Variable Portions of the Vesperal Liturgy for Annunciation
2022
At
Lord I have Cried…11 Verses are sung:
Bring my soul out of prison * that I
may confess Thy name.
Tone
8: Of mine own free will, through my first
transgression /
I put
off the beauty of the virtues; /
but
through Thy loving self-abasement, O Word of God, /
I
am clothed with beauty once again. /
For
though I was defiled by grievous passions /
and
thieves had left me wounded on the road, /
yet
hast Thou not despised me; /
but
Thou hast kept me safe by Thine almighty power, /
granting
me Thine aid, //
O
Lord most merciful.
The righteous shall wait patiently for
me * until Thou shalt reward me.
Repeat: “Of mine own free will …”
Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O
Lord; * O Lord, hear my voice.
Tone
1: Nailed,
O Lord, upon the Cross, /
with
the divine spear Thou hast torn up the record of Adam’s sin. /
Tear,
then, to pieces my bonds, O Word, /
that
I may offer Thee with joy and faith a sacrifice of praise: /
for
I have come now to the acceptable season of the Fast, //
which
Thou hast appointed for the salvation of all.
Let Thine ears be attentive * to the voice
of my supplication.
Shining
with the radiance of fasting, /
Moses
once beheld the glory of God. /
Follow
his example, O my humble soul, /
and
with acts of abstinence and prayer serve Him /
who
for thy sake stretched out His hands in love upon the Cross, //
granting
thee a share in the divine gladness.
If Thou shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, O
Lord, who shall stand? * For with Thee
there is forgiveness.
Tone
6: We
venerate Thy life-giving Cross, O Christ, /
on
which Thou hast suffered /
in
Thine ineffable and measureless love towards us. /
Our
souls illumined by it, /
we
praise Thee without ceasing, /
asking
that we may complete the course of the Fast /
with
good courage and in joy; /
and
so may we attain, O Lord, and glorify Thy Passion, //
through
which Thou hast saved us.
For Thy name’s sake have I patiently waited
for Thee, O Lord; my soul hath patiently waited for Thy word, * my soul hath
hoped in the Lord.
Tone
4: During the sixth month /
the
archangel was sent to the pure Virgin, /
and
having pronounced a salutation to her, /
he
announced that the Deliverer would come forth from her. /
Wherefore,
having accepted the salutation, /
she
conceived Thee, the preeternal God, /
Who
wast well pleased to become ineffably incarnate //
for
the salvation of our souls.
From the morning watch until night, from the
morning watch * let Israel hope in the Lord.
The
Theotokos heard a tongue which she knew not, /
for
the archangel spake to her words of annunciation. /
And
accepting his salutation with faith, /
she
conceived Thee, the preeternal God. /
Wherefore,
rejoicing, we cry out to Thee: /
O
God Who wast immutably incarnate of her, //
grant
peace to the world and great mercy to our souls!
For with the Lord there is mercy, and
with Him is plenteous redemption; * and He shall redeem
Behold,
our restoration hath now been revealed to us! /
God
uniteth Himself to men in manner past recounting! /
Falsehood
is dispelled by the voice of the archangel! /
For
the Virgin receiveth joy, /
an
earthly woman hath become heaven! /
The
world is released from the primal curse! /
Let
creation rejoice and chant aloud: //
O
Lord, our Creator and Deliverer, glory be to Thee!
O praise the Lord, all ye nations; *
praise Him, all ye peoples.
Tone
1 [Special Melody: “O most lauded
martyrs…”]:
The great Gabriel, the most godly, radiant and
salvific intelligence, /
who with the ranks on high beholdeth the light of
the threefold Sun /
and chanteth divine and awesome hymnody, /
prayeth that He grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
For
He hath made His mercy to prevail over us, * and the truth of the Lord abideth
forever.
The great mystery unknown before to the angels /
and kept secret from before time began /
was entrusted to thee alone, O Gabriel; /
and thou didst declare it to her who alone is pure,
/
having arrived in
With her do thou pray, /
that God grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
Who maketh his angels spirits, * and his
ministers a flame of fire.
Ever full of light, doing the will of the Almighty /
and carrying out His commands, /
O chief among the angels, most excellent Gabriel, /
save those who honor thee with love, /
ever asking, that God grant unto our souls //
peace and great mercy.
