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Offices of the Holy Eastern Church
tr. Littledale, 1863
20. The Office of Pentecost
On Saturday evening, at the Little Vespers, at the Lord, I call upon Thee (Ps. CXLI), we recite four Stichoi, and we sing the three first, We keep the feast of Pentecost &c., repeating No. 1.
Glory. Both now. Fourth plagal Tone.
When Thou didst send down Thy Spirit.
Idiomelic Aposticha. Second Tone.
We behold the Very Light.
Stichos. A pure heart.
In the Prophets Thou didst tell us.
Stichos. Cast’me not away.
In Thy courts I will sing praise unto Thee.
Glory. And now. Same Tone.
Let us praise in song the Consubstantial Trinity.
Dismissory.
Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God.
See all this under the Great Vespers.
Dismissal.
At the Great Vespers
After the Preface, and the first Cathisma of the Psalter as far as Lord, I call upon Thee, we recite ten Stichoi, and we sing the three first as Idiomelic Stichera, repeating No. 1, then the five next in order, again repeating No. 1.
First Tone.
We keep the feast of Pentecost,
And the SPIRIT’S sojourning,
And the appointed day of promise,
And the fulfilment of our hope,
And the mystery so great,
So mighty, and so reverend,
Wherefore unto Thee we cry:
Creator of the world, Glory to Thee, O Lord. (Twice.)
A new gift gavest Thou, O Christ,
To Thy disciples, tongues of foreign men,
That with them they might Thee proclaim,
The Immortal Word and God,
Who grantest signal mercy to our souls.
The Holy Spirit leadeth all things,
He makes prophecies come forth,
He doth sanctify the priests,
He hath taught the unlearned wisdom,
Hath made fishermen divines,
Welds the whole order of the Church.
One in Nature, one in throne
With the Father and the Son,
Glory, Comforter, to Thee.
Second Tone.
We behold the Very Light,
We have received the heavenly Spirit,
We have found the Faith secure,
Adoring the undivided Trinity,
For He hath saved us. (Twice.)
In the Prophets Thou didst tell us
The pathway of Salvation,
And in Thine Apostles
Thy Spirit’s grace, O Saviour, shone.
Thou art God first of all,
Afterwards Thou art the same,
And Thou art our God for evermore.
In Thy courts I will sing praise to Thee,
The Saviour of the world,
And bowing the knee I will adore Thee,
Unconquered Might!
In the evening, in the morning,
In the noon-day and at every tide
I will bless Thee, Lord.
In Thy courts, O Lord,
Bending the knee of soul and body,
We Thy faithful ones
Praise Thee, the Unbeginning Father,
And the Unbeginning Son,
And the Coeternal, Holiest Spirit,
Who illumines and hallows our souls.
Let us praise in song the Consubstantial Trinity,
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
For thus did all the seers proclaim,
And the Apostles with the Martyrs.
Glory. Both now. Fourth plagal Tone.
Hymn of Leo the Ruler. (64)
Come, ye nations, and let us adore
The Godhead Trine,
The Son in the Father, with the Holy Ghost,
For the Father before all time
Begat the Son, coeternal and co-throned,
And the Holy Ghost
Was in the Father, glorified with the Son.
One Might, One Substance, Godhead One.
Adoring which we all exclaim:
Holy art Thou, O God,
Who madest all things by the Son,
Through the co-operation of the Holy Ghost,
Holy and Mighty,
Through Whom we know the Father, and through Whom
The Holy Spirit sojourned in the world.
Holy and Immortal
The Spirit Paraclete, proceeding from the Father
And resting in the Son,
Glory to Thee, O Holy Trinity.
The Entrance. Hail joyful Light. And after the Prokeimenon of the day, the following lections:
Numbers XI. 16, 17, 24—30.
Joel II. 23—end.
Ezekiel XXXVI. 24—29.
At the Lité. Idiomelic Stichera. Second Tone.
In the Prophets Thou didst tell us &c.
In Thy courts I will sing praise &c.
In Thy courts, O Lord &c.
