Variable Portions of the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts
1st Wednesday in Great Lent
“Lord I call” Stichera
Begin “Lord, I Call” in Tone 8
The following are chanted at the end of Psalm 142:
Reader: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may confess Thy name.
The righteous shall await me for Thou wilt recompense me.
Out of the depths have I cried to Thee, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with Thee, there is forgiveness.
Because of Thy name, I have waited for Thee, O Lord; my soul has waited for Thy word; my soul has hoped on the Lord.
People: While fasting physically, O brethren,
Tone 8 let us also fast spiritually.
Let us loose every knot of iniquity.
Let us tear-up every unrighteous bond.
Let us distribute bread to the hungry,
and welcome into our homes those who have
no roof over their heads,
so that we may receive great mercy from Christ our God.
Reader: From the morning watch until night, from the morning watch,
let Israel hope on the Lord.
People: Fame and praise befits the saints,
Tone 8 for they bowed their necks beneath the sword unto Thee
Who didst bow the heavens and come down.
They shed blood for Thee who didst empty Thyself
and who took the form of a servant.
By emulating Thy poverty they too humbled themselves
even unto death.
By their prayers have mercy on us, O God,
according to the abundance of Thy mercies.
Reader: For with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is plentious redemption, and He will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.
People: Jesus, the spiritually Radiant Sun,
Tone 2 has sent you into the world as shining flashes of lightning,
O apostles and eye-witnesses of God.
By the rays of your divine doctrines the error of darkness
was swept away,
enlightening those who were held in the ignorant gloom.
Entreat Him to grant us enlightenment and great mercy.
Reader: Praise the Lord, all nations. Praise Him, all peoples.
People: Elias was enlightened through fasting.
Tone 2 He mounted the chariot of good works
and was taken up to the heights of heaven.
Emulate him, O humble soul.
Abstain from every evil and jealousy, from every
fleeting pleasure,
so that you might be cleansed of corrupting disease,
and the fires of Gehenna, crying to Christ:
O Lord, glory to Thee.
Reader: For His mercy is confirmed on us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever.
People: O divine apostles,
Tone 5 fervent intercessors for the world,
defenders of the Orthodox.
You have the authority to entreat Christ our God
with boldness.
We entreat you to pray for us, O honorable ones,
that we may spend the good time of fasting in joyousness,
and receive the grace of the consubstantial Trinity.
Pray for our souls, O great and glorious preachers.
Reader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
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Theotokion in the tone of the week
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The Readings from Holy Scripture
1st Wednesday in Great Lent
Priest: Let us attend! Peace be unto all!
Reader: And to your spirit!
Priest: Wisdom!
Reader: The Prokeimenon in the 3rd Tone: Thou, O Lord, shall protect us and preserve us from this generation forever.
People: Thou, O Lord, shall protect us and preserve us from this generation forever.
Reader: Save me, O Lord, for there is no longer any that is godly.
People: Thou, O Lord, shall protect us and preserve us from this generation forever.
Reader: Thou, O Lord, shall protect us.
People: And preserve us from this generation forever.
Priest: Wisdom!
Reader: The Reading is from Genesis.
Priest: Let us attend!
Genesis 1:24-2:3
God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Priest: Wisdom!
Reader: The Prokeimenon in the 6th Tone: Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God.
People: Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God.
Reader: How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?
People: Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God.
Reader: Consider and answer me.
People: O Lord, my God.
The priest comes forth with the candle and censer.
All make a prostration or kneel.
Priest: Wisdom! Let us attend!
The Light of Christ illumines all!
Reader: The Reading is from Proverbs.
Priest: Let us attend!
Proverbs 2:1-22
My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.
When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead; None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life-- So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.
Priest: Peace be unto you. Wisdom!
Let My Prayer Arise follows
This content has been generously provided by Fr. Jerome Cwiklinski, CAPT, CHC, USN