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THE HIERATIKON

MONDAY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
VESPERS OF THE KNEELING SERVICE

The Vespers service of the Feast of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Monday after Pentecost, is usually sung immediately after the Divine Liturgy of the Sunday of Pentecost.

PRIEST

Blessed is our God always, now and for ever: world without end.

READER: Amen.

O come, let us worship and bow down before our King and our God.

O come, let us worship and bow down before Christ our King and our God.

O come, let us worship and bow down before the very Christ our King and our God.

THE INTRODUCTORY PSALM 103 [104]

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art very great; Thou hast clothed thyself with praise and honour: who dost robe thyself with light as a garment; spreading out the heavens as a curtain. Who covers His chambers with waters; who makes the clouds his chariots: who walks on the wings of the wind. Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire. Who establishes the earth on her sure foundation: it shall not be moved forever. The deep, as it were a garment, is His covering: the waters shall stand on the hills. At Thy rebuke they shall flee; at the voice of Thy thunder they shall be alarmed. They go up to the mountains, and down to the plains, to the place which Thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass, neither shall they turn again to cover the earth. He sends forth His fountains among the valleys: the waters shall run between the mountains. They shall give drink to all the wild beasts of the field: the wild asses shall take of them to quench their thirst. By them shall the birds of the sky lodge: they shall utter a voice out of the midst of the rocks. He waters the mountains from His chambers: the earth shall be satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He makes grass to grow for the cattle, the green herb for the service of men, to bring bread out of the earth; and wine makes glad the heart of man, to make his face cheerful with oil: and bread strengthens man’s heart. The trees of the plain shall be full of sap; even the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted. There the sparrows will build their nests; and the house of the heron takes the lead among them. The high mountains are a refuge for the stags, and the rock for the rabbits. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down. Thou didst make darkness, and it was night; in it all the wild beasts of the forest will be abroad: even young lions roaring for prey, and to seek meat for themselves from God. The sun arises, and they shall be gathered together, and shall lie down in their dens. Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labour till evening. How great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou wrought them all: the earth is filled with Thy creation. So is this great and wide sea: there are things creeping innumerable, small animals and great. There go the ships; and this dragon whom Thou hast made to play in it. All wait upon Thee, to give them food in due season. When Thou hast given it them, they will gather it; and when Thou hast opened Thine hand, they shall be filled with good. But when Thou hast turned away Thy face, they shall be troubled: Thou wilt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and return to their dust. Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let the glory of the Lord be for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works; who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord while I live; I will sing praise to my God while I exist. Let my meditation be sweet to Him: and I will rejoice in the Lord. Let the sinners fail from off the earth, and transgressors, so that they shall be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The sun knows his going down, Thou didst make darkness, and it was night.

How great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou wrought them all.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end. Amen.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Glory be to Thee, O God. [3]

Our hope, glory be to Thee, O Lord.

After the introductory psalm, the Deacon shall say the Great litany.

In peace let us pray unto the Lord.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison or Lord have mercy. And after each petition.

For the peace from on high, and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray unto the Lord.

For the peace and union of the whole world, and for the good estate of the holy churches of God, let us pray unto the Lord.

For this holy temple and for them that enter therein with faith, reverence and fear of God, let us pray unto the Lord.

For our Archbishop [Name], for the honourable order of priesthood, and for the diaconate which is in Christ, for all the clergy and the people, let us pray unto the Lord.

For this city [village, monastery]; for every city and land, and for them that dwell therein with faith, let us pray unto the Lord.

For fair seasons and the abundance of the fruits of the earth, let us pray unto the Lord.

For them that travel by land, by water, by air; for the sick and the suffering, for those in captivity, And for their salvation, let us pray unto the Lord.

That we may be deliver from all tribulation, wrath, danger and necessity, let us pray unto the Lord.

Succour, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.

Mindful of our most holy and undefiled, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and of all the saints; Let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

For unto Thee belong all glory, honour and worship, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Spirit; now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

At the “Lord, I cry unto Thee” we sing 6 verses with the following 3 Stichera of the feast, singing each twice.

Tone 4

Lord, I cry unto Thee: make haste unto me. Make haste unto me, O Lord. Lord, I cry unto Thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee. Make haste unto me, O Lord.

Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Make haste unto me, O Lord.

Tone 4

If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.