Glory. And now. Fourth plagal Tone.
When Thou didst send down Thy Spirit, Lord,
On the Apostles as they sat,
Then the Hebrews’ sons, beholding,
With dread were astonished,
For they heard them speak with other and strange tongues,
As the Spirit furnished them.
For being unlearned, they were filled with wisdom,
And bringing the Gentiles to the life of Faith,
They spake of things divine.
Wherefore we cry unto Thee,
Thou Who wast seen on earth,
And Who didst save us from our wandering,
Glory, O Lord, to Thee.
At the Stichoi. Idiomelic Stichera. Second plagal Tone.
The Gentiles, Lord,
Knowing not the Holy Spirit’S Might,
Which dwelt in the Apostles, deemed the change
Of tongues intoxication:
But we, by them established, cry unceasingly:
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from us,
We beseech Thee, Lover of mankind.
Stichos. Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Lord, the Holy SPIRIT’S visitation,
Filling Thine Apostles,
Gave to them to speak with other tongues,
Whence the miracle
Was deemed intoxication by the infidels,
But by the faithful
The bringer of salvation.
Of this illumination give us too share,
We beseech Thee, Lover of mankind.
Stichos. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Heavenly King and Comforter,
Spirit of Truth, Omnipresent,
Who fillest all things, and treasure art of blessings,
Giver of Life,
Come and dwell in us, cleanse us from all stain,
And in Thy goodness save our souls.
Glory. Both now. Fourth plagal Tone.
Once confounded were the tongues
Through the tower-builders’ pride,
Now the tongues have been made wise
Through the glory of the knowledge of God,
God punished there the impious by their fall,
Christ lightens here the fishers by His Spirit.
Their dumbness was assigned as penalty,
Now harmony of speech hath been restored
For the salvation of our souls.
Dismissory. Fourth plagal Tone.
Blessed art Thou, Christ our God,
Who madest the fishers passing wise,
Sending on them the Holy Ghost,
And by them drawing in a net the world,
Glory to Thee, O Lover of mankind. (Thrice.)
The same, and as far as God is the Lord.
At Lauds
After the first Stichologia, a Cathisma.
Fourth Tone. Joseph was astonished.
Ye faithful, let us keep with joy
The feast, which follows on the Feast,
Itself our latest festival.
This is the Day of Pentecost,
The fulfilment of the promise and of the set time,
For on it the Fire came
Down from the Comforter on Earth,
As it were in form of tongues,
And it lighted the disciples,
And made them wise in heavenly things.
The Light of the Comforter hath come
And hath shined upon the world. (Twice.)
After the second Stichologia, a Cathisma.
Same rhythm.
The fountain of the Spirit,
Come down to those on Earth,
Divided into mystic fiery streams,
And as it shone it bedewed the Apostles,
And the flame was unto them
A dewy cloud of fire as it gleamed
Upon them in its rain.
From whom we have grace received,
Both through fire and through water.
The Light of the Comforter hath come
And hath shined upon the world. (Twice.)
After the Polyeleos, a Cathisma. Fourth plagal Tone.
That which in mystery was ordained.
After Thy rising from the tomb
And Thy divine Ascension to the height of heaven,
O Christ, in mercy Thou didst send
Thy glory on those who had looked in Deity,
Giving speedily
The new boon of the Spirit to Thy disciples,
Whence, like a harp,
Mystically tuneful with a quill divine
They clearly spake to all,
Saviour, the echoes of Thy words,
And told Thy Providence. (Twice.)
The first Antiphon of the Gradual Psalms of the fourth Tone.
Prokeimenon. Fourth Tone.
Let Thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness (Ps. CXLIII. 10).
Stichos. Lord, hear my prayer.
Let everything that hath breath.
Ninth morning Gospel (S. John XX. 19—end).
We do not say CHRIST’S Resurrection, but immediately
Psalm LI. Miserere mei. Then. Glory. Second Tone.
Through the Intercession of the Apostles.
Both now. Through the intercession of the Mother of God.
And the following Idiomelon. Second plagal Tone.
