AT GREAT VESPERS

After the Introductory Psalm, we chant “Blessed is the man…”, the first antiphon.

A Reading from the Prophecy of Isaiah

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 8 stichera, idiomela, the composition of John the Monk, in Tone VI—

Now & ever…: Dogmatic theotokion, in the same tone—

A Reading from the Prophecy of Malachi

While the birthday of the shameless Herod was being celebrated, the oath he swore to the vile dancer was fulfilled; for the head of the forerunner, having been cut off, was borne, like food, upon a platter, to those reclining there. O abominable feast, unholy act, full of murder! Yet, honoring the Baptist as the greatest born of women, we call him blessed, as is meet. Twice

A Reading from the Wisdom of Solomon

The disciple of the most evil devil danced, and received thy head as her reward, O forerunner. O feast full of blood! Better would it have been not to have sworn thine oath, O iniquitous Herod, grandson of lies! For even though thou didst make thy vow, it was not well sworn. Better would it have been to be proved false, than to cut off the head of the forerunner, who spake the truth. Yet, honoring the Baptist as the greatest born of women, we call him blessed, as is meet. Twice

It was not fitting, O Herod, to condemn to death the denouncer of thine adultery, for the sake of a satanic love and the burning of cruel fornication. It was not fitting for thee to give his most precious head over to a most iniquitous woman because of a vow haplessly made as a condition for her dancing. O how couldst thou have committed such a murder? How is it that the vile dancer was not utterly consumed when she bore it on a platter in the midst of the feast? Yet, honoring the Baptist as the greatest born of women, we call him blessed, as is meet. Twice

Again Herodias rageth insanely, again is she vexed. O what deceitful dancing, what a feast of deception! The Baptist is beheaded, and Herod is troubled. Through the supplications of Thy forerunner, O Lord, grant peace to our souls. Twice

Glory…, in the same tone—

While the birthday of the shameless Herod was being celebrated, the oath he swore to the vile dancer was fulfilled; for the head of the forerunner, having been cut off, was borne, like food, upon a platter, to those reclining there. O abominable feast, unholy act, full of murder! Yet, honoring the Baptist as the greatest born of women, we call him blessed, as is meet.

Who doth not call thee blessed, O all-holy Virgin? Who will not hymn thine all-pure birthgiving? For the only-begotten Son Who shone forth timelessly from the Father, came forth, ineffably incarnate, from thee, the pure one; and being God by nature, He became man for our sake, not divided into two Persons, but known in two natures without confusion. Him do thou beseech, O pure and most blessed one, that our souls find mercy.

Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. Three readings:

Thus saith the Lord: Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith the Lord. Speak, ye priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double the amount of her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. O thou who bringest glad tidings to Sion, go up on the high mountain; lift up thy voice with strength, thou who bringest glad tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not. I, the Lord God, I will hear the poor of Israel and will not forsake them: but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will make the desert pools of water, and a thirsty land watercourses. Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom with mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise. Utter aloud a voice of gladness, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the ends of the earth. Say ye: The Lord hath delivered His servant Jacob. And if they shall thirst, He shall lead them through the desert; He shall bring forth water to them out of the rock. Rejoice, thou barren woman who bearest not; break forth and cry, thou who dost not travail: for more are the children of the desolate than of her who hath a husband.

Thus saith the Lord Almighty: Behold, I send forth My messenger, and he shall survey the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into His temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in. Who will abide the day of his coming, or who will withstand at his appearing? For he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of those who wash. He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold. And he will come to you as a Judge, and will be a swift witness against the wicked, and against the adulteresses, and against those who swear falsely by My name, and against those who keep back the hirelings’ wages, and those who oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and wrest the judgment of the stranger, and fear not Me, saith the Lord Almighty. For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed. But ye, the sons of Jacob, have perverted My statutes, and have not kept them. Wherefore, return to Me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord Almighty. And all nations shall call you blessed. Understand ye that I am the Lord Who discerneth between the righteous man and the iniquitous on the day whereon I shall preserve those who love Me. Be ye therefore aware and remember the law of Moses My servant, accordingly as I charged him with it in Horeb for all Israel, even the commandments and ordinances. And, behold, I will sent to you Elijah the Tishbite, before the great and glorious day of the Lord cometh, who shall turn again the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbor, lest I come and smite the earth grievously, saith the Lord Almighty, the holy God of Israel.

