We chant “Blessed is the man…”, the first antiphon.
On “Lord, I have cried…”, 8 stichera: 4 in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “With what wreaths of praise…” —
Troparion, in Tone IV —
A Reading from Genesis
With what pure lips shall we bless the Theotokos, who is more honorable than the cherubim, more holy than the seraphim, and more glorious than the angels and all the saints, the immovable throne of the King, the house wherein the Most High made His abode, the salvation of the world, the sanctification of God, who on her godly festival doth richly impart great mercy unto the faithful?
A Reading from the Prophecy of Ezekiel
What spiritual songs shall we now offer unto thee, O most pure one? For by the all-wondrous transit of thine all-precious icon thou hast sanctified the world; by its wondrous appearance thou hast amazed the whole Russian land; and by its radiant arrival thou hast illumined the uninhabited and trackless place where thou dost now abide in thy divine icon, unceasingly imparting great mercy to the world through thine omnipotent intercession.
A Reading from Proverbs
What cries of compunction did they offer unto thee, O Theotokos, when the pious people beheld thy radiant icon miraculously suspended in the air, shining with beams of splendor? With lamentation they prayed, weeping and crying aloud: “Come thou to us, O Queen! Come down, O Mistress! Send down the compassions of thy love for mankind! Visit us from on high! With thy radiant coming illumine those who are in darkness, and remain with us forever, richly imparting great mercy to the world!”
Wisdom hath built a house for herself and set up seven pillars. She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine in a bowl and prepared her table. She hath sent forth her servants, calling with a loud proclamation to the feast, saying: “Whoso is foolish, let him turn aside to me.” And to those who want understanding, she saith: “Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine which I have mingled for you. Leave folly, that ye may reign forever; and seek wisdom, and improve understanding by knowledge.” He who reproveth evil men shall get dishonor to himself; and he who rebuketh an ungodly man shall disgrace himself. Rebuke not evil men, lest they should hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser: instruct a just man, and he will receive more instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of the law is the character of a sound mind. For in this way thou shalt live long, and years of thy life shall be added to thee.
What shall we offer unto thee for thy great goodness and love for mankind, O all-holy Virgin? For most gloriously thou hast sent down through the air, upon the land of Russia, thy divine gift, thy greatly wondrous icon, O pure divine Maiden; and by the grace of God, through the miracles which proceed therefrom, we are delivered from misfortunes, receive in abundance healing of every illness for our bodies and souls, and unceasingly draw forth great mercy.
And 4 stichera in Tone V: Spec. Mel.: “Rejoice…” —
Rejoice, O pure Theotokos, our hope! Rejoice, thou who received joy from the angel! Rejoice, thou who gavest birth to the Effulgence of the Father! Rejoice, O blessed, pure and all-holy Virgin, who alone art all-hymned! Rejoice, speedy helper and fervent aid of Christians amid tribulations! Rejoice, exalted boast and most high glory of Orthodoxy, who gavest birth to the good Shepherd Who hath sought us who were lost, hath loosed us who were bound with the bonds of sin, and granteth the world great mercy! Twice
Rejoice, O all-holy Virgin, mediatress of our salvation! Thou hast poured forth joy and blessing upon all, having given birth in the flesh without seed to the Wellspring of good things, Who is more comely in beauty than all the children of men: Jesus, the Deliverer of all the world; and thou didst bear Him on thine all-pure arm. And now we gaze upon Him lovingly in the all-precious image, Who with thee hath radiantly come to us for the healing of our bodily infirmities and the salvation of our souls.
Rejoice today, O Christ-loving land of Russia, for the glory of the Lord hath shone forth upon thee in the all-glorious appearance of the icon of the Mother of God! For, in accordance with the providence of God, it hath come wondrously and in splendor to thee upon the air. Dance now and be glad, O Novgorod the Great, for thou hast received within the boundaries of thy dominion her who hath emitted divine radiance from on high, pouring forth the grace of miracles. Adorn thyself and keep splendid festival, O all-honored monastery of the Mother of God, for thy comeliness hath been most beautifully been made plain; for thou hast within thyself the great treasure of the whole world, the miraculous icon of the Mistress, which arrived all-gloriously upon the air, granting great mercy to all the faithful.
