APRIL 30
Holy Apostle James, the brother of St John the Theologian
"Lord I Call..." Tone 8
Lord, I call upon You, hear me!
Hearme, O Lord!
Lord, I call upon You, hear me!
Receive the voice of my prayer,
when I call upon You!//
Hearme, O Lord!
Let my prayer arise
in Your sight as incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands
be an evening sacrifice!//
Hearme, O Lord!
v. (8) Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Tone 8(from the Pentecostarion) (O most glorious wonder)
O most glorious wonder!
The Creator of all became a Beggar,
clothing Himself in our fleshly nature.
In His compassion He wished to live with mankind.
He showed the Hebrews a multitude of wonders:
He healed the paralytic in Bethsaida, saying to him://
“Rise, take up your bed and walk!”
v. (7) Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Wishing to raise up fallen mortals,
my Lord, my Savior and God, wandered over the earth.
In His compassion He healed the diseases of all;
He passed by the Sheep's Pool
and by a word revealed Himself//
to a man paralyzed thirty-eight years.
v. (6) If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But thereis forgiveness with You.
O Lord, the Jews were poisoned with envy.
Your good works became fuel for their madness.
They had always been transgressors of the Law.
Now they seek to kill You, the true Life,
because You made a man whole on the Sabbath,//
who before had been paralyzed.
v. (5) For Your name's sake I have waited for You, O Lord, my soul has waited for Your word; my soul has hoped on the Lord.
Tone 4 (for Apostle James) (As one valiant among the martyrs)
You drew men up from the depths of vanity
with a fisher's rod of grace.
You obeyed the commands of the Teacher, O worthy James,
Who enlightened all your thoughts
and revealed you as an Apostle and holy preacher,//
expounding His incomprehensible divinity, O mostblessed one.
v. (4) From the morning watch until night, from the morning, watch let Israel hope on the Lord!
(Repeat: “You drew men up from the depths …” )
v. (3) For with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is plenteous redemption, and He will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.
The illumination of the Spirit descended on you in the form of fire
and made you a divine vessel, O blessed one,
dispelling with power the darkness of godlessness;
enlightening the world with the brightness of your all-wise words,
O preacher of mysteries, leader of the Apostles,//
James, the eye-witness of Christ.
v. (2) Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise Him, all peoples!
(Repeat: “The illumination of the Spirit …” )
v. (1) For His mercy is abundant towards us; and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
You illumined those lying in the darkness of ignorance
with the lightning flash of your preaching, O glorious James.
You revealed them to be sons, through faith, of the Master and God
Whose passion and death you imitated with zeal.
You became an heir of the glory, O wiseone,//
as one speaking from God, and a most faithful disciple.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
Tone 8(from the Menaion, for Apostle James)
Come, let us praise James with hymns of psalms:
the preacher of heavenly mysteries and expounder of the Gospel;
for he was revealed as a river of the mystical Paradise,
watering spiritual furrows with heavenly streams,
revealing them to bear fruit to ChristGod,//
Who, by his prayers, grants cleansing, enlightenment and great mercy.
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Tone 5(from the Pentecostarion)
A man lay sick by the Sheep's Pool.
Seeing You, O Lord, he cried to You:
“There is noman to lower me into the pool when the water is stirred.
Another always goes before me and receives healing,
while I lie here in misery.”
Immediately the Savior was moved to pity, and said to him:
“It was for you that I became Man;
because of you I was clothed in mortal flesh.
Yet you say: ‘I have no man!’
I tell you, take up Your bed and walk!”
All things obey and submit to Your power, O Lord!//
Remember us all, and have mercy, O holy Lover of mankind!
Readings
James 1:1-12
James 1:13-27
James 2:1-13
Holy Apostle James, the brother of St John the Theologian
Aposticha
Tone 8 (from the Menaion, for Apostle James) (O most glorious wonder)
O blessed, God-seer James,
after you listened to the voice of the Word,
you paid no heed to the service and customs of your father,
for you left behind the life of earthly cares
and passed over the spiritual sea.
You stirred its depths with the precepts of godliness
and with your heavenly thunder,//
O Apostle most blessed of God.
v. Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the universe. (Ps 18/19:4).
All-blessed James, by your deeds you served the Word,
the Cause of life and of the future age.
Truly you deprived Israel of its first-born privilege,
when it forsook the worship of the trueGod,//
while recalling it to sonship as the new Israel.
v: The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork. (Ps 18/19:1)
You are now appointed a prince over all the earth,
as it is written of you, O glorious one,
since you became a disciple of the Creator of all.
In fervent zeal, you suffered murder by the transgressor's sword,//
which took you from the revered company of the twelve Apostles.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
Tone 1(from the Menaion,for St James)
You followed Christ and despised the world,
keeping His teachings in your treasury, O godly James.
