Great and eternal God, Holy, loving of mankind, who has made us worthy at this hour to stand before Thy unapproachable glory, to sing and praise Thy wonders, cleanse us Thy unworthy servants, and grant us the grace of a contrite heart to bring Thee the Trisagion of praise and thanksgiving to Thy great gifts, which Thou hast created for us, and always create in us. Lord, remember our weakness, and may you not destroy us with our iniquities: but do us great mercy with our humility, so that having escaped the darkness of sin, we will walk in the days of righteousness, and, clothed in the weapons of light, we will remain free from all the wiles of the evil one, and with boldness we will glorify for all, You, the only true and Lover of mankind, God. For Thine is a truly and great sacrament, Lord of all, and Creator, the temporary solution of Thy creatures, and the union of these creatures, and the repose of the hedgehog forever: We confess to Thee grace for all, for our entrances into this world, and for our departures, the hope for us of resurrection, and incorruptible life, We are betrothed by Your false promise, even We will receive you at your future second coming.
For You are also the Chief of our resurrection, and the unwashed and humane-loving Judge of those who have lived, and the Master and Lord of rewards, who also shared with us sincerely in flesh and blood, condescension for the sake of the extreme: and our irresistible passions, sometimes willingly put into temptation, we accept for mercy generosity, and in it You Yourself suffered having been tempted, the self-promised helper became the tempted one: in the same way, Thou hast elevated us into Thy dispassion. Accept therefore, Master, our prayers and supplications, and give rest to all fathers, and mothers, and children, and brethren, and only-begotten sisters, and begotten, and all the souls that have previously departed: in the hope of the resurrection of eternal life, place their spirits, and names in the book of living things, in the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the land of the living, in the Kingdom In heaven, in the paradise of sweetness, Thy bright angels, leading us all into Thy holy abodes, co-raised our bodies on the day that Thou hast appointed according to Thy holy and false promises.
For, Lord, there is no death for Thy servant, who comes to us from the body, and who comes to You our God, but repose from the saddest to the most useful, and the sweetest, and to peace and joy. Even if we have sinned against You, be merciful to us and to those who are not the only one who is clean from filth before You, even if there is only one day of his life, are You the only one who appeared on earth, our sinless Lord Jesus Christ: In whom we all hope to receive mercy and the remission of sins. For this reason, for our sake, as God is Good and Lover of Mankind, weaken, forgive, forgive our sins, voluntary and involuntary, even in knowledge and not in knowledge, presented and forgotten: even in deed, even in thought, even in word, even in all our lives and movements. And grant to those who have departed freedom and weakness, but bless us who are here, granting a good and peaceful end to us and all Your people, and open the womb of mercy and love for mankind to us, at Your terrible and terrible coming, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom.
Ἐπισυνάπτει καὶ ταύτην
Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ μέγας καὶ ὕψιστος, ὁ μόνος ἔχων ἀθανασίαν, φῶς οἰκῶν ἀπρόσιτον, ὁ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν ἐν σοφίᾳ δημιουργήσας. Ὁ διαχωρήσας ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ φωτός, καὶ ἀναμέσον τοῦ σκότους, καὶ τὸν ἥλιον θέμενος εἰς ἐξουσίαν τῆς ἡμέρας σελήνην δὲ καὶ ἀστέρας εἰς ἐξουσίαν τῆς νυκτός, ὁ καταξιώσας ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης ἡμέρας προφθάσαι τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐν ἐξομολογήσει, καὶ τὴν ἑσπερινὴν σοι λατρείαν προσαγαγεῖν. Αὐτός, φιλάνθρωπε Κύριε, κατεύθυνον τήν προσευχὴν ἡμῶν, ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου, καὶ πρόσδεξαι αὐτὴν εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας. All rights reserved. εἰρηνικήν, ἔνδυσον ἡμᾶς ὅπλα φωτός, ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ παντὸς πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπορευομένου, καὶ δώρησαι ἡμῖν τὸν ὕπνον, ὃν εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν ἐδωρήσω, πάσης διαβολικῆς φαντασίας ἀπηλλαγμένον.
Ναί, Δέσποτα τῶν ἁπάντων, τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγέ, ἵνα, καὶ ἐν ταῖς κοίταις ἡμῶν κατανυγόμενοι, μνημονεύωμεν καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ τοῦ παναγίου ὀνόματός σου, καὶ τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν σῶν ἐντολῶν καταυγαζόμενοι, ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει ψυχῆς διανιστῶμεν πρὸς δοξολογίαν τῆς σῆς ἀγαθότητος, δεήσεις καὶ ἱκεσίας τῇ σῇ ?? τοῦ λαοῦ σου, ὃν ταῖς πρεσβείαις τῆς ἁγίας Θεοτόκου ἐν ἐλέει ἐπίσκεψαι.
The third prayer is joined by another:
God, Great and Most High, alone has immortality, in the living, unapproachable light, creating all creation with wisdom, dividing in the midst of light and in the midst of darkness: And having placed the sun in the region of the day, and the moon and stars in the region of the night. Vouchsafed us sinners to precede Thy face in confession on this day, and to offer Thy evening service. O Lord, most loving of mankind, correct our prayer, like an incense before You, and receive into the stench of the fragrance. Grant us the true evening and the peaceful night that comes: clothe us with the weapons of light, deliver us from the fear of the night, and from every thing that passes in darkness. And grant us sleep, which you have granted for the repose of our weakness, changed from every devilish dream. To her is the Lord the giver of all good things, so that on our beds we will tenderly remember Your holy name and in the night. And with the teaching of Your commandments illuminated, in the joy of our souls we will rise to the praise of Your goodness, bringing prayers and supplications to Your compassion for our sins, and for all Your people: visit them with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos in mercy.