_The priest beginneth_, Blessed be our God.... _Then_, Trisagion. _After_
Our Father.... _the troparion of the day_.
_Then, ectenia._
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
For the peace that is from above....
For the peace of the whole world....
For this holy temple....
For the servants of God, _name_, and, _name_, and for their protection by
God and mutual life, let us pray to the Lord.
That they may live together virtuously in unanimity, let us pray to the
Lord.
Help us, save us, have mercy....
Commemorating our most holy, most pure, most blessed....
For to thee is due....
_Then_, Let us pray to the Lord.
_Priest, the prayer._
O God eternal, who bringest things that are divided unto unity, and
imposest upon these two an indissoluble bond of love, who didst bless
Isaac and Rebecca, and declare them to be the inheritors of thy promise;
do thou thyself also bless these thy servants, _name_, and, _name_,
directing them in every good work.
For a merciful and man-loving God thou art, and to thee we ascribe glory,
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and
to ages of ages. Amen.
_Priest._ Peace to all.
_Deacon._ Bow your heads to the Lord.
_Priest, the prayer._
O Lord our God, who hast espoused the church as a pure virgin from among
the gentiles; do thou bless these espousals, and unite and keep these
thy servants in peace and unanimity.
For to thee is due all glory, honour, and worship, to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to ages of ages.
_Then the priest, taking the rings, giveth first the golden one to the
man, and the silver one to the woman, and saith to the man,_
The servant of God, _name_, is betrothed to the handmaid of God, _name_,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
_And in like manner to the woman_, The handmaid of God, _name_, is
betrothed to the servant of God, _name_, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
_And he maketh a cross with the rings upon their heads, and placeth them
on the fingers of their right hands. Then the sponsor changeth the rings
of the bridal pair._
_After this, the deacon._ Let us pray to the Lord.
_Priest, the prayer._
Master, Lord our God, who sparest all, and providest for all, who knowest
the secrets of men, having knowledge of all things; do thou cleanse
our sins, and pardon the transgression of thy servants, calling them
to repentance: vouchsafe unto them remission of iniquities, cleansing
of sins, pardon of voluntary and involuntary transgressions, O thou
that knowest the weakness of human nature, thou Fashioner and Creator.
O thou who didst forgive Raab the harlot, and accept the repentance of
the publican, remember not our sins of ignorance from our youth up. For
if thou, O Lord, shouldest mark transgressions, who should stand before
thee, O Lord? or what flesh should be justified in thy sight? For thou
only art just, sinless, holy, of abundant mercy, plenteous beneficence,
and repentest thee concerning the evils of men. Do thou thyself, O
Master, who claimest thy servants, _name_, _name_, unite them to one
another in love; give unto them the conversion of the publican, the tears
of the harlot, and the confession of the thief, that, through repentance
from all their heart, performing thy commandments in unanimity and peace,
they may be counted worthy of thy heavenly kingdom.
For thou art the provider for all, and to thee we ascribe glory....
_Priest._ Peace to all.
_Deacon._ Bow your heads to the Lord.
_And this prayer._
O Lord Jesus Christ, Word of God, who wast lifted up upon the precious
and life-effecting cross, and didst tear up the handwriting that was
against us, and deliver us from the power of the devil; do thou cleanse
the transgressions of thy servants, for, unable to bear the burden and
the heat of the day, and the burning of the flesh, they are come to a
second community of marriage, in accordance with that which thou hast
lawfully appointed by thy chosen vessel, Paul, the apostle, saying,
because of our low estate, It is better to marry in the Lord than to
burn. Do thou thyself, as being good and man-loving, have mercy and
pardon, cleanse, remit, and forgive our debts; for thou art he that took
our weaknesses on thy shoulders: for there is none sinless, or without
defilement for even one day of his life: thou only art the one who didst
bear flesh sinlessly, and thou bestowest upon us eternal passionlessness.
For thou art God, the God of the penitent, and to thee we ascribe glory,
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and
to ages of ages.
_People._ Amen.
Let us pray to the Lord.
_Priest, the prayer._
O holy God, who didst form man from the dust, and from his rib didst
fashion woman, and yoke her unto him a helpmeet for him, because so it
was seemly unto thy majesty for man not to be alone upon the earth;
do thou thyself, now, O Master, stretch forth thy hand from thy holy
dwelling-place, and conjoin this thy servant, _name_, and this thine
handmaid, _name_; for by thee a woman is conjoined to a husband. Yoke
them together in unanimity, crown them in one flesh, bestow on them fruit
of the womb, and the gain of well-favoured children.
For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom, and the power....
_And, taking the crowns, he crowneth the bridegroom, saying,_
The servant of God, _name_, is crowned for the handmaid of God, _name_,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
_In like manner he crowneth also the bride, saying,_
The handmaid of God, _name_, is crowned for the servant of God, _name_,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
_Then he blesseth them, saying thrice,_
O Lord our God, crown them with glory and honour.
