A fellow apostle/ and a passion-bearer, the first sufferer,/ a servant of Christ, most praiseworthy of Stephen,/ having first completed the torment of the course,/ countless generations of mankind Bring the hero Christ./ Moreover, as the apostle and supreme sufferer/ we honor you, we pray:/ pray to Christ God// to grant us great mercy.
You were the first to be sown on earth by the Heavenly Worker,/ O all praised Stephen,/ you were the first to shed blood on earth for Christ, O blessed One,/ you were the first to wear a crown of victory from Him You are in Heaven,/ the beginning of the sufferers, // the crown-bearer, the first-suffering one of the martyrs.
Oh, holy first martyr, Apostle Archdeacon Stephen! On bended knee of our soul and heart, we pray to you: lift up your hand to the Lord and make the whole human race a Representative and Intercessor to Your Son, the Most Holy Mother Virgin, and for us (names), who are always angered by sin and laziness, pray to our Good Savior, that he may give us grace to help us in time for repentance, and through your intercession and intercession to the Most Holy Mother His own, on the terrible and righteous day, may he not put our sins before us, but according to his mercies, he begged you, so that he may say to our soul: your salvation is I for ever and ever. Amen.
The first among the deacons, the first among the martyrs, you appeared, Saint Stephen, the Apostle, full of faith and power in teaching and in great signs you appeared, and no one else Perhaps against the weariness of wisdom and the spirit, in the image of Thou saidest, Thy face was seen in the congregation, like the face of an Angel. Moreover, being filled with the Holy Spirit, you saw the open heaven and the glory of God and the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, standing at the right hand of God the Father. Also, from the cruel ones and the murderers of the Jews, we stone the Blessed One and the Virgin, His Mother, who prays for You, with stones, bow your knee, You cried out with a great voice: Lord, do not put this sin on them! And so you joyfully surrendered your spirit to the Lord Jesus.
For this reason, for the sake of the prayer book and the acquisitive representative of you, the knee of our soul and heart, we pray to you: lift up your hand to the Lord, and encourage the whole human race Representative and Intercessor to His Son, the Most Holy Virgin Mother, and for us, who are always angered by sin and laziness, pray to our Good Savior, that He may give us grace to help us in time of need. repentance and Your intercession and intercession of Your Most Holy Mother on that terrible and righteous day, may He not put our sins before us, but by Your mercies, having begged You, let He speak our souls: your salvation is I, forever and ever. Amen.
*Minea. December 27th.
**Minea. August 2nd.