The First Hour
| Come, let us worship God, our King! |
| Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and our God! |
| Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and our God! |
And three bows.
Psalm 5
Hear my words, O Lord, understand my cry, listen to the voice of my prayer, my King and my God, for I will pray to You, O Lord. Early in the morning hear my voice, early in the morning I will appear to You and look. For You are God, who does not desire iniquity, and those who do evil will not dwell with You, and the wrongdoers will not abide in Your sight; You have hated all the workers of iniquity. You will destroy all who speak lies; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and treacherous. But according to the abundance of Your mercy I will enter Your house, I will worship before Your holy temple in Your fear. Lord, lead me in Your righteousness for the sake of my enemies, direct my path before You. For there is no truth in their mouth, their heart is vain, their throat is an open tomb, they deceive with their tongues. Condemn them, O God, that they may renounce their plans; because of the multitude of their wickedness, drive them out, for they have upset You, O Lord. And may all those who trust in You rejoice, may they rejoice forever, and may You dwell among them, and may those who love Your name boast in You. For You will bless the righteous, O Lord; as with a weapon of favor You have protected us.
Psalm 89
Lord! You have become a refuge for us from generation to generation. Before the mountains appeared and the earth and the universe were created, and from everlasting to everlasting You exist. Don’t subject a person to humiliation! And You said: “Return, sons of men.” For a thousand years are in Your sight, O Lord, like yesterday that has passed away, and like a watch in the night. Their years will be insignificant, like grass in the early morning they will pass! In the early morning it will bloom and pass away; in the evening it will fall off, become hard and dry. For we are faint in Thy wrath and shaken by Thy wrath. You have laid our iniquities before You, our age is in the light of Your face. For all our days are cut short, and we are faint in Your wrath. Our years seemed to weave a web, the days of our years; and the number of them is seventy years, but if anyone is able, eighty years, and most of them are labor and torment, for meekness has come to us, and we will be taught. Who knows the power of Your anger, and from the fear of You - how to calculate Your wrath? So show me Your right hand and those who are established in heart in wisdom. Turn, Lord! How long? And have mercy on Your servants. Early in the morning we were filled with Thy mercy, O Lord, and we rejoiced and rejoiced. All our days we have rejoiced: for the days in which You humbled us, for the years in which we saw evil. And look upon Thy servants and Thy works, and show the way to their sons. And may the shining of the Lord our God be upon us, and may the work of our hands be corrected among us, and may the work of our hands be corrected.
Psalm 100
I will sing to You of mercy and judgment, O Lord. I will sing and listen on the blameless path: when will You come to me? I walked in goodness of heart in the midst of my house. He did not allow the deeds of lawbreakers to appear before my eyes; he hated those who committed crimes; the obstinate heart did not stick to me, I did not notice the evil one avoiding me; secretly slandering his neighbor - he drove him out, with a proud eye and an insatiable heart - he did not eat with him. My eyes are on the faithful of the earth, so that they may sit next to me, walking on the blameless path, he served me. He who walks arrogantly shall not dwell in the midst of my house, nor he who speaks lies prosper in my sight. In the mornings I put to death all the sinners of the earth, to destroy from the city of the Lord all the workers of iniquity.
Glory, and now: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God. (three times) Lord, have mercy. (three times)
Glory, troparion of the feast.
And now, Theotokos: How should we call You, O Blessed One:
If it is fasting and “Alleluia” is sung, the troparion of the hour is sung three times with verses (Ps 5:4a, 2, 3b) and three prostrations to the ground.
Troparion, tone 6
Early in the morning hear my voice, / My King and my God.
Verse 1: Hear my words, O Lord, understand my cry.
Verse 2: For I will pray to You, O Lord.
Priest: Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reader: And now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen.
Theotokos
What should we call You, O Blessed One? / Sky? For through You the Sun of righteousness has shone. / Heaven? For You have made the Flower of incorruption grow. / Virgo? For You remained incorruptible. / Pure Mother? For you held the Son and all God in your holy arms. / Pray to Him for the salvation of our souls.
