se.m03.d08.mo

Today we sing the service of the Holy Forty Martyrs (March 9) in advance, because this year their memory falls on the Saturday of the Souls.

Books - Sources

Horologion - Midnight Office

For a Weekday

Menaion - March 9

Memory of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastia

__________

MIDNIGHT OFFICE

PRIEST

Blessed is our God always, now and ever and to the ages of ages.

( Amen. )

Glory to You, O God, glory to You.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, present in all places and filling all things, treasury of good things and giver of life: come; take Your abode in us; cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, O Good one. [GOA]

READER

Trisagion Prayers.

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.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, forgive our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

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

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [GOA]

PRIEST

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to ages of ages.

READER

Amen. Lord, have mercy. (12)

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

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

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

Come, let us worship and bow down before Him, Christ our King and God.

Psalm 50 (51).

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy; and according to the abundance of Your compassion, blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from my lawlessness and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my lawlessness, and my sin is always before me. Against You only have I sinned and done evil in Your sight; that You may be justified in Your words, and overcome when You are judged. For behold, I was conceived in transgressions, and in sins my mother bore me. Behold, You love truth; You showed me the unknown and secret things of Your wisdom. You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; You shall wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow. You shall make me hear joy and gladness; my bones that were humbled shall greatly rejoice. Turn Your face from my sins, and blot out all my transgressions. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your guiding Spirit. I will teach transgressors Your ways, and the ungodly shall turn back to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall greatly rejoice in Your righteousness. O Lord, You shall open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For if You desired sacrifice, I would give it; You will not be pleased with whole burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not despise. Do good, O Lord, in Your good pleasure to Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built; then You will be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with offerings and whole burnt offerings; then shall they offer young bulls on Your altar. [SAAS]

If the Lity was not sung at Vespers, sing the following:

Procession and Litany.

CHOIR

Idiomelon 1.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 1.

The choir of forty-fold splendor; ⁄ the whole army assembled by God, ⁄ has shone out upon the fast through their most honored sufferings, ⁄⁄ enlightening and illumining our souls! [OCA]

Idiomelon 2.

Mode 2.

Who will not hymn the martyrs; ⁄ a choir forty in number! ⁄ For they boldly entered the waters of the lake, ⁄ and huddled together in the cold, ⁄ they chanted a hymn to the Lord: ⁄ Is your anger against us in the rivers, Lord? ⁄ Is your anger against us in the rivers, Lover of mankind? ⁄ Lighten the oppression and bitter cold of the wind, ⁄ for our feet are empurpled with our own blood! ⁄ You lead us into your everlasting habitations, O God! ⁄⁄ May we be warmed in the bosom of Abraham! [OCA]

Idiomelon 3.

Mode 2.

The forty martyrs, chanting a hymn to the Savior, ⁄ have given the faithful a drink from the cup of truth: ⁄ It is filled with their blood; with the fire of their torments and icy waters; ⁄ for though one in mind, they offered themselves to Christ in many bodies! ⁄ The godly mother of a Christ-loving son, ⁄ bore him upon her shoulder, saying: ⁄⁄ Come, athlete, and suffer with the rest! [OCA]

Glory.

Menaion Supplement - - -

Idiomelon. Mode pl. 1.

O believers, come today, and let us form a spiritual chorus, and let us reverently celebrate; let us gloriously honor the solemn feast of the glorious Forty Great-martyrs of Christ, and let us salute them and say: Rejoice, O forty-member choir: you extinguished the action of the elements, and you put to shame the plans of the unlawful. Rejoice! You submerged the serpent in the freezing water, and you crushed his deadly skull. Rejoice! You declared the pure and true worship of God by your extended contests. Angels dressed in white placed crowns on your heads; demons were dismayed; and the faithful greatly rejoiced, as they were confirmed in the truth. And now we entreat you, O brave and invincible soldiers of Christ, intercede for us who observe your memory. [SD]

Both now.

Mode pl. 1.

Now we call you blessed, O Virgin Theotokos, and we glorify you, duty-bound as believers; the city unshakable, the wall indestructible, the firm and steadfast protection, and the place of refuge for our souls. [SD]

READER

Trisagion Prayers.

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.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, forgive our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

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

PRIEST

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to ages of ages.

READER

Amen.

Apolytikion.

From Menaion - - -

Mode 1.

The holy martyrs suffered painful tortures for Your sake, O Lord; be compelled by what they endured, and heal our every pain, we entreat You, O only benevolent God. [SD]

Lord, have mercy. (40)

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

Greater in honor than the Cherubim, and in glory greater beyond compare than the Seraphim; you without corruption gave birth to God the Word, and are truly Theotokos. You do we magnify.

In the name of the Lord, Father, bless!

PRIEST

May God have compassion on us and bless us; may his face shine upon us and have mercy on us.

READER

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

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Holy father, give the blessing!

PRIEST

May Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother, (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.

Let us pray for the peace of the world.

CHOIR (intoned after each petition)

Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST

For the pious and Orthodox Christians.

For our our Archbishop (name).

For our nation.

For the armed forces.

For our absent fathers, brothers and sisters.

For those who help us and those who serve us.

For those who hate us and those who love us.

For those who have asked us, the unworthy, to pray for them.

For the release of the captives.

For those sailing the seas.

For those laid up with illnesses.

Let us also pray for the abundance of the fruits of the earth.

And for all our fathers and brethren departed this life, those who lie here in peace, and the Orthodox everywhere.

Let us say for ourselves, also: Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.

CHOIR

Amen.