_Then he saith the epistle and gospel, as they are written in the first
coronation. Vide page 67._
_Then the deacon._
Let us all say with our whole soul....
O Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers....
Have mercy upon us, O God....
Furthermore let us pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, and
visitation for the servants of God, _names_, _and he commemorateth whom
he wisheth_.
_Exclamation._ For a merciful....
_Deacon._ Let us pray to the Lord.
_Priest, this prayer._
O Lord our God, who, in thy saving providence, didst vouchsafe in Cana
of Galilee to declare marriage honourable by thy presence; do thou now
thyself preserve in peace and unanimity thy servants, _name_, and,
_name_, whom thou art well-pleased should be conjoined to one another:
declare their marriage honourable: preserve their bed undefiled: be
pleased that their mutual life may be unblamable, and count them worthy
to attain unto a ripe old age, keeping thy commandments in a pure heart.
For thou art our God, the God to have mercy and to save, and to thee we
ascribe glory, with thine unbeginning Father, and with thine all-holy,
and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages.
Amen.
_Deacon._
Help us, save us, have mercy....
That the whole day may be perfect, holy....
An angel of peace, a faithful....
Pardon and forgiveness of our sins....
What is good and profitable for our souls....
That the remaining time of our life....
A christian end of our life....
Having prayed for the unity of the faith, and the communion....
_The priest exclaimeth,_
And count us worthy, O Master....
_People._ Our Father....
_Priest_, For thine is the kingdom....
Amen.
_Priest._ Peace to all.
Bow your heads to the Lord.
_Then the common cup is brought, and the priest blesseth it, and saith
this prayer._
O God, who by thy might createst all things, and confirmest the universe,
and adornest the crown of all things created by thee; do thou, with thy
spiritual blessing, bless also this common cup given for the community of
marriage unto them that are conjoined.
_With a loud voice,_
For blessed is thy name, and glorified thy kingdom....
_Then the priest, taking in his hand the common cup, giveth them to drink
thrice, first to the man, and then to the woman. And straightway the
priest, taking them, leadeth them in the form of a circle, and singeth in
tone v,_
Rejoice, O Esaias, the virgin is with child, and bringeth forth a son,
Emmanuel, God and man: the orient is his name, whom magnifying, we call
the virgin blessed.
_Another, tone vii._
O holy martyrs, who valiantly contended and are crown’d; pray ye the Lord
for mercy on our souls.
Glory to thee, Christ God, apostles’ boast and martyrs’ joy, whose
preaching was the consubstantial Trinity.
_And, taking the crown from the bridegroom, he saith,_
Be thou magnified, O bridegroom, as Abraham, and blessed as Isaac, and
increased as Jacob, walking in peace, and performing in righteousness the
commandments of God.
_And, taking the crown from the bride, he saith,_
And thou, O bride, be thou magnified as Sara, and rejoiced as Rebecca,
and increased as Rachel, being glad in thy husband, and keeping the paths
of the law, for so God is well pleased.
Let us pray to the Lord.
_Then the prayer._
O God, our God, who wast present in Cana of Galilee, and didst bless
the marriage there; do thou bless also these thy servants, who, by thy
providence, are conjoined in the community of marriage. Bless their
incomings and outgoings, replenish their life with good things, accept
their crowns in thy kingdom unsullied and undefiled, and preserve them
without offence to ages of ages.
_Choir._ Amen.
_Priest._ Peace to all.
Bow your heads to the Lord.
_And he prayeth._
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the all-holy, and
consubstantial, and life-originating Trinity, one Godhead and
sovereignty, bless you, and vouchsafe unto you long life, well-favoured
children, progress in life and faith, and replenish you with all the good
things of the earth, and count you worthy of the obtaining of promised
blessings, through the prayers of the holy God-bearing one, and of all
the Saints. Amen.
_Then they come and congratulate them, and they kiss one another. And the
dismissal is made._
He that by his presence in Cana of Galilee declared marriage to be
honourable, Christ our true God, through the prayers of his most pure
Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all-praised apostles; of the holy
god-crowned sovereigns and equals of the apostles, Constantine and Helen;
of the holy great-martyr Procopius, and of all the Saints, have mercy
upon us and save us, as being good and the lover of mankind.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_Chapter XIII._
THE ORDER OF HOLY UNCTION SUNG BY SEVEN PRIESTS ASSEMBLED IN A CHURCH OR
IN A HOUSE.
_A table is prepared, and on this they place the holy gospel and a dish
of wheat, and on the wheat an empty oil cruet, and round it in the wheat
seven twigs wrapped with cotton wool for the anointing; and they give
tapers to all the priests. And, all standing round the table vested in
phelonia, the first of the priests taketh the censer with incense, and
censeth the table upon which the oil is round about, and all the church,
or the house, and the people; and, standing before the table, looking
towards the east, he beginneth,_
Blessed be our God.... _And_ Trisagion. O most holy Trinity.... Our
Father.... For thine is the kingdom.... Lord, have mercy, _xii_. O come,
let us worship.... _thrice_.