Glory… Both
now… Tone 6:
The
Archangel Gabriel was sent from heaven /
to
announce the conception to the Virgin. /
And,
arriving in
he
pondered within himself, marveling at the wonder: /
How
is it that He Who in the highest is unapproachable /
is
born of the Virgin; /
that
He Who hath heaven for His throne and the earth for His footstool /
is
contained within the Virgin’s womb; /
that
He upon Whom the six-winged and many eyed beings cannot gaze /
hath
been well pleased to become incarnate of her by His word alone? /
This
is God’s word. /
Why,
therefore, do I stand and not say to the Virgin: /
The
Lord is with thee! /
Rejoice,
O pure Virgin! /
Rejoice,
O unwedded Bride! /
Rejoice,
O Mother of Life! //
Blessed
is the Fruit of thy womb!'?"
Entry
with the Gospel.
O
Gladsome Light…
Prokimena and two readings from the Lenten Lectionary, and then 2 for the feast: (1) Exod 3:1-8 and (2) Prov 8:22-30.
The First Prokimenon:
Tone 7: Exalt ye the Lord our God, * and worship the
footstool of His feet for He is holy.
Stichos: The Lord is King, let the peoples rage.
The First Old
Testament
Genesis 18:20-33:
The Lord said: Because
the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very
grievous; I will go down now, and see
whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come
unto me; and if not, I will know. And
the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham
stood yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also
destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous
within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty
righteous that are therein? That be far
from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and
that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom
fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes.
And Abraham answered and
said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but
dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt
thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty
and five, I will not destroy it. And he
spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found
there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be
angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he
said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have
taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found
there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry,
and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And
he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham:
and Abraham returned unto his place.
The Second Prokimenon:
Tone 6: Shout with jubilation * unto God, all the earth.
Stichos: Serve the Lord
with gladness.
The Second Old
Testament
Proverbs 16:17 – 17:17
He that receives instruction
shall be in prosperity; and he that regards reproofs shall be made wise. He
that keeps his ways, preserves his own soul; and he that loves his life will
spare his mouth. Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. Better
is a meek spirited man with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the
proud. He who is skillful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is
most blessed. Men call the wise and
understanding evil: but they that are pleasing in speech shall hear more. Understanding
is a fountain of life to its possessors; but the instruction of fools is evil.
The heart of the wise will discern the things which proceed from his own mouth;
and on his lips he will wear knowledge.
Good words are honeycombs, and the sweetness thereof is a healing of the
soul. There are ways that seem to be right to a man, but the end of them looks
to the depth of hell. A man who labors,
labors for himself, and drives from him his own ruin. But the perverse bears destruction upon his
own mouth: a foolish man digs up evil for himself, and treasures fire on his
own lips. A perverse man spreads
mischief, and will kindle a torch of deceit with mischiefs; and he separates
friends. A transgressor tries to ensnare
friends, and leads them in ways that are not good. And the man that fixes his eyes devises
perverse things, and marks out with his lips all evils: he is a furnace of
wickedness. Old age is a crown of honor, but it is found in the ways of
righteousness. A man slow to anger is
better than a strong man; and he that governs his temper better than he that
takes a city. All evils come upon the
ungodly into their bosoms; but all righteous things come of the Lord.
And the 2
Reader:
The Prokimenon in the 4th Tone: Proclaim
from day to day the good tidings of the salvation of our God.
Choir: Proclaim from day to day the good tidings of the
salvation of our God.
Reader: O sing unto the Lord a
new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.
Choir: Proclaim from day to day the good tidings of
the salvation of our God.
Reader: Proclaim from day to day
Choir: the good tidings of the
salvation of our God.
Reader: The
Reader: Alleluia in the 1st Tone.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Reader: He shall come down like rain upon a fleece,
and like raindrops that fall upon the earth.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Reader: His name shall be blessed unto the ages,
before the sun doth his name continue.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!
Gospel [Luke 1:24-38]
Instead of “It is truly meet…” we chant the Irmos of
the 9th Ode of the Canon of the feast, Fourth Tone:
Refrain: Proclaim, O earth, good tidings of great joy; ye
heavens, praise the glory of God.
Irmos: Let
no profane hand touch the living Ark of God, / but let the lips of the
faithful, / chanting unceasingly the words of the angel to the Theotokos, /
with joy cry out: // Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with
thee.
But according to
other texts (such as the Festal Menaion), after the above refrain, we chant
instead (also in the fourth tone):
Let
every mortal born on earth, / radiant with light, in spirit leap for joy; / and
let the host of the angelic powers / celebrate and honor the holy feast of the
Mother of God, / and let them cry: // Rejoice!
Pure and blessed Ever-Virgin, who gavest birth to God.
Communion
Verse:
The
Lord hath elected