AT VESPERS:

Glory..., Now and ever...: Theotokion, in the same tone and melody—

At “Lord, I have cried...,” these stichera, in Tone II: Spec. Mel: “When from the Tree...”—

Guiding souls by thy discourse, thou didst show thyself to be a godly steward and a faithful exponent of the divine mysteries, O God-bearer, sowing the seeds of salvation and reaping fruit in great abundance. And standing now before thy Master, O blessed one, rejoicing thou dost present it to Him. Be thou mindful of this thy flock, which ever honoreth thee, O thou who art inspired of God.

Doing battle zealously for Orthodoxy, thou wast shown to be meek and simple; for, arrayed in faith as with a breastplate, and with abstinence as thy spear, O divinely wise Nicetas, thou didst denounce every blasphemous heresy, honoring and worshipping before the divine image of the Savior, and manifestly following the rules of the fathers, O God-bearer.

When the tyrant most benighted with bestial savagery imprisoned thee in bitter exile and most dark places, thou didst endure it, O father, having in mind the habitation of paradise, the splendor whereof thou hast now truly been vouchsafed to behold, O blessed one, receiving recompense for thy pangs.

In thy womb, O all-holy Bride of God, thou alone didst bear without confining Him the uncontainable God Who, in His goodness, became man. Wherefore, I beseech thee: Rescue me from the passions which beset me, that, having trod the straight and narrow path, I may attain unto that which leadeth to life, O Virgin.

Stavrotheotokion—

When the unblemished ewe-lamb beheld her Lamb led forth of His own will as a man to the slaughter, she said, weeping: “Thou now makest haste to leave me who gave Thee birth childless, O Christ! What is this which Thou hast done, O Deliverer of all? Yet still I hymn and glorify Thine extreme goodness which passeth understanding and recounting, O Thou Who lovest mankind!”