At Great Vespers

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

A Reading from Genesis

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 8 stichera: 4 of the circumcision, idiomela, in Tone VIII—

A Reading from Proverbs

Descending unto the human race, the Savior deigned to be wrapped in swaddling-bands, and He did not refuse to be circumcised in the flesh as an eight-day old infant born of His Mother, but without beginning according to His Father. To Him, O ye faithful, let us cry: Thou art our God! Have mercy upon us! Twice

A Reading from Proverbs

The all-good God was not ashamed to be circumcised with the circumcision of the flesh, but for their salvation provided Himself as an example and pattern for all; for the Creator of the law fulfilleth the prescriptions of the law and the predictions of the prophets concerning Himself. O Lord Who holdest all things in the palm of Thy hand, and wast wrapped in swaddling-clothes, glory be to Thee! Twice

And 4 stichera of the holy hierarch, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Called from on high…”—

O father who art the namesake of kingship, when thou, the royal priesthood, didst shepherd the holy Christian nation with skill and love of wisdom, then the Lord of all, the King of kings, the Son Who is one and equally everlasting and without beginning with Him Who begat Him, crowned thee with the crown of His kingdom. Him do thou beseech, that He save and enlighten our souls. Twice

Adorned with hierarchal vesture, rejoicing, thou didst preach the Gospel of the kingdom, O Basil, pouring forth upon the Church the doctrine of Orthodoxy. And, illumined now thereby, we theologize and glorify the one Godhead—in the Father Almighty, the only-begotten Word of God and the divine Spirit—three Persons indivisible. Entreat thou the Trinity, that our souls may be enlightened and saved.

Abiding with the choirs of heaven and having thy dwelling with them, O father Basil, thou didst emulate their love by the pure splendor of thy life, living like one of the incorporeal ones while dwelling in the flesh with those on earth. Entreat Christ our God, that He save those who delight in thy divinely inspired teachings from misfortunes and the darkness of ignorance, and that He enlighten our souls.

Glory…, the composition of Anatolius, in Tone VIII—

As a lover of wisdom and of all things pertaining to God, O venerable one, and accounting mortal knowledge thy companion, thou didst live an exemplary life. For, having walled off from thyself the carnal passions with mighty ramparts of abstinence and the law of divine teaching, thou didst preserve the state of thy soul unenslaved, and with the riches of virtue didst make all carnal-mindedness subject to thy spirit. Wherefore, having hated the flesh, the world and the ruler of this world, as thou standest before Christ ask great mercy for our souls.

Now & ever…, of the feast, in the same tone—

Descending unto the human race, the Savior deigned to be wrapped in swaddling-bands, and He did not refuse to be circumcised in the flesh as an eight-day old infant born of His Mother, but without beginning according to His Father. To Him, O ye faithful, let us cry: Thou art our God! Have mercy upon us!

Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. Three readings:

God appeared unto Abram and said to him: “I am thy God. Be well-pleasing before Me, and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly. Thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. And thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for I have made thee a father of many nations. And I will increase thee very exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between thee and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be thy God, and the God of thy seed after thee.” And Abraham fell upon his face, and worshipped the Lord. And the Lord said unto Abraham: “Thou shalt also fully keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee for their generations. And this is the covenant which thou shalt fully keep between Me and you, and between thy seed after thee for their generations: every male of you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and you, and between thy seed after thee for their generations. And the child of eight days old shall be circumcised by you, every male throughout your generations. And the uncircumcised male, who shall not be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, he shall be utterly destroyed from his family, for he hath broken My covenant.”

The Lord made me the beginning of His ways for His works. He established me before time was, in the beginning, before He made the earth: even before He made the depths; before the fountains of water came forth, before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills, He begat Me. The Lord made countries and uninhabited tracts, and the highest inhabited parts of the world. When He prepared heaven, I was present with Him; and when He prepared His throne upon the winds, and when He strengthened the clouds above, and when He secured the fountains of the earth, and when He strengthened the foundations of the earth: I was like unto Him. I was that wherein He took delight, and daily I rejoiced in His presence continually.

The mouth of the righteous droppeth wisdom: but the tongue of the unjust shall perish. The lips of just men drop grace: but the mouth of the ungodly is perverse. False balances are an abomination before the Lord: but a just weight is acceptable unto Him. Wherever pride entereth, there will also disgrace: but the mouth of the humble doth meditate wisdom. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the overthrow of the rebellious shall spoil them. Possessions shall not profit in the day of wrath, but ­righteousness will deliver from death. When a just man dieth, he leaveth regret: but the destruction of the ungodly is speedy and causeth joy. Righteousness traceth out blameless paths: but ungodliness encountereth unjust dealing. The righteousness of upright men delivereth them: but transgressors are caught in their own destruction. At the death of a just man his hope doth not perish: but the boast of the ungodly perisheth. A righteous man escapeth from a snare, and the ungodly man is delivered up in his place. In the mouth of ungodly men is a snare for citizens: but the understanding of righteous men is prosperous. In the prosperity of righteous men a city prospereth, but at the destruction of the wicked there is exultation. At the blessing of the upright a city shall be exalted, but by the mouths of ungodly men it is overthrown. A man void of understanding sneereth at his fellow citizens: but a sensible man is quiet.

At Litia, the sticheron of the temple, and these stichera of the holy hierarch, in Tone III—

The composition of Germanus: Having caused Christ, the Wellspring of life, to dwell in thy soul by thy pure life, O Basil manifest in sanctity, thou didst pour forth rivers of the teachings of piety upon the whole world; and watered thereby, the faithful people of the Church, the fruits of the confession of thy lips, offer grace to Him Who hath glorified thy memory unto the ages of ages.

The myrrh of the grace which was poured forth upon thee anointed thee to act as priest of the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, O divinely revealed Basil, and as the sweet savor of Christ thou hast filled the whole world with the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. Wherefore, graciously accepting the pleas of thy servants, ask thou great mercy for us who honor thee.

The composition of Byzantius: Arrayed in hierarchal vesture, O Basil, champion of the Trinity, thou didst stand before the seat of the judge, accepting tribulation for the Faith; and showing forth an athlete’s prowess, thou didst put to shame the wrath of the governor, who raged with the might of ungodliness and threatened thee with pitiless dismemberment; yet reasoning zealously, and becoming a ­martyr by intent, thou didst receive a crown of victory from Christ, Who hath great mercy.

Glory…, in Tone VI—

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

Now & ever…, of the feast, in Tone VIII—

Descending unto the human race, the Savior deigned to be wrapped in swaddling-bands, and He did not refuse to be circumcised in the flesh as an eight-day old infant born of His Mother, but without beginning according to His Father. To Him, O ye faithful, let us cry: Thou art our God! Have mercy upon us!