Here you will find the texts for various liturgical services. This page will be updated frequently.
Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, May 19th
Matins & Divine Liturgy
On May 19 in the Holy Orthodox Church, we commemorate the Hieromartyr Patrick, bishop of Prussa and his companions the priest-martyrs Acacius, Menander and Polyaenus. On this day, the third Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the feast of the holy Myrrh-bearing women. And we also commemorate Joseph of Arimathaea, the secret disciple, and Nicodemus, the disciple by night. Verses Christ is brought myrrh by the wise women disciples; And to them, I bring a hymn as myrrh in offering.
The women went to Christ’s tomb on Holy Pascha to anoint His body, only to discover it empty. We know the names of only eight of these women: Mary the Theotokos, the “mother” of James and Joses, who were the sons of Joseph the Betrothed from his previous marriage (Matt. 27:56 and Mark 15:40); Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Cleopas; Joanna the wife of Chuza; Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Susanna; and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. Joseph was a rich and noble man, and a member of the Privy Council of Jerusalem. He dared to ask Pilate for the undefiled body of our Savior, which he took and buried in his own new tomb. Accompanying Joseph to the sepulcher was Nicodemus, a Jerusalemite who was one of the leaders of the Pharisees. Nicodemus brought 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes to scent and embalm the body of Christ. By the intercessions of the holy Myrrh-bearers, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, and all Thy Saints, O Christ God, have mercy on us. Amen.
On May 26 in the Holy Orthodox Church, we commemorate the Apostle Karpos of the Seventy; and the Apostle Alphaeus and his children, Martyrs Abercius and Helen. On this day, the fourth Sunday of Pascha, we commemorate the Paralytic and, as is right, we celebrate the miracle wrought for him.
Verses The word of Christ was strength for the paralytic; So that this word alone was the man’s full healing.
Jesus healed the Paralytic at the Sheep’s Pool, located near the Sheep’s Gate of Jerusalem, where people sacrificed their beasts and washed their insides. The pool had five sides, with a porch and arch on each. A number of people, afflicted with various diseases, passed through them, waiting at the water for an angel to come down and stir it. Once it moved, whoever stepped into the water first was instantly healed. One poor man, whose story is recounted in today’s Gospel lection in the Divine Liturgy, waited 38 years for someone to lower him into the water, because he was unable to move into the water himself. However, the Savior merely commanded the man to get up and walk, and he was healed. In Thine infinite mercy, O Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.