Today all the nations in the city of David saw strange wonders, when the Holy Spirit descended in fiery tongues as the God-inspired Luke didst declare. For he said: As the Disciples of Christ were gathered together, there came a sound as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And all began to speak in strange tongues, strange doctrines, strange teachings, of the Holy Trinity.

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord.

More than they watch for the morning: I say, more than they watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord.

The Holy Spirit hath always been, is and ever shall be, having neither beginning nor end, but always one and together with the Father and the Son; life and giver of life, light and bestower of light, goodness itself and source of goodness, through whom the Father is known and the Son glorified, and by all is known: one power, one order, one worship of the Holy Trinity.

For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

The Holy Spirit is light, life, and a living source of intellect, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, of goodness, uprightness, intelligence, sovereignty, cleansing offences, God and deifying, fire proceeding from fire, speaking, active, distributing the graces, through whom all the Prophets and the Apostles of God, together with the Martyrs were crowned. A strange report, a strange sight, fire divided into gifts of grace.

For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.

Glory...now and for ever...

Tone 6

O heavenly King and Comforter, Spirit of truth, which art in all places and fillest all things; Treasure of goodness and Giver of life: Come and abide in us, and cleanse us from all that defileth. And save our souls, O Thou who art good.

DEACON: Wisdom. Stand steadfast.

CHOIR

O Gladsome light of the holy glory, of the Immortal Father, heavenly, holy, blessed, Jesus Christ. As we approach the setting of the sun, and see the evening light, we hymn Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God. Meet it is at all times for Thee to be praised by joyful voices, O Son of God, the Giver of life. Wherefore the world glorifies Thee.

DEACON: The Evening Prokhimenon.

Tone 7

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou only art the God that doest wonders.

Verse: Thou hast made known Thy strength among the people.

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou only art the God that doest wonders.

Verse: And I said, Now I have begun: this change is of the right hand of the most High.

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou only art the God that doest wonders.

Verse: I remembered the works of the Lord; for I will remember thy wonders from the beginning

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou only art the God that doest wonders.

DEACON

Again and again on bended knees, let us pray unto the Lord.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison

The faithful kneel and the Priest also kneeling at the Royal Doors and facing the people, reads the prayers in a loud voice for all to hear.

PRIEST

O pure and undefiled, without beginning, invisible, incomprehensible, unsearchable, unchangeable, unsurpassable, immeasurable, long-suffering Lord, who alone hast immortality, who dwells in the unapproachable light, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that was created therein, who dost grant to all their petitions before they ask, we pray and beseech thee, Master and Lover of mankind, the Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Ever-virgin Mary, and glorious Mother of God: Who at first did teach us by words and later showed us by deeds, when he suffered the saving Passion, giving us thy humble, sinful and unworthy servants an example in how to offer supplications with bended neck and knees, for our sins and for the errors of the people. Do thou therefore, hear us, O most merciful and Lover of mankind, in whatever day we call upon thee, but especially on this day of Pentecost, wherein after our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and sat on thy right hand, O God and Father, he sent the Holy Spirit upon his holy disciples and Apostles, who sat on each of them and were filled with his inexhaustible grace, and spoke with strange tongues of thy greatness and prophesied. Therefore now hear us as we pray and remember us, humble and condemned, and turn back the captivity of our souls for we have thine own compassion to intercede for us. Accept us as we fall before thee and cry: we have sinned. From the womb we have been cast upon thee, from our mother's womb thou art our God, but because our days have passed over in vanity, we have been stripped of thine aid, we have been deprived of every defence. But confident in thy compassions we cry: Remember not the sins of our youth and ignorance and cleanse us of our secret sins. Cast us not aside in time of old age; forsake us not when our strength fails. Before we return to the earth make us worthy to return to thee, and give heed to us with favour and grace. Measure our transgressions according to thy compassions, and set the depth of thy compassions against the multitude of our offenses. Look down from thy holy dwelling place, O Lord, upon thy people here present and await thy bountiful mercy, visit us in thy goodness, deliver us from the oppression of the Devil, keep safe our lives with thy holy and sacred laws. Entrust thy people to a faithful guardian angel; gather us all into thy kingdom, give pardon to those who put their hope in thee, forgive them and us of our sins, purify us by the operation of thy Holy Spirit, destroy the plots of the enemy agitated against us.