Though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest. Thus the righteous who is dead shall condemn the ungodly who are living. For they shall see the end of the wise, and shall not understand what God in His counsel hath decreed of him. For the Lord shall cast the ungodly down headlong, that they shall be speechless, and He shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish. And when they cast up the account of their sins, they shall come with fear: and their own iniquities shall convict them to their face. Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labors. When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation. And they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves: “This was he whom we held betimes in derision, and as a proverb of reproach. We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honor. How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot among the saints? Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us. We have been full of the ways of the iniquitous and destruction, and have trodden trackless paths, but the ways of the Lord have we not known.”

At the Litia, stichera idiomela, the composition of Patriarch Germanus, in Tone I—

What shall we call thee, O prophet? An angel, an apostle, or a martyr? An angel, for thou didst live like one of the incorporeal ones. An apostle, for thou didst teach the nations. A martyr, for thy head was cut off for Christ. Him do thou entreat, that He have mercy upon our souls.

Let us celebrate the memory of the severed head of the forerunner, which poured forth blood upon the platter then, but now poureth forth healings upon the ends of the earth.

Today the mother of murder, committer of iniquitous deeds, hath with murderous counsel moved her depraved daughter to wreak evil upon him who is greater in godly excellence than all the prophets, through her ungodly dancing; for when Herod was feasting in honor of his accursed birthday, she arranged to demand by an oath the wondrous head of the herald of God. And the promised gift did the insane one grant her, as a reward for her womanly dancing. Yet the teacher of the mysteries of the advent of Christ did not cease to denounce their union, which was abominable to God, even after his end, but, upbraiding them, cried out, saying: “It is not fitting that thou shouldst commit adultery with the wife of Philip thy brother!” O birthday, occasion for the slaying of a prophet! O feast full of blood! But, making ourselves white as snow, let us with pious mind celebrate the beheading of the forerunner, rejoicing as on an auspicious day; and let us beseech him to move the Trinity to pity, that God deliver us from the disgrace of the passions and save our souls.

In Tone IV: Herod celebrated an unseemly birthday and an utterly shameless feast; for captivated by lust for a woman and excited by a woman’s wantonness, he had the head of the forerunner cut off; but he did not cut out the tongue of the prophet, who denounced his foolishness. Shedding innocent blood, he wished to conceal his iniquitous sin; but he could in nowise stop the voice which calleth all to repentance. And though he made merry amid murder, we lovingly celebrate the blessed slaying of John the Baptist; for he preceded Life into hades, to proclaim Christ our God, the Orient from on high, the only greatly Merciful One, unto those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death.

Come, O ye people, let us praise the prophet and martyr, the baptizer of the Savior; for, as an angel in the flesh, he denounced Herod, condemning him for committing most iniquitous fornication. And thanks to iniquitous dancing, his precious head is cut off, that he might announce in hades the glad tidings of the resurrection from the dead. And he prayeth earnestly to the Lord, that our souls be saved.

Come, O ye people, let us praise the prophet and martyr, the baptizer of the Savior; for, fleeing, he made his abode in the wilderness, eating wild honey and locusts, and denounced the iniquitous king. And he hath comforted our little faith, saying: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Glory…, the composition of John the Monk, in Tone V—

Herod, thinking to escape denunciation for his iniquitous deeds, though troubled gave thy head to an iniquitous woman, O forerunner; for the wretched one understood not that, in having it borne about on a platter, he was denouncing himself. But as thou art an active teacher of purity and a saving guide to repentance, pray thou, O baptizer of Christ, that He deliver us from the disgrace of the passions.

Now & ever…, in the same tone—

Hymn, O hymn ye the Mother of our God, O ye people; for today she surrendereth her most radiant soul into the all-pure hands of Him Who became incarnate of her without seed. Him doth she unceasingly beseech, that He grant peace and great mercy to the whole world.