Saint with Six Stichera.

VESPERS ON WEDNESDAY EVENING

Kathisma Reading

The appointed psalms are chanted.

At Psalm 140

Tone 2

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

When by divine inspiration you wisely left the cares of life* and set out on the labours of asceticism,* you went out with joy into the inaccessible wilderness,* inflamed with love of the Lord.* Having overcome the passions,* you lived like an angel by your perseverance in the good, O holy father.

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

Having renounced all human companionship from your youth, O holy father,* you were the first to seek the absolute solitude of the wilderness.* You surpassed all hermits, O holy Paul,* remaining unknown throughout your whole life.* But at the command of God, Anthony found you like a hidden treasure* and made you known throughout the world.

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

O holy Paul, as you lived your earthly life,* you dwelt with the wild beasts* and were served by a bird at the command of God.* Seeing this when he found you,* Anthony the Great was filled with amazement,* and he ceaselessly magnified the divine Providence of the Master of all.

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

O blessed Father, when by divine inspiration* you joyfully fled from the pleasures of this world,* you renounced the broad way and chose the narrow, straight, and rugged road.* You went into a spiritual refuge where you put on the divine habit,* denying yourself and stripping yourself of all passions.

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

You conceived the amazing plan of your life,* your wondrous behaviour, in your love for Christ,* whose ineffable poverty you cherished.* Without a home, living before the threshold of your parents* you endured need and tribulations.* But you were filled with divine graces and you inherited heaven* and the treasure which no one can ever take away.

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

Having the Holy Gospel before you, O father John,* you fulfilled It when you renounced your family inheritance* and spent your whole life in hardship and repentance.* Thus you now rejoice, O venerable father, since God has glorified you* with divine consolation and endless happiness.

Tone 2, Glory…

Renouncing the world and all it contains, O venerable father,* you took up the Gospel of Christ and lived it completely.* In the hut where you dwelt as though in a mystic paradise,* treating your body with the utmost severity,* you put to death the murderous dragon.* Now you dwell in heaven, O holy John:* ask great mercy for us.

Now…

Like a great Sun, the Word, who is equal in honour with the Father and the Spirit,* and who in latter times shone forth upon the earth through the divine Virgin Maiden,* emitted you, О glorious apostles,* like rays illumining with the light of Faith all mankind* which languishes in the darkness of delusion,* leading them to Him with divine teachings.

Prokeimenon, Tone 5

O Lord, save me by Your name,* and in Your power be a judge for me.

verse: O God, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth.

Aposticha

Tone 6

Once, the apostles trolled the depths of the sea with nets, О Lord,* and likewise the heights of the kingdom for the sake of their doctrines.* In the first, they skilfully tested the unfathomable depths;* and in the other they attained through faith Your infinite bosom,* and they proclaimed Your timeless Son to the world.* By their supplications and those of all the saints,* have mercy on us.

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.

Once, when Your disciples were tempest-tossed in a boat, О Christ,* they cried out: “O Master, save us! For we are perishing!” *And we now cry aloud:* We pray You, О our Saviour and Lover of mankind,* deliver us from our tribulations!

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.

Your Cross was the invincible weapon of the martyrs, О Lord;* for they looked upon imminent death, foreseeing the life which is to come,* and they were strengthened by hope in You.* By their prayers have mercy upon us!

Glory… Now…

The eye of my heart longingly seeks you, O Lady;* disdain not my feeble sigh.* At the hour when your Son shall judge the world,* be my protection and helper.

Troparia

Tone 4

God of our fathers, You always treat us fairly.* Deprive us not of Your mercy,* but by their prayers direct our lives in peace.

Glory…

Since your early youth, you have longed with fervour for the things of the Lord:* leaving the world and its pleasures, you became an example of the monastic life.* John most blessed, you built your hut at the door of your parents’ house* and overcame the devil’s guiles.* Wherefore Christ Himself has glorified you as you deserve.

Now…

O Virgin Mother of God,* we acknowledge that the Word of the Father, Christ our God,* was incarnate of you, the only pure one and the only blessed one.* Therefore, we sing to you a hymn of praise and we exalt you.

DIVINE LITURGY ON THURSDAY MORNING

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 8: The divine image was faithfully preserved in you, O fathers,* for taking up the Cross you followed Christ.* By your deeds you have taught us to see beyond flesh, which passes,* and care for the soul, a thing immortal.* and so, O Venerable Paul and John,* your spirits rejoices with the angels.

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

Kontakion, Tone 2: Divinely armed with purity of spirit* and mightily wielding the lance of unceasing prayers,* you overcame the powers of demons,* Venerable Paul and John, pray without ceasing for all of us.

Prokeimenon, Tone 7

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His venerable ones.

verse: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has rendered to me? (Psalm 115:15,12)

Epistle

James 4:7-5:9

Alleluia, Tone 6

verse: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments.

verse: His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth. (Psalm 111:1,2)

Gospel

Mark 11:27-33

Communion Hymn

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