The Priest adds this prayer:

Blessed art thou, O Lord, Master almighty, who hast illumined the day with the light of the sun and brightened the night with the glow of fire, who hast accounted us worthy to pass the length of the day and to draw near to the onset of the night; hear our prayer and that of all thy people, and forgive the voluntary and involuntary sins, accept our evening supplications, and send down the multitude of thy mercy and thy compassions upon thine inheritance. Compass us about with thy holy angels, arm us with weapons of thy righteousness, fortify us with thy truth, guard us with thy might, deliver us from every occasion and every plot of the adversary. Grant us this present evening together with the approaching night and all the days of our life that they may be perfect, holy, peaceful, without sin, without disgrace and vain imaginings, by the prayers of the Mother of God, and of all the saints which have been well pleasing unto thee since the world began.

DEACON

Succour, save, have mercy, raise us up and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

For Thine it is to have mercy, and to save us, O our God, and to Thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

DEACON

Let us all say with our whole soul, and with our whole mind, let us say.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison [3] And after each petition.

DEACON

O Almighty Lord, God of our fathers, we pray Thee, hear us and have mercy.

Have mercy upon us, O God, after Thy great goodness. We pray Thee, hear us and have mercy.

Again we pray for our Archbishop [Name], and for all our brethren in Christ.

Again we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, forgiveness and remission of the sins of the servants of God, [Names] who observe this holy Feast; (and) all the pious Orthodox Christians who dwell or visit this city [town, village, monastery], the parishioners, the Church committee, those who give help and those who have dedicated gifts in this holy temple.

Again we pray for the blessed and ever-memorable founders of this holy Church [monastery] and for all our departed fathers, brethren, and Orthodox Christians everywhere who have fallen asleep.

Again we pray for them that strive and bring forth the fruit of good works in this holy and venerable temple; for them that serve, and them that sing; and for all the people here present who await Thy great and bountiful mercy.

PRIEST

For Thou art a merciful God, and a lover of mankind, and to thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

DEACON

Again and again on bended knees, let us pray unto the Lord.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison

The Priest prays as before:

PRIEST

O Lord Jesus Christ our God, who dost give thy peace to men, and dost ever grant to the faithful the gift of thy all-holy Spirit to be present with us in this life as an inheritance which cannot be taken away, today thou hast sent down this grace in a more manifest way to thy disciples and Apostles and hast placed upon their lips tongues of fire, through which, by hearing with the ear, every race of man hast received the knowledge of God in his own dialect. We have been enlightened by the light of the Spirit, and delivered from delusion as from darkness, and by the perceptible distribution of the tongues of fire and supernatural action, we have been taught to have faith in thee and illumined to speak of thy divinity together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as one Godhead and power and authority. Therefore do thou who art the brightness of the Father, his express essence and nature and unchangeable character, the source of salvation and grace, open also my lips, though I be a sinner, and teach me how and for what I must pray. For thou art he who knows the great multitude of my sins, but thy compassion will triumph over their measureless number. For behold, with fear I stand before thee, casting the despair of my soul into the sea of thy mercy. Govern my life, o thou who governs the whole creation with thine ineffable word and power of thy wisdom; who art the fair haven of the storm-tossed, and make known to me the way in which I should walk. Grant to my thoughts the Spirit of thy wisdom, to my folly the Spirit of discretion. Overshadow my deeds with the Spirit of thy fear and renew a right spirit within me, and make firm mine unstable mind with thy sovereign Spirit, so that each day, guided by thy good Spirit towards that which is profitable, I may be found worthy to do thy commandments, ever mindful of thy glorious coming, which will search out all our deeds; and despise me not for being enticed by the corrupting pleasures of this world, but strengthen me to yearn for the enjoyment of the treasures to come. For thou, O Master, didst say: that whatsoever we ask in thy name, we shall freely receive from thy co-eternal God and Father. Wherefore I also, a sinner, beseech thee at the descent of thy Holy Spirit, for thy goodness. For all I have prayed, grant me unto salvation. Yea, O Lord, the good and bountiful giver of every beneficence, for thou art that gives exceedingly above what we ask. Thou art the compassionate, the merciful, who without sin didst become a partaker of our flesh and with loving compassion didst bend down for those who bend the knee to thee and became the atonement for our sins. Therefore, O Lord, grant thy compassions to thy people, hear us from thy holy heaven, sanctify them by the power of thy saving right hand, shelter them under the shelter of thy wings, despise not the work of thy hands. Against thee only do we sin, yet thee only do we worship, we know not how to worship a strange god, nor to stretch out our hands, O Master, to another god. Pardon our transgressions, and accepting our petitions on bended knees, extend to us all a helping hand, accept the prayer of all as acceptable incense, rising up before thy most righteous kingdom.