Stichos. Have mercy upon me, O God.
Heavenly King and Comforter &c.
The Canons. The Heavy-toned (i. e. Sixth Gregorian Tone) with the Hirmoi to the number of eight and that of the fourth Tone with the Hirmoi as far as six.
The Heavy Canon, whose acrostic is We keep the feast of Pentecost.
Poem of Cosmas the Monk.
First Ode. Heavy Tone. The Hirmos.
He Who with His mighty Hand
Breaks the battle and the brand,
Now hath buried in the tide
Egypt’s chariots and her king,
To Him therefore let us sing,
For He hath been glorified!
Troparion,
As Thou didst promise long ago
To Thy disciples, Thou hast sent
The SPIRIT Comforter below,
And Thou a light on earth hast shined,
O Christ, Thou Lover of mankind.
That now hath found accomplishment,
Which Law and Prophets old record,
For the Holy SPIRIT’S grace
Upon all the faithful race
Hath to-day been poured.
Another Canon. Iambic.
Poem of S. John Arclas, the acrostic of which is in elegiac verse.
Word of nature divine, another Comforter hither
From Thy FATHER’S Breast, Thou the pure Spirit hast sent,
Like unto fiery tongues, as a sign of Thy generation
Of Deity supreme, grace to the framers of hymns.
First Ode. Fourth Tone. The Hirmos.
The man of slow speech, hid in cloud divine,
Spake the Law written by the hand of God,
For having brushed the clay from his mind’s eye,
He looks on Him Who is, and taught the lore
Of Spirit, honours Him with holy songs.
The sacred and most august voice declared
There is no loneliness for you, My friends,
For I, high seated on My FATHER’S throne,
Will pour the SPIRIT’S grace ungrudgingly
To shine on you who, longing, wait for Me.
The Word of truth, ascended to the mount,
Sends on the heart the gift of peaceful calm,
For Christ hath now His work accomplishéd,
And made His friends glad with the Mighty Breath,
And fiery tongues, sending His promised gift.
Catabasia. He Who with His mighty Hand &c.
Second. The man of slow speech &c.
Third Ode. The Hirmos.
Thou saidst, O Christ, to Thy Disciples,
In Jerusalem abide
Till ye be clothed with power from on high,
Another Comforter, even such as I,
Mine and My FATHER’S Spirit, as your guide,
By Whom you shall be built up, will I give.
Troparion.
The Holy Spirit, dwelling here
In might of His Divinity,
Hath joined now in concent clear
The speech divided, when of old
Men were leagued for purpose bold,
And to the faithful doth unfold
The wisdom of the Trinity
By Whom we are built up, that we may live.
The other Hirmos.
The prayer of Anna, olden prophetess,
Hath burst the fetters of the childless womb,
And foiled the insults of her fruitful foe,
What time she brought her sore heart unto Him,
Who God of wisdom is, and mightiest King.
Incomprehensible is Deity,
For He hath given words to unlearned men,
And made them equal to the wise in speech,
And with the SPIRIT’S lightning, He hath brought
The ignorant from out of deepest night.
From Unbegotten Brightness came that Light
Almighty in its glory and eterne;
The FATHER’S power, trusted to the Son,
Makes now the fiery sound, from Sion sped,
A kindred beacon to the Gentile world.
Catabasia. Thou saidst, O Christ.
Second. The prayer of Anna.
Cathisma. Fourth plagal Tone. That which was ordained.
The lovers of the Saviour
Were filled with joy,
And they who erst were cowards became bold,
When to-day the Holy Ghost
Descended from on high upon the house
Of the Disciples, and they spake
Each to the nations in his several wise,
For the tongues were divided,
In likeness as of fire,
And them they burned not, but rather did bedew. (Twice.)
Fourth Ode. The Hirmos.
The Prophet, knowing Thou shouldst come at length,
O Christ, exclaimed:
Lord, I have heard the greatness of Thy strength,
For Thou hast come all Thine elect to save.
Troparion.
