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Vespers of Entombment of Holy and Great Friday

The whole creation was changed by fear,
when it saw you, O Christ, hanging on the cross.
The sun was darkened,
and the foundations of the earth were shaken.
All things suffered with the Creator of all.
Of your own will You have endured this for our sakes.
O Lord, glory to you!

Today the most pure Virgin
saw you hanging on the Cross, O Word,
and with a mother's love, she wept,
and bitterly her heart was wounded,
She groaned in anguish from the depth of her soul.
And in her grief she struck her face
and tore her hair,
and beating her breast, she cried lamenting:
"Woe is me, my Divine Child!
Woe is me, O Light of the world!
Why do you vanish from my sight, O Lamb of God?"
Then the hosts of angels were seized with trembling, and they said:
"O Lord beyond our understanding, glory to you!"

A dread and marvellous mystery we see come to pass this day:* He whom none may touch is seized.
He who looses Adam from the curse is bound.
He who tries the hearts and inner thoughts of man
is unjustly brought to trial.
He who closes the abyss is shut in prison,
He before whom the powers of heaven stand,
with trembling stands before Pilate.
The Creator is struck by the hand of His creature,
He who comes to judge the living and the dead
is condemned to the Cross,
the Destroyer of hell is enclosed in a tomb.
O You who endure all these things in Your tender love
who have saved all men from the curse,
O long-suffering Lord,
glory to You!

PROKIMEN I - (Tone 4):
They parted my garments among them,
and cast lots upon my vesture.

PROKIMEN III - (Tone 6)
They laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places,
and in the shadow of death.

When You, the Redeemer of all
were laid for the sake of all in a new tomb,
hell was brought to scorn,
and seeing You, drew back in fear.
The bars were broken and the gates were shattered,
the tombs were opened and the dead arose.
Then Adam in thanksgiving and rejoicing cried to You:
" Glory to Your self-abasement, O Lover of Mankind!"

The powers of heaven beheld You, O Christ,
falsely accused by lawless men as a deceiver,
and they saw the stone before the tomb
sealed by the hands
which had pierced Your most pure side,
and they were filled with fear at Your ineffable forbearance.
Yet, rejoicing at our salvation,
they cried aloud to You:
"Glory to Your self-abasement, O Lover of Mankind!"

Noble Joseph
The noble Joseph
took Your most pure Body
down from the Cross.
He wrapped it in a clean linen
with aromatic spices
and sadly laid it in a new tomb.

For further Explanation on the Vespers of Entombmnt, cf. The webpages for Great Week

Ukrainian version
Українська версія

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