At Vespers

Glory..., in Tone VII—

At “Lord, I have cried...,” these stichera, in Tone VIII, Spec. Mel: “O most glorious wonder...”—

Now & ever..., Theotokion, or this stavrotheotokion, in the same tone—

Troparion, in Tone II—

Oh, wondrous life! Oh, great endurance! Right fruitful trees of paradise which flourished in the desert, sprung from a single root and grafted onto the one true Vine, O John, Heraclemon, Andrew and Theophilus, fill ye with the sweetness of spiritual fruit us who honor and hymn thee.

Enduring the noonday sun in the desert, ye freed yourselves from the burning heat of the passions, and by your thirst for salvation overcoming natural thirst, ye discovered a fountain overflowing unto eternal life and gave drink to your souls with the streams thereof. Wherefore, by your supplications bedew our desiccated souls, vouchsafing that we bring forth the fruitfulness of the virtues.

Emulators of the Forerunner and imitators of the feats of Elijah, offspring of the desert, glory and adornment of fasters, by your life did ye amaze the bodiless ones. Wherefore, ye have become fellow citizens with the bodiless; and now, therefore, from heaven watch over those who struggle spiritually and show them speedy aid, guiding them to the eternal mansions.

Laying aside today all the cares of life, come ye, let us make haste to the temple of the Lord, celebrating the radiant memory of the venerable ones; and well instructed in their life, let us purify our senses and sanctify our lips with prayer; and sighing over our offenses from the depths of our hearts, let us cry out to our Savior, Jesus most sweet: By their prayers, O Christ God, have mercy upon us!

When the Virgin, Thy Mother, beheld Thee nailed to the Cross at Calvary, illegally condemned by the Jews, O my Christ, she cried out: “Woe is me!, O my most beloved son! What is this strange sight? How can the mindless children of the Jews nail Thee, the Lord of all, to a cross?”

On “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “As one valiant among the martyrs…”—

The wondrous Habbakuk, receiving the effulgence of the Spirit, became wholly divine; and, seeing the dishonesty of the judges and their unjust judgment, he was displeased, showing forth the rightness of the justice of Christ the Master with divine love and fervent thought, and he burned as one justly angered.

Standing on divine watch, the honored Habbakuk heard the ineffable mystery of Thy coming unto us, O Christ, and he most manifestly prophesied the proclamation of Thee, foreseeing the all-wise apostles as steeds roiling the sea of the many nations of the gentiles.

Rejoicing in the Lord God thy Savior, O divinely eloquent and glorious one, and filled with gladness, receiving the effulgence of heavenly radiance, and noetically illumined with deifying light, by thy supplications deliver from perils and misfortunes those who with faith celebrate thy most festive memory.

But if Alleluia is to be chanted at matins instead of “God is the Lord…”, the following stichera of the Theotokos are chanted before the foregoing stichera of the prophet, in the same tone and melody—

With the showers of the Holy Spirit bedew thou my mind, O all-pure one, who hast given birth to Christ, the infinite Drop of rain Who by His compassions doth wash away the iniquities of mortals. Dry up the wellspring of my passions, and vouchsafe unto me a torrent of sweetness by thine ever-vital supplication.

I have been cast down beneath the ground, slain by my sins and my passions, spiritual and bodily; wherefore, I am covered by the darkness of despair. But raise me up now to life incorruptible, guiding me to the homeland on high, where the voice of those who keep festival is heard, and where the light of Thy countenance doth shine, O Christ.

O pure one, who held within thy womb the uncontainable God Who, in His love for mankind, became man and received from thee our nature, manifestly deifying it: *Disdain me not, who now am afflicted! But quickly take pity one me, and free me from all the malice and harm of the evil one.

Glory…, Now & ever…, in the same tone & melody—

Ten thousands of times, O all-pure one, have I promised to repent of mine offenses; yet mine unseemly and evil habits will not depart from me. Wherefore, I cry unto thee, and falling down, I pray: O Mistress, rescue me from such affliction, guiding me to higher things which are nigh unto salvation!

Stavrotheotokion, In the same melody:

When she beheld Thee, the Lamb and Shepherd, upon the Tree, the ewe-lamb who gave Thee birth lamented and maternally exclaimed to Thee: “O my Son most desired! How is it, O Word, that thy hands and feet have been pierced with nails by the iniquitous? How is it that Thou hast shed Thy blood, O Master?”

Celebrating the memory of Thy Prophet Habbakuk, O Lord, through him we entreat Thee: Save Thou our souls!