AT VESPERS

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 6 stichera: 3 for the holy hierarch, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “Joy of the ranks of heaven…”—

But if this day fall within the Great Fast: Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

The namesake of virginity, the beacon of Lampsacus, the radiant morning-star of miracles, the great Parthenius calleth us all together by his memorial, that we who hymn Christ the Savior may keep spiritual festival.

Bearing God within thyself from childhood, with the fire of thy prayers, O all-blessed and wise one, thou didst burn up legions of the demons and didst guide the flock of Lampsacus; for, casting down the temples of the idols, thou didst renew thyself for God.

The fish which was cast forth, a breathless thing which yet imparted life, proclaimed thy wonder, as did the fruit of the barren field and vineyard and the generous rain promised to those who wept. Wondrous are thy works, O performer of sacred rites! Wherefore, pray thou that we be saved.

And 3 stichera of the venerable one, in Tone VI: Spec. Mel.: “Having set all aside…”—

Following the Lord wholly from thy youth, thou didst forsake thy parents, passionate attachments and worldly love, O glorious one, and didst live in the wilderness, leading the life of fasters in humility; which thou didst perfect, lamenting in spirit, O venerable one, making thyself a good merchant, distributing thy possessions to the poor and buying Christ, the precious Pearl; and when thou didst obtain Him, thy desire, thou didst rest, O right glorious one.

Beaten, reviled and afflicted by thy parents, O father, for the sake of Christ Whom thou didst desire, O glorious one, wounded with desire for Him thou didst count as nought the beauties of this world and didst love the separation from thy mother and thy wandering; and thou wast invested with the monastic habit, O most sacred one. Yet, at thy mother’s entreaties, O venerable Luke, God revealed thee, who didst not wish to be revealed, for, as He loveth mankind, He showed pity.

Ending thy sacred life, O most sacred one, thou didst perform excellent and all-glorious miracles, O sacred one, when God gave thee beforehand a divine token of the reward of Thy godly labors; and He shall give thee a never-fading wreath and crowning glory when He shall come as Judge. Wherefore, entreat Him, that He deliver from all affliction those who ever hymn thee, O all-wondrous Luke.

Glory…, Now & ever…, the composition of Germanus: idiomelon, in the same tone—

O Christ our God, Whose good pleasure it was to sit today in the arms of the elder, as in the chariot of the cherubim: in that Thou lovest mankind, deliver and save us who hymn Thee, calling us forth from the tyranny of the passions.

O most immaculate one, quickly visit me who have been wounded by the robbers’ assaults of the demons and who lie, wholly unable to move, on the ever-shifting path of this life, in need of mercy; and do thou pour wine and oil upon mine incurable wounds, and restore me to health; that I may glorify thee and lovingly hymn thy mighty works, as is meet, O Mother and Virgin, who alone art pure.

Or this Stavrotheotokion—

A sword pierced thy heart, O all-pure Mistress, as Symeon said, when thou didst behold Him Who shone forth from thee ineffably, condemned by the iniquitous and lifted up upon the Cross, tasting vinegar and gall, His side pierced, His hands and feet run through with nails; and, lamenting, thou didst exclaim, crying out maternally: “What is this new mystery, O my Child most sweet?”