St. Michael the Archangel

Orthodox Christian Community

Pickens, South Carolina

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Great Vespers

Arranged as a Reader’s Service

Saturday, the Twelfth of September, 2026

Tone Six

The Sunday before the Exaltation
The Forefeast of the Exaltation of the Cross

The Founding of the Church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem (355)
Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion (1st c.)
Martyrs Cronides, Leontius and Serapion of Alexandria (237)

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The candles outside the altar have been lit. The Holy Doors remain closed. When all is ready, the designated layperson crosses himself three times with bows and begins:

I. The Opening

Lead Cantor: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.

Second Cantor: Amen. Glory to You, our God, glory to You.

(Plain chant)

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things. Treasury of blessings and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Your Name's sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All: Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Lead Cantor: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ Our God have mercy on us and save us.

Second Cantor: Amen. Lord have mercy. (twelve times)

Glory to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Come, let us worship and fall down before God, our King!
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and our God!
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and our God!
Come, let us worship and fall down before Him!

II. Psalm 103

(Can be chanted antiphonally between the Lead & Second Cantors — the Lead taking the flush lines, the Second those indented.)

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Lord my God, You are very great;

You are clothed with honor and majesty. You cover Yourself with light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a curtain and lay the beams of Your chambers in the waters.

You make the clouds for your ascent and You walk on the wings of the wind.

You make Your angels spirits, Your ministers a blazing fire.

You laid the foundation of the earth that it should never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

At Your rebuke, they fled; at the voice of Your thunder, they hurried away.

They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys to the place that You established for them.

You have set a boundary that they may not pass, that they never again flood the earth.

He sends the springs into valleys that run among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst;

By them live the birds of the air; from among the rocks, they pipe their calls.

He waters the hills from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His labor.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and green plants for our nourishment, that we may grow food from the earth,

Wine that gladdens our hearts, oil to make our faces shine and bread that strengthens our bodies.

The trees of the plain are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which He planted;

There the sparrows make their nests; there the heron has made its abode.

The high mountains are a refuge for the deer and the rocks for the badgers.

You made the moon to mark the seasons: the sun knows its time for setting.

You make darkness and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.

The sun rises; they gather themselves together and lay down in their dens.

Mankind goes off to work and to labor until the evening.

Lord, how great are Your works. In wisdom, You have made them all:

The earth is full of Your creatures. So is this great and wide sea, in which there are creeping things without number, creatures, both small and great.

There go the ships; there is that sea beast, which You made to sport therein.

All these wait upon You, that You may give them their food in due season.

They gather what You give them; when You open Your hand, they are filled with good.

When You turn away your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath, they shall cease, and to their dust, shall they return.

You send out Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord, endure through the ages; the Lord shall rejoice in His works.

He looks on the earth and it trembles; He touches the mountains and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord throughout my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

My meditation of Him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord.

Let the sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, my soul.

The sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness and it is night.

Lord, how manifold are your works. In wisdom, You have made them all.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to You, our God. (thrice)

III. In Place of the Great Litany

First Cantor: Lord have mercy. (Twelve times). Glory … now and ever…

Second Cantor: Amen.

IV. The First Kathisma

(Chanted antiphonally, the First Cantor taking the verses and the Second Cantor the alleluias)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Salvation belongs to the Lord, Thy blessing be upon Thy people.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Glory to Thee, O God. (twice)

V. Lord, I Cry (Psalms 140, 141, 129)

(Led by the First Cantor in the Sixth Tone)

Lord, I call upon You, hear me!
Hear me, O Lord!
Lord, I call upon You, hear me!
Receive the voice of my prayer,
when I call upon You! //
Hear me, O Lord!

Let my prayer arise
in Your sight as incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands
be an evening sacrifice! //
Hear me, O Lord!

(Chanted antiphonally by the First and Second Cantors — the First taking the flush lines, the Second those indented.)

Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of enclosure round about my lips.

Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuses for my sins.

With men that work iniquity; and I will not join with their chosen.

The righteous man will chasten me with mercy and reprove me; as for the oil of the sinner, let it not anoint my head.

For yet more is my prayer in the presence of their pleasures; swallowed up near by the rock have their judges been.

They shall hear my words, for they be sweetened; as a clod of earth is broken upon the earth, so have their bones been scattered nigh unto Hades.

For unto You, O Lord, O Lord, are mine eyes, in You have I hoped; take not my soul away.

Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling-blocks of them that work iniquity.

The sinners shall fall into their own net; I am alone until I pass by.

With my voice unto the Lord have I cried, with my voice unto the Lord have I made supplication.

I will pour out before Him my supplication, mine affliction before Him will I declare.

When my spirit was fainting within me, then You knew my paths.

In this way wherein I have walked they hid for me a snare.

