Ode 9. The Irmos.

After the small litany, the Exapostilarion sung slowly and solemnly:

**Priest: Let us complete our morning prayer to the Lord.**

Wisdom of all, you said to your Apostles, ‘Casting off every stain of passion, take up a prudent intent, worthy of the divine kingdom. By this you will be glorified, shining more brilliantly than the sun’.

At Lauds we insert 4 Idiomel Stichera, doubling them.

‘Christ, our Fashioner, you magnified the Mother of God who gave you birth, from whom you put on a body with passions like ours, the atonement of our faults of ignorance; as we call her blessed, all we generations magnify you.’

After the Litany and the Prayer at the Bowing down of heads, the Aposticha:

**Reader: Lord, have mercy.**

Tone 1

You said, Lord, to your own disciples, ‘Looking to me alone, do not have lofty thoughts, but live with humble. Drink the very cup which I drink, and you shall be glorified in my Father’s kingdom’.

**Reader: Lord, have mercy.**

**Psalm 148**

Christ, our Fashioner, you magnified the Mother of God who gave you birth, from whom you put on a body with passions like ours, the atonement of our faults of ignorance; as we call her blessed, all we generations magnify you.

**Reader: To you, O Lord.**

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the highest. To you praise is due, O God.**

**Priest: Again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord.**

**Reader: Amen.**

Praise him, all his angels: Praise him, all his Powers. To you praise is due, O God.**

**Priest: Help us, save us, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace.**

Glory. Both now.** **By the same.** **Tone 5**

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you stars and light.**

**Priest: Calling to remembrance our most holy, most pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.**

Then the Superior says:

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord.**

**Priest: For all the Powers of heaven praise you, and to you we give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to the ages of ages.**

**Reader: Lord, have mercy.**

For he spoke and they came into being; he commanded and they were created.**

Tone 3. Model Melody.

**Reader: Grant this, O Lord.**

He established them for ever and ever; he made an ordinance, and it shall not pass away.**

Your bridal chamber, O my Saviour, I see all adorned, but I have no garment so that I may enter it. Make bright the mantle of my soul, O Giver of light, and save me! (**x3)**

**Reader: To you, O Lord.**

Praise the Lord from the earth; praise him, you sea-monsters and all deeps;**

**Reader: Amen.**

Fire and hail, snow and ice and storm-wind; things that do his word.**

**Reader: And to your spirit.**

Mountains and all hills, fruiting trees and all cedars;**

**Reader: To you, O Lord.**

Beasts of the wild, and all cattle, creeping things and winged birds;**

**Reader: Amen.**

Kings of the earth and all peoples, rulers and all judges of the earth;**

Glory. Both now. **By the same. Tone 8.**

Young men and maidens: old men and youths together, let them praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone has been exalted.**

Then the Superior says:

His praise is above earth and heaven, and he will exalt the horn of his people.**

**Reader: Amen.**

A hymn for all his holy ones; for the children of Israel, a people that draws near him.**

Then the prayer of St Ephrem with 4 full and 12 small metanias

**Psalm 149**

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the Church of the holy ones.**

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him, let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.**

Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing his praise with timbrel and with harp.**

For the Lord is well-pleased with his people; he will exalt the meek with salvation.**

His holy ones will exult in glory, and rejoice upon their beds.**

The high praises of God in their mouths, and two-edged swords in their hands,**

To exact vengeance among the nations, punishments among the peoples.**

To bind their kings in fetters; and their nobles in shackles of iron.**

To execute upon them the judgement that is decreed; such glory will be for all his holy ones.**

**Psalm 150**

Praise God in his saints; praise him in the firmament of his power.**

Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to the greatness of his majesty.**

By Monk Kosmas. Tone 1

As the Lord was coming to his voluntary passion, he said to his Apostles on the road, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed, as it is written of him’. Come then, let us too, with minds made pure, journey with him, and let us be crucified with him, and for his sake become dead to the pleasures of life, that we may live with him and hear him as he cries, ‘I am no longer going up the earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. And I shall raise you up with me to the Jerusalem above, in the kingdom of heaven’.

Praise him in the blast of the trumpet: praise him upon the lute and harp.**

As the Lord was coming to his voluntary passion, he said to his Apostles on the road, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed, as it is written of him’. Come then, let us too, with minds made pure, journey with him, and let us be crucified with him, and for his sake become dead to the pleasures of life, that we may live with him and hear him as he cries, ‘I am no longer going up the earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. And I shall raise you up with me to the Jerusalem above, in the kingdom of heaven’.

Praise him with the timbrel and dances: praise him upon the strings and pipe.**

By the same. Tone 5

Believers, having reached the saving passion of Christ our God, let us glorify his ineffable forbearance; so that in his compassion he may, with himself, also raise us up, who have been slain by sin, as he is good and loves humankind.

Praise him on fine-sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals of gladness. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.**

Believers, having reached the saving passion of Christ our God, let us glorify his ineffable forbearance; so that in his compassion he may, with himself, also raise us up, who have been slain by sin, as he is good and loves humankind.