And he adds the following prayer:

O Lord, O Lord, thou who hast delivered us from every arrow that flieth by day, deliver us also from everything that walks in darkness. Accept the lifting up of our hands as an evening sacrifice. Vouchsafe that we may pass through the course of the night blameless, unoffended by evil, save us from every unrest and faint-heartedness that is caused in us by the devil. Grant contrition unto our souls, and unto our thoughts attentiveness for the trial at thy dread and righteous judgement. Nail down our flesh through fear of thee, and put to death our earthly members, that in the stillness of sleep we may be enlightened with the contemplation of thy judgements. Make distant from us every unseemly imagination and harmful desire. Raise us up in the time of prayer established in the faith, and advancing in thy commandments.

DEACON

Succour, save, have mercy, raise us up and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

By the good pleasure and grace of thine only-begotten Son, with whom thou art blessed, together with thine all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this evening without sin. Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy name for evermore. Amen.

O Lord, let Thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord: teach me Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Master: make me to understand Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Holy One: enlighten me with Thy statutes. O Lord, Thy mercy is for ever: despise not the works of Thine hands. Unto Thee is due praise, unto Thee is due song, unto Thee is due glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end. Amen.

Again and again on bended knees, let us pray unto the Lord.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison

PRIEST

O Christ our God, the eternal spring bursting with life and light, the creative power co-eternal with the Father, who hast most excellently fulfilled the whole dispensation for the salvation of men, who hast broken the indestructible bonds of death and locks of Hades, trampling down upon a multitude of evil spirits, offering thyself, for our sake, as a blameless victim, giving thy most pure body, intangible and impassable to sin, as a sacrifice, and through this dread and ineffable divine service didst grant us eternal life; who didst descend into Hades and didst crush the everlasting bars, and revealed the way of ascent to those who sat below; who with divine wisdom didst entice and hook the author of evil, the dragon of the deep, and with chains of darkness didst bound him in Tartarus, and through thine infinite power and strength, secured him with unquenchable fire and outer darkness. The renowned wisdom of the Father, who didst appear a great helper to those in distress and didst enlighten those that sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Thou, O Lord, art the eternal glory, the beloved Son of the Father on high, everlasting light from everlasting light, Sun of righteousness, hear us who pray to thee and give rest to thy servants who have fallen asleep before us, our fathers, mothers and brethren and the rest of our kinsmen according to the flesh and all the household of faith, whose memories we now also commemorate, for in thee is the power of all and in thy hands dost thou hold all the ends of the earth. O Master Almighty, God of our fathers and Lord of mercy, creator of mortal and immortal races and all human nature, composed and decomposed, of life and of death, of life in this place and its translation hereafter, who dost measure the years for the living and dost appoint the time for death, who dost bring down to Hades and dost raise up, who dost bind in infirmity and release with power, who dost dispense the present things according to need, and the things to come thou dost administer as is expedient, who dost quicken with the hope of resurrection those wounded with the sting of death. O Master of all, our God and Saviour, the hope of all the ends of the earth and those far off at sea, who on this latter, great and saving day of Pentecost hast revealed to us the mystery of the holy, consubstantial, co-eternal, undivided and unconfused Trinity, and the pouring out and presence of thy holy life-giving Spirit in the form of tongues of fire upon thy holy Apostles, appointing them as evangelists of our pious faith and revealing them as confessors and preachers of true theology, who also on this perfect and saving feast hast been pleased to accept supplications on behalf of those bound in Hades, granting us great hopes that unto the departed held by the bonds of grief thou will send down upon them rest and comfort. Hear us, humble and wretched, who pray to thee, and give rest to the souls of thy servants who have fallen asleep before us, in a place of light, in a place of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, from whence all pain, sorrow and mourning have fled away, and assign their spirits in the dwelling place of the righteous, and account them worthy of peace and comfort, for the dead praise thee not, O Lord, neither do those in Hades have the freedom to offer thee confession, but we the living bless thee and beseech thee and bring before thee prayers of atonement and sacrifices on behalf of their souls.