Glory…, Now & ever…, in Tone VI —
Today the multitude of the faithful rejoiceth; for thy divine icon hath appeared on the air, O Mistress, like a sun of surpassing radiance, shining with great light, and, emitting rays of mercy in all directions, it illumineth all the faithful. Joining chorus, the angels minister unto thee today, and honoring thee, they have invisibly transported thine icon from place to place, O Mother of God; and when they had borne it to the place chosen by God, they reverently set it down with due glorification. But what shall we, who are clay, offer thee? And what fitting laudation can we make for thine arrival? We are at a loss and can but marvel, magnifying the loving-kindness which thou hast shown us. But earnestly entreat thy Son and our God, O all-holy one, that He grant victory over all heresies to our Orthodox bishops, peace to the world, and great mercy to our souls.
Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. Three readings:
Jacob went forth from the well of the oath, and departed into Haran. And he came to a certain place, and slept there, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it at his head, and lay down to sleep in that place, and dreamed: and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended on it. And the Lord stood upon it, and said: “I am the God of thy father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. Fear not; the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be like the sand of the earth; and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and the south, and the north, and the east; and in thee and in thy seed shall all tribes of the earth be blessed. And behold I am with thee to preserve thee continually in all the way wherein thou shalt go; and I will bring thee back to this land; for I will not desert thee, until I have done all that I have said to thee.” And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said: “The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.” And he was afraid, and sad: “How fearful is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Thus saith the Lord: “It shall come to pass from the eighth day and onward, that the priests shall offer your wholeburnt-offerings on the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you,” saith the Lord. Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that faceth eastward; and it was shut. And the Lord said to me: “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut. For the Prince, He shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; He shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same.” And He brought me in by the way of the gate that faceth northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold! the house was full of the glory of the Lord.
At the Litia, these stichera —
In Tone III: Come, all ye who love the feasts of the Church, let us bless the wondrous appearance of the icon of the Mother of God; for in godly manner it hath most gloriously shone forth, and the world hath been enlightened by its holy manifestation. Wherefore, with mouth and heart, with hymns and spiritual songs, let us splendidly celebrate this holy day with all who have come hither.
In Tone VIII: When thine icon was first painted by the proclaimer of the mysteries of the Gospel, and was brought to thee, for thee to take and impart to it the power to save those who honor thee, thou didst rejoice, in that thou art the merciful collaborator in our salvation, and gavest utterance and voice to the icon, and, as once when thou didst conceive God in thy womb, thou didst chant the hymn: “Behold, now all generations shall call me blessed!” And, gazing at the icon thou didst say with authority: “My grace and power is with this image!” And we truly believe what thou didst say, O Lady, that in this image thou art with us. Wherefore, standing before it with reverence, we thy servants bow down before thee. Visit us with thy maternal compassions.
Who can confess the great depth of thy miracles as is meet, O pure one? For in thy loving visitation the wilderness hath received thy miraculous icon from on high. Then a pious man beheld thee in splendor, conversing with the holy hierarch Nicholas, and, unable to bear thine ineffable radiance, he fell upon the ground, bereft of sight until that wondrous hierarch raised him up, dispelling his fear with gentleness. And thou, O pure one, illumining him with the light of thy mercy, didst command that it was thy good pleasure that a cross be erected, to assist the salvation of the faithful.
In Tone IV: Let the clouds drop down sweetness, and let all the earth rejoice in gladness for thine ineffable mercy, O all-pure one. For a wondrous miracle is seen, O Mistress: what before was a wilderness bereft of any splendor and known and traversed by no one, is now, by thy visitation, O Mother of God, shown to be a monastery all adorned like a city, and an ever-splendid church, wherein a divine treasure, thy wondrous icon, is shown forth. And we, gazing upon its magnificence and falling prostrate with fervor, kiss it with joy and fear: fear, for we are unworthy because of our sins; and joy, because of the mercy which thou impartest to us, thy servants, in that thou art full of loving-kindness.
