Daily Reading:

Wednesday

SIXTH HOUR

Isaiah 2:3-11

     And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

VESPERS

Genesis 1:24-2:3

     And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Proverbs 2:1-22

     My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS

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HOLY APOSTLE ARCHIPPOS OF THE SEVENTY
ST PHILOTHEA THE RIGHTEOUS MARTYR OF ATHENS
ST ODRAN

Troparion of St Archippos    Tone 3
With thy whole heart thou didst follow the way of holiness/ and become a companion of the Apostles, O Archippos./ By thy word thou didst preach the Faith,/ and by thy life thou didst uproot shoots of evil./ Having proved steadfast in contest thou wast granted the crown of righteousness.

Troparion of St Philothea    Tone 5
Let us honour the boast of the city of the Athenians,/ Philothea the righteous martyr./ Let us embrace and kiss her holy relics./ She lived in holiness and exchanged this fleeting life for the eternal/ by her contest and martyrdom./ She is praying the Savior to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion of St Odran    Tone 5
No task was too humble or too dangerous for thee,/ O Martyr Odran,/ for in thy station as a servant/ thou didst render the ultimate service/ giving thy life for thy master and Ireland's Enlightener./ Pray that we may have the courage to hold nothing back,/ that at the last Christ our God will not withhold His mercy from us.

Kontakion of St Archippos    Tone 4
The Church has thee as a great star, O Archippos,/ and enlightened by the rays of thy miracles she cries out to thee:/ Save those who faithfully honour thy memory.

Kontakion of St Philothea    Tone 3
Today we joyfully honour Philothea/ and reverently venerate her relics./ She spent her days in blessed works/ and her life was crowned with martyrdom./ She prays that all may be granted eternal life.

Kontakion of St Odran    Tone 3
We salute thee, O Martyr Odran,/ ever seeking to follow thee in service to Christ's holy Church/ and praying for grace to shun the imperfect way of Ananias and Sophia,/ that we may give all we have in selfless devotion/ to Him Who holds all creation in His hands.

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TRIODION

FIRST WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY MATINS

(After the 2nd reading of the Psalter):

TONE 2
Through thy Passion, loving Lord, Though has given to all men freedom from the passions, putting to death the passions of my flesh by Thy Cross count me worthy, then, to see Thy divine Passion: that having been well-pleasing to Thy glory through the Fast, I may receive Thy great and abundant mercy.

Glory be to the Father....


Repeat.


Both now ... 

Stavrotheotokion

Beholding Thee, O Christ, stretched dead upon the Tree, Thy Virgin Mother cried aloud with bitter tears: 'O my Son, what is this fearful mystery? How dost Thou who givest life eternal unto all, suffer willingly a
a shameful death upon the Cross?'

After the third reading from the Psalter, the following sessional hymns:

TONE TWO 

O Lord, Thou hast consecrated and granted unto us this lightgiving season of abstinence. Enable all of us to pass through it in compunction and sincerity, living in peace by the power of Thy Cross, O Thou who alone lovest mankind.


Glory be to the Father....



Repeat.



Both now ...

Stavrotheotokion

Guarded by the precious Cross of Thy Son, O pure Lady and Theotokos, easily we turn aside all the assaults of the adversary.  Therefore, as is right, we call thee blessed, for thou art the Mother of the Light and the only hope of our souls.

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TRIODION

FIRST WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY MATINS

THE CANON

TONE 2

CANTICLE THREE:

IRMOS: AT YOUR COMING, LORD,
THE DESERT, THE BARREN CHURCH OF THE GENTILES
FLOWERED AS THE LILY,
AND MY HEART AS WELL,IS ESTABLISHED IN THAT COMING!

Let us crucify our members through abstinence;
and as it is written, let us be vigilant in prayer,
living after the example of Him who suffered;
by His Passion, putting to death the passions.

Rejecting the bitter food of sin,
let us seek to please Christ,
Who of His own will tasted gall
and by the Cross cast down the author of evil.

Sin has become a habit for me,
and it drags me down to complete perdition.
But by Your Cross deliver me from my sinfulness,
compassionate Lord of many mercies!

(Theotokion)

Lady who bore the Master,
Queen of all creation,
set me free from bondage to the deceitful enemy!


(Another Canon in the same tone):

IRMOS: LORD, WHO BY THE WOOD OF THE CROSS...

From the tree of the Cross
the flower of abstinence grows for all the world.
Then let us accept the fast with love,
and take pleasure in the fruit of Christ's divine commandments.

Abstaining from the passions,
let us crucify our flesh for the sake of the Lord:
by our life in Christ,
let us all show that the pride of the flesh is dead.

GLORY...

I glorify three Persons in one Nature,
Father, Son and Spirit,
the one Power of the Godhead,
one Kingdom over all and one Brightness!


NOW AND EVER... (Theotokion)

Your child bearing, pure Lady, fills our hearts with fear,
for it is God who has become man,
beyond time, begotten from the Father,
and in the last days brought forth by you through a virgin birth.

GLORY TO YOU, OUR GOD, GLORY TO YOU!

I praise Your Crucifixion, O Christ,
and the piercing of Your divine side,
from which each day I draw an immortal drink
and am sanctified.

KATAVASIA:  

LORD, BY THE WOOD OF THE CROSS, YOU PUT SIN TO DEATH:
BE OUR STRENGTH AND SUPPORT!
GRAFT YOUR FEAR IN OUR HEARTS AS WE SING IN PRAISE OF YOU!

CANTICLE EIGHT:

IRMOS: THE FIERY FURNACE IN ANCIENT BABYLON
WORKED IN OPPOSING WAYS BY THE COMMAND OF GOD:
BURNING THE CHALDEANS,
WHILE REFRESHING THE FAITHFUL AS THEY SANG:
ALL WORKS OF THE LORD, BLESS THE LORD!

The furnace of the passions consumes my soul;
but quench its flames with the dew of Your mercy.
For in Your loving self-abasement, Benefactor,
at Your Crucifixion,
You made a fountain of dispassion to flow from Your pure side.

Lifted upon Your Cross, O Christ,
You have raised up us who were fallen into evil.
I have slipped into the pit of sin:
bring me out and set me firmly on the rock of salvation,
that I may glorify Your power!

Through the lance that pierced Your side, O Christ,
You have cleansed my heart from the corruption of the passions.
I have been wounded by the poisonous bite of the serpent.
Heal me in every part,
and make me walk unwavering upon the paths of God.

(Theotokion)

We all honor you, undefiled Virgin,
as the shining lamp and candlestick
in which the fire of the Godhead came to dwell,
bringing light to those held fast in the dark night of corruption,
and we bless your childbearing, blessed among women!

(Click for the rest of the canon)