Lenten Triodion

Holy and Great Monday

Matins

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 (Thrice).

After the first reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn:

Tone One

Today the Holy Passion shines forth upon the world with the light of salvation; for Christ, in His love hastens to His sufferings. He who holds all things in the hollow of His hand consents to be hung upon the Tree, that He may save mankind.

Glory to the Father…Both now…

After the second reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn:

Tone One

O Judge invisible, how art Thou made, visible in the flesh? How dost Thou now draw near to be slain by lawless men, condemning by Thy Passion our own condemnation? Therefore with one accord, O Word, we ascribe praise, majesty and glory to Thy power

Glory to the Father… Both now…

Repeat.

After the third reading from the Psalter, the sessional hymn

Tone Eight

The first-fruits of the Lord’s Passion fill this present day with light. Come then, all who love to keep the feast, and let us welcome it with songs. For the Creator draws near to undergo the Cross; He is questioned, beaten, and brought to Pilate for judgement; a servant strikes Him on the face, and all this He endures that He may save mankind. Therefore let us. cry aloud to Him: O Christ our God who lovest man, grant remission of sins to those who venerate in faith Thy Holy Passion.

Glory to the Father… Both now…

Repeat.

Gospel Matthew 21: 18—43

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 of each canticle as katavasia. Before the troparia we say Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

Tone Two

Ode One

Irmos: Let us sing to the Lord who by His divine command dried up the billowing sea where none might walk, and through it led the people of Israel on foot: for He has been greatly glorified.

Ineffable is the condescension of the Word of God. Christ is Himself both God and man; yet He counted not His Godhead a thing to be seized and held fast, and this He showed to His disciples by taking the form of a servant: for He has been. greatly glorified.

I who am rich in Godhead have come to minister to Adam who is grown poor. I who fashioned him have of Mine own will put on his form. I who am impassible in My divinity have come to lay down My life as a ransom for him.

The Small Litany.

Kontakion

Tone Eight

Jacob lamented the loss of Joseph, but his righteous son was seated in a chariot and honoured as a king. For he was not enslaved to the pleasures of Egypt, but he was glorified by God who sees the hearts of men and bestows on them a crown incorruptible.

Ikos

Let us now add our lamentation to the lamentation of Jacob, and let us weep with him for Joseph, his wise and glorious son who was enslaved in body but kept his soul free from bondage, and became lord over all Egypt. For God grants unto his servants a crown incorruptible.

Ode Eight

Irmos: The unwearied fire, fed with endless fuel, drew back in fear before the pure bodies and pure souls of the holy Children; and as the undying flame decreased in strength, they sang an everlasting song: O all ye works, praise ye the Lord and exalt Him above all for ever.

‘Then shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye keep My commandments’, said the Saviour to His friends, as He went to His Passion. ‘Be at peace with one another and with all men; think humbly of yourselves and ye shall be exalted; acknowledge Me as Lord, and praise and exalt Me above all for ever.’

‘Let your power over your fellow-men be altogether different from the dominion of the Gentiles: their self-willed pride is not the order that I have appointed, but a tyranny. He therefore who would be the first among you, let him be the last of all. Acknowledge Me as Lord, and praise and exalt Me above all for ever.’

We praise, bless and worship the Lord…

Ode Nine

We do not sing the Magnificat and More honorable than the cherubim…

Irmos: Thou hast magnified, O Christ, the Theotokos who bore Thee: from her, O our Creator, hast Thou taken a body of like passions to our own, and so hast set us free from all our ignorance. Therefore with all generations we call her blessed and we magnify Thee.

‘Cast away all the impurity of the passions and obtain a wise understanding, worthy of God’s Kingdom’, Thou hast said, O Wisdom of all, to Thine apostles; ‘and ye shall be glorified, and shine forth brighter than the sun.‘

‘Taking Me as your example,’ Thou hast said, O Lord, to Thy disciples, ‘think not proud thoughts but be content with what is humble. Ye shall drink of the cup that I drink of, and so ye shall be glorified with Me in the Kingdom of the Father.’

