Priest:  Blessed is our God…

Clergy:  Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee!

People:  O heavenly King…

Reader:  Trisagion through Our Father…

Priest:  For Thine is the kingdom…

Reader:  Amen.  
Lord, have mercy!  Twelve times.  
Glory…, Now and ever…  
O come, let us worship…  

Psalm 142:

	O Lord, hear my prayer, give ear unto my supplication in Thy truth; hearken unto me in Thy righteousness.

 And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.

 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath humbled my life down to the earth.

 He hath sat me in darkness as those that have been long dead, and my spirit within me is become despondent; within me my heart is troubled.

 I remembered days of old, I meditated on all Thy works, I pondered on the creations of Thy hands.

 I stretched forth my hands unto Thee; my soul thirsteth after Thee like a waterless land.

 Quickly hear me, O Lord; my spirit hath fainted away.

 Turn not Thy face away from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

 Cause me to hear Thy mercy in the morning, for in Thee have I put my hope.

 Cause me to know, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for unto Thee have I lifted up my soul.

 Rescue me from mine enemies, O Lord; unto Thee have I fled for refuge.

 Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God.

 Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the land of uprightness; for Thy name's sake, O Lord, shalt thou quicken me.

 In Thy righteousness shalt Thou bring my soul out of affliction, and in Thy mercy shalt Thou utterly destroy mine enemies.

 And Thou shalt cut off all them that afflict my soul, for I am Thy servant.

The Deacon then intoneth the Great Litany, and after the petition “For those who sail…” he inserteth the following two petitions:

That He may hear from His Holy Church the wailing and sighing of His servants, who have been put in chains and enslaved by the iniquitous, and who cry out to Him in grief and sorrow; and that He may lead their life up out of corruption, let us pray to the Lord.

That He may uproot within us hatred, strife and the other passions which destroy brotherly love, and sow in our hearts love unfeigned, let us pray to the Lord.

And when the Litany is concluded, the Deacon intoneth “God is the Lord…”, in Tone VI; and the chanters sing these three troparia

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!  For, at a loss for any answer, we sinners offer unto Thee, as to our Master, this supplication: Have mercy on us!

Glory…:  O Lord, have mercy on us, for in Thee have we placed our hope.  Be Thou not exceeding wroth with us, neither be Thou mindful of our iniquities; but look down now, in that Thou art compassionate, and deliver us from our enemies.  For Thou art our God, and we are Thy people.  We are all the works of Thy hands, and we call upon Thy name.

Now & ever…:  Open unto us the portals of thy lovingkindness, O blessed Theotokos, that we who place our trust in thee may not perish, but may be delivered by thee from misfortunes.  For thou art the salvation of the Christian race.

Then the Deacon intoneth the Prokimenon, in Tone VI—

Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance.

Stichos:  Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry; O my God, be not silent unto me.

A Reading from the Acts of the Holy Apostles
 §29 [Acts 12: 1-11]

	In those days, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church.  And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.  And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.  (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)  And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Passover to bring him forth to the people.  Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him.  And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.  And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying: “Arise up quickly.”  And his chains fell off from his hands.  And the angel said unto him: “Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals.”  And so he did.  And he saith unto him: “Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.”  And he went out, and followed him; and knew not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.  When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.  And when Peter was come to himself, he said: “Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”

Alleluia, in Tone V

Stichos:  Rise up, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?

Stichos:  For Thy sake we are slain all the day long.

And the Priest readeth the Holy Gospel

Gospel according to Luke
 §55 from the midpoint [Lk. 11: 5-13]

	The Lord said to His disciples: “Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?’  And he from within shall answer and say: ‘Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.’  I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.  And I say unto you: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

The Deacon then intoneth the Reiterate Litany, wherein, after the petition “For the blessed and ever-memorable founders…”, he inserts the following three petitions.

	With the eye of Thy mercy, O Lord Who lovest mankind, look with compassion upon the sighs, tears, groans and afflictions of Thy faithful servants, as Thou didst look upon Israel when they were in Egypt; and quickly free them, that with contrite heart we may earnestly pray: Hearken and have mercy!

	Look down from heaven, and behold, and disdain not our entreaties, neither reject them utterly; but arise quickly to the aid of Thy servants; unsheath Thy sword, and cut off the heads of the mighty who stand against Thee; and cleanse the land of Thy people of their ungodliness, that unto Thee, our God, Who art mighty in strength and wondrous in Thy counsels, we may pray with humble spirit: O Compassionate One, hearken and have mercy!

	O Master, Who gavest to Thy disciples the new commandment, that they love one another: by the Holy Spirit renew this in the hearts of Thy servants, and deliver us from all corrupting passions, that we may always strive to take care to please Thee and for our true salvation and benefit, we pray Thee, O merciful Benefactor: Hearken and have mercy!