Direct my steps according to Your word, and let no iniquity take possession of me. Deliver me from human slander, and I will keep Your commandments. Show the light of Your face to Your servant and teach me Your commandments. (Ps 118:133–135)
May my lips be filled with Your praise, O Lord, so that I may sing Your glory all day long - Your splendor. (Ps 70:8)
| Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (three times) |
| Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. |
| O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake. |
| Lord, have mercy. (three times) |
| Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. |
| Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. |
Priest: For Thine is the kingdom. Reader: Amen.
Kontakion of the feast.
If “Alleluia” was sung, the following kontakia are read:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
The Glorious Mother of God and the most holy Angels, / let us sing without stopping, with our hearts and lips, / confessing Her as the Theotokos, / for truly She gave birth to God incarnate, / and prays unceasingly for our souls.
On Wednesday and Friday
Come quickly to our aid, O Christ our God, / before we find ourselves in slavery to enemies / who revile You and threaten us. / By Your Cross, O One Lover of Mankind, / overthrow those who fight with us, through the prayers of the Mother of God, / so that they may know / how strong the faith of the Orthodox is!
On Saturday
As the first fruits of nature, to the Planter of all creation, / the universe brings, to You, Lord, God-bearing martyrs. / Through their prayers and the intercession of the Mother of God, / Preserve Your Church - Your people / in deep peace, O Most Merciful One.
Lord, have mercy. (40 times)
At every time and at every hour, Christ God, who accepts worship and glorification in heaven and on earth, long-suffering, abundantly merciful, most merciful, loving the righteous and merciful to sinners, calling everyone to salvation with the promise of future blessings! You, Lord, accept our prayers at this hour and direct our lives to Your commandments: sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our thoughts and deliver us from all sorrow, troubles and torment. Protect us with Your holy Angels, so that, guarded and instructed by them, we may achieve unity in faith and understanding of Your unapproachable glory, for You are blessed forever and ever. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (three times) Glory, and now:
It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God. / More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim: / without defilement thou gavest birth to God the Word: / true Theotokos, we magnify thee.
Bless in the name of the Lord, father.
Priest: God, have mercy on us and bless us; Show us the light of Your face and have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen.
If it is fasting and they sing “Alleluia”, the priest says the prayer to St. Ephraim the Syrian with bows:
Lord and Master of my life! Do not betray me to the spirit of idleness, vanity, lust for power and idle talk. (Bow)
Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, your servant. (Bow)
Yes, Lord the King, let me see my sins and not condemn my brother, for You are blessed forever and ever. Amen. (Bow)
Also 12 small bows with prayer: God, cleanse me, a sinner.
And again the whole prayer: Lord and Master of my life. And one great bow.
The reader reads:
| Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (three times) |
| Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. |
| O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake. |
| Lord, have mercy. (three times) |
| Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. |
| Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. |
Priest: For Thine is the kingdom.
Reader: Amen. Lord, have mercy. (12 times)
The priest reads a prayer:
Christ, the true Light, enlightening and sanctifying every person who comes into the world! Seal on us the light of Your face, so that we may see in it the unapproachable light, and direct our steps to the fulfillment of Your commandments, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen.
And the kontakion is sung to the Theotokos, tone 8: To the Commander who defends us / for deliverance from terrible troubles / we institute for You victory celebrations of gratitude / we, Thy servants, Mother of God! / But You, as having irresistible power, / free us from all dangers, / let us cry to You: / “Rejoice, Bride, who has not known marriage!”
Priest: Glory to Thee, Christ our God, our hope, glory to Thee.
Chorus: Glory, and now: Lord, have mercy. (three times) Bless.
The priest pronounces a minor dismissal. If the service is non-feast and full dismissal with mention of the saints of the temple and the day after Matins was not pronounced, then it is pronounced after 1 hour, then many years are sung.
End of the first hour.