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(Pokróv) of Our All-Holy Lady, Theotokos, and Ever-Virgin Mary

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(Pokróv) of Our All-Holy Lady, Theotokos, and Ever-Virgin Mary The 1st Day of October The Protection (Pokróv) of our All-holy Lady, Theotokos, and Ever-Virgin Mary Note: If the Temple is dedicated to the Mother of God, or the Rector so desires, the All-Night Vigil is served. Note: The Commemoration of St. Romanos the Melodist is also on this date. His service immediately follows this.— incomplete as of 7/2016 Small Evening Service At “Lord, I have called...,” 4 stikhera, in Tone 1: To the regular melody. God, who alone rests upon the thrones on-High / Was pleased that a man who had found favor with Him, / Should behold thee, O Lady, standing above the earth / Stretching out thy divine hands in supplication / Praying for the city and the people. / Protect us now, O Lady /// Under the veil of thy mercy. (Twice) Thou, O most-pure Lady / Ever protects with thy precious veil / The city [and people] that honor and worthily praise thee, / Keeping them safe from the assaults of the enemy, / From famine, and earthquake, and civil war, /// O Virgin, Bride unwedded, thou protectress and defender of mankind. O living abode of Christ, / Thou art a wall, a haven, and a stronghold for the faithful. / Through thee, O Mother of God, [are they and] thy city saved; / Through thy help the kings of the true Faith are crowned; / In thee do they rejoice as they gain victories over the heathens, /// For thou ever protects us under the veil of thy mercy. Glory..., now and ever…, in the Tone 5: Come, ye assemblies of those who love the feasts of the Church, / And let us sing the praises of the most-holy Virgin! / For today the angels and saints celebrate the hon’rable protection of the Mother of God, / As they call to us on earth to praise her with unceasing voices: / Rejoice, thou wondrous adornment of the Church and guardian of the world! / Rejoice, O [invincible] ally of the faithful rulers in battle and the shield of warriors! / Rejoice, our protectress and defender, /// For indeed, the Christian people ceaselessly bless thee! 1 RLE SDA 7/2016 With Special thanks to Mother Mary and Reader Isaac Lambertsen 1 OCTOBER: THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS At the Apostikha, these stikhera, in Tone 2: To the melody, “O House of Ephratha....” Today the heavens [rejoice] in glory / And there is gladness on earth / For the Queen and all the saints pray for us in the [holy] Church. Verse: Verse: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear. O come all ye faithful / To the holy Church / For there, the Theotokos protects with her precious veil /// All the people from the assaults of the enemy. Verse: The rich among the people shall pray before thy face. O most-pure Theotokos, / Forget us not, thy servants, /// But pray for us who in faith sing thy praises. Glory..., now and ever…, in the Tone 3: Come, all ye who love the feasts of the Church, / And let us bless the honored veil of the Mother of God, / For she mercifully stretched out her hands to her Son / And the world came under her protection. / Therefore, with our mouths and hearts, let us join with them /// Who celebrate this feast with songs and spiritual hymns. The Troparion, in Tone 4: O Mother of God, sheltered by thy coming, / We faithful people today keep feast in joy / And beholding thy most-pure image / Moved to the depths of our hearts, we say: / Protect us with thy precious veil / And deliver us from every ill /// By entreating Christ thy Son and our God to save our souls. Great Evening Service After the Introductory Psalm, “Blessèd is the man...,” the first Antiphon. At “Lord, I call...,” 8 stikhera. 2 RLE SDA 7/2016 With Special thanks to Mother Mary and Reader Isaac Lambertsen 1 OCTOBER: THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS These stikhera in Tone 1: To the melody, “O glorious wonder….” Let us faithfully extol and give our highest praise, / O most-pure Mother of God, To the shining veil of thy protection, / For thou art a mighty defender for those in sorrow, / A speedy helper, the confirmation, and the deliverance of the world, / An endless source of mercy! / Therefore, with gladness we cry out to thee: / Rejoice, thou who hast found such favor, the Lord is with thee /// Granting the world through thee great mercy. (Twice) Isaiah once wondrously prophesied / Saying, that it shall come to pass in the latter days, / That the mountain of the Lord shall clearly appear / And upon its summit shall be His dwelling place. / And we have seen that this has truly been fulfilled concerning thee, / For