_And psalm cxlii._ O Lord hear my prayer....
Glory. Both now. Alleluia, _thrice_.
_And the deacon, the ectenia._
Again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord.
Help us, save us, have mercy....
Commemorating our most holy, most pure, most blessed....
_Priest._ For to thee is due....
_Choir._ Amen.
_And straightway they sing Alleluia in tone vi._
_Verse i._ O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in
thy fury.
_Verse ii._ Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak.
_Then troparia._
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; for, destitute of all
defence, we sinners offer unto thee, as Master, this prayer, Have mercy
upon us.
_Glory._
O Lord, have mercy upon us; for we have put our trust in thee. Be not
exceedingly wroth against us, neither remember our transgressions; but,
as being loving-kind, look now upon us, and deliver us from our enemies:
for thou art our God, and we are thy people, we are all the work of thy
hand, and we call upon thy name.
_Both now._
Open unto us the gates of loving-kindness, O blessed God-bearing one,
that we perish not who put our trust in thee, but through thee may we be
delivered from calamities; for thou art the salvation of the christian
race.
_After this_, Have mercy upon me, O God....
_And the canon, whereof the acrostic is,_
A song of prayer oil by Arsenius.
_Ode i. Irmos. Tone iv._
Through the red sea’s depth....
O Master, who with oil of loving-kindness dost mortals’ souls and bodies
alway tranquilize, and them that faithful be preserv’st with oil; do thou
thyself now have compassion upon those approaching thee by means of oil.
The earth, O Master, is of thy mercy full. Therefore to-day anointed with
thy sacred precious oil, in faith we pray thee to bestow thy mercy that
surpasseth thought on us.
_Glory._
O lover of mankind, who mercifully thine apostles didst command to
minister thy priestly unction on thine ailing servants; do thou, at their
entreaties, through thy seal, have mercy upon all.
_Both now._
O only pure one, who didst bear the boundless sea of peace, by thine
entreaties alway unto God, thy servant free from ailings and from griefs,
that he may magnify thee ceaselessly.
_Ode iii. Irmos._
In thee thy church is glad....
Thou that alone art wonderful to faithful men, merciful Christ, grant
from on high thy grace to him that suffereth grievously.
O Lord, who once, for thy divine token that the flood had ceas’d, didst
shew an olive branch, in mercy save the afflicted one.
_Glory._
With a lamp of light divine, in mercy lighten him, O Christ, who now, in
faith through the anointing, to thy mercy maketh speed.
_Both now._
O Mother of the Maker of all things, look from on high with favour, and
release, by thine entreaties, the sufferer from his bitter pain.
_Kathisma, tone viii._
_Like_, The pastoral reed....
Thou that art a divine river of mercy, a depth of abundant sympathy, O
compassionate one; manifest the divine streams of thy mercy, and heal
all: let the springs of wonders flow plenteously, and wash all; for, ever
betaking ourselves to thee, we fervently entreat thy grace.
_Another, tone iv._
_Like_, Thou that wast lifted up....
Physician and helper of them that are in sufferings, redeemer and Saviour
of them that are in sicknesses; do thou thyself, O Master and Lord of
all, grant healing unto thine afflicted servant: have compassion and
mercy upon him who hath greatly offended, and deliver him, O Christ, from
iniquities, that he may glorify thy divine power.
_Ode iv. Irmos._
Seeing thee lifted up....
Thou, Saviour, that, as myrrh corruptless, dost, through thy grace,
thyself outpour and cleanse the world; compassionate be, yea, merciful to
him, who doth, in faith divine, the body’s sores anoint.
With the tranquility of thy mercy’s seal, O Master, sign now the senses
of thy servants, and make the way thereto accessless and approachless to
all opposing powers.
_Glory._
Thou who dost bid that thy divine hierurgists be call’d to them whose
strength hath fail’d, and these by prayer and unction with thine oil to
save; do thou, O lover of mankind, save, by thy mercy, the afflicted one.
_Both now._
Most holy and God-bearing ever-virgin, strong shelter and defence, thou
ladder and thou wall, have mercy and compassion on the sufferer; for he
hath fled to thee, and thee alone.
_Ode v. Irmos._
Thou, Lord, my light....
Thou, good one, that art mercy’s depth, do thou, O merciful, have
mercy, in thy mercifulness divine, on him that suffereth; for thou art
loving-kind.
Sanctifying unspeakably from on high, O Christ, our souls and bodies with
the divine impression of thy seal, with thine own hand heal all.
_Glory._
O most good Lord, who, through thine untold love, acceptedst
myrrh-anointing from the sinful woman; compassionate thy servant.
_Both now._
All-praised, pure, and most good Queen, have mercy upon them that are
anointed with the oil divine, and save thy servant.
_Ode vi. Irmos._