Exapostilarion, sung slowly and solemnly:

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 (Thrice).

Lauds. We sing four stichera:

Tone One

As the Lord went to His voluntary Passion, He said to His apostles on the way: ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed, as it is written of Him.’ Come, then, and let us also journey with Him, purified in mind; let us be crucified with Him and die for His sake to the pleasures of this life, that we may also live with Him and hear Him say: ‘No longer do I ascend to the earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God; and I shall raise you up to the Jerusalem on high in the Kingdom of heaven.’ (Twice)

Tone Five

We have come, O faithful, to the saving Passion of Christ our God: let us glorify His ineffable forbearance, that in His tender mercy He may also raise us up who have been slain by sin, for He is good and loves mankind. (Twice)

Glory to the Father…Both now…

Same Tone

O Lord, as Thou camest to Thy Passion, Thou hast strengthened the faith of Thy disciples, taking them aside and saying to them: ‘How have ye forgotten what I told you before? According to the Scriptures, it cannot be that a prophet should be killed save in Jerusalem. Now is the time at hand, of which I spake to you: for see, I am betrayed into the hands of sinners; they shall mock Me and nail Me to the Cross and deliver Me up for burial, with loathing looking on Me as a corpse. Yet be of good courage: for on the third day I shall rise, bringing joy and life eternal to the faithful.’

Aposticha

Tone Five

O Lord, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, not understanding the hidden mystery of Thy dispensation, asked Thee to give the honours of a temporal kingdom to her sons. But instead of this Thou hast promised to Thy friends that they should drink the cup of death; and Thou hast said that Thou wouldest drink this cup before them, to cleanse men from their sins. Therefore we cry aloud to Thee: O salvation of our souls, glory to Thee.

We were filled in the morning with Thy mercy, O Lord, and we rejoiced and were glad. In all our days, let us be glad for the days wherein Thou didst humble us, for the years wherein we saw evils. And look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works,/ and do Thou guide their sons.

O Lord, teaching Thy disciples to think perfect thoughts, Thou hast said to ‘them: ‘Be not like the Gentiles, who exercise dominion over those who are less strong. But it shall not be so among you, My disciples, for I of mine own will am poor. Let him, then, who is first among you be the minister of all. Let the ruler be as the ruled, and let the first be as the last. For I Myself have come to minister to Adam in his poverty, and to give my life as a ransom for the many who cry aloud to Me: Glory to Thee.’

And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us, and the works of our hands do Thou guide aright upon us, / yea, the work of our hands do Thou guide aright.

Tone Eight

O brethren, let us fear the punishment of the fig tree, withered because it was unfruitful; and let us bring worthy fruits of repentance unto Christ, who grants us His great mercy.

Glory to the Father…Both now…

Same Tone

The serpent found a second Eve in the Egyptian woman, and with words of flattery he sought to make Joseph fall. But, leaving his garment behind him, Joseph fled from sin; and like the first man before his disobedience, though naked he was not ashamed. At his prayers, O Christ, have mercy upon us.

And the rest of Matins according to the Lenten order, with the usual prostrations.

The Hours

On the first three days of Holy Week, the Psalter is read at the Third and Sixth Hours, but not at the First and the Ninth.

On these three days we read the four Gospels, as follows. At the Third Hour, after the usual psalms and the appointed reading from the Psalter we sing the troparion, O Lord, who at the third hour…, with three prostrations as usual. Then we say, O Theotokos, thou art the true vine…Meanwhile the priest, wearing his phelonion, opens the Royal Doors and brings the Book of the Gospels to the centre of the church, placing it on an analogion; and one or more processional candlesticks with lighted candles are set beside it. The priest then censes the Book of the Gospels, and the whole church and people; and the Gospel reading follows.

At the end of the Gospel reading, we continue with the Third Hour, saying Blessed be the Lord God…, and the rest, with the usual bows and prostrations. We say the kontakion of the day, Jacob lamented…