the mountains and the hills are adorned with countless churches bearing the names of the feasts. / Therefore, with gladness we cry out to thee: / Rejoice, thou who hast found such favor, the Lord is with thee /// Granting the world through thee great mercy. Thou art the wondrous adornment of the faithful, / O thou fulfillment of the prophecies; / Thou art the glory of the apostles and the beauty of the martyrs, / The boast of virginity, and the marvelous protection of the world! / Therefore, O Lady shelter under the veil of thy protection all the people who cry to thee: / Rejoice, thou who hast found such favor, the Lord is with thee /// Granting the world through thee great mercy. Then 4 stikhera, in Tone 4: To the melody, “As one valiant among the martyrs....” Thou art like the divinely-sown garden of paradise, O Theotokos / Wherein stood the Tree of Life watered by the Holy Spirit. / For we know thee as having brought forth the Creator of all / Who feeds the faithful with the Bread of Life. / Together with the Forerunner, entreat Him on our behalf, [O Lady], /// And protect the Orthodox faithful from every danger beneath thy holy veil. (Twice) Heaven and earth are both sanctified; / The Church shines brightly and the people rejoice, / 3 RLE SDA 7/2016 With Special thanks to Mother Mary and Reader Isaac Lambertsen 1 OCTOBER: THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS For behold, the Mother of God, together with the prophets and the apostles, / With the Forerunner, and the Theologian, / Mystically prays to Christ on behalf of all Christians, / That He may have mercy upon all [lands and all] people, /// Who glorify the Feast of her [holy] Protection. Thou art the beauty of Jacob / And the heavenly ladder by which the Lord descended to the earth. / These images were given at that time, O Mother of God / As manifestations of thine honor and glory. / Now all the angels in heaven and mankind on earth call thee blessèd / For thou hast brought forth the God of all / And thou prayest now for all the world, /// Protecting with thy mercy those who keep thy [holy] feast. Glory…, now and ever…, in Tone 8: As they behold the Queen of heaven glorified by all the faithful, / The leaders of the bodiless hosts rejoice together with us / And the spirits of the righteous make glad and spiritually join in song / As they witness the vision of her with outstretched arms praying in the air / Entreating peace for the world /// And the confirmation of Orthodox Christians and the salvation of our souls. The Entrance and the Prokeimenon of the day. Three Readings: The Reading from Genesis (28:10-17) 28:10And Jacob went out from the Well of God of Isaac. Fear not; the land whereon the Oath and went into Haran. 11And he thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy lighted upon a certain place and lay down seed. 14And thy seed shall be as the sand of there, because the sun was set. And he the earth, and it shall spread abroad to the took one of the stones of the place, and put sea and to the south and to the north and to it at his head, and lay down in that place to the east, and in thee and in thy seed shall sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold, a all the tribes of the earth be blessed. 15And ladder set up on the earth whose top behold, I am with thee, keeping thee in reached to heaven, and the angels of God every way whither thou shalt go, and will ascended and descended on it. 13And the bring thee again into this land, for I will Lord was established upon it and said, “I not leave thee until I have done all that am the God of thy father Abraham, and the which I have spoken to thee of.” 161And 4 RLE SDA 7/2016 With Special thanks to Mother Mary and Reader Isaac Lambertsen 1 OCTOBER: THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, than the House of God and this is the gate “The Lord is in this place, and I knew it of heaven.” not.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other The Reading from Ezekiel (43:27-44:4) 43:27 And it shall come to pass from the Lord, the God of Israel, shall enter in by it, eighth day and onward that the priests and it shall be shut. 3For the Prince shall shall offer your whole-burnt offerings sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he upon the altar and your peace offerings, shall enter in by the way of the porch of and I will accept you,” saith the Lord. the gate and shall go out by the way of the 44:1Then He brought me back by the way same.” 4And He brought me by the way of of the outward gate of the sanctuary that the gate that looketh toward the north over looketh toward the east, and it was shut.
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