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Hieratikon

Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Menaion - December 23

Memory of the Holy Ten Martyrs in Crete

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LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

An optional alternative to the Antiphons are the Typika (Psalms 102 and 145), and the Beatitudes with the appointed troparia, which are provided here.

Psalm 102.

Psalm 145.

The Beatitudes.

Mode 2.

In Your kingdom. Remember us, O Lord, when You come in Your kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [RSV]

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [RSV]

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [RSV]

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [RSV]

Canon for the Forefeast.

Ode iii. Mode 2. N/M ()

Τόξον συνετρίβη δυναστῶν.

From Menaion - - -

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [RSV]

Come now, with a purified mind, let us gaily sing for the fore-feast of the Birth of Christ. [SD]

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [RSV]

Come now, with a purified mind, let us gaily sing for the fore-feast of the Birth of Christ. [SD]

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. [RSV]

O King Jesus, You are coming to lodge in a narrow cave, in order to enrich me by Your profound poverty. [SD]

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [RSV]

Christ is coming to be born in the flesh as a man, to remove us from the darkness of wickedness. [SD]

Another Canon of the Forefeast.

From Menaion - - -

Ode vi. Mode pl. 2. N/M (I see when my life.)

Τοῦ βίου τὴν θάλασσαν.

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely [for my sake]. [RSV]

Behold, Christ is coming to His own. O believers, let us through divine virtues become His by grace; and thus illumined in soul and heart, let us receive Him. [SD]

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. [RSV]

The root of Jesse has blossomed, and from it, our God, who came as the hope of the Gentiles, repose and honor, like Isaiah prophesied of old, being divinely illumined. [SD]

Glory.

O my Jesus, You become poor and took on a body. You are wrapped with swaddling clothes, breaking the chains of my many sins; and you make me rich, when I was tragically made poor because of wickedness. [SD]

Both now. Theotokion.

As I am assaulted by evil spirits, the swelling of negative thoughts tosses my poor heart to and fro. O good and loving Lady, intervene and make it calm. [SD]

Entrance Hymn. Mode 2.

Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, who are wondrous in the saints. We sing to You, Alleluia.

Hymns after the Entrance.

Apolytikion. For the Forefeast.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 4.

O Bethlehem, prepare, Eden is opened unto all. * And be ready, Ephrata, for the Tree of life * has in the grotto blossomed forth from the Virgin. * Indeed her womb is shown to be spiritually * a Paradise, in which is found the God-planted Tree. * And if we eat from it we shall live, and shall not die, as did Adam of old. * Christ is born, so that He might raise up * the formerly fallen image. [SD]

For the Martyrs.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 3. N/M (You were so beautiful.)

Let us show forth our great praise of Crete ⁄ which brought forth these precious Christians: the pearls of Christ! ⁄ And these blessed ten, the offspring of martyrs, ⁄ who few in number, yet overcame all the deceits of powerful demons. ⁄⁄ Therefore these martyrs of Christ have been crowned with victory! [OCA]

The Apolytikion of the parish church is sung. Then:

Kontakion.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 3. Automelon.

Ἡ Παρθένος σήμερον.

On this day the Virgin Maid * goes to the grotto to give birth * to the pre-eternal Word * in an ineffable manner. * Dance for joy, all the inhabited earth, on hearing. * Glorify along with Angels and with the shepherds * Him who willed that He appear as * a newborn Child, * the pre-eternal God. [SD]

Trisagios Hymn

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3)

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

THE READINGS

Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 63.

The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him. [SAAS]

Verse: Hear my voice, O God, in my supplication. [SAAS]

The Epistle

Tuesday of the 29th Week

The reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews.

Heb. 4:1 – 13

Brethren, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall never enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this place he said, “They shall never enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later of another day. So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. [RSV]

Alleluia. Mode 2. Psalm 91.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Verse 1: The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon. [SAAS]

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Verse 2: Those planted in the house of the Lord shall blossom forth in the courts of our God.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

The Gospel

Tuesday of the 14th Week of Luke

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Mark.

Mk. 10:2 – 12

At that time, Pharisees came up to Jesus and in order to test him, asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away.” But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” [RSV]

Hymn to the Theotokos.

It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever blessed, most pure, and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Logos. We magnify you, the true Theotokos.

Communion Hymn. Psalm 111/112.

The righteous will be remembered for ever. Alleluia. [RSV]

Hymn after Holy Communion.

Mode 2.

We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us.

DISMISSAL

Glory to You, our God, glory to You.

May Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother, the power of the precious and life-giving Cross, the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven, the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist, of the holy, glorious, and praiseworthy apostles, of the holy, glorious, and triumphant martyrs, of our righteous and God-bearing fathers, (local patron saint); of the holy and righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, as He is good, benevolent, and merciful God.

Fasting Rule

Strict: Refrain from meat, fish, oil, dairy, and eggs.

It is the Christmas fast.