O good Mistress, mighty helper of the world: Make mighty our Orthodox hierarchs against heresies and schisms, as once God did the meek David; and as of old thou didst save the Imperial City from the assault of aliens, so now save this land from the attacks of the adversaries, and preserve it from all the incursions of the foe. For with God thou, O Bride of God, art the protection and salvation of all the faithful.
Glory…, Now & ever…, in Tone V —
The land of Russia rejoiceth today with the host of heaven, having been enriched from on high with the icon of the Mother of God; and it crieth out, summoning the Christ-loving flock: Come, ye faithful, and adorn yourselves with light for the festival of the Theotokos! Come, ye who love the feasts of the Church, and be glad on the wondrous feast of the universal Mistress of all! Behold the divine treasure which abundantly imparteth gifts of miracles to all! What, then, shall we render unto the Lord Who hath shown us His love for mankind in giving us the image of Him and her who gave Him birth, Who hath sent it down upon us as a heavenly gift, and illumined the faithful? Wherefore, delighting in His great loving-kindness, let us joyfully send up cries of thanksgiving, chanting with gladness unto her who bore Him: Glory, O Mistress, unto Christ our God Who was incarnate of thee, and hath vouchsafed such grace unto us!
At the Aposticha, these stichera, in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “When from the Tree…” —
When Moses beheld the bush burning without being consumed, which prefigured thine all-pure womb, wherein the divine Fire made its abode, O Virgin, he was seized with fear, marvelling at the mystery; so also, O Mistress, when thy people beheld thine all-pure image, which, by the good pleasure of Him Who was incarnate of thee, remained unconsumed by the material fire through the immaterial power of God, and with grace shone brighter than the sun, illumining the hearts of the faithful, they cried out to thy Son with joy: Glory to Thy loving-kindness, O Thou Who lovest mankind!
Stichos: I shall commemorate thy name in every generation and generation.
When amid horror and trembling stones buried the builders of thy temple, O Mistress, the people were pierced with sorrow, certain that they were dead; but, all-glorious wonder! as of old the Word of God and God of all, Whose will it was to be incarnate of thee, O most hymned one, preserved Jonah unharmed for three days in the belly of the whale, so did He work a miracle through thine intercession: for though they were buried for three days, thou didst preserve them alive and unhurt, and didst teach all to chant with joy: Glory to the magnitude of the love for mankind and the compassions of Him Who glorifieth thee who gavest birth without seed!
Stichos: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear.
When, with great sorrow, the people wished to take up the remains of those builders who had been buried under the stones for a space of three days, O thou who art full of grace, then, as thy Son and God wished to glorify yet more thine intercession for the holy monastery, they discovered them to be alive and unharmed, through thy protection. Wherefore, filled with gladness, they all glorified thee, their kind Mistress, and Him Who was born of thee, and they cried out with joy: Glory to Thy compassion, O Thou Who lovest mankind!
Glory…, Now & ever…, in Tone VIII —
Come, all ye faithful, and let us make haste to the church of the Mother of God; for, lo! her most precious icon shineth therein like a beacon of piety, illumining with the grace of God all the councils of those who love the feasts of the Church; and, driving away the darkness of the gloom of sin, it worketh all-glorious miracles for those who have recourse to it, and expelleth evil spirits. It giveth strength against heresies to the Orthodox hierarchs, is a rampart and bulwark for all the earth, maketh her monastery steadfast by her mighty assistance, is glorified in most glorious victories over the enemy, calleth all the faithful to keep festival, and teacheth them to cry out with joy to the Mother of God: O Theotokos, thou art our might and confirmation, our hope and salvation with God, and we pray to thee: Entreat thy Son and our God, that He deliver us from torment on the day of judgment, and count us worthy of His heavenly kingdom.
Today thy most precious icon hath in the air shone forth upon us like the all-radiant sun, O Mistress, illumining the world with rays of mercy; and great Russia, reverently receiving it from on high as a gift of God, glorifieth thee as the Mistress of all, O Mother of God, and joyously magnifieth Christ our God Who was born of thee. Him do thou entreat, O Lady, Queen and Theotokos, that He preserve all the cities and lands where Christians live, unharmed by all the assaults of the enemy, and save those who with faith worship before the all-honored image of Him and thee, O Virgin who knewest not wedlock.
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.