AT VESPERS

After the Opening Psalm we recite the 1st Section of the 1st Kathisma of the Psalter.

O joyful light**, and the Readings.**

Lord, I have cried**, we insert 6 Stichera, and sing the three following Prosomia, doubling them.**

**Theotokion.**

Tone 4. Called from on high.

Formed by the light of the Forerunner, when the empersonned brightness of the Father’s glory appeared, wishing through his compassion to save the human race, then, glorious Saint, you were the first to run to him, illumined in mind by the perfect brilliance of his Godhead; therefore you are named herald and Apostle of Christ our God; implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

Acquainted with the voice of the Forerunner, when the all-holy Word became flesh, granting us life and salvation, bringing the good tidings to those on earth, then, O all-wise, you followed him and dedicated yourself as firstling and all-holy first fruits to him; our God, whom you both came to know and revealed to your own brother; implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

Frequenting the one sprung from a barren womb, when the offspring of the Virgin dawned, as Teacher of piety and temperance revealing purity, then you became a most fervent lover of virtue, blessed Andrew, placing ascents in your heart; and from glory you were raised to the ineffable glory of Christ our God; implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

**Tone 4. By Anatolios.**

Leaving behind the catching of fish, O Apostle, you net men, lowering the bait of true religion like a hook with the rod of your preaching, and drawing up from the depth of error all the nations. Apostle Andrew, brother of the Prince and outstanding teacher of the world, do not cease to intercede for us, O all-praised, who with faith and love praise your ever-honoured memory.

**The same Tone.**

Isaias, dance, receive the word of God; prophesy to Mary the maiden that the bush is aflame with the beam of the Godhead and is not being burned by fire. Bethlehem, make ready, Eden open your gate; and Magi make your journey to see salvation swaddled in a manger; whom the Star above the cave reveals as the Lord, the giver of life, who saves our race.

The Reading is from the First Universal Epistle of Peter.

Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Beloved, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore gird up your minds, be sober, set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. Through him you have believed in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth through the Spirit for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living word of God which abides for ever; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withered, and the flower fell, but the word of the Lord abides for ever’. That word is the good news which was preached to you. So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. Like new-born babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Sion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.’

The Reading is from the First Universal Epistle of Peter.

Beloved, for to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Likewise you wives, be submissive to your husbands, so that some, though they do not obey the word, may be won without a word by the behaviour of their wives, when they see your reverent and chaste behaviour. Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. So once the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves and were submissive to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are now her children if you do right and let nothing terrify you. Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honour on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind. Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.

The Reading is from the First Universal Epistle of Peter.

Beloved, since therefore Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human desires but by the will of God. Let the time that is past suffice for doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, desires, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you do not now join them in the same wild profligacy, and they abuse you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God. The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.

At the Liti, Idiomel Stichera. Tone 1.

By Andrew of Jerusalem.

The First-called Disciple and imitator of your passion, the Apostle Andrew, conformed to you, Lord, having drawn out with the fish-hook of your Cross those once gone astray in the deep of ignorance, brought them to you. At his prayers, O supremely Good, make our lives peaceful and save our souls.

The same Tone.

Let us the faithful sing the praise of Peter’s brother, Andrew, Christ’s Disciple; for he once searched the sea with nets and caught fish, while now he trawls the inhabited world with the rod of the Cross and brings the nations back from error by Baptism; and as he stands before Christ he asks peace for the world, and for our souls God’s great mercy.

The same Tone.

Having received within his heart the spiritual fire that enlightens minds and burns up sins, Christ’s Apostle and disciple shines with the mystical rays of teachings in the unenlightened hearts of the nations; while he again burns up the brushwood fables of the ungodly; for the fire of the Spirit has such a force. O strange and fearful wonder! A tongue of clay, a nature of clay, a body of dust has received spiritual and immaterial knowledge. But, O initiate of ineffable and contemplator of heavenly mysteries, intercede that our souls may be illumined.

Tone 8.

When you saw the God so longed for walking the earth, O First-called, who saw God, you called out to your brother: We have found, Simon, the one so longed for; to the Saviour you cried like David: As the hart longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for you, Christ God. Therefore too adding longing to longing, you pass over through a cross to him you longed for, as a true Disciple and became an imitator of the passion through his Cross; and so having also become with him a partaker of glory, fervently intercede on behalf of our souls.

By Andrew of Jerusalem; or, according to others, Anatolios.**

Let us all sing the praise of Andrew, the herald of the faith and servant of the Word; for he fishes men from the deep, grasping in his hands the Cross for a rod, and lowering power like a line he brings souls up from the error of the foe and offers them as an acceptable gift to God. Let us the faithful ever sing his praise with the choir of Christ’s Disciples, that he may intercede with him so that he may be merciful to us on the day of judgement.

Sovereign Lady, accept the supplication of your servants, and rescue us from every calamity and tribulation.