He Who was by the Law proclaimed
And in the Prophets His words gave,
Comforter and Very Lord,
To them who knew and served the Word
Of late unlearned, reveals Himself to-day.
The Spirit was distributed,
When He bore the Godhead’s sign
To the Apostles in the flame,
And in tongues unfamiliar came
As He proceedeth, Might Divine,
From the Father, of His own free-will.
Second Hirmos.
O King of Kings, Sole from the Only One,
O Word proceeding from the Uncaused SIRE,
Thou, in Thy bounty, didst send of a truth
On the Apostles Thy Coequal Spirit,
As they sang: “Glory to Thy might, O Lord.
The holy laver of regeneration,
Mingling it with Thy nature and Thy word,
Thou makest flow in copious streams for me
From Thy pure wounded Side, O Word of God,
Sealing it with the fervour of the Spirit.
Unto the Spirit all things bow the knee,
Unto the Son, and Consubstantial SIRE,
For in Three Persons they the Substance know
Eternal, Unapproachable and One.
For now the SPIRIT’S grace hath given light.
Be all initiate in Deity
O ye who serve the Substance triply-bright,
For Christ, our Benefactor, teaches us
In wondrous wise, and for salvation shines,
Granting the full grace of the Comforter.
Catabasia. The Prophet &c.
Second. O King of Kings.
Fifth Ode. The Hirmos.
Within Thy Prophets here on earth
Conceived in fear and brought to birth,
O Lord, the Spirit of Salvation
Doth the Apostles purify,
And to the faithful generation
His grace renewing doth supply,
He to them is Peace and Light,
Such is Thy command of might.
Troparion.
The Holy Spirit named is He,
Who visits us in might to-day,
Spirit of Wisdom Heavenly,
Who from the Father takes His way,
And through the Son Himself declares
To us His faithful, and Who shares
His manifesting holiness
With them whom He doth aye possess.
Second Hirmos.
O glorious children of the Church, receive
The Holy Spirit’S fire-breathing dew,
Which purifies and ransoms all your sins;
For now from Sion hath gone forth the law,
The SPIRIT’S grace, in shape of tongues of flame.
As it seemed good to Him, of His accord
The Mightiest Spirit from the Father came,
(One in His strength with Him, and One in form,
Of Whom the Saviour spake) and making wise
The Apostolic band with tongues, He sealed
On them the impress of the quickening Word.
God the Almighty Word did cleanse from sin
The hearts of His Apostles, and adorned
With His Own self their dwelling undefiled,
And sends them now the Spirit’S glory down,
In nature one with His, and like in might.
Catabasia. Within Thy prophets.
Second. O glorious children.
Sixth Ode. The Hirmos.
Sick with the tide of mortal cares,
Tossing on sin as on the wave,
Cast to the beast that never spares,
Like Jonah, Lord, I cry, O save
From the abyss which brings a grave.
Troparion.
Upon all flesh, as Thou didst say,
The SPIRIT Thou hast richly poured,
And all the world is filled to-day
With the knowledge of Thee, Lord.
Since from the FaTHER Thou the Son,
Though underived, art yet indeed,
And the Spirit, with Both One,
From the Father doth proceed.
Second Hirmos.
Christ, our refuge and propitiation,
Thou shinedst, Lord, from out the Virgin’s womb,
That Thou mightst rescue from corruption’s hold
The fallen Adam and the human race,
As Thou didst save the Prophet Jonah once,
Delivering him from the sea-monster’s maw.
O Spirit Whom we long for, make all new
Within us, make us hold Thee evermore,
Thou Who for aye unparted, dost proceed
From the Father, and dost purge away with flame
The stains of hateful matter, and dost cleanse,
Almighty, the pollution of our souls.
Breathing with fire Thou didst cause to light
On the Apostles Thy most precious gift,
As they in Sion watched for Thee to come.
O Wisdom of the Sole-Begotten WORD,
When Thou didst teach them quickly the harsh speech
In which the Gentiles murmur out their words.
Catabasia. Sick with the tide.
Second. Christ, our refuge.
