For use by the Laity at home
Sunday 6th April 2025
5th of Great Lent, Sunday of St Mary of Egypt
The whole service may be prayed by an individual. If more than one person is present, one of them is designated ‘Reader’ and says or chants the text in normal type. The others respond with the text in bold. Or the rôle of Reader could be shared.
The mark + indicates that the Sign of the Cross is made here.
All stand
+ Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. (x3)
In the Paschal Season say instead: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down Death by death; and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! (x3)
+ Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; both now and for ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (x3)
+ Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
+ Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
+ Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us, and save us. Amen.
The Typical Psalms and The Beatitudes
Psalm 102 Bless the Lord, my soul. Blessed are you, Lord. Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget none of his benefits. He forgives all your iniquities; he heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from corruption and crowns you with mercy and compassion. He satisfies your desire with good things; your youth will be renewed like an eagle’s. The Lord performs deeds of mercy and judgement for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his wishes to the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy. He will not always be wrathful, nor will he be enraged for ever. He has not dealt with us according to our iniquities, nor rewarded us according to our sins. For, like the height of heaven above the earth, the Lord has made his mercy prevail over those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he taken our sins from us. As a father takes pity on his children the Lord has taken pity on those who fear him. For he knows of what we are made; has remembered that we are but dust. As for man, his days are but as grass, he will blossom like a flower of the field. For when a wind has passed over it, it will be no more and will know its place no longer. But the mercy of the Lord is for ever and ever upon those who fear him. And his justice is upon their children’s children, Upon those who keep his covenant, who remember his commandments and do them. The Lord has prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, all you his Angels, powerful in strength, who perform his word and listen to the voice of his words. Bless the Lord, all you his Powers, his Ministers who do his will. Bless the Lord, all you his works. In every place of his dominion, bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord, have mercy. (x12)
+ Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us, and save us. Amen.
+ Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit …
Psalm 145 Praise the Lord, my soul. I shall praise the Lord while I live; I shall sing to my God as long as I exist. Do not trust in rulers and in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His breath shall go out of him, and he shall return to his earth; On that day all his thoughts shall perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob; His hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, Who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the wronged, who provides food for the hungry. The Lord frees those bound. The Lord restores those broken down. The Lord gives wisdom to the blind. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord keeps watch over strangers. He shall adopt the orphan and the widow, but he shall destroy the way of sinners. The Lord shall reign for ever: your God, Zion, to all generations.
… both now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Only begotten Son and Word of God, being immortal, you condescended for our salvation to take flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary and, without change, became man. Christ, our God, you were crucified and conquered death by death. Being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit: save us.
Lord, have mercy. (x12)
+ Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us, and save us. Amen.
The Beatitudes In your kingdom remember us, Lord, when you come in your kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
The Epistle and Gospel are said, not chanted. The Prokeimenon and Alleluias are omitted.
The Epistle
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews.
When Christ came as the High Priest of the good things to come, it was through the greater and more perfect Tent not made by human hands, that is, not of this creation, and it was not with the blood of goats and bullocks but with his own blood that he entered the Holy Place once and for all having obtained everlasting redemption. For if sprinkling the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sanctifies, purifying the flesh of those who are defiled, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself blameless to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:11-14
The Gospel
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark.
The disciples were on the road going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking ahead of them, and they were following behind, bewildered and afraid. Once again he took the Twelve and began to tell them what was about to happen to him. ‘Understand that we are going up to Jerusalem, and that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death, then hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and flog him and spit on him and kill him; and on the third day he will rise.’ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.’ He asked them, ‘What is it that you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Grant to us that in your glory we may sit, one on your right and one on your left.’ But Jesus told them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised?’ They said to him, ‘We can.’ Jesus told them, ‘You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised, but to sit on my right and left is not mine to grant. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard, they were angry with James and John. Jesus called them to him, telling them, ‘You know that those who are supposed to rule the nations lord it over them and that their important people wield authority over them? Well it shall not be like that with you. Instead, anyone who wants to be of importance among you is to be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you is to be everyone’s slave. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
Mark 10:32-45
The heavenly choir praises you saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Come to him and be enlightened and your faces shall not be ashamed. The heavenly choir praises you saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of your glory.
+ Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit …
The choir of holy Angels and Archangels with all the Heavenly Powers praises you saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of your glory.
… both now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
The Creed I believe in one God, Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages. Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father; through him all things were made; for our sake and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man; he was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; he rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; he is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and his kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with Father and Son is together worshipped and glorified; who spoke through the Prophets. And in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins; I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Penitential Prayer Forgive, remit, pardon, O God, our sins, both voluntary and involuntary, in deed and word, in knowledge and ignorance, committed by night and by day, in mind and thought. Forgive us them all, for you are good and the lover of mankind.
The Lord’s Prayer + Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
+ Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us, and save us. Amen.
Kontakion
For the Transfiguration in Tone 7
You were transfigured on the mountain, Christ God, and your disciples saw your glory as far as they were able; so that when they saw you crucified they might understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you are truly the brightness of the Father.
Lord, have mercy. (x40)
The Prayer of the Hours At every time and at every hour, in heaven and on earth worshipped and glorified, Christ God, long-suffering, great in mercy, great in compassion, loving the just and merciful to sinners, calling all to salvation by the promise of the good things to come; do you, Lord, yourself accept our entreaties at this hour, and direct our lives to your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our ideas and deliver us from every distress, evil, and pain. Wall us about with your holy Angels, that protected and guided by their host we may reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of your unapproachable glory; for you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (x3)
+ Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
More honourable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, who without corruption gave birth to God the Word, truly the Mother of God, we magnify you.
+ Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy upon us and save us. Amen.
Psalm 33 I will bless the Lord continually; his praise will always be in my mouth. My soul will be praised in the Lord; let the meek hear it and rejoice. Magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me, and delivered me from all my afflictions. Come to him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his afflictions. The angel of the Lord will encamp round those who fear him, and deliver them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed the one who hopes in him! Fear the Lord, all you his holy ones, for those who fear him never want. The rich have become poor and gone hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not be deprived of any good. Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is there who wants life, loves to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the just, and his ears towards their supplication. The Lord’s face is set against those who do evil, to destroy their memory from the earth. The just cried and the Lord heard them, and delivered them from all their afflictions. The Lord is close to those who are broken-hearted, and will save the humble in spirit. The afflictions of the just are many, but the Lord will deliver them from them all. The Lord guards all their bones; not one of them will be broken. The death of sinners is evil, and those who hate the just will go astray. The Lord will rescue the souls of his servants, and no one of those who hope in him will go astray.
The Apolytikia
For the Resurrection in Tone 8You descended from on high, O compassionate One, and consented to a three-day burial to free us from the passions. O Lord, our life and resurrection, glory to You.
For the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent in Tone 8
In you, O Mother, is preserved undistorted what was made in the image of God; for taking up the cross you followed Christ, and by example taught that we should overlook the flesh, since it passes away, and instead look after the soul, since it is immortal. And therefore, O devout Mary, your spirit rejoices with the angels.
For Saint Constantine the Patron of the Parish in Tone 8
Constantine, who is your Apostle among kings, O Lord, having witnessed with his own eyes the sign of your Cross in heaven, and like Paul having accepted your call without human intervention, entrusted the royal city to your hands, delivering it with safety for all time by the intercessions of the Theotokos; you who alone are the lover of us all.
The Theotokion It is truly fitting to bless you, Theotokos, ever-blessed and all-blameless, and Mother of our God. + More honourable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim; you who without corruption gave birth to God the Word, very Mother of God, we magnify you.
The Dismissal + Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy and save us. Amen.
In the Paschal Season say instead: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down Death by death; and upon those in the tombs… …bestowing life!