Holy and Great Wednesday
MATTINS
After the Six Psalms and the Great Litany we sing Alleluia in TONE EIGHT, slowly and solemnly, with the appointed verses, and then the troparion:
TONE EIGHT
Behold, the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching, but unworthy is he whom He shall find in slothfulness. Beware, then, O my soul, and be not overcome by sleep, lest thou be given over to death and shut out from the Kingdom. But return to soberness and cry aloud: Holy, holy, holy art Thou, O God: through the Theotokos have mercy upon us (three times).
After the first reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn:
TONE THREE
The harlot drew near Thee, O Thou who lovest mankind, and poured out on Thy feet the oil of myrrh with her tears; and at Thy command she was delivered from the foul smell of her evil deeds. But the ungrateful disciple, though he breathed Thy grace, rejected it and defiled himself in filth, selling Thee from love of money. Glory be to Thy compassion, O Christ.
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
Repeat.
After the second reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn:
TONE FOUR
Deceitful Judas, in his love for money, pondered cunningly how he might betray Thee, O Lord, the Treasure of Life. Therefore in drunken folly he hastened to the Jews and said to the transgressors: ‘What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you to be crucified?’
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
Repeat.
After the third reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn:
TONE ONE
To Thee the harlot cried lamenting, O merciful Lord; ardently she wiped Thy pure feet with the hair of her head, and from the depth of her heart she groaned: ‘Cast me not from Thee, neither abhor me, O my God, but receive me in repentance and save me, for Thou alone lovest mankind.’
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
Repeat.
Gospel: John 12:17–50.
Psalm 50.
The priest: O Lord, save Thy people…
We use the three-canticled Canon by St. Kosmas. In each canticle the irmos is sung twice, and then the troparia are repeated four or six times, so as to make up the number twelve. The irmos is sung at the end as katavasia. Before the troparia we say Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
TONE TWO
Canticle Three
Irmos: On the rock of faith Thou hast established me, and Thou hast opened wide my mouth against mine enemies. For my spirit has rejoiced to sing: None is holy as our God and none is righteous save Thee, O Lord.
In vain the Sanhedrin of the transgressors gathers together with an evil purpose, to pronounce sentence of condemnation upon Thee, O Christ our Deliverer, to whom we sing: Thou art our God and none is holy save Thee, O Lord.
The wicked assembly of the transgressors, with souls full of hatred for God, considers how to kill as a malefactor the righteous Christ, to whom we sing: Thou art our God and there is none holy save Thee, O Lord.
The Small Litany.
Kontakion
TONE FOUR
I have transgressed more than the harlot, O loving Lord, yet never have I offered Thee my flowing tears. But in silence I fall down before Thee and with love I kiss Thy most pure feet, beseeching Thee as Master to grant me remission of sins; and I cry to Thee, O Saviour: Deliver me from the filth of my works.
Ikos
The woman who was once a prodigal suddenly became chaste, and hating the works of shameful sin and the pleasures of the body, she thought upon her deep disgrace and the torment to which harlots and prodigals shall be condemned. Of them I am the first and I am afraid, yet senselessly I continue in my evil ways. But the woman who was a harlot, filled with fear, made haste and came crying to the Deliverer: ‘O merciful Lord who lovest mankind, deliver me from the filth of my works.’
Canticle Eight
Irmos: The command of the tyrant prevailed, and the furnace was heated sevenfold. Yet the flames did not burn the Children, who had trampled underfoot the decree of the king, but they cried aloud: ‘O all ye works of the Lord, praise ye the Lord and exalt Him above all for ever.’
The woman poured precious oil of myrrh upon Thine awesome and royal head, O Christ our God, and she laid hold of Thy pure feet with her polluted hands and cried aloud: ‘O all ye works of the Lord, praise ye the Lord and exalt Him above all for ever.’
Guilty of sin, she washed with tears the feet of her Creator and wiped them with her hair; and so she received forgiveness for all that she had done in life, and she cried aloud: ‘O all ye works of the Lord, praise ye the Lord and exalt Him above all for ever.’
Through the saving love of God and the fountain of her tears, the grateful woman was ransomed from her sins; washed clean by her confession, she was not ashamed but cried aloud: ‘O all ye works of the Lord, praise ye the Lord and exalt Him above all for ever.’
We praise, bless and worship the Lord…
Canticle Nine
We do not sing the Magnificat and Greater in honour than the cherubim…
Irmos: With pure souls and unpolluted lips, come and let us magnify the undefiled and most holy Mother of Emmanuel, and through her let us bring our prayer to the Child she bore: Spare our souls, O Christ our God, and save us.
Ungrateful and envious in his wickedness, wretched Judas calculates the value of the gift worthy of God, whereby the woman gained release from the debt of her sins, and he trafficks in the grace of divine love. Spare our souls, O Christ our God, and save us.