Contakion. Fourth plagal Tone.
When the Highest, descending, did the tongues confound,
He scattered the nations.
When He distributed the tongues of fire,
He called all to unity.
And we glorify in harmony
The All-Holy Spirit.
The Stanza.
O Jesu, give unto Thy servants
Swift and sure consolation,
Taking away all sorrow from our spirits,
Withdraw not from our souls in troubles,
Be not far from our minds in time of need,
But prevent us alway.
Come near to us, come near, Thou Who art Omnipresent,
As Thou wast always with Thine Apostles
So now, O Merciful, unite Thyself
To us who long for Thee, that, joined to Thee,
We may praise and glorify
The All-Holy Spirit.
Synaxarion of the Menæon, then the following:
On the same Day, the Eighth Sunday from Easter, we keep the Holy feast of Pentecost.
Stichos.
With Mighty Breath in tongues of fire, Christ
The Holy Ghost to the Apostles gives,
On fishers this great day the Spirit pours.
* * * * * * * * *
Through the intercession of the holy Apostles, have mercy upon us, Christ our God. Amen.
Seventh Ode. The Hirmos.
Into the glowing furnace flung,
The Holy Children turned the fires
With hymns to dew, as thus they sung:
“Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our sires!”
Troparion.
The working of the Breath Divine,
While the Twelve speak as He inspires,
The unbelievers deemed new wine,
Through it we know the Three, the One God of our sires.
The Nature One we ever laud,
As our holy faith requires,
Father, Son, Spirit, coeternal God,
And cry: “Blessed art Thou, O God of our sires!”
Second Hirmos.
The tuneful sound of instruments burst forth
In honour of the lifeless golden form;
The Comforter’s illuminating grace
Makes us with awe exclaim: “Sole Trinity,
Blessed art Thou, coequal and eterne!”
Uncomprehending the prophetic voice,
The unwise called it drunkenness of wine,
When the Apostles’ unknown tongues were heard.
But we in faith devoutly cry to Thee:
“Blessed art Thou, Who makest all things new!”
Inspired Joel, looking on the Face
Of Deity, astonied, heard the Word
(Supreme in Godhead) speaking: “They on whom
I will pour out My Spirit, shall exclaim:
“Blessed art Thou, O Nature Trine in light!”
The third Day-Hour did with grace abound,
That it might teach us of the Persons Three
To be adored in unity of power
And now on this, the first and chief of days,
Blessed art Thou, Father, Son, PARACLETE!
Catabasia. Into the glowing furnace.
Second. The tuneful sound.
Eighth Ode. The Hirmos.
To Moses, harsh and slow of speech,
The unburnt bush on Sinai’s hill
The mystery of God did teach,
And holy zeal gave tuneful skill
To the three captive children, flung
Into the fire, while they sung:
“Praise the Lord, O earth and sky,
Him for ever magnify.”
Troparion.
When the quickening Breath of might
From the HOLIEST Spirit came,
And on the fishers did alight
With rushing sound, like tongues of flame,
Then the glorious deeds of God
Were proclaimed all abroad:
Praise the Lord, O earth and sky,
Him for ever magnify.
Ye who on the mountain tread,
Which may not be touched with hand,
Nor the awful fire dread,
Let us on Sion take our stand,
And in the city of our God
Join the inspired throng in laud:
Praise the Lord, O earth and sky,
Him for ever magnify.
Second Hirmos.
The triply-glorious form of Deity
Looses the chains and turns the flame to dew.
The children hymn, and all the universe,
Framed by His hand, blesses His holy Name,
Maker, Redeemer, Benefactor sole.
In likeness of the tongues of fire, Christ
Maketh the Spirit settle upon men,
A memory of those words which save mankind,
And which, heard in His prayer, He told the Twelve;
Ransomed creation hymns Thee, Blessed One!
O Self-existent Light! proceeding forth,
Self-sent and saving, giving radiance,
Thou camest like unto a longed-for breeze
Wafting on the Apostles, grant, we pray,
The Spirit of perseverance to Thine own.
