Second Thursday in Lent

Read Psalms 47-55 (according to the Hebrew Numbering)

SESSIONAL HYMN, TONE 3

GOD-BEARING APOSTLES, CHRIST WHO IS THE VINE BROUGHT YOU FORTH AS CLUSTERS OF GRAPES GIVING THE WORLD THE NEW WINE OF SALVATION! THEREFORE, I ENTREAT YOU, DELIVER ME FROM THE DRUNKENNESS OF SENSUAL PLEASURES; GRANT MY SOUL TEARS OF COMPUNCTION ON THIS HOLY DAY OF THE FAST, THAT I MAY GAIN LIFE AND SALVATION!

            Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

GOD-BEARING APOSTLES, CHRIST WHO IS THE VINE BROUGHT YOU FORTH AS CLUSTERS OF GRAPES GIVING THE WORLD THE NEW WINE OF SALVATION! THEREFORE, I ENTREAT YOU, DELIVER ME FROM THE DRUNKENNESS OF SENSUAL PLEASURES; GRANT MY SOUL TEARS OF COMPUNCTION ON THIS HOLY DAY OF THE FAST, THAT I MAY GAIN LIFE AND SALVATION!

            Now and forever and ever. Amen

CALLING TO MIND THE MEASURELESS RICHES OF YOUR COMPASSION AND THE INVINCIBLE MIGHT OF YOUR POWER, I RUN TO YOU FOR PROTECTION! OPPRESSED BY TROUBLES AND UTTERLY PERPLEXED, I CRY OUT WITH TEARS FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEART: HELP ME, VIRGIN THEOTOKOS, FOR YOU ARE THE ONLY GUARDIAN OF THE WORLD!


Read psalms 56-64
 SESSIONAL HYMN, TONE 8

LORD, IN THIS HOLY SEASON, BE MERCIFUL TO US! GIVE US THE GRACE TO WEEP FROM OUR HEARTS ALWAYS BEFORE YOU, WASHING AWAY THE POLLUTION OF OUR SOULS; GROWING EVER MORE OBEDIENT TO YOUR COMMANDS, THAT IN OUR FASTING WE MAY TRULY PLEASE YOU! AT THE PRAYERS OF YOUR APOSTLES WHO BROUGHT THE WORLD SALVATION, GRANT US ALL TO SEE YOUR HOLY PASSION! O LORD, GLORY TO YOU!

            Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

LORD, IN THIS HOLY SEASON, BE MERCIFUL TO US! GIVE US THE GRACE TO WEEP FROM OUR HEARTS ALWAYS BEFORE YOU, WASHING AWAY THE POLLUTION OF OUR SOULS; GROWING EVER MORE OBEDIENT TO YOUR COMMANDS, THAT IN OUR FASTING WE MAY TRULY PLEASE YOU! AT THE PRAYERS OF YOUR APOSTLES WHO BROUGHT THE WORLD SALVATION, GRANT US ALL TO SEE YOUR HOLY PASSION! O LORD, GLORY TO YOU!

            Now and forever and ever. Amen.a

PURE AND HOLY THEOTOKOS, VIRGIN AND MOTHER, CAUSE THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUR COMPASSION TO FLOW ABUNDANTLY ON US; GRANT US THE REMISSION OF OUR SINS, FOR YOU ARE OUR GUARDIAN AND DIVINE PROTECTION!

                              APOSTIKHA

TONE 8

IF WE SET OUR HANDS TO DOING GOOD, THE EFFORT OF LENT WILL BE A TIME OF REPENTANCE FOR US, A MEANS TO ETERNAL LIFE, FOR NOTHING QUITE SAVES THE SOUL AS MUCH AS GIVING TO THOSE IN NEED. ALMS, INSPIRED BY FASTING, DELIVER MAN FROM DEATH. LET US EMBRACE THIS, FOR IT HAS NO EQUAL; IT IS SUFFICIENT TO SAVE OUR SOULS!

IF WE SET OUR HANDS TO DOING GOOD...

DRESSED IN THE ARMOR OF FAITH, ARMED WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, YOU WERE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WORTHY OF GOD. MANFULLY YOU OPPOSED THE TORTURERS,
CRUSHING THE DEVIL'S DECEITS. YOU WERE VICTORS, MADE WORTHY OF CROWNS. PRAY TO CHRIST FOR US THAT HE MAY SAVE OUR SOULS!

            Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.
I RUN TO YOUR PROTECTION, HOLY VIRGIN THEOTOKOS, KNOWING I SHALL OBTAIN SALVATION, FOR YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP, PURE ONE.
                               TRIODION

From the Noon Office
 TROPARION OF THE PROPHECY, TONE 1

RAISE UP THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN, O GOD; TURN BACK THOSE WHO HAVE TURNED AWAY, FOR YOU ARE THE LOVER OF MANKIND WHO UPHOLD THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.


PROKEIMENON OF THE PROPHECY, TONE 6

I SOUGHT THE LORD AND HE ANSWERED ME  *   AND DELIVERED ME FROM ALL MY FEARS.
            VERSE: I will bless the Lord at all times.


                PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 6: 1-12
In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they hew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts.
And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.
And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate. And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth.
PROKEIMENON, TONE 6

ARISE, O LORD  *  AND TAKE UP MY RIGHT.
            VERSE: Judge those who have wronged me, Lord!