Judas goes to the lawless rulers and says: ‘What will ye give me, if I deliver to you Christ whom ye seek?’ And so in exchange for money he rejects fellowship with Christ. Spare our souls, O Christ our God, and save us.
Unrelenting in blind avarice, how hast thou forgotten what Christ taught thee, that thy soul is more in value than the whole world! For in despair, O traitor, thou hast hanged thyself. Spare our souls, O Christ our God, and save us.
Exapostilarion
TONE THREE
I see Thy bridal chamber adorned, O my Saviour, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter there. Make the robe of my soul to shine, O Giver of Light, and save me (three times).
Lauds. We sing four stichera:
TONE ONE
O Son of the Virgin, the harlot knew Thee to be God and she prayed to Thee lamenting, for she had committed sins worthy of tears. ‘Loose me from my debt’, she cried, ‘as I unloose my hair. Show love to her who loves Thee, though rightly she deserves Thy hatred, and with the publicans I shall proclaim Thee, O Benefactor who lovest mankind.’
The harlot mingled precious oil of myrrh with her tears and poured it on Thy most pure feet, as she kissed them; and straightway Thou hast proclaimed her justified. To us also grant forgiveness, O Lord who hast suffered for our sake, and save us.
While the sinful woman brought oil of myrrh, the disciple came to an agreement with the transgressors. She rejoiced to pour out what was very precious, he made haste to sell the One who is above all price. She acknowledged Christ as Lord, he severed himself from the Master. She was set free, but Judas became the slave of the enemy. Grievous was his lack of love! Great was her repentance! Grant such repentance also unto me, O Saviour who hast suffered for our sake, and save us.
O misery of Judas! He saw the harlot kiss Thy feet, and deceitfully he plotted to betray Thee with a kiss. She loosed her hair and he was bound a prisoner by fury, bearing in place of myrrh the stink of evil: for envy knows not how to choose its own advantage. O misery of Judas! From this deliver our souls, O God.
Glory be to the Father…
TONE TWO
The sinful woman hastened to buy precious oil of myrrh, with which to anoint the Benefactor, and she cried aloud to the merchant: ‘Give me oil of myrrh that I may anoint Him who has cleansed me from all my sins’.
Both now…
TONE SIX
Drowning in sin, she found in Thee a haven of salvation, and pouring out the oil of myrrh with her tears, she cried to Thee: ‘Lo, Thou art He who accepts the repentance of the sinful. O Master, save me from the waves of sin in Thy great mercy.’
Aposticha:
TONE SIX
Today Christ comes to the house of the Pharisee, and the sinful woman draws near and falls down at His feet, crying: ‘Behold me sunk in sin, filled with despair by reason of my deeds, yet not rejected by Thy love. Grant me, Lord, remission of my sins and save me.’
℣. We were filled in the morning with Thy mercy, O Lord, and we rejoiced and were glad.
The harlot spread out her hair before Thee, O Master, while Judas stretched out his hands to the transgressors: she, to receive forgiveness; and he, to receive money. Therefore we cry aloud to Thee who wast sold and hast set us free: O Lord, glory to Thee.
℣. In all our days, let us be glad: for the days wherein Thou hast humbled us, for the years wherein we have seen evil. And look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works, and do Thou guide their sons.
Evil-smelling and defiled, the woman drew near to Thee, shedding tears upon Thy feet, O Saviour, and proclaiming Thy Passion. ‘How can I look upon Thee, O Master? Yet Thou hast come to save the harlot. I am dead: raise me from the depths, as Thou hast raised Lazarus on the fourth day from the tomb. Accept me in my wretchedness, O Lord, and save me.’
℣. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: prosper Thou the work of our hands, O prosper Thou our handywork.
Full of despair on account of her life, her evil ways well known, she came to Thee, bearing oil of myrrh, and cried aloud: ‘Harlot though I am, cast me not out, O Son of the Virgin; despise not my tears, O Joy of the angels; but receive me in repentance, O Lord, and in Thy great mercy reject me not, a sinner.’
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
TONE EIGHT
by Kassiani the Nun
The woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy divinity, O Lord, fulfilled the part of a myrrh-bearer; and with lamentations she brought sweet-smelling oil of myrrh to Thee before Thy burial. ‘Woe is me’, she said, ‘for night surrounds me, dark and moonless, and stings my lustful passion with the love of sin. Accept the fountain of my tears, O Thou who drawest down from the clouds the waters of the sea. Incline to the groanings of my heart, O Thou who in Thine ineffable self-emptying hast bowed down the heavens. I shall kiss Thy most pure feet and wipe them with the hairs of my head, those feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise, and hid herself for fear. Who can search out the multitude of my sins and the abyss of Thy judgements, O Saviour of my soul? Despise me not, Thine handmaiden, for Thou hast mercy without measure.’
