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Hieratikon

Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Menaion - January 4

Forefeast of Epiphany, and Synaxis in honor of the Holy Seventy Apostles, and Memory of our Devout Father Theoktistos.

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LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Antiphon 1. Mode 2.

Verse 1: It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing to Your name, O Most High. [SAAS]

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.

Verse 2: To proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your truth at night.

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.

Verse 3: The Lord my God is upright, and there is no wrongdoing in Him.

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.

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

Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.

Antiphon 2. Mode 2.

Verse 1: The Lord reigns; He clothed Himself with majesty; the Lord clothed and girded Himself with power. [SAAS]

or:

Verse 1: Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord; let us shout aloud to God our savior. [SAAS]

Save us, O Son of God, who are wondrous in the saints. We sing to You, Alleluia.

Verse 2: And He established the world, which shall not be moved.

or:

Verse 2: Let us come before His face with thanksgiving, and let us shout aloud to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, a great King over all the earth.

Save us, O Son of God, who are wondrous in the saints. We sing to You, Alleluia.

Verse 3: Holiness is proper to Your house, O Lord, unto length of days.

or:

Verse 3: For in His hand are the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. For the sea is His, and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.

Save us, O Son of God, who are wondrous in the saints. We sing to You, Alleluia.

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

Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Only-begotten Son and Logos of God, being immortal, You condescended for our salvation to take flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary and, without change, became man. Christ, our God, You were crucified and conquered death by death. Being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit: Save us.

Antiphon 3.

Apolytikion. For the Forefeast.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 4. Joseph marveled.

O Zabulon, prepare, and be ready, Nephthalim. * Jordan River, hold your course, and exultantly receive * the Master who is coming to be baptized. * Adam leap for joy with Eve the Foremother. * No longer hide yourselves, as once in Paradise; * for having seen you naked He has appeared * to clothe you in your former vesture. * The Christ has appeared, wishing to renew * the entire creation. [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. Joseph marveled.

O Zabulon, prepare, and be ready, Nephthalim. * Jordan River, hold your course, and exultantly receive * the Master who is coming to be baptized. * Adam leap for joy with Eve the Foremother. * No longer hide yourselves, as once in Paradise; * for having seen you naked He has appeared * to clothe you in your former vesture. * The Christ has appeared, wishing to renew * the entire creation. [SD]

For the Apostles.

Mode 3.

O holy Apostles, make intercession to our merciful God, that He grant our souls forgiveness of offenses. [SD]

The Apolytikion of the parish church is sung. Then:

From Menaion - - -

Kontakion.

Mode 4. You appeared today.

Ἐπεφάνης σήμερον.

To the flowing streams today * of River Jordan * comes the Lord and cries aloud * to John the Baptist, and He says, * “Be not afraid to baptize me now; * for I have come to save Adam, the first-formed man.” [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 Epistle

For the Apostles.

Prokeimenon. Mode pl. 4. Psalm 18.

Their proclamation went forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. [SAAS]

Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament shows the creation of His hands. [SAAS]

The reading is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.

1 Cor. 4:9-16

Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. [RSV]

Alleluia. Mode 1. Psalm 88.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Verse 1: The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord. [SAAS]

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Verse 2: God is glorified in the counsel of saints.

Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

The Gospel

For the Forefeast.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John.

Jn. 1:18-28

No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” They said to him then, “Who are you? let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, who ranks before me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. [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 18.

Their proclamation went forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Alleluia. [SAAS]

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, O Christ 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

Fast Free: All foods allowed.

It is the ru.Twelve Days of Christmas