AT VESPERS ON FRIDAY EVENING
Kathisma Reading
The appointed psalms are chanted.
At Psalm 140
Tone 1
If You mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?* But with You forgiveness is that You may be revered.
The Word, who is consubstantial with God the Father,* has fashioned all things and grants life to all,* came forth from the Virgin, and assumed our flesh,* willingly becoming a man.* Since He is by nature good, He has poured forth for all* His wise teachings of ineffable wisdom.
I have waited for You as You have commanded; my soul patiently relies on Your promise,* for it has trusted in the Lord.
As the Master of the Law, You entered the court of the temple,* there You taught at Mid-feast, as is written, O Christ;* speaking with authority, You rebuked and censured the mindless scribes,* and all were amazed by the wisdom found in Your words* and by all the marvels* that were wrought by You.
From the morning watch until night* let Israel trust in the Lord.
Christ, the Bestower of Wisdom, the Giver of all good things,* who pours forth divine streams from a never-ending spring,* cries out: Come to Me, all that thirst,* draw forth and drink the water of life.* And thus shall rivers of grace and divine gifts* issue freely from within yourselves.
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.
O you who was vouchsafed life immortal* when you preached Christ the Life-giver, the Son and Word* who is consubstantial and equally everlasting* with the unoriginate Father who begat Him,* then you burned up the tinder of heresies with your fiery tongue, O glorious one,* expelling Arius from the Church of Christ;* and with your divine discourses you enlightened the hearts or the pious, O wise one,* that they might worship the Trinity in one essence.
Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.
Like a divine river aflood with the waters of the Spirit* were you shown to be, O all-wondrous one,* overflowing with divine doctrines,* setting all the fullness of the Church afire,* and overwhelming the assembly of the heretics* in the depths of your divine words and the abyss of your understandings, O father.* For you, O all-wise one, divine Athanasius who are most rich,* preached Christ the Master who is consubstantial with the Father who begat Him.
Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.
As a recounter of the mysteries of God and a divine hierarch,* you patiently endured* tribulations and persecutions,* attacks and your exiles, O blessed one,* for the sake of the faith of Christ,* clearly proclaiming Christ to be consubstantial, equally everlasting,* equal in His activity and equally everlasting* with the primal and equally unoriginate Father.* Wherefore, He Himself has manifestly adorned you* with all-radiant teachings* and shown you to the whole world as all-splendid.
Tone 6, Glory…
Let us all hymn Athanasius, the holy hierarch of Christ;* for, having set at nought all the teachings of Arius,* he manifestly proclaims throughout all the world the might of the Holy Trinity,* the one indivisible God in three Persons,* whom he entreats in behalf of us who celebrate his memory with faith.
Tone 3, Now…
O Lady most honourable,* how could we but be rapt in wonder* at your giving birth to the Incarnate God* who, without a mother, was born of a Father before all ages?* You gave Him birth in the flesh without a father,* without a man’s instrumentality.* He is God and man whose two natures are intact,* neither one losing any of its properties.* Therefore, O Virgin Mother,* intercede with Him to save the souls* of those who believe and profess in true faith* that you are the Mother of God.
Aposticha
Tone 3
By Your Cross, O Christ our Saviour,* the power of death has been vanquished,* the deceit of the devil has been destroyed,* therefore mankind, saved by faith,* offers You hymns of praise for ever.
The Lord is King, He is clothed with majesty;* the Lord is clothed with strength and He has girded Himself.
O Lord, all creation has been enlightened by Your Resurrection,* and Paradise has been reopened;* therefore, all creation extols You* and offers You hymns of praise forever.
For He established the world* which shall not be shaken.
I glorify the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;* and I praise the dominion of the undivided Divinity,* the consubstantial Trinity* who reigns forever and ever.
Holiness becomes Your house, O Lord,* for length of days.
O Christ, who darkened the sun by Your passion* and enlightened all creation by Your Resurrection,* accept our evening prayer, for You love mankind.
Tone 3, Glory…
Again, the Nile flowing with gold,* the namesake of immortality, arriving for his annual commemoration,* pours forth golden torrents of immortality in goodly floods,* producing the food of immortality;* and with exalted divine sounds he teaches all to worship the indivisible might of the Trinity,* pours forth divine doctrines, gives drink to the thoughts of the faithful,* and prays for our souls.
Tone 1, 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 unto eternity.* From him that believes 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.
Troparia
Tone 3
Holy Father Athanasius,* you became a stronghold of orthodoxy,* strengthening the Church through your divine teachings,* opposing the heretical opinion of Arius,* explaining and teaching that the Son is equal in nature to the Father.* Holy Father, intercede with Christ God to grant us great mercy!
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 SATURDAY 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 12:1-11
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 8:31-42
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.