Stichos: Hearken, O God, unto my prayer, when I make supplication unto Thee.
On the Beatitudes, 8 troparia: 4 from the appointed ode of the canon of the feast, and 4 from Ode VI of the canon of the saint.
Prokimenon of the feast, and that of the saint, in Tone VII—
The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.
The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles,
§ 17 (Acts 6: 8-15; 7: 1-5, 47-60)
In those days, Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, who said: “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.” And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, who said: “This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then said the high priest: “Are these things so?” And he said: “Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.’ Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet: “‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me?’ saith the Lord”: or “What is the place of My rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain those who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of Whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Alleluia, of the feast; and that of the saint, in Tone IV—
Stichos: The righteous man shall flourish like a palm-tree, and like a cedar in Lebanon shall he be multiplied.
Stichos: They that are planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God they shall blossom forth.
Gospel according to John, § 52
(Jn. 15: 17-16: 2)
The Lord said to His disciples: “These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you: The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake, because they know not Him Who sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law: They hated Me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of Me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”
Communion Verse of the feast, and that of the saint—
In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings.
On the Beatitudes, 6 troparia from Ode VII of the canon of the feast.
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.