The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will send out for you a rod of power from Sion; rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the rule in the day of your power, in the splendours of your saints. From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn and he will not repent; you are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek. The Lord at your right hand shattered kings in the day of his wrath. He will judge among the nations, he will heap up corpses, he will shatter the heads of many upon the land. He will drink from the torrent in the way, therefore he will lift up his head.

¶11

Glory. Both now.

¶12

Psalm 110

¶13

After this the Reader says:

¶14

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the council of the upright and in the congregation. Great are your works, O Lord, sought out according to all his wishes. Thanksgiving and majesty his work, and his justice abides to age on age. He made remembrance of his wonders; the Lord is merciful and compassionate. He gave food to those who fear him, he will remember his covenant for ever. He proclaimed the strength of his works to his people, to give them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are truth and judgement, all his commandments are faithful, established to age on age, made in truth and integrity. He sent redemption to his people; he ordained his covenant for ever; holy an fearful his name. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, while a good understanding is for all who do it. His praise abides to age on age. ****

¶15

Then the Typika, read, and the Dismissal.

¶16

Psalm 85

¶17

Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my soul, for I am holy; O my God, save your servant who hopes in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I shall cry to you all the day; give joy to the soul of your servant, for I have lifted up my soul to you. For you, O Lord, are good and gentle, and full of mercy to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplication. In the day of my trouble I called to you, for you have heard me. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord; none whose works are as yours. All the nations whom you made will come and worship before you, O Lord, and call upon your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Guide me, O Lord, in your way, and I shall walk in your truth; make my heart glad to fear your name. I shall give you thanks, O Lord, my God, with my whole heart; and I shall glorify your name for ever. For your mercy is great towards me, and you have delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, the lawless rose up against me, and an assembly of mighty ones sought my soul, and did not set you before them. And you, Lord, are pitying and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy and true. Look on me and have mercy on me; give your might to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Make with me a sign for good, and let those who hate me see it and be shamed; for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. And again: Make with me a sign for good, and let those who hate me see it and be shamed; for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

¶18

**x3**), Lord, have mercy (**x3**). ****

¶19

Mary once with aged Joseph went to be enrolled in Bethlehem, for he was of David’s line; and she bore in her womb fruit unknown; the time for the birth was at hand, and there was no room in the inn; but the Cave proved a fair palace for the Queen. Christ is born, to raise up his image that had fallen.

¶20

O Good One, who was born of a Virgin for our sakes and endured crucifixion; who despoiled death by death and as God revealed resurrection, do not despise those whom you fashioned with your own hand; show your love for mankind, O Merciful, accept the Mother of God who bore you, as she intercedes for us, and save, O Saviour, a people in despair.

¶21

Herod was struck with amazement when he saw the piety of the Magi, and overcome by wrath he inquired diligently the interval of time. Mothers were left childless and the unripe age of their babes was bitterly harvested. Breasts grew dry and the channels of milk were stopped. Great was the calamity! And so let us, the faithful, devoutly assembled worship Christ’s Nativity.

¶22

**Twice, without a verse**) ****

¶23

God will come from Theman and the Holy One from a mountain overshadowed by forest. ****

¶24

Tone 2.

¶25

When Joseph had been wounded by sorrow, O Virgin, as he went to Bethlehem you cried out to him, ‘Why are you downcast and troubled seeing me great with child? Why wholly ignorant of the dread mystery that is in me. Now cast away every fear as you understand the strange marvel: for in my womb now God descends to earth through mercy, and has taken flesh. You will see when he is born, as he has been well pleased; and filled with joy will worship him as your Creator. Him the Angels praise unceasingly with the Father and the Holy Spirit.’

¶26

Lord, I heard your report and was afraid. ****

¶27

The same again.

¶28

**Tone 6.** ****

¶29

Note that the following Idiomel

¶30

Today is born of a Virgin **is first intoned devoutly and solemnly by the Canonarch in the middle of the Church. Then it sung more melodiously by the two Choirs.**

¶31

Today is born of a Virgin, he who holds creation in the hollow of his hand (

¶32

As a mortal he is wrapped in swaddling rags, he who in his being cannot be handled.

¶33

God lies in a manger, who of old established the heavens in the beginning.

¶34

He is nourished with milk from the breast, he who rained Manna on the People in the desert.

¶35

He summons Magi, the Bridegroom of the Church.

¶36

He accepts their gifts, the Son of the Virgin.

¶37

We worship your birth, O Christ (**three times).**

¶38

Show us also your divine Epiphany. ****

¶39

Sion is our mother, a man will say; and a man has been born in her.

¶40

Her foundations are in the holy mountains.

¶41

The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias.

¶42

A child has been born for us, a son has been given to us; whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Angel of Great Counsel, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come.’ For I will bring peace upon princes, peace and health to him. Great his government, and of his peace there is no bound, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgement and with justice from henceforth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

¶43

The Reading from the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews.

¶44

Brethren, the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from One. For this reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will proclaim your name to my brethren, in the midst of the church I will praise you. And again: I will put my trust in him. And again: Here am I, and children whom God has given me. Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear he did not take on himself the nature of Angels, but he took on that of the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brethren in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

¶45

The Reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

¶46

Now when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.’ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the Magi. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremias, ‘A voice was heard in Rama, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.’ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’

¶47

For your holy name’s sake do not finally reject us, do not annul your covenant, do not take your mercy from us for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, and for the sake of Isaac, your servant, and Israel, your holy one.

¶48

All-holy Trinity, Our Father, For yours. ****

¶49

Today the Virgin is coming to the cave to give birth ineffably to the eternal Word. Hearing this, dance, O inhabited world! Glorify, with Angels and with Shepherds, him who willed to be made manifest, a little Child, God before the ages.

¶50

Lord, have mercy (

¶51

At every time and at every hour, in heaven and on earth worshipped and glorified, Christ God, long-suffering, great in mercy, great in compassion, loving the just and merciful to sinners, calling all to salvation by the promise of the good things to come; do you, Lord, yourself accept our entreaties at this hour, and direct our lives to your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our ideas and deliver us from every distress, evil, and pain. Wall us about with your holy Angels, that protected and guided by their host we may reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of your unapproachable glory; for you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen.

¶52

Lord, have mercy (

¶53

**x3**), Glory. Both now., Greater in honour than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Word, truly the Mother of God we magnify you. In the name of the Lord, bless, Father. ****

¶54

May God be merciful. ****

¶55

Master, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who have long endured our transgressions, and brought us to this hour in which hanging on the life-giving tree you showed the good Thief the way into Paradise and destroyed death by death, have mercy also on us sinners and your unworthy servants. For we have sinned and trespassed and are not worthy to raise our eyes and look on the height of heaven; because we have abandoned the way of your justice and walked in the will of our hearts. But we implore your unbounded goodness: spare us, O Lord, according to the multitude of your mercy, and save us for your holy name’s sake, for our days have been wasted in vanity. Rescue us from the hand of our opponent, forgive us our sins, slay our carnal will, that we, having put off the old man, may put on the new, and live for you, our Master and benefactor; and that thus following your precepts we may reach eternal rest, where those who rejoice have their dwelling. For you are the true joy and gladness of those who love you, Christ our God, and to you we give glory, together with your Father who has no beginning, and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and to ages of ages. Amen.

Translated by Ephrem Lash. Edition lash.en.anastasis.