AT VESPERS

The revered gathering of the wise Fathers proclaimed you, O Lover of mankind, the uncircumscribed and indescribable Word who became flesh for our sake, to be perfect God and perfect man, double in natures and energies and wills; [1] one and the same by hypostasis; therefore knowing you to be one God with the Father and the Spirit, we worship you as we call the Fathers blessed.

The usual reading from the Psalter. At Lord, I have cried we insert 10 Stichera, and sing 3 of the Resurrection from the Octoichos, 3 by Anatolios and the 4 following Prosomia of the Holy Fathers.

Glorious Fathers, you overthrew Pyrrhus [2] and Sergios, [3] with Honorius, [4] Eftyches, [5] Dioskoros [6] and dread Nestorios, [7] saving Christ’s flock from both sheer cliffs by radiantly proclaiming Christ one by hypostasis, but double in natures, revealed by energies alone; as we also worship him as man and perfect God, with the Father and the Spirit, we now glorify you.

Tone 6. Having invested all.

The God-bearing Fathers with one accord proclaimed to be uncreated the divine energy and the divine will of the One who became a beggar, as they allotted my humanity to the flesh, while the blessed Saints wisely fled from the createdness of the energy and will, the confusion of nature and the separation of the person. We faithful, as we honour them with yearly festivals, with one accord glorify Christ who glorified them.

Glory. **Tone 6.**

The God-bearing Fathers with one mind today proclaimed the uncreated Trinity to be one God and Lord, fittingly demonstrating to all the simplicity of the one nature, [8] with common will and simplicity of energy, making him known through all things as without beginning and without end; therefore we sing their praise all as imitators of the Apostles and all teachers of their Gospel.

Both now. Theotokion. The 1st of the Tone.

Let us praise today the mystical trumpets of the Spirit, the Godbearing Fathers, who sang a harmonious melody of theology in the midst of the Church: one Trinity, unchanging Essence and Godhead; the overthrowers of error, the champions of the Orthodox, who ever intercede with the Lord to have mercy on our souls.

Entrance, O Joyful Light, the Pro­keimenon of the day, and the Readings:

Now when Abram heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, he numbered his own home-born servants, three hundred and eighteen, [9] and pursued the enemy as far as Dan. And he fell upon them by night, he and his servants, and smote them and pursued them as far as Chobal, which is on the left of Damascus. And he brought back all the cavalry of Sodom, and he brought back Lot his nephew and all his goods and the women and the people. And the king of Sodom came out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chodologomor and the kings with him, to the valley of Sabi; this was the plain of Kings. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was Priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram and said: Blessed is Abram by God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth. And blessed God is Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

The Reading is from Genesis.

Moses said to the sons of Israel: See, I have delivered the land before you; go in and inherit the land which I swore to your fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them. And I spoke to you at that time saying: I shall not be able to bear you alone. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are to-day as the stars of heaven in multitude. May the Lord, the God of our fathers, multiply you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as he said to you. And I took from you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you, captains of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens and recorders for your judges. And I commanded your judges at that time, saying: Administer justice between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother and his proselyte. You shall not have respect to persons in judging. You shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not shrink before any man’s person; for the judgement is God’s.

The Reading is from Deuteronomy.

Moses said to the sons of Israel: Behold the heaven and the highest heaven belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is in it. Moreover the Lord preferred your fathers, to love them: and he chose their seed after them, you above all nations, as it is at this day. So circumcise the hardness of your heart and do not be stiff necked. For the Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, who takes no bribe. He executes judgement for the proselyte, the orphan and the widow; and loves the proselyte, giving him food and clothing. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve him, and to him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in his name. He is your boast, he your God, who has done for you the great and wonderful things which your eyes have seen.

The Reading is from Deuteronomy.