Exclamation: Hearken unto us, O God our Savior, Thou hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those that be far off at the sea; and be merciful, O Master, be merciful toward our sins, and have mercy upon us.  For a merciful God art Thou, Who loveth mankind, and we send up glory unto Thee - to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit - now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

People:  Amen.

Deacon:  Let us pray to the Lord.

People:  Lord, have mercy!

And the Priest reciteth this Prayer

O Lord Who alone art rich in mercy, and in the lovingkindness of Thy goodness dost hearken to the supplication of us, Thy sinful and unworthy servants, arranging and directing us all toward our benefit, guiding our life by Thy wise providence, and in every way desiring our salvation; 

Who by nature art long-suffering and great in mercy; Who dost chastise and healest again; 

Who dost rebuke gently and with love for man, not to destroy the work of Thy hands, but to bring it to its primal goodness and to its original nobility, which we have destroyed in the feebleness of our understanding and by the counsel of the most accursed one; 
Who desirest to restore it, and Who lookest how Thy mightest, in any way, save that which hath come to grief through the fall: 

Do Thou Thyself, O Almighty Master, look down upon us, and hearken to the entreaties of us sinners.

For the multitude of our iniquities hath rendered us bereft of boldness; nor do we in anywise dare to ask forgiveness for our transgressions.

But knowing Thy love for mankind, Thy lovingkindness, Thy surpassing mercy, long-suffering, guilelessness and exceeding great goodness, and trusting in the depth thereof, and in the abyss of Thy beneficence, we lift up our hands and fervently cry aloud to Thee: 

We have sinned, we have committed iniquities, we have dealt unjustly, in that we have forgotten Thy commandments, and have followed after our wicked thoughts, and have lived in a manner unworthy of the name and Gospel of Christ, and His sufferings, and His self-abasement for our sake, so that we have become a reproach unto those who love Thee.

Thy priests and Thy people have we astonished, and we have all turned aside and are become unprofitable: there is not one who rendereth justice and righteousness, no not one.

We have cut off Thy compassions, Thy love for mankind, and the lovingkindness of the mercy of Thee our God, because of our malice and the wickedness of the undertakings whereby we have lived.

Thou art long-suffering; but we deserve scourgings.

We know Thy goodness, even though we are ignorant.

We have been stricken lightly considering those things wherein we have offended.

Thou art awesome; who can withstand Thee?  

Thou makest the mountains to quake; and who can speak against the magnitude of Thine arm?  

If Thou wilt shut up heaven, who will open it?  

And if Thou wilt close Thy floodgates, who will survive it?  

An easy matter is it in Thine eyes to make poor and to enrich, to give life and to slay, to afflict with illness and to heal: Thy least wish is a deed already accomplished.

Thou hast become wroth, and we have committed offense; none of the ancients speaketh, confessing.

Time is against us saying: We have sinned, and Thou hast become angered against us; wherefore, we have become a reproach to our neighbors.

Thou hast turned Thy face away, and we have filled ourselves with dishonor.

But still Thy wrath, O Lord; absolve, O Lord; have mercy, O Lord, and forsake us not utterly because of our iniquities, neither punish Thou others with our wounds.

Grant that we may become chaste through the sufferings of others.

Who are they?  Nations which know Thee not and kingdoms which submit not to Thy rule.

But we are Thy people and the rod of Thine inheritance.

Wherefore, chastise us, though in goodness and not in Thine ire, that Thou mayest not cause us to diminish, lest we become abased more than all who live on the earth; for Thy mercy is ineffable, Thy love of mankind is insuperable, and the wealth of Thy goodness is incalculable; 

And, trusting therein, we pray and make supplication, bending the knees of our hearts: 

Cease Thou to cut us with the edge of Thy wrath, we beg Thee earnestly, as of old, in David’s time, Thou didst act toward Thy people, if we show due repentance; 

But as Thou art all-good, put aside Thine anger and quell Thou Thy just wrath, and grant health to those who are suffering, strength to those who are enfeebled, and preserve them in good health.

Drive every ailment and disease from Thy people; 

Free all from the expectation thereof, keeping them unassailed by their former infirmity, and by Thine almighty arm maintain them untouched by this cruel misery and pernicious affliction: 

For truly the raging of Thy wrath hath shaken and troubled us all.

And though we are not turning in every way from our wicked deeds, yet do Thou Thyself deliver us all from an evil conscience, and grant that we may be well-pleasing unto Thee in every good work.

Through the supplications of the pure Mother of God, the Ever-virgin Mary, who gave birth unto Thee without having known man, and by the intercession of the holy angels who gaze upon God, and of all the saints.

Exclamation:  For Thou art the well-spring of mercy and the inexhaustible abyss of lovingkindness, and we send up glory unto Thee, and Thine unoriginate Father and Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.
	
People:  Amen.