My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
GREAT VESPERS (ΜΕΓΑΣ ΕΣΠΕΡΙΝΟΣ) ON THE EVE OF THE
HOLY ASCENSION – ON WEDNESDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK
IN THE EVENING.
PRIEST
Blessed is our God always, now and ever, and
to the ages of ages. Amen.
READER
Come, let us worship and bow down before
God our King.
Come, let us worship and bow down before
Christ God our King.
Come, let us worship and bow before
Him, Christ our King and God.
PSALM 103 (104)
BLESS the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God,
You are magnified exceedingly; You clothe
Yourself with thanksgiving and majesty, who
cover Yourself with Light as with a garment, who
stretch out the heavens like a curtain; You are He
Who covers His upper chambers with water, Who
makes the clouds His means of approach, Who
walks on the wings of the winds, Who makes His
Angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.
He established the earth on its stable foundation;
it shall not be moved unto ages of ages. The deep
like a garment is His covering; the waters shall
stand upon the mountains; at Your rebuke they
shall flee; at the sound of Your thunder, they shall
be afraid. The mountains rise up, and the plains
sink down to the place You founded for them. You
set a boundary they shall not pass over; neither
shall they return to cover the earth. You are He
Who sends spring into the valley; the waters
shall pass between the mountains; they shall give
drink to all the wild animals of the field; the wild
asses shall quench their thirst; the birds of heaven
shall dwell beside them; they shall sing from the
midst of the rocks. You are He Who waters the
mountains from His higher places; the earth shall
be satisfied with the fruit of Your works. You are
He Who causes grass to grow for the cattle, and
the green plant for the service of man, to bring forth
bread from the earth; and wine gladdens the heart of
man, to brighten his face with oil, and bread strengthens
man’s heart. The trees of the plain shall be full of fruit,
the cedars of Lebanon, which You planted; there the
sparrows shall make their nests; the house of the heron
takes the lead among them. The high mountains are for
the deer; the cliff is a refuge for the rabbits. He made the
moon for seasons; the sun knows its setting. You
established darkness, and it was night, wherein all the
wild animals fo the forest will prowl about the young
lions roar and snatch their prey, and seek their food from
God. The sun arises, and they are gathered together;
and they shall be put to bed in their dens. Man shall go
out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord,
Your works shall be magnified greatly; You MADE ALL
THINGS IN WISDOM; THE EARTH WAS FILLED WITH YOUR
CREATION. There is this great and spacious sea; the
creeping things are there without number; the living things
are there, both small and great; there the ships pass through;
there is this dragon You formed to play therein. All things wait
upon You, that You may give them food in due season. When
You give it to them, they shall gather it; when You open Your
hand, all things shall be filled with Your goodness. But when
You turn Your face away, they shall be troubled; when You take
away their breath, they shall die and return again to their dust.
You shall send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created,
and You shall renew the face of the earth. Let the glory of the
Lord be forever; the Lord shall be glad in His works; He looks
upon the earth and makes it tremble; He touches the mountains,
and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing to
my God as long as I exist; may my words be pleasing in Hm, and
I shall be glad in the Lord. May sinners cease from the earth, and
the lawless, so as to be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The sun knows its setting. You established darkness, and it was
night.
O Lord, Your works shall be magnified
greatly; You made all things in wisdom.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Glory to You, O God. (3)
Our hope, O Lord, glory to You.
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CLERGY AND PEOPLE
GLADSOME Light of Holy Glory of the Holy,
Blessed, Heavenly, Immortal Father, O Jesus Christ:
arriving at the hour of sunset and having seen the
evening light, we praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God. It is worthy for You to be praised at all times with
happy voices, O Son of God and Giver of life; and
therefore the world glorifies You.
DEACON
The evening Prokeimenon.
CHANTERS
Prokeimenon. Mode pl. 1.
Save me, O God, in Your Name, and judge me
In Your power. (2)
THE READINGS
READER (ANAGNOSTIS)
The reading is from the Prophecy of Isaiah.
DEACON OR PRIEST
Wisdom. Let us be attentive.
READER
Isaiah 2:2-3
Thus says the Lord: Now it shall come to
pass in the last days, the mountain of the Lord
and the house of God shall be visible on the tops
of the mountains and exalted above the hills. All
the Gentiles shall come to it. Many Gentiles shall
travel and say, "Come and let us go up in the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He
will proclaim His way to us, and we shall walk in it."11
READER
The reading is from the Prophesy of Isaiah.
DEACON
Wisdom. Let us be attentive.
READER
Isaiah 62:10 – 63:1
Thus says the Lord: "Go through My gates make a way for My people, throw
the stones off the road, and lift up a standard for the Gentiles." For behold,
the Lord caused this to be heard to the ends of the earth: "Say to the daughter
of Zion, ‘Behold, your Savior is come, and has His reward, and His work before
His face." One shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you
shall be called a City Sought for and Not Forsaken. Who is this who comes from
Edom with red garments from Bozrah, so beautiful in Hi apparel, with force of
strength?" I speak of righteousness and saving judgment." Why are Your
garments red and Your apparel as one who treads in a winepress? "I am full of
the treading of grapes, and there is no man with Me among the nations." I
remembered the Lord’s mercy, the praises of the Lord in all things in which the
Lord recompenses us. The Lord is a good Judge to the house of Israel, and He
deals with us according to His mercy, and according to to the multitude of His
righteousness. He said, "Surely My people, My children, have not rejected Me?"
So He became their salvation. Not an elder or an Angel, but the Lord Himself
saved them from tribulation because He loved them and spared them. He
redeemed and took them up, and lifted them up all the days of old.
14:1
READER
The reading is from the Prophecy of
Zechariah.
DEACON
Wisdom. Let us be attentive.
READER
Zechariah 14:4, 8-11
Thus says the Lord: Behold, the days of the Lord come. And on that day His feet will stand on the Mountain of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem on the east. And in that day living water shall come forth our of Jerusalem, half of it toward the
eastern sea and half toward the western sea. And the Lord shall be King of all the earth, and in that day the Lord shall be
one Lord, and His Name one Name, encircling all the land, even the wildness from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem [and
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 