AT GREAT VESPERS

We chant “Blessed is the man…”, the first antiphon.

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 8 stichera: 3 from the Pentecostarion, and 5 for the Evangelist, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “Joy of the ranks of heaven…”—

Glory…, Now & ever…, Theotokion.

Troparion, in Tone III—

The writer of divinely uttered words, the great instructor of Egypt, O ye faithful, let us hymn as is meet, crying aloud: O wise Mark, disciple of Christ, cease thou never to guide us all by teachings and supplications, to the life which is untroubled. Twice

[Or this troparion, in the same tone—

Thou wast the companion of Paul, the chosen vessel, and with him didst traverse all of Macedonia; and being in Rome the disciple of Peter, thou wast shown to be a recounter of sweet things; and thou didst repose in Egypt, having suffered in godly manner, O Mark, thou friend of Christ. Twice

Or this troparion, in the same tone—

Withered and barren souls didst thou revive with the radiant sprinkling of the Gospel. Wherefore, O divine Mark, today Alexandria doth celebrate thy memory with us and offereth praise unto thee, bowing down before thy relics.

Glory…, in Tone VI—

Grace was poured forth into thy mouth, O apostle Mark, and thou wast a shepherd of the Church of Christ, teaching the reason-endowed sheep to believe in the consubstantial Trinity in one Godhead.

Now & ever…, from the Pentecostarion.

Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. Three readings…

A Reading from the General Epistle of James (1:1-12)

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials, knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, Who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and its flower falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth; so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to those who love Him.

A Reading from the General Epistle of James (1:13-27)

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man; but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is not variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His own will begot He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, put away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth in it, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself undefiled by the world.

A Reading from the General Epistle of James (2:1-13)

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect to persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in fine apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him who weareth the fine clothing, and say unto him, “Sit thou down here in a good place;” and say to the poor, “Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool,” are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges with evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren: hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to those who love Him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name whereby ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well; but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he who said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they who shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, who hath shown no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

On the Aposticha, these stichera, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “O all-praised martyrs…”—

O divinely wise Mark, thou wast the pen of a most wise and swiftly writing scribe, recording in divinely inspired manner the incarnation of Christ, and clearly proclaiming the words of eternal life. Pray thou that those who hymn thee and honor thy glorious memory be assigned thereto.

Stichos: Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

O all-praised Mark, preaching Christ thou didst pass over the world like the sun, destroying all the darkness of polytheism with beams of faith. And now, pray thou that our souls be granted peace and great mercy.

Stichos: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaimeth the work of His hands.

O apostle Mark, in those lands where before the ignorance of ungodliness had increased, thou didst preach, dispelling the darkness of Egypt with the enlightenment of thy words, O divine preacher most rich. And now, pray thou that our souls be granted peace and great mercy.

Glory…, in Tone VIII—

Come ye all, and with psalms and hymns let us praise the preacher of the mystery of heaven, the servant of the Gospel; for he is shown to be a river of the noetic paradise, watering spiritual furrows with heavenly showers, and showing them forth as fertile for Christ God Who, through his supplications, granteth cleansing, enlightenment and great mercy unto all.

Now & ever…, from the Pentecostarion.

O holy apostle and evangelist Mark, entreat the merciful God, that He grant our souls remission of transgressions.

Thou wast an apostle of Christ who learned from the preëminent Peter, and didst shine like the sun upon the lands of the Alexandrians, being their adornment. Through thee was Egypt freed from deception, O blessed one, who as the Church’s pillar of fire dost illumine all with thy teaching of the Gospel. Wherefore, honoring thy memory, we keep splendid festival, O divinely eloquent Mark. Entreat God Who was announced by thee, that He grant our souls remission of offenses.