VESPERS ON TUESDAY EVENING

Kathisma Reading

The appointed psalms are chanted.

At Psalm 140

Tone 5, Podoben “Rejoice…”

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 1

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

You were undaunted as you entered the judgment hall, Martyr!* You endured sufferings and torture!* As you were wounded, you wounded the contending enemy,* seizing victory over him, Trophimus!* Therefore pray that our souls may be granted peace and great mercy!

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

With yourself, you led a choir of martyrs!* You suffered and rejoiced with them, wise one!* You have fittingly received heavenly blessings.* With them, remember us who praise you in faith,* entreating Christ that He may grant our souls peace and great mercy!

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

Come, faithful: let us praise the martyrs Trophimus and Theophilus,* and with them, thirteen companions!* They quenched the fire of delusion with their precious blood!* Now they live in the Kingdom on high,* ever asking that our souls be granted peace and great mercy!

Tone 5, Glory… Now…

Desiring that all receive salvation, O my sinless Christ,* You were pleased to pay a great price, Your precious blood, for our deliverance.* Wherefore, beholding You nailed, Your Mother, lamenting, rent her hair, saying:* O Child, my all-immaculate Lamb, who desires to deliver the world by Your precious blood,* how have You set to whence I cannot see, O never-setting Sun,* who grants to all enlightenment, peace and great mercy?

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 1

Be swayed by the pains that the saints have suffered for You, O Lord,* and heal all our pains,* O Lover of mankind, for this we pray.

Glory… Now…

O pure One, we have obtained your protection.* Through your intercession, we have been kept from harm* and surrounded at all times with the grace of your Son’s cross.* Therefore, we exalt you with great devotion.

DIVINE LITURGY ON WEDNESDAY MORNING

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 1: Be swayed by the pains that the saints have suffered for You, O Lord,* and heal all our pains,* O Lover of mankind, for this we pray.

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

Kontakion, Tone 2: Appearing as radiant lights, O godly martyrs,* you illumine all creation with the brilliance of your miracles,* healing infirmities, always dispelling deep darkness* and praying unceasingly to Christ our God for all of us.

Prokeimenon, Tone 4

To the saints who are in His land, the Lord has made wonderful all His desires in them.

verse: I foresaw the Lord in my sight, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. (Psalm 15:3,8)

Epistle

1 Corinthians 7:12-24

Alleluia, Tone 4

verse: The just cried out and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of their afflictions.

verse: The afflictions of the just are many, and out of them all will the Lord deliver them. (Psalm 33:18,20)

Gospel

Matthew 14:35-15:11

Communion Hymn

Rejoice in the Lord, O you just;* praise befits the righteous.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 32:1)