SIXTH HOUR

And we read one Kathisma of the Psalter. At each Antiphon we make 3 prostrations and after the completion of the Kathisma we chant the following Troparion.

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and do not despise my supplication; attend to me, and hear me. I was grieved in my meditation, and troubled by the voice of the foe and the tribulation of the sinner. Because they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they were indignant with me. My heart was troubled within me, and fear of death fell on me. Fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove’s, and I shall fly away and find rest. See, I have gone far away in my flight, and have encamped in the wilderness. I waited for God who saves me from faint-heartedness and from storm. O Lord, drown and divide their tongues; because I have seen iniquity and wrangling in the city. Day and night it will go round upon its walls, and lawlessness and toil are in its midst, and injustice. Usury and fraud have not left its streets. For if an enemy had reviled me, I would have endured it. And if one who hated me had boasted against me, I would have hidden from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my guide and my friend. Who made sweet the food we ate together; we walked in harmony in the God’s house. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For evil is in their dwellings and in their midst. But I cried to God and the Lord heard me. At evening and morning and at midday I shall speak and declare, and he will listen to my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace from those who draw near me, for in crowds they were about me. God will hear and he who is before the ages will humble them. For there is no change with them, because they have not feared God; he has stretched out his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant; they have been divided by the wrath from his presence, and their have drawn near. Their words were smoother than oil, yet they are javelins. Cast your care on the Lord, and he will support you; he will not let the just waver for ever. But you, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction. Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days; but I, Lord, shall hope in you. ****

Glory. Both now. Alleluia (

**Theotokion.**

Come, let us worship and fall down before the King, our God.

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and do not despise my supplication.

Glory. Both now.

**Theotokion.**

Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, the King, our God.

We say the Prayer of St Ephrem with 4 full and 12 small metanias. Then Trisagion,

Then we sing the Troparion of the Prophecy, after which we read the Prophecy. This we do throughout the holy Lent at the Trithekti.

This Theotokion is said on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, but on Wednesday and Friday the following is said:

Come, let us fall down and worship before Christ himself, the King, our God.

Prayer of St Basil the Great

Then the reading from The Ladder and at once

Cross-Theotokion.

With 3 Metanias, then the Psalms.

Psalm 53

O God, save my by your name, and you will judge me by your power. O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and mighty ones have sought my soul, and have not put God before them. For see, God will help me, and the Lord is the protector of my soul. He will turn evils upon my foes, in your truth wipe them out. Willingly I shall sacrifice to you, I shall give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For you have delivered me from every tribulation, and my eye has looked down on my foes. ****

Psalm 54

Psalm 90

One who dwells in the help of the Most High will live under the protection of the of the God of heaven, will say to the Lord, ‘You are my protector and my refuge, my God, and I shall hope in him’. For he will deliver you from the snare of hunters, and from the word which troubles. He will overshadow you with his wings, and beneath his feathers you will hope; his truth will encircle you with a shield. You will not be afraid of terror by night, of the arrow that flies by day. Of the thing that prowls in the darkness, of mishap and the noonday devil. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you. But with your eyes you will observe, and see the reward of sinners. For you, Lord, are my hope: you have made the Most High your refuge. Evils will not approach you, nor a scourge draw near your dwelling. Because he has given orders to his Angels about you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You will walk on asp and basilisk, and trample down lion and dragon. ‘Because he hoped in me, I shall deliver him; I shall shelter him, because he knew my name. He will cry to me, and I shall hear him, I am with him in trouble; I shall rescue him and glorify him. I shall fill him with length of days, and show him my salvation’.

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

Tone 2.

On the sixth day and at the sixth hour you nailed to the Cross the sin that Adam dared in Paradise: tear up the record of our offences, Christ God, and save us.

On the sixth day…

I cried to God and the Lord heard me.

On the sixth day…

And we make the prostrations as described for the 1st Hour.

Because we have no boldness because of our many sins, entreat the One born of you, Virgin Mother of God; for a Mother’s plea has great force for the kindness of the Master. Do not despise the supplications of sinners, O all-holy, for he is merciful, and able to save, he who even accepted to suffer for us.

And 3 prostrations.

Let your mercies, O Lord, come quickly to our aid, for we are utterly poor; help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name. O Lord, deliver us, and have mercy on our sins, for your name’s sake.

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.

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. ****

And the following Troparia

Tone 2.

You have wrought salvation in the midst of the earth, Christ God; you stretched out your immaculate hands on the Cross, so gathering together all the nations, who cry: Lord, glory to you!

We venerate your most pure icon, loving Lord, as we ask pardon of our offences, O Christ God; for by your own choice you were well-pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, to deliver from the slavery of the enemy those whom you had fashioned; therefore with thanksgiving we cry to you: you have filled all things with joy, our Saviour, by coming to save the world.

As you are source of compassion, grant us pity, Mother of God. Look on a people who have sinned and show your power as always; for hoping in you we cry, ‘Hail’, as once Gabriel did, the Chief Captain of the Bodiless Powers.

You are highly glorified, Virgin Mother of God, and we praise you, for through your Son’s Cross Hell has been overthrown and death has died; we who were dead have risen, and been granted life; we have obtained Paradise, the ancient happiness; and so with thanksgiving we glorify Christ our God as mighty and alone full of mercy.

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

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.

Lord, have mercy. (

**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. ****

May God take pity… ****

All-holy Trinity, Our Father. For yours. Lord, have mercy (**x12**) **and the Superior says the following** ****

O God and Lord of powers, and Maker of all creation, who through the compassion of your incomprehensible mercy sent down your only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of our race, and through his precious Cross tore up the record of our sins, and by it triumphed over the principalities and powers of darkness; do you yourself, O Master who loves mankind, accept also our supplications of thanksgiving and entreaty; and deliver us from destroying and dark transgression, and from all our foes, visible and invisible, who seek to harm us. Nail down our flesh through fear of you, and do not let our hearts incline to words or thoughts of evil, but wound our souls with longing for you; that ever gazing upon you and guided by the light that comes from you, seeing you the unapproachable and everlasting light, we may give thanks to you, the Father without beginning, with your only-begotten Son and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

According to the Typika of the Holy Mountain the Reader at once adds:

It is truly right to call you blessed, who gave birth to God, ever-blessed and most pure, and Mother of our God. 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.

And Dismissal.

It is to be noted that after the Dismissal we leave the Church and go off to our cells with stillness; it is not allowed to have conversations with one another, for they have been forbidden by the holy Fathers, and we ought to observe this after every assembly.