Chapter 95

Tone Iii Eight Tones

V. As Mediator between God and man didst thou come, O Christ our God ; for through thee, O Lord, we have access from the night of ignorance unto thy Father, the Author of Light. R. and Hs.

VI. Wallowing in the abyss of sin, I appeal unto the abyss unfathomable of thy loving-kindness. Raise thou me up from corruption, O God. R.andHs.

VII. The impious command of the cruel tyrant forced the flame on high ; but Christ, the One who Existeth, blessed and most glorious, bore unto the God-fearing Children spiritual dew. Blessed and most glorious is he. R. and Hs.

VIII. The fiery furnace of old in Babylon divided in twain its action, by the command of God consuming the Chaldaeans, but sprinkling with dew the faithful who sang : O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord. R. and Hs.

IX. The Son of the Begetter who hath no beginning, both God and the Lord, hath revealed himself unto us incarnate of a Virgin, to illumine those who sat’ in darkness, and to gather together those who were scattered abroad : for which cause we magnify the all-hymned Birthgiver of God. R. and Hs.

TONE III. Verses and Hymns for : Lord, I have cried unto thee.

By thy cross, O Christ our Saviour, the dominion of death hath been destroyed and the delusion of the Devil overthrown ; the generation of men also, being saved by faith, doth offer unto thee a perpetual song.

All things have been illumined by thy Resurrection, O Lord, and Paradise hath been opened once again ; and all creation extolling thee doth offer unto thee a perpetual song.

I glorify the might of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit I sing the power; the Godhead, undivided, uncreated, the Trinity of one Essence, who reigneth unto ages of ages.

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

Hymn to the Birth-giver of God (Dogmdtik). How can we. refrain from wonder at thy human-divine birth-Giving, O All-August One? For though thou receivedst not the embrace of man, O All-Undefiled One, yet didst thou bear, without a father, a son in the flesh born of the Father without mother before the ages : who suffered no change, neither mingling nor division, but preserved intact the peculiar natures of both. Wherefore, O Maiden Mother, Sovereign Lady, beseech thou him that the souls of those may be saved who, in the true faith, confess thee to be the Birth-giver of God.

Hymn (Tropdr). Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for the Lord hath showed strength with his arm ; he hath trampled down Death by death ; he is become the first-born of the dead ; from the