O Counsellor, the spiritual voice of Seers
Sung of Thy sojourn amongst us in flesh,
The Spirit Uncreate, Cothroned, Creator too,
Passing from our fathers’ bosoms, shed the light
Of Thy Humanity on faithful souls.
Catabasia.
To Moses.
The triply-glorious.
Ninth Ode. The Hirmos.
Conceiving without sinful stain,
And lending flesh to the Creator Word,
O spotless Virgin Mother of the Lord,
Shelter of Him Whom worlds cannot contain,
Place where the Infinite Himself did lie,
Who fashioned thee, thy name we magnify.
Troparion.
Borne in gladness long ago
Upon the car of glowing flame,
O burning zealot, thou didst shew
The radiant Breath that later came
On the Apostles, guided by whose light,
They preached to all the Trinity of might.
When the One Voice re-echoed was
By the Disciples, then had place
A portent passing Nature’s laws,
For by the Holy SPIRIT’S grace
Every tribe, and tongue, and nation
Heard the wonders of salvation,
Learning the mystery divine
Of the Godhead, One and Trine.
Hirmos.
Rejoice, O Queen, in Mother-Maiden fame,
For no well-poised and fluent turn of speech
In eloquence can sing thee fittingly;
And every mind is dizzied at the thought
Of Him thy Child, wherefore all praise thy name.
’Tis fit to laud the Maid who giveth life,
For she alone gave shelter to the Word,
Who came to heal the sickness of mankind,
And Who, throned now upon the FATHER’S right,
Hath sent the gift of God the Spirit down.
All we on whom the grace Divine hath breathed,
Bright, radiant as the lighting, and transformed
With alteration strange and glorious,
Now magnify the Trinity of light
Coequal, Indivisible, and Wise.
Catabasia.
Conceiving.
Rejoice, O Queen.
Exaposteilarion. Third Tone.
“Who the heaven with stars.”
All-holy Spirit,
Proceeding from the Father, Who didst dwell
Through the Son in the unlettered Disciples,
Save and hallow all,
Who know Thee as their God. (Twice.)
Another. Same Tone.
Light the Father is, the Son is Light,
Light is the Holy Ghost,
Who in fiery tongues
Was sent on the Apostles,
And through Him
All the whole world is led in light,
To adore the Holy Trinity. (Once.)
At the Praises, we recite six stichoi, and sing the following Idiomelic Stichera, doubling them.
Fourth Tone.
Wondrous things to-day
The nations all beheld
In David’s city,
When the Holy Ghost came down
In fiery tongues, as Luke the Teacher told.
For he saith:
When CHrisT’S Disciples were assembled,
There came a sound
As of a mighty, rushing wind,
And filled the house where they were sitting,
And all began to speak
In strange tongues, doctrines strange, and teaching strange,
Of the Holy Trinity. (Twice.)
The Holy Ghost
Was always, is, and shall be;
Beginning not, nor ceasing,
But joined and counted aye,
Both with the Father and the Son,
Life, and Life-Giving,
Light, and Light-Bestower,
Holy Himself and source of holiness,
Through Whom the Father is known,
And the Son glorified, and known of all,
One might, one order, and one adoration
Of the Holy Trinity. (Twice.)
The Holy Ghost,
Light, and Life, and living source of mind,
Spirit of Wisdom, Spirit of understanding,
Holy, swift, ghostly, kingly,
Cleansing offences;
God, and that maketh Godlike,
Fire, from fire proceeding;
Speaking, working, grace distributing,
Through Whom the Prophets all,
And God’s Apostles with the Martyrs too,
Received their crowns,
(Strange hearing and strange sight!)
Fire distributed
For the dispersion of grace. (Twice.)
Glory. Both now. Second plagal Tone.
O Heavenly King, O PARACLETE,
Spirit of Truth, Omnipresent,
Filling all things,
Treasure of blessings, and bestower of life,
Come, and dwell in us,
And purge us from all stains,
And in Thy goodness save our souls.
The Great Doxology and the Dismissal.