AT VESPERS:

Glory..., in Tone VIII—

On “Lord, I have cried...,” these stichera, in Tone I—

Troparion, in Tone IV—

Now and ever...: Theotokion; or this Stavrotheotokion, in the same tone—

Rejoice, ye hills and groves of the Irish land! Leap up, ye lakes and rivers! For, lo! through the grace of God blessing and strengthening have come upon you from on high, for your enlightener and spiritual father cometh unto you: Patrick, glorious among hierarchs, zealot of the Orthodox Faith, chosen by God for the apostolate.

Glory..., Now and ever...: Theotokion: Spec. Mel: “O all-praised martyrs...”—

To the newly-enlightened Christians the holy Patrick crieth out: Attend, O my spiritual children: I have begotten you, as saith the Gospel; I have betrothed you as a bride to Christ God. Stand fast, therefore, in the Faith, and confess it fearlessly; be not afraid of the opposition of the pagans, that God may manifest Himself unto you as a great Helper and Protector!

Great is thy faith, O holy hierarch Patrick; for, lo! having left thy homeland and lands enlightened by Christ, bearing the Gospel of Christ unto the lost thou didst journey to a land languishing in heathen darkness; and thou didst not depart therefrom until thou didst convert the whole land to the Orthodox Faith. Wherefore, we praise thee as is meet.

Who can describe the pangs and struggles which thou didst endure, O Patrick, in preaching the Word of God unto those who sat in pagan darkness? Who can number the tears which thou didst shed at night, praying in the solitude of the wilderness, staving off the fear of wild beasts and the assaults of the demons by the power of the Cross of Christ, which thou didst plant triumphantly over all the Irish land?

“What is this sight which mine eyes behold, O Master: Thou Who dost uphold all creation dost die, lifted up upon the Tree, granting life unto all,” the Theotokos said, weeping, when she beheld the God and man Who had shone forth from her ineffably raised up upon the Cross.

On “Lord, I have cried...,” these stichera, in Tone I: Spec. Mel: “O all-praised martyrs...”—

We know thee to be a man of God, both in name and in deed; for thou didst shine forth in the virtues, enduring boundless poverty and straightened circumstances on earth, and hast made the faithful steadfast by thy miracles.

With a desire which bedewed the flesh thou didst quench the burning lusts, O Alexis. Piously didst thou exchange thy chamber for a hut, and bodily delight for the divine likeness of the angels. With them do thou pray, that peace and great mercy be granted to our souls.

Unrecognized, thou didst remain in affliction, O wise one, before the gates of thy sacred parents, as the servants of the household mocked thee in thy needy condition. But dying, thou wast revealed through the wonders thou didst work, healing infirmities and expelling evil spirits.

But if it be Saturday or Sunday, we chant: Glory..., in Tone II—

Christ God, loving thy calm, silent, guileless and meek life, O most blessed Alexis, hath shown thee to the whole world as a beacon, shining more brightly than the sun; for thou didst count thy wife and fleeting wealth as but dust, remaining unknown in thy father’s house, desiring Christ alone Who is beloved of thee. Remember thou thy servants at the throne of God, King of all, O venerable father, and cease not to pray for thy servants.

My soul, which is grievously oppressed by evil passions, do thou heal, O all-holy one who gavest birth to Christ, the Healer and Savior of all, Who healeth every wound, Who was wounded by the devil’s malice and hath rescued us from death.

Or this Stavrotheotokion—

The unblemished Ewe-lamb and Mistress, beholding her Lamb upon the Cross, bereft of form and comeliness, cried out lamenting: “Woe is me! Where hath Thy beauty set, O most sweet One? Where is Thy splendor? Where is the radiant grace of Thy form, O my Son most beloved?”

Having mounted to virtue and cleansed thy mind, thou didst attain unto that which was thine ultimate desire; and having adorned thy life with dispassion and taken up exemplary fasting with a pure conscience, remaining in prayer like one of the bodiless ones, thou didst shine forth upon the world like the sun, O most blessed Alexis.