And he adds this Prayer:

O great and eternal God, holy and lover of mankind, who at this hour hast accounted us worthy to stand before thine unapproachable glory to hymn and praise thy wonders, be gracious unto us thine unworthy servants, and grant us grace to offer unto thee with a lowly and contrite heart the thrice holy doxology, and thanksgiving for thy great gifts which thou hast executed and dost always execute for us. Remember, O Lord, our weakness, and destroy us not in our iniquities, but according to our humility have great mercy, so that fleeing from the darkness of sin, we may walk in the day of righteousness, and clothed with the armour of light, we may remain unassailed by every influence of the evil one, and with boldness we may glorify thee for all things, the only true God and lover of mankind. For in truth, O Master and maker of all, thine is the great mystery, the temporary release of thy creatures and their restoration thereafter unto eternal rest. In all things we confess thy grace: for our entrances into this world and out departures, for our hopes of the resurrection and incorruptible life, which we are to enjoy at thy future Second Coming, according to thine unfailing promise thou didst pledge aforehand. For thou art the author of our resurrection, and the impartial and loving judge of how we have lived, and Master and Lord of our reward, who through thine extreme condescension didst become a partaker with us in the same flesh and blood, and receiving from the depths of thy compassions our irreproachable passions, thou didst willingly submit to temptation, and having suffered by being tempted, thou hast of thine own accord become a helper to us being tempted, whereby thou hast brought us together in thy passionlessness. Therefore, O Master, accept our prayers and supplications and give rest to each of our fathers, and mothers, brothers and sisters and children, and to every other kinsman and countryman, and to all the souls that have gone to their rest before us in the hope of resurrection and eternal life, and assign their spirits and their names in the book of life, in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the land of the living, the kingdom of heaven, in the Paradise of bliss, guiding everyone, through thy radiant angels into thy holy mansions, raise also our bodies in the day thou hast appointed, according to thy holy and unfailing promises. Therefore, O Lord, there is no death for thy servants, when we depart from the body and come and dwell with thee our God, but a translation from things sorrowful to things virtuous and well-pleasing, and rest and joy. And if we have in anyway sinned against thee, be merciful unto us and them, for no one is without stain before thee, even though his life be but a day, except thee alone, who appeared on earth sinless, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we all hope to obtain mercy and forgiveness of sins. Therefore, O God, who art good and loving-kind, forgive, remit, pardon our transgressions voluntary and involuntary, in knowledge and in ignorance, the manifest, the hidden, in deed, in thought, in word, in all our conducts and movements, and to those who have preceded us give freedom and comfort, to us here present and to all thy people, do thou bless, granting us a good and peaceful end, opening to us the depths of thy mercy and loving-kindness at thy dread and fearful coming, and make us worthy of thy kingdom.

He also adds this.

O Great and most high God, who only hath immortality, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; Who in wisdom didst make all Thy works; Who divided the light from the darkness, Who made the sun to rule the day, Who made the moon and the stars to rule the night; Who hast vouchsafed unto us sinners at this present hour to come before Thy presence with thanksgiving, and praise and glory: Do Thou Thyself of Thy loving-kindness let our prayer be set before Thee as incense, and accept it for a sweet-smelling savour. And grant that we may pass this eventide and the coming night in peace. Clothe us with the armour of light. Deliver us from the terror by night, from pestilence that walketh in darkness. Grant that the sleep which Thou hast appointed for the repose of our weakness be estranged from all wicked imaginations. Yea, O Master, bestower of all blessings, may we commune with our own hearts upon our beds, and be still and call to remembrance Thy Name in the night season: That enlightened by meditation of Thy commandments we may rise up with joyful soul to glorify Thy goodness, with prayers and supplications beseeching for Thy mercy on our own sins and for the sins of all Thy people, whom do Thou visit in clemency through the intercessions of the holy Mother of God.

DEACON

Succour, save, have mercy, raise us up and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

For thou art the repose of our souls and bodies, and to thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

DEACON

Let us complete our supplication unto the Lord.

CHOIR: Kyrie eleison or Lord have mercy. And after each petition.

Succour, save, have mercy and preserve us O God, by Thy grace.