You were revealed to be His Apostle.
Therefore, going to the nations with the commandments of the Savior,
you enlightened the souls in the darkness of delusion and passion,//
that they might believe in the consubstantial Trinity.
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Tone 1(from the Pentecostarion)
With Your pure hand, You created mankind;
You came to heal the sick, O compassionate Christ.
By Your word You raised the paralytic at the Sheep's Pool.
You cured the woman of her painful hemorrhage.
You had mercy on the Canaanite woman's daughter.
You did not reject the centurion's request.
Therefore we cry to You://
“Glory to You, O almighty Lord!”
------
(at Great Vespers)
Tone 3Troparion(Resurrection)
Let the heavens rejoice!
Let the earth be glad!
For the Lord has shown strength with His arm.
He has trampled down death by death.
He has become the first born of the dead.
He has delivered us from the depths of hell,
and has granted to the world//
greatmercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
Tone 3*Troparion(Apostle James)
O holy Apostle James,
entreat the merciful God//
to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions!
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Tone 3ResurrectionalDismissal Theotokion
We praise you as the mediatrix of our salvation,
Virgin Theotokos.
For your Son, our God, Whotook flesh from you,
accepted the Passion on the Cross,//
delivering us from corruption as the Lover of Man.
Holy Apostle James, the brother of St John the Theologian
(at the Divine Liturgy)
Tone 3Troparion(Resurrection)
Let the heavens rejoice!
Let the earth be glad!
For the Lord has shown strength with His arm.
He has trampled down death by death.
He has become the first born of the dead.
He has delivered us from the depths of hell,
and has granted to the world//
greatmercy.
Tone 3*Troparion(Apostle James)
O holy Apostle James,
entreat the merciful God//
to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions!
Tone 2 Kontakion(Apostle James)
O James, when you heard the voice of the Word calling you,
you abandoned your father’s love and ran to Christ, together with your
brother John.
With him you were accounted worthy//
to behold the divine Transfiguration of Christ.
Tone 3 Kontakion(from the Pentecostarion)
By Your divine intercession, O Lord,
as You raised up the Paralytic of old,
so raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts;
so that being saved I may sing to You://
“Glory to Your power, O compassionate Christ!”
Tone 8Kontakion(Pascha)
You descended into the tomb, O Immortal,
You destroyed the power of death.
In victory You arose, O Christ God,
proclaiming: “Rejoice!”to the MyrrhbearingWomen,//
granting peace to YourApostles, and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.
Tone 1Prokeimenon(Resurrection)
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us as we have set our hope on You!
(Ps 32/33:22)
v: Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the just! (Ps 32/33:1)
Tone 8Prokeimenon
Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the
ends of the universe! (Ps 18/19:4)
Epistle
Acts 12:1-11 (St James)
Tone 5
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
v: I will sing of Your mercies, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your truth from generation to generation. (Ps 88/89:1)
v: For You have said: “Mercy will be established forever; Your truth will be
prepared in the heavens.” (Ps 88/89:2)
Tone 1
v:The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; and Your truth in the congregation of the saints. (Ps 88/89:5)
Gospel
Luke 5:1-11 (St James)
(Instead of “It is truly meet …,” we sing:)
The Angel cried to the Lady, full of grace:
“Rejoice, O pure Virgin! Again, I say: ‘Rejoice,
your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
With Himself He has raised all the dead.’”
Rejoice, O ye people!
Shine, shine, O New Jerusalem!
The glory of the Lord has shone on you.
Exult now, and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O pure Theotokos,
in the Resurrection of your Son!
Communion Hymn
Receive the Body of Christ; taste the fountain of immortality!
Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the
ends of the universe! (Ps 18/19:4)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
* (Another Troparion for the Holy Apostle James)
Tone 8Troparion(St James)
You were called to be a disciple and warrior of Christ, one of the exalted
choir of Apostles.
With your brother John, you abandoned all to follow the Master, O James;
you were filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed Him to all.
You bowed your head to the sword, the first of the twelve to shed your
blood!//
We celebrate your memory, O blessed one!
Liturgical texts for this service represent modified versions of translations provided by Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery, Otego, New York and St. Tikhon’s Monastery, South Canaan, Pa. The Department of Liturgical Music and Translations of the Orthodox Church in America expresses its gratitude to Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery and St. Tikhon’s Monastery and to those translators whose work has been consulted at times in the course of reviewing and modifying these texts to their present form:Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash), Archimandrite Juvenaly, Father Benedict Churchill, Isaac Lambertson, St. Vladimir’s Seminary, and Holy Transfiguration Monastery, among others.
1