb upon the Cross,* and laid low the uprisings of the deceiver;* and when You were slaughtered You sanctified the whole earth with Your blood.* Pierced by the spear, You commanded the flaming sword to turn away from me,* that I might dwell in paradise and partake without fear of the tree of life.* Wherefore, saved by Your sufferings, I cry out, rejoicing:* Glory be to Your divine Cross, whereby we have been delivered from the ancient curse* and receive from the Tree blessing 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.

Desiring to bring an end to the pain and afflictions of all, О supremely good Lord, my Saviour,* You endured vile crucifixion;* You tasted of gall, О Innocent One, removing the bitter taste of evil;* and wounded, О Word, by the thrust of the spear,* You heal our wounds, in that You are Master.* Wherefore, we hymn Your glorious will,* and bowing down, we honour the spear, the sponge, and the reed,* whereby You have imparted to Your world peace and great mercy.

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

“How did the iniquitous multitude of the Jews condemn You to be crucified on the Cross, О Jesus,* taking no pity on You, the Compassionate One?”,* exclaimed the Virgin, weeping, when she beheld lifted up upon the Cross* Him who was born from her womb without suffering;* “and what has the iniquitous council done to You, О my Child most desired, my most beloved Son?* Make haste and save those who glorify Your crucifixion with faith,* and those who magnify me, as You promised,* in that You alone are most good!”

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.

Wisely, O most wise one, you taught the incorporeal Word* who is equally unoriginate with the Father* and who united Himself hypostatically to the flesh;* whose activity is twofold,* through both the natures of which He is comprised and in which He is seen:* One, indivisible in essence,* and comprehended as existing in both.

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

Having studied the law of the Lord,* O blessed and holy hierarch Meletius,* you showed yourself to be a tree* standing by the waters of asceticism, as it is written,* and bringing forth the fruits of the virtues* through the grace of Him who sanctified your holy soul* and made of you a receptacle of all spiritual effulgence.

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

As say the Scriptures,* your cheeks were adorned like turtle-doves, O most wise one Meletius,* loving abstinence and forgoing food,* desiring the noetic sustenance which Christ bestowed upon you* when you undertook your manifold labours,* displaying the ardent zeal which you showed when suffering misfortunes* for the sake of the Faith.

Tone 4, Glory… Now…

When the ewe-lamb, who gave birth to You,* saw You, the Lamb and Shepherd, upon the Tree,* she lamented and cried out to You maternally:* O my Son most desired!* How is it that You are suspended upon the Tree of the Cross, O Long-suffering One?* How have Your hands and feet been pierced with nails by the iniquitous, O Word?* And how have You shed Your blood, O Master?

Prokeimenon, Tone 1

Your mercy, O Lord, shall follow me* all the days of my life.

verse: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In green pastures He gives me repose.

Aposticha

Tone 5

О Lord, of old, in the time of Moses the Prophet,* the image of Your Cross, precisely revealed, vanquished Your enemies;* and now, possessed of that same Cross, we ask Your help:* Strengthen Your Church, for the sake of Your great mercy, О 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.

Though a tree visible by nature, Your Cross, О Christ, is invested with divine power;* and tangibly revealed to the world,* it wondrously and noetically works our salvation.* Bowing down before it, we glorify You, О Saviour.* Have mercy on us!

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.

Pray for us, О holy martyrs,* that we may be delivered from our iniquities;* for to you have been given the grace* to make supplication on our behalf.

Glory… Now…

Taking upon Himself my whole form, God the Creator clad himself therein,* desiring to refashion the fallen form of Adam;* and was willingly lifted up upon the Cross as one guilty.* But now stretching forth His hands, He heals our hands,* which of old were rendered weak by stretching forth to pluck the fruit of the tree.* And the all-pure one, beholding Him, exclaimed:* What is this Your ineffable long-suffering, О my Son?* I cannot bear to see You who holds the ends of the whole earth in the palm of Your hand,* lifted up upon the Cross!

Troparia

Tone 4

The truth of your deeds made you for your flock a rule of faith* and an image of meekness,* a teacher of continence.* And so you gained the heights through humility,* riches through poverty,* father and bishop, Meletius.* Intercede with Christ, our God,* for the salvation of 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.

DIVINE LITURGY ON WEDNESDAY MORNING

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 4: The truth of your deeds made you for your flock a rule of faith* and an image of meekness,* a teacher of continence.* And so you gained the heights through humility,* riches through poverty,* father and bishop, Meletius.* Intercede with Christ, our God,* for the salvation of 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 6: The Macedonian apostate feared your spiritual courage and fled.* We your servants gather around you in order to obtain your intercession.* O father Meletius, you are equal to the angels* and the fiery sword of Christ our God.* We praise you as a star enlightening all of us.

Prokeimenon, Tone 1

My mouth shall speak wisdom and the meditation of my heart understanding.

verse: Hear these things, all you nations; give ear all you inhabitants of the world. (Psalm 28:4,2)

Epistle

2 Peter 3:1-18

Alleluia, Tone 2

verse: The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom and his tongue shall speak judgment.

verse: The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps will not falter. (Psalm 36:30,31)

Gospel

Mark 13:24-31

Communion Hymn

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