That this whole evening may be perfect, holy, peaceful and without sin, let us entreat the Lord.

CHOIR: Grant us O Lord. And after each petition.

For an angel of peace, faithful guide and guardian of our souls and bodies, let us entreat the Lord.

For pardon and remission of our sins and transgression, let us entreat the Lord.

For things good and profitable to our souls, and peace for the world, let us entreat the Lord.

That we may pass the remainder of our lives in peace and repentance, let us entreat the Lord.

For a Christian ending to our life, painless, without shame and peaceful, and a good defence before the dread judgement seat of Christ, let us entreat the Lord.

Mindful of our most holy and undefiled, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary; and of all the saints; Let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

For Thou, O God, art good and loving-kind, and we ascribe glory to Thee, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

PRIEST: Peace unto all.

CHOIR: And unto thy spirit

DEACON: Let us bow down our heads before the Lord.

CHOIR: To Thee, O Lord.

PRIEST

O Lord our God, who bows the heavens and comest down for the salvation of mankind, look upon Thy servants and upon Thine inheritance. For unto Thee, the formidable Judge, who lovest mankind, have Thy servants bowed their heads, and submissively inclined their necks, expecting not help from men, but awaiting for Thy mercy and hoping for Thy salvation which do Thou preserve them at all times, during this present evening and in the approaching night, from every enemy, from all adverse powers of the devil, from vain thoughts and from evil imaginations.

Blessed and glorified is the power of Thy kingdom, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

At the Aposticha we sing the Idiomela

Tone 3.

Now the tongues have clearly become a sign to all: for the Jews, from whom Christ came according to the flesh, suffered from unbelief, and fell from divine grace, and we from the Gentiles were accounted worthy of divine light, strengthened by the words of the Disciples, proclaiming the glory of God the benefactor of all; with whom we bend our hearts and our knees, and worship with faith strengthen by the Holy Spirit, the Saviour of our souls.

Verse: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Now the comforting Spirit is poured out on all flesh, for beginning with the choir of the Apostles, from them by participation, he spread grace to the faithful, certifying his powerful descent by the distribution of tongues of fire to the Disciples, for the praise and glory of God. Wherefore with hearts spiritually illumined and steadfast faith in the Holy Spirit, we pray that our souls be saved.

Verse: Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Now the Apostles of Christ are clothed with power from above, for the Comforter hath renewed them, and in them renewed the knowledge of the new mysteries, proclaiming them in strange voices and lofty words, teaching us to honour the simple and eternal nature of the three hypostatic God, the benefactor of all. Wherefore, being illumined by their teachings, let us worship the Father together with the Son and Spirit, beseeching them to save our souls.

Glory... now and for ever...

Tone 8

Come. ye peoples, let us worship the three hypostatic Godhead, the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit; for the Father begat the Son before all ages, co-eternal and co-enthroned, and the Holy Spirit was in the Father, and glorified together with the Son: one power, one essence, one Godhead, whom we all worship saying: Holy God, who created all things through the Son, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Holy and Strong, through whom we came to know the Father, and through whom the Holy Spirit came into the world. Holy and Immortal, the comforting Spirit, proceeding from the Father and resting in the Son. Holy Trinity, glory to thee.

PRIEST

Lord, now lettest Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

READER

O Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us. (3)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, world without end. Amen.

Most Holy Trinity, have mercy upon us; O Lord, cleanse us from our sins; O Master, pardon our transgressions; O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy Name’s sake.

Kyrie eleison. [3]

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end. Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

PRIEST

For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end.

CHOIR: Amen.

Apolytikion of the Feast

Tone 8

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast made manifest the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Ghost: and by them hast drawn the world into Thy net. O Lover of mankind, glory to Thee. (3)

The Dismissal

May He who emptied Himself from the bosom of the Father, and took upon Himself our human nature wholly, and deified it, and thereafter again ascended into heaven and didst sit on the right hand of God the Father, and didst send the divine and holy, consubstantial, equal in power and glory, and co-eternal Spirit, upon His holy disciples and Apostles, and through Him didst enlighten them, and through them the whole world, Christ our true God, by the prayers of His most pure and undefiled Holy Mother; of the holy and all-glorious preachers of God and Spirit-bearing Apostles, and all the saints, have mercy upon us and save us through His goodness. Amen.