I looked upon my right hand, and beheld, and there was none that did know me.

Flight has failed me, and there is none that watch out for my soul.

I have cried unto You, O Lord; I said: You are my hope, You are my portion in the land of the living.

Attend unto my supplication, for I am brought very low.

Deliver me from them that persecute me, for they are stronger than I.

VI. The Stichera on Ten

For the Resurrection, in the Sixth Tone

Verse 10. Bring my soul out of prison, / that I may give thanks to Your Name!

Victorious over Hell, O Christ,
You ascended the Cross that You might raise up with Yourself
those who sat in the darkness of death;
free among the dead,
You pour forth life from Your own light.
All-powerful Saviour, have mercy on us.

Verse 9. The righteous will surround me, / for You will deal bountifully with me.

Today Christ, having trampled on death,
has risen as He said,
and granted joy to the world,
that we may all shout aloud the hymn and say:
O Source of life, O unapproachable light,
All-powerful Saviour, have mercy on us.

Verse 8. Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord! / Lord, hear my voice!

Where shall we sinners escape You, O Lord, who are present in all creation?
In heaven? You dwell there.
In Hell? You trampled on death.
In the depths of the sea? Your hand is there, Master.
To You we flee and falling down before You we implore:
Lord risen from the dead, have mercy on us.

Verse 7. Let Your ears be attentive / to the voice of my supplications!

We boast in your Cross, O Christ,
and we hymn and glorify Your Resurrection;
for You are our God;
we know no other but You.

Verse 6. If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? / But there is forgiveness with You.

Ever blessing the Lord
we hymn His Resurrection;
for having endured the Cross,
by death He destroyed death.

Verse 5. For Your Name's sake I wait for You, O Lord. My soul has waited for Your word; / my soul has hoped on the Lord.

Glory to Your power, O Lord,
for You destroyed the one that held the might of death;
You have renewed us through Your Cross,
granting us life and incorruption.

For the Dedication of the Church of the Resurrection, in the Sixth Tone

Verse 4. From the morning watch until night, from the morning watch, / let Israel hope on the Lord!

In goodly fashion doth the old law mandate that dedications be honored, and all the more should the new law also be honored with dedications; for lo! this house, wherein the immaculate Passion of Christ was enacted, hath been consecrated unto God, and we the faithful honor it with hymns.

Verse 3. For with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is plenteous redemption, / and He will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.

(Repeat:) In goodly fashion doth the old law mandate that dedications be honored, and all the more should the new law also be honored with dedications; for lo! this house, wherein the immaculate Passion of Christ was enacted, hath been consecrated unto God, and we the faithful honor it with hymns.

Verse 2. Praise the Lord, all nations! / Praise Him, all peoples!

Be ye made new, O brethren, and, having put away the old man, live ye in newness of life, bridling all things from whence death cometh; let us chastise every member, and hate all the food of the serpent which is in this world, that, hating the flesh, we may prevail.

Verse 1. For His mercy is confirmed on us, / and the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Thou didst set up Thy Church as a tower of strength, O Christ, Thou preëternal Word, for Thou didst found it upon the rock of Thy confession; wherefore, establish us therein, and preserve us unshaken by the assaults of the enemy, O Thou Who alone knowest the hearts of men.

VII. Glory … Now and Ever

Doxastikon of the Dedication, in the Sixth Tone

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Celebrating the memory of the dedication, O Lord, and glorifying Thee, the Bestower of holiness, we pray: Let the senses of our souls be hallowed through the grace of Thy Spirit, that we may offer Thee acceptable worship, and may partake of the good things to come.

The Dogmatikon of the Sixth Tone

Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Who will not call You blessed, All-holy Virgin?
Who will not hymn your child-birth without labour?
For the only-begotten Son, who shone from the Father beyond time,
came forth from You, pure Maiden, ineffably incarnate.
By nature He is God,
by nature He became man for our sakes,
not divided in a duality of persons,
but known without confusion in a duality of natures.
O honoured and all-blessed,
implore Him to have mercy on our souls.

VIII. O Gladsome Light

There is no entrance with the censer.

All: O Gladsome light of the holy glory of the immortal Father, heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ. Now that we have come to the setting of the sun, and behold the light of evening, we praise God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For meet it is at all times to worship Thee with voices of praise, O Son of God and giver of Life. Therefore all the world doth glorify Thee.

IX. The Evening Prokimen

(Psalm 92:1,5)

Lead Cantor (plain-chanting, not singing; from the middle of the nave): The Prokimen in the Sixth Tone. The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty.

Second Cantor: The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty.

Lead Cantor: The Lord has clothed and girded himself with strength.

Second Cantor: The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty.

Lead Cantor: For He has established the world and it shall not be moved.

