St. Michael the Archangel

Orthodox Christian Community

Pickens, South Carolina

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Great Vespers

Arranged as a Reader’s Service

Saturday, the Third of October, 2026

Tone One

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Hieromartyr Hierotheus, bishop of Athens (1st c.)
Martyrs Gaius, Faustus, Eusebius and Chaeremon of Alexandria (3rd c.)
St. Volodymyr Yaroslavych, prince of Novgorod (1052)

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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. (Thrice)

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

(Led by the First Cantor in the First 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 First Tone

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

Accept our evening prayers,
O Holy Lord,
Grant us remission of sins//
For You alone have manifested the Resurrection to the world.

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

Encircle Zion and surround her,
O people,
Give glory in her to the One Who rose from the dead;
For He is our God,//
Who has delivered us from our transgressions!

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

Come, O people,
let us hymn and fall down before Christ
Glorifying his Resurrection from the dead!
For He is our God,//
Who has delivered the world from the enemy's deceit!

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

Be glad, O heavens!
Sound trumpets, O foundations of the earth!
Sing in gladness, O mountains!
Behold Emmanuel has nailed our sins to the Cross,
Granting life, He has slain death.//
He has resurrected Adam as the Lover of man.

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

Let us praise Him Who voluntarily was crucified in the flesh for our sake.
He suffered, was buried, but rose from the dead.
By Orthodoxy confirm Your Church, O Christ.//
Grant peace for our life as the gracious Lover of man.

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.

We stand before Your life bearing tomb unworthily, O Christ God,
Offering glory to Your ineffable compassion.
You have accepted the Cross and death, O sinless One//
To grant Resurrection to the world as the Lover of man.

For the Hieromartyr Hierotheus, in the Fourth Tone

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

Receiving the grace of the most holy Spirit, O most glorious Hierotheus,/
Thou hast now traversed all the earth, teaching men to worship the Unity in three Hypostases:/
The unoriginate Father, the Source of the Godhead,/
And with Him the Son Who is equally enthroned and consubstantial with the Father,//
Who was born of the Virgin and became a man bearing flesh.

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)
Receiving the grace of the most holy Spirit, O most glorious Hierotheus,/
Thou hast now traversed all the earth, teaching men to worship the Unity in three Hypostases:/
The unoriginate Father, the Source of the Godhead,/
And with Him the Son Who is equally enthroned and consubstantial with the Father,//
Who was born of the Virgin and became a man bearing flesh.

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

As one pleasing to God thou didst offer up thy soul as a sacred and divine gift,/
And didst commit thy sacred body as a thing divine,/
Which halloweth the souls of those who believe in God Almighty,/
And which poureth forth salvation upon the faithful./
Wherefore, we bless thy memory and burial//
We love thy miracles and proclaim thy words.

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

Thou didst behold the twelve apostles at the dormition of the all-glorious Ever-virgin,/
The all-pure Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord,/
And with thee was Dionysius, who described the hierarchies.//
With them we, the faithful, bless thy most festive and all-holy solemnity, O glorious Hierotheus.

VII. Glory … Now and Ever

Doxastikon of the Hieromartyr, in the Second Tone

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

When thou wast present at the divine dormition of the Mother of God, O blessed herald of God, thou didst gladden the hearts of the faithful with divine proclamations, delighting the sacred company of the apostles, the preachers of God, and hymning the mysteries of God with divine ecstasy. Wherefore, having received boldness before Christ, O hierarch Hierotheus, pray thou in behalf of our souls.

The Dogmatikon of the First Tone

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

Let us praise the Virgin Mary!
The gate of heaven, the glory of the world!
The song of the angels, the beauty of the faithful!
She was born of man, yet gave birth to God!
She was revealed as the heaven, as the temple of the Godhead!
She destroyed the wall of enmity!
She commenced the peace; she opened the Kingdom!
Since she is our foundation of faith,
our defender is the Lord Whom she bore!
Courage! Courage! O People of God!
For Christ will destroy our enemies//
since He is all powerful.

VIII. O Gladsome Light

There is no entrance with the censer.

All: 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 First Tone

We have been freed from sufferings
by Your suffering, O Christ.
We have been delivered from corruption
by Your Resurrection.//
O Lord, glory to You!

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

Let creation rejoice!
Let the heavens be glad!
Let the nations clap their hands with gladness,
for Christ our Savior has nailed our sins to the Cross.
Slaying death, He has given life.//
He has resurrected fallen Adam as the Lover of man.

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

As King of heaven and earth,
You were voluntarily crucified in Your love for man.
Hell was angered when it met You below.
Adam rose seeing You, the Creator, under the earth.
O wonder! How has the Life of all tasted death?
You enlightened the world which cries://
O Lord, Who rose from the dead, glory to You!

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

The myrrhbearing women came with haste to Your tomb,
bearing myrrh and lamenting.
Not finding Your most pure body,
they learned from the angel of the new and glorious wonder.
They told the Apostles://
“The Lord is risen, granting the world great mercy.”

XIV. Glory … Now and Ever

Theotokion of the Apostikha, in the First Tone

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

See, Isaias' prophecy has been fulfilled;
for as a Virgin You gave birth
and after bearing child remained as before bearing child.
For it was God who was born, therefore nature also is made new.
But, Mother of God, do not despise the supplications of Your servants,
offered to You in Your temple;
but since You carry the Compassionate in Your embrace,
take pity on Your servants, and intercede that our souls be saved.

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

Plain Chanted

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.

Plain Chanted

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 First Tone, Or Plain Chanted

All: When the stone had been sealed by the Jews,
while the soldiers were guarding Your most pure body,
You rose on the third day, O Savior,
granting life to the world.
The powers of heaven therefore cried to You, O Giver of Life:
“Glory to Your Resurrection, O Christ!
Glory to Your Kingdom!//
Glory to Your dispensation, O Lover of mankind!”

Troparion of the Hieromartyr, in the Fourth Tone, Or Plain Chanted

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

Having learned goodness and been watchful in all things, arrayed, as befitteth a priest, in a good conscience, thou didst draw forth ineffable things from the chosen vessel; and, having kept the Faith, thou didst complete a course like unto his. O hieromartyr Hierotheus, entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.

Resurrectional Theotokion, in the First Tone, Or Plain Chanted

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

See, Isaias' prophecy has been fulfilled;
for as a Virgin You gave birth
and after bearing child remained as before bearing child.
For it was God who was born, therefore nature also is made new.
But, Mother of God, do not despise the supplications of Your servants,
offered to You in Your temple;
but since You carry the Compassionate in Your embrace,
take pity on Your servants, and intercede that our souls be saved.

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.)