And the rest of Mattins, as yesterday.
At the Hours we read the appointed portions of the Psalter and of the Gospel.
SIXTH HOUR
Troparion of the Prophecy:
TONE TWO
Today the evil Sanhedrin has gathered together and devised vain counsel against Thee. Today Judas makes a covenant with the chief priests and receives the noose as pledge. Against his will Caiaphas confesses that one man shall undergo a voluntary passion for the sake of all. O Christ, our God and our Deliverer, glory to Thee.
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
Repeat.
Prokimenon (Psalm 133):
TONE EIGHT
The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
℣. Behold now, bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord.
Lesson: Ezekiel 2:3–3:3.
Prokimenon (Psalm 134):
TONE TWO
Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
℣. Praise ye the Name of the Lord; O ye servants, praise the Lord.
At the end of the Typika the priest uses the dismissal prayer O Master rich in mercy…, as at the end of Great Compline, and all the people kneel with their faces to the ground. Then priest and people kneel before one another and ask for each other’s forgiveness.
VESPERS
To Lord, I have cried, ten stichera are sung, from Lauds and the Aposticha at Mattins (see pp. 495 ff):
O Son of the Virgin, the harlot knew Thee to be God…
The harlot mingled precious oil of myrrh…
While the sinful woman brought oil of myrrh…
O misery of judas…
The sinful woman hastened to buy precious oil of myrrh…
Drowning in sin, she found in Thee a haven…
Today Christ comes to the house of the Pharisee…
The harlot spread out her hair before Thee, O Master…
Evil-smelling and defiled, the woman drew near…
Full of despair on account of her life…
Glory be to the Father… Both now…
The woman who had fallen into many sins…
Entrance with the Gospel, O joyful Light…
Prokimenon (Psalm 135):
TONE FOUR
O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endures for ever.
℣. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endures for ever.
Lesson: Exodus 2:11–22.
Prokimenon (Psalm 137):
TONE FOUR
Thy mercy, O Lord, endures for ever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands.
℣. I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: before the angels will I sing praise unto Thee.
Lesson: Job 2:1–10.
Then Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight…
Gospel: Matthew 26:6–16.
And the rest of the Liturgy of the Presanctified.
After Blessed be the Name of the Lord, the Prayer of St. Ephraim (once, with three prostrations).
SMALL COMPLINE
After the Creed we use the following three-canticled Canon by St. Andrew of Crete. The irmoi are sung twice. Before each of the troparia we say Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
TONE SIX
Canticle Four
Irmos: The Prophet heard of Thy coming, O Lord, and he was afraid: how Thou wast to be born of a Virgin and revealed to men, and he said: I have heard the report of Thee and I was afraid.’ Glory to Thy power, O Lord. Furnished and ready, the upper room received Thee, O Creator, with Thy companions at the mystical supper. There hast Thou sent Thy two disciples to prepare the feast for Thee; there hast Thou kept the Passover, and performed its mysteries.
‘Go to such a man’, He who knows all things said beforehand to His apostles, ‘and blessed is he who can receive the Lord with faith, preparing his heart as an upper room and his devotion as supper.’
O senseless Judas, in thy folly thou art filled with thoughts of avarice. For to thee alone the bag of money was entrusted, yet thou wast not moved at all to mercy; but thou hast closed thy hard heart and betrayed the Lord who alone is compassionate.
The purpose of the Jews who sought to kill God fitted with the action of Judas in his avarice: they armed themselves for murder, and he was tempted by the money. But in misery he lost his life, preferring a noose rather than repentance.
O deceiving Judas, thy kiss is full of guile, thy greeting brings a sword; thy tongue speaks of unity, yet in thy thoughts thou dost consent to separation. For craftily thou hast purposed to betray the Benefactor to the transgressors.
Thou dost kiss and yet dost sell thy Lord, O Judas; thou dost embrace yet lie in wait for Him deceitfully. Thrice miserable! Who can embrace in hatred? Who can love, yet sell for a price? Thy kiss betrays the evil purpose of thy shameless heart.
Glory be to the Father…
Undivided in Essence, unconfused in Persons, I confess Thee as God: Triune Deity, one in kingship and throne; and to Thee I raise the great thrice-holy hymn that is sung on high.
Both now…
Theotokion
O Mother of God, past speech is thy conceiving and beyond nature is thy childbearing. Thou hast conceived from the Spirit, not from human seed, and thy childbearing has escaped nature’s laws, since it was without corruption and above the nature of all birthgiving. For He whom thou hast borne is God.
