SUNDAY, MAY 11 TONE

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4th Sunday of Pascha
Paralytic
[Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, First
Teachers of the Slavs] (transferred to Monday, May 12)

Priest: “Blessed is our God…” (or at Vigil: “Glory to the Holy,

Consubstantial…”)
Choir: “Amen.”
Priest: “Christ is risen… “ (2 ½ times)
Choir: “and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!”
(And then Psalm 103)

"Lord I Call..." Tone 3

Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me.

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

Let my prayer arise

in Thy sight as incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands
be an evening sacrifice.//
Hear me, O Lord.

V. (10) Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Thy
Name.

Tone 3 (for the Resurrection)

By Thy Cross, O Christ our Savior,

death’s dominion has been shattered;
the devil’s delusion destroyed.
The race of man, being saved by faith,//
always offers Thee a song.

V. (9) The righteous will surround me, for Thou wilt deal
bountifully with me.

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All has been enlightened by Thy Resurrection, O Lord.
Paradise has been opened again.
All creation, praising Thee,//
always offers Thee a song.

V. (8) Out of the depths I cry to Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my

voice!

I glorify the power of the Father and the Son.

I praise the authority of the Holy Spirit:
the undivided, uncreated Godhead,//
the consubstantial Trinity which reigns forever.

V. (7) Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my

supplications!

(Resurrection stichera by Anatolius)

We bow down in worship before Thy precious Cross, O Christ,

and we glorify and praise Thy Resurrection,//
for by Thy wounds we have all been healed.

V. (6) If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could

stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee.

We praise the Savior incarnate of the Virgin,

for He was crucified for our sake and resurrected on the third day,//
granting us great mercy.

V. (5) For Thy Name’s sake I wait for Thee, O Lord. My soul has
waited for Thy word; my soul has hoped on the Lord.

Christ descended to hell proclaiming the glad tidings:

“Behold! Now I have triumphed!
I am the Resurrection, I will lead you out,//
for I have shattered the gates of death!”

V. (4) From the morning watch until night, from the morning
watch, let Israel hope on the Lord!

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Standing unworthily in Thy most pure house, O Christ God,
we offer our evening song, crying from the depths:
Thou Who didst enlighten the world,
by Thy Resurrection on the third day,
O Lover of man, deliver Thy people//
from the hand of Thine enemies!

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

Tone 1 Idiomela (from the Pentecostarion)

With Thy pure hand, Thou didst create man,

and Thou didst come to heal the sick, O compassionate Christ.
By Thy word Thou didst raise the paralytic at the Sheep’s Pool,
and didst cure the pain of the woman with the issue of blood.
Thou hadst mercy on the daughter of the Canaanite woman,
and didst not reject the request of the centurion.
Therefore we cry to Thee://
“Glory to Thee, O almighty Lord!”

V. (2) Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise Him, all peoples!

(Repeat: “With Thy pure hand…”)

V. (1) For His mercy is confirmed on us, and the truth of the Lord
endures forever.

The Paralytic was like an unburied corpse.

He saw Thee and shouted: “Lord, have mercy on me!
My bed has become my grave! Why should I live?
What use is the Sheep’s Pool to me?
I have no one to put me into the pool when the waters are stirred,
but I come to Thee, O Fountain of healing.
Raise me up, that with all I may cry to Thee://
‘Glory to Thee, O almighty Lord!’”

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

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 Tone 5 (from the Pentecostarion)

Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He came to the Sheep’s Pool, called in Hebrew “Bethesda.”
It had five porches, each filled with a multitude of the sick,
for at certain times an angel of the Lord stirred up the water,
and granted strength to those who approached in faith.
There the Lord saw a man who for many years had been afflicted.
He said: “Dost thou want to be whole?”
The sick man replied to the Lord:
“I have no man to lower me into the pool when the water is stirred.
I have spent all my wealth on physicians,
but have not been granted mercy!”
Then the Physician of souls and bodies said to him:
“Take up thy bed and walk!//
Proclaim My power and great mercy to the ends of the earth!”

now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 3 (Theotokion – Dogmatikon)

How can we not wonder

at thy mystical childbearing, O exalted Mother?
For without receiving the touch of man,
thou gavest birth to a Son in the flesh, O immaculate Virgin.
The Son born of the Father before eternity
was born of thee at the fullness of time, O honored Lady.
He underwent no mingling, no change, no division,
but preserved the fullness of each nature.
Entreat Him, O Lady and Virgin and Mother,
to save the souls of those who, in the Orthodox manner, confess thee//
to be the Theotokos.

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 Litya
(If the rector desires the Litya, following the sticheron to the Patron
Saint of the Temple,
these stichera are sung)

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

Tone 5 (from the Pentecostarion)

A man lay sick by the Sheep’s Pool.

Seeing Thee, O Lord, he cried to Thee:
“There is no man 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 thee that I became Man;
because of thee I was clothed in mortal flesh.
Yet thou sayest: ‘I have no man!’
I tell thee, take up thy bed and walk!”
All things obey and submit to Thy power, O Lord!//
Remember us all, and have mercy, O holy Lover of man!

now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 5 (Theotokion)

O most precious Virgin,

thou art the gate, the temple,
the palace, the throne of the King.
From thee, my Redeemer, Christ the Lord,
appeared to those asleep in darkness.
He is the Sun of Righteousness,
Who desired to enlighten His image, whom He had created.
Since thou dost possess motherly boldness before Him, O all-praised
Lady,//
pray unceasingly that our souls may be saved!