Lord, as you were coming to your passion, you strengthened your disciples, taking them aside and saying, ‘How have you not remembered my words, which I spoke to you of old, ‘Is it not written no prophet may be killed but in Jerusalem’? Now the moment has come of which I spoke to you. For see, I am being handed over to be mocked by the hands of sinners, who, when they have nailed me to a cross and handed me over for burial, will reckon me a loathsome corpse. Nevertheless, take courage, for on the third day I arise, for the joy of believers and eternal life’.

To you glory is due, O Lord, our God, and to you we give glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to ages of ages. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men. We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you, we thank you for your great glory. O Lord, heavenly King, God the almighty Father. O Lord, only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Lord God, lamb of God, Son of the Father, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us, who takes away the sins of the world. Receive our prayer, you who sit on the right hand of the Father and have mercy upon us. For you alone are holy, you alone are Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Every day I will bless you, and praise your name for ever and ever. I said, Lord, have mercy upon me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. Lord, I have run to you for refuge; teach me to do your will for you are my God. For with you is the source of life, and in your light we shall see light. O continue your merciful kindness toward those who know you.

Grant, Lord, this day to keep us without sin. Blessed are you, Lord, the God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is your name for to the ages. Amen. May your mercy, Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in you. Blessed are you, Lord, teach me your statutes. Blessed are you, Master, make me understand your statutes. Blessed are you, Holy One, enlighten me with your statutes. Lord, your mercy is for ever; do not scorn the work of your hands. To you praise is due, to you song is due, to you glory is due, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Help us, save, have mercy on us and keep us, O God, by your grace.

That the whole day may be perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, let us ask the Lord.

**Priest: An Angel of peace, a faithful guide and guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask of the Lord.**

Pardon and forgiveness of our sins and offences, let us ask of the Lord.

Things good, and profitable for our souls, and peace for the world, let us ask of the Lord.

That we may live out the rest of our days in peace and repentance, let us ask of the Lord.

A Christian end to our life, painless, unashamed and peaceful, and a good defence before the dread judgement seat of Christ, let us ask.

Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.

**Priest: For you are a God of mercies and of pity, and to you we give glory, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.**

**Priest: Peace to all.**

**Priest: Let us bow our heads to the Lord.**

**Priest: For yours it is to show mercy and to save us, O our God, and to you we give glory, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.**

By Monk Kosmas. Tone 5

O Lord, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, not understanding the ineffable mystery of your dispensation, asked you to grant her own children the honour of a temporary kingdom; but instead of this you promised your friends that they would drink cup of death; a cup which you said you would drink before them, a cleansing from sins. And so we cry to you: O Salvation of our souls, glory to you!

**Verse 1. We were filled in the morning with your mercy, O Lord, and we rejoiced and were glad. In all our days, let us be glad, for all the days you have afflicted us, for the years we have suffered adversity. Look upon your servants and your works, and guide their children.**

By the Same.

O Lord, instructing your own disciples to think thoughts of perfection, you said, ‘Do not to be like the nations, so as to rule over the least strong. It shall not be so with you, my disciples, because my wish is to be poor. The first among you, then, let him be the servant of all; the ruler as the ruled, the leader as the last. For I have come to serve Adam who became poor, and to give my life as a ransom for many, those who cry to me: Glory to you!’

**Verse 2. And may the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us. Direct the work of our hands, O direct the work of our hands.**

Fearing the punishment of the withered fig tree, because of its lack of fruit, brethren, let us offer fruits worthy of repentance to Christ, who grants us his great mercy.

The serpent, having found in the Egyptian woman a second Eve, hastened by flatteries to trip up Joseph; but he, abandoning his tunic, fled from sin, and though naked was not ashamed, like the first formed before his disobedience. At his entreaties, O Christ, have mercy on us.

How good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High. To declare your love in the morning, and your truth every night.

**Reader: Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).**

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. 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 to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen

Our Father, in heaven, may your name be hallowed, your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

**Priest: For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.**

**After the Our Father, we say the following Apolytikion:**

Standing in the temple of your glory, we think we stand in heaven, O Mother of God. O gate of heaven, open to us the door of your mercy.

**Then Lord have mercy (x40). 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.**

**Priest: Blessed be he who is.**

**The Superior: Heavenly King, establish our rulers: strengthen the faith: calm the nations: make the world peaceful: guard well this holy church : assign our fathers and brothers who have gone before us to the tents of the just, and accept us in repentance and confession, as you are good and love humankind.**

Lord and Master of my life, do not give me a spirit of sloth, idle curiosity, love of power and useless chatter. (**Prostration)**

Rather accord to me, your servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. (**Prostration)**

Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults, and not to condemn my brother; for you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen. (**Prostration)**

We then make 12 small metanias, then one further great metania as we repeat the last line of the prayer.

**Then at once Come let us worship, and the First Hour, during which we do not add a Kathisma of the Psalter, nor at the Ninth Hour.**