Sessional Hymn
TONE FOUR
Eating, O Master, with Thy disciples, Thou hast mystically revealed Thy holy end, whereby we who honour Thy sacred Passion are delivered from corruption.
Canticle Eight
Irmos: The hosts of heaven give Him glory; before Him tremble cherubim and seraphim; let everything that has breath and all creation praise Him, bless Him, and exalt Him above all for ever.
He who wrote the tables of the Law on Sinai, Himself fulfilled the ordinance of the Law. He ate the old Passover which was but a shadow, and He became the new Passover, a mystical and living Sacrifice.
Revealing in a mystery the wisdom hidden from all ages, O Christ our Saviour, Thou hast disclosed it at the Supper to all Thine apostles: and, inspired by God, they delivered it to the Churches.
‘One of you shall betray Me by guile this night and sell Me to the Hebrews’, Christ cried aloud to His friends, filling them with dismay; and then they turned one to another in doubt.
He who is rich made Himself lowly for our sakes: rising from the Supper, He took a towel and girded Himself, and bowing down He washed the feet of the disciples and the traitor.
Who would not be struck with wonder at the height of Thy knowledge, which no mind can understand nor tongue describe! Thou, the Creator of all, hast drawn near to Thy creatures of clay, and washed their feet and dried them with a towel.
The disciple whom the Lord loved, lying on His breast, said to Him: ‘Who is he that shall betray Thee?’ And Christ answered: ‘It is he who dips his hand now in the dish.’
The disciple received the sop, yet was parted from the Bread; scheming how to sell Him, he ran to the Jews and said to the transgressors: ‘What will ye give me if I deliver Him to you?’
We bless the Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I honour God one in Essence, I sing the praises of the three Persons, distinct from one another yet not differing in Nature, for there is one Godhead and one Power in the three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Both now…
Theotokion
O Jesus our Saviour, deliver us from error and temptation and the evil one. Accept the Theotokos who intercedes for us without ceasing: for she is Thy Mother and has power to entreat Thee.
We praise, bless and worship the Lord…
Repeat the irmos, The hosts of heaven give Him glory…
Canticle Nine
Irmos: Conception without seed; nativity past understanding, from a Mother who never knew a man; childbearing undefiled. For the birth of God makes both natures new. Therefore, as Bride and Mother of God, with true worship all generations magnify thee.
Sitting at supper with Thy companions, O Lord who lovest mankind, Thou hast revealed to them the great mystery of Thine Incarnation, saying: ‘Eat the living Bread, drink with faith the Blood shed from My divine side at My death.’
The upper room wherein Christ kept the Passover was revealed as a heavenly tabernacle; the supper without shedding of blood is our reasonable worship; the table on which the Mysteries were celebrated there is our spiritual altar.
Christ is our great and honoured Passover, eaten as bread and slain as a Lamb. He has been offered as a sacrifice for us, and mystically we all receive with reverence His Body and His Blood.
Having blessed the bread, O heavenly Bread, Thou hast offered thanks to Thy Father, and taking the cup Thou hast given it to Thy disciples, saying: ‘Take, eat, this is My Body and the Blood of Life incorruptible.’
Christ the true Vine spoke to His branches, the apostles, saying: ‘Amen. I will not drink henceforth from the vine until I drink it new with you My heirs in the glory of My Father.’
For thirty pieces of silver thou dost sell Him who is above all price; and dost thou not think, wicked Judas, of the mystery of the Supper and the holy washing of the feet? O how hast thou fallen utterly from the light, embracing with love the hangman’s noose!
The hands in which thou hast taken the Bread of incorruption, thou hast stretched out to take the money; and with the mouth in which thou hast received the Body and Blood of Christ, thou hast given a kiss deceitfully. But woe to thee, as Christ has said.
Christ, the divine and heavenly Bread, gives food to all the world. Come, then, O lovers of Christ, and in our mouths of clay but with pure hearts let us receive in faith the Passover that is sacrificed and offered in our midst.
Glory be to the Father…
Let us glorify the Father, let us exalt the Son, and with faith let us worship the divine Spirit, undivided Trinity and Unity in Essence. Let us adore Light and Lights, Life and Lives, giving life and light to the ends of the earth.
Both now…
Theotokion
Thou alone art revealed as heavenly bridal chamber and ever-virgin Bride. Thou hast carried God in thy womb and given birth to Him; and He took flesh from thee yet underwent no change. Therefore, as Bride and Mother of God, with true worship all generations magnify thee.
Repeat the irmos, Conception without seed…
Then the rest of Small Compline and the Dismissal, after which we make three bows to the ground very slowly and solemnly, and after the last prayer we all return to our cells. From this day until after the Sunday of St. Thomas, the Midnight office is not read in church.