Second Cantor: The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty.

Lead Cantor: Holiness befits Your house, Lord, for length of days.

Second Cantor: The Lord is King…

Lead Cantor: … He is robed in majesty.

X. In Place of the Augmented Litany

First Cantor: Lord have mercy. (Twelve times). Glory … now and ever…

Second Cantor: Amen. Preserve, O God, the Holy Orthodox Faith and Orthodox Christians, unto ages of ages.

XI. The Evening Prayer

(Can be plain-chanted antiphonally by the Lead and Second Cantors)

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this night without sin.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our Fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy name for ever. Amen.

Let Thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we have set our hope on Thee.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.

Blessed art Thou, O Master, make me to understand Thy commandments.

Blessed art Thou, O Holy One, enlighten me with Thy precepts.

Thy mercy, O Lord, endures for ever; despise not the works of Thy hands.

To Thee belongeth worship, to Thee belongeth praise, to Thee belongeth glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

XII. In Place of the Litany of Supplication

First Cantor: Lord have mercy. (Twelve times). Glory … now and ever…

Second Cantor: Amen.

XIII. The Apostikha

For the Resurrection, in the Sixth Tone

Angels in heaven, O Christ Saviour,
praise Your Resurrection with hymns,
make us worthy here on earth
to glorify You with a pure heart.

Verse 1. The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty!

You smashed the gates of brass
and shattered the bars of Hell, as God all-powerful,
and You raised the fallen human race.
Therefore with one accord we too cry out:
Lord, risen from the dead, glory to You!

Verse 2. For He has established the world, / so that it shall never be moved.

Wishing to set us upright from our ancient fall,
Christ was nailed to a cross and placed in a tomb.
The Myrrhbearing Women, as they sought Him with tears, said, lamenting:
Alas, Saviour of all, how is it that You deigned to dwell in a tomb?
How is it, since You dwelt there willingly, that You have been stolen?
How is it that You have been moved?
What place has hidden Your life-bearing body?
But Master, as You promised, appear to us,
and bring to an end the grieving of our tears.
But as they lamented an Angel cried out to them:
End your lament!
Say to the Apostles that:
The Lord has risen, granting the world pardon and His great mercy.

Verse 3. Holiness befits Your house, O Lord, / forevermore!

You were crucified as You willed, O Christ,
and by Your burial You despoiled death.
On the third day You rose as God in glory,
granting the world unending life and Your great mercy.

XIV. Glory … Now and Ever

Doxastikon of the Dedication, in the Second Tone

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Celebrating the dedication of the most sacred temple of Thy resurrection, we glorify Thee, O Lord, Who hast sanctified it and perfected it with Thine all-perfect grace, Who art adorned therein by the faithful with sanctifying, mystic and sacred sacrifices, receivest unbloody and all-pure sacrifices from the hands of Thy servants, and bestowest great mercy and cleansing from sins upon those who rightly make offering.

Of the Forefeast of the Cross, in the Second Tone

Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

The Cross of the Bestower of life, a divine treasure hidden in the ground, was shown in the heavens to the pious emperor and noetically revealeth an inscription of victory over the enemy. And joyfully hastening in godly manner with faith and love to see it on high, he zealously lifted it from the bosom of the earth, for the deliverance of the world and the salvation of our souls.

XV. The Canticle of St. Symeon

(St. Luke 2:29–32)

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people: a light to enlighten the gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

XVI. The Trisagion Prayers

Second Cantor: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us! (thrice)

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Your Name's sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All: Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Lead Cantor: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ Our God have mercy on us and save us.

Second Cantor: Amen.

XVII. The Troparia

Resurrection Troparion, in the Sixth Tone

All: The Angelic powers were at Your tomb. The guards became as dead men. Mary stood by Your grave seeking Your most pure Body. You captured hades, not being tempted by it. You came to the Virgin, granting life. O Lord who arose from the dead: Glory to You.

Troparion of the Dedication, in the Fourth Tone

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thou didst show forth the beauty of the holy dwelling-place of Thy glory here below, O Lord, like the splendor of the firmament on high. Establish it forever and ever, and accept our supplications which we unceasingly offer therein unto Thee, through the Theotokos, O Life and Resurrection of all.

Troparion of the Forefeast of the Cross, in the Fourth Tone

Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

O Lord, we offer unto Thee in supplication the life-creating Cross of Thy goodness, which Thou hast bestowed upon us, unworthy though we are. Save Thou the sovereigns and Thy city, which is preserved in peace, through the Theotokos, O only Lover of mankind.

XVIII. The Dismissal

All: More hon’rable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to the Word. True Theotokos, we magnify you!

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. O Lord, bless.

First Cantor: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.

Second Cantor: Amen.

(All come forward and venerate the icons.)