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 Aposticha

Tone 3 (for the Resurrection)

The sun was darkened by Thy Passion, O Christ,

but all creation was enlightened by the light of Thy Resurrection.//
Accept our evening song, O Lover of man!

(Then the Paschal Stichera with their verses from Psalm 67)

V. Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; [let those who
hate Him flee from before His face!] (Ps. 67:1)

Tone 5

Today, a sacred Pascha is revealed to us:

a new and holy Pascha,
a mystical Pascha,
a Pascha worthy of veneration,
a Pascha which is Christ the Redeemer,
a blameless Pascha,
a great Pascha,
a Pascha of the faithful,
a Pascha which has opened for us the gates of Paradise,
a Pascha which sanctifies all the faithful.

V. As smoke vanishes so let them vanish; [as wax melts before

the fire!] (Ps. 67:2a)

Come from that scene, O women bearers of glad tidings,

and say to Zion:
“Receive from us the glad tidings of joy,
of Christ’s Resurrection!
Exult and be glad,
and rejoice, O Jerusalem,
seeing Christ the King, Who comes forth from the tomb
like a bridegroom in procession!”

V. So the sinners will perish before the face of God; but let the
righteous be glad! (Ps. 67:2b-3a)

The myrrh-bearing women,

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at the break of dawn,
drew near to the tomb of the Life-giver.
There they found an angel
sitting upon the stone.
He greeted them with these words:
“Why do you seek the Living among the dead?
Why do you mourn the Incorrupt amid corruption?
Go, proclaim the glad tidings to His disciples!”

V. This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be
glad in it!
(Ps. 117:24)

Pascha of beauty,
the Pascha of the Lord,
A Pascha worthy of all honor has dawned for us.
O Pascha!
Let us embrace each other joyously!
Pascha, ransom from affliction!
For today, as from a bridal chamber,
Christ has shone forth from the tomb,
and filled the women with joy saying:
“Proclaim the glad tidings to the Apostles!”

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

Tone 8 (from the Pentecostarion)

Solomon’s porch was filled with the sick.

In the middle of the feast,
Christ found a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years.
He shouted to him in a commanding voice:
“Dost thou want to be healed?”
The sick man replied: “Lord, when the water is stirred, I have no man
to lower me into the pool.”
The Lord said to him:
“Pick up thy bed!
Now that thou art healed, see that thou sin no more!”
Show to us Thy great mercy, O Lord,//
through the prayers of the Theotokos!
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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 Tone 5

This is the day of resurrection!

Let us be illumined by the feast!
Let us embrace each other!
Let us call Brothers even those that hate us,
and forgive all by the resurrection,
and so let us cry:

“Christ is risen from the dead,

trampling down death by death,
and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!” (once)

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(at Great Vespers)

Tone 3 Troparion(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//
great mercy.

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

Tone 3 Resurrectional Dismissal Theotokion

We praise thee as the mediatrix of our salvation,

O Virgin Theotokos.
For thy Son, our God, Who took flesh from thee,
accepted the Passion on the Cross,//
delivering us from corruption as the Lover of Man.

(at Vigil)

Tone 4 Troparion to the Theotokos

Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos,

Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb,//
for thou hast borne the Savior of our souls. (thrice)

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(at the Divine Liturgy)

Priest: “Blessed is the Kingdom…”

Choir: “Amen.”
Priest: “Christ is risen… “ (2 ½ times)
Choir: “and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!”
(The Divine Liturgy is begun in this manner until the Leavetaking of
Pascha.)

Tone 3 Troparion(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//
great mercy.

Tone 3 Kontakion (Pentecostarion)

By Thy divine intercession, O Lord,

as Thou didst raise up the Paralytic of old,
so raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts;
so that being saved I may sing to Thee://
“Glory to Thy power, O compassionate Christ!”

Tone 8 Kontakion (Pascha)

Thou didst descend into the tomb, O Immortal,

Thou didst destroy the power of death.
In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God,
proclaiming, “Rejoice!” to the Myrrhbearing Women,//
granting peace to Thine Apostles, and bestowing Resurrection on the
fallen.

Tone 1 Prokeimenon (Pentecostarion)

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us / as we have set our hope on Thee!
(Ps. 32:22)

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 V. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the just! (Ps.
32:1)
Epistle
(23) Acts 9:32-42

Tone 5
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

V. I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will

proclaim Thy truth from generation to generation. (Ps. 88:1-2)

V. For Thou hast said: Mercy will be established forever; Thy truth
will be prepared in the heavens. (Ps. 88:3)

Gospel
(14) John 5:1-15

(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,
thy 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 thee.
Exult now, and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O pure Theotokos,
in the Resurrection of thy Son!

Communion Hymn

Receive the Body of Christ; taste the fountain of immortality!

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! (Ps. 148:1)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

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Priest: “In the fear of God…”
Choir: “Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord… “
Priest: “O God, save Thy people… “
Choir: “Christ is risen from the dead… “ (sung once, instead of “We
have seen the True Light…)
Priest: “Always, now and ever…”
Choir: “Let our mouths be filled…”

At the Dismissal, the Priest says: “Glory to Thee, O Christ…” and the
choir sings “Christ is risen from the dead…” (thrice).

And unto us He has given eternal life.

Let us worship His Resurrection on the third day!

Prepared by the Department of Liturgical Music and Translations, Orthodox Church in

America.

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