16th Sunday after Pentecost / Afterfeast
of the Nativity of the Theotokos / St. Theodora of Alexandria
Beatitudes on 10 Octoechos 6; Feast 4, from Ode 7.
1. The fruit which slew me was beautiful and good to eat; but Christ is the Tree of life, and eating of Him I do not die, but cry out with the thief: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom!
2. O Compassionate One, Who wast lifted up upon the Cross, Thou hast erased the record of Adam’s ancient sin, and hast saved the whole human race from deception. Wherefore, we hymn Thee, O Lord and Benefactor.
3. Thou didst nail our sins to the Cross, O compassionate Christ, and by Thy death Thou didst slay death, O Thou who didst raise up the dead from among the dead. Wherefore, we worship Thy holy resurrection.
4. The serpent once poured its venom into the ears of Eve; but on the tree of the Cross, Christ poured forth the sweetness of life upon the world. Wherefore, we cry out: Remember us, O Lord, in Thy kingdom!
5. Thou wast laid in the tomb as one dead, O Christ, Thou Life of all; and Thou didst break down the gates of hades; and having risen again in glory on the third day as One mighty, Thou hast illumined all. Glory to Thine arising!
6. Having risen from the dead on the third day, the Lord bestowed His peace upon His disciples; and having blessed them, He sent them forth saying: Lead all into My kingdom!
7. Once, the transmitter of the law was prevented from understanding thy great mystery in material manifestations, O all-pure one, though instructed through images not to think earthly thoughts. Wherefore, marveling at the wonder, he said: Blessed is the God of our fathers!
8. In godly manner the divine choir called thee beforehand the mountain and portal of heaven and the noetic ladder; for from thee was the Stone cut without the aid of man’s hands, and thou art the door through which passed the Lord of wonders, the God of our fathers.
9. We glorify the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Godhead, the all-holy Trinity, indivisible, uncreated, equally everlasting and consubstantial.
10. Most gloriously didst thou alone give birth unto God, O Virgin. By thy nativity thou hast renewed nature, O Mary. Thou hast released Eve from the primeval curse, O pure Theotokos.
Troparia & Kontakia
Tone 7: Thou didst destroy death by Thy Cross, /
Thou didst open paradise to the thief. /
Thou didst change the lamentation of the Myrrh-bearers, /
and Thou didst command Thine Apostles to proclaim /
that Thou didst arise, O Christ God, //
and grantest to the world great mercy.
Tone 4: Thy nativity, O Theotokos Virgin, /
hath proclaimed joy to all the world; /
for from thee hath dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, /
annulling the curse, and bestowing the blessing, //
abolishing death and granting us life eternal.
[Troparion of the Temple]
Tone 8: In thee, O mother, that which was created according to the image of God/
was manifestly saved; for, accepting thy cross, thou didst follow after Christ; /
and, praying, thou did learn to disdain the flesh, for thou didst transcend it, /
and to take care of thy soul, for it is immortal. //
Wherefore, thy soul doth rejoice with angels, O venerable Theodora.
Tone 7: No longer will the dominion of death be able to keep men captive; /
for Christ hath descended, demolishing and destroying the powers thereof. /
Hades is bound; /
the prophets rejoice with one voice, saying: /
A Savior hath come for them that have faith. //
Come forth, ye faithful, for the Resurrection.
[Kontakion of the Temple]
Glory… Tone 2: Laying waste to thy body through fasting, /
thou didst entreat the Creator /
with vigils of prayer because of thy sin, /
that receiving full forgiveness, thou mightest also receive remission, //
having come to know the path of repentance.
Both now... Tone
4:
Joachim and Anna were freed from the reproach of childlessness /
and Adam and Eve from the corruption of death, by thy holy nativity, O immaculate one, /
which thy people, redeemed from the guilt of offenses, /
celebrate, by crying to thee: //
The barren woman giveth birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life.
The Epistle
Reader: The
Prokimenon in the 6th Tone: Save,
O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.
Choir:
Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.
Reader: Unto
Thee, O Lord, Will I cry; O my God, be not silent unto me.
Choir:
Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.
Reader: In the 4th Tone: Wondrous is God in
His saints, the God of Israel.
Choir:
Wondrous is God in His saints, the
God of Israel.
Reader:
The Reading is from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Galatians: [Gal.
6:11-18 (§215); II Cor. 6:1-10 (§181); Gal. 3:23-29 (§208)]
Reader: Alleluia
in the 1st Tone: I have raised up one chosen out of my
people; with my holy oil have I anointed him.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: For
My hand shall be unto Him an ally, and Mine arm shall strengthen him.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: With patience I waited patiently for the
Lord, and He was attentive unto me, and He hearkened unto my supplication.
Choir:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [John 3:13-17
(§9); Matt. 25:14-30 (§105); John 8:3-11 (§28)]
Instead of “It is truly meet…” we chant the
Irmos of the 9th Ode of the Second Canon of the feast, Eighth Tone:
Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, / the most glorious nativity of the Mother of God.
Irmos: Foreign to mothers is virginity, /
and strange is childbirth for virgins, /
yet both were accomplished in thee, O Theotokos. /
Wherefore, we and all generations of the earth //
without ceasing do magnify thee.
Communion Verse: Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!