The Hours
The First Hour (6:00 a.m.)
If another service immediately precedes the First Hour, we omit the entire opening and begin with “Come, let us worship...” (or “Christ is risen from the dead...” in Paschaltide) below:
Priest: + Blessed is our God, always, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Reader: Amen.
Reader: Glory to You, our God, glory to You!
Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, You are everywhere and fulfill all things. Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us and cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls, O Good One!
Priest: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down Death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
People: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling
down death by death, and upon
those in the tombs bestowing life.
Priest: Christ
is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death...
People:
And upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
Holy God! Holy
Mighty! Holy Immortal! Have mercy on us. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit,now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us! Lord, cleanse us from our sins! Master, pardon our transgressions! Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities,
for Your name’s sake!
Lord, have mercy. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, now and ever and to the 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 Evil.
Priest: For Thine is the Kingdom,
the Power and the Glory, of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Reader: Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (12x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit,now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
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!
Priest: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by
death, and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
People: Christ
is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
Priest: Christ
is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death...
People: And
upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
Psalm 5
Lord, listen to my words,consider my cry.
Attend to the voice of my prayer.my King and my God,
Lord, because to You I will pray,
You will hear my voice in the morning.
In the morning I will stand before You
and You will visit and watch over me.
For You are not a God Who desires lawlessness;and evildoers
will not live with You,
Nor will the violent remain before Your eyes.You hate all
who practice lawlessness.
You will destroy all who tell lies;
the Lord abhors a bloody and deceitful man.
But in Your great mercyI will enter Your house, and in the
fear of You
I will worship toward Your holy temple.
Lord, guide me in Your righteousness,
Direct my way before You
because of my enemies.
For there is no truth in their mouth;their heart is empty.
Their throat is a yawning tomb,with their tongues they
deceive.
Judge them, O God,let them fall by their own thoughts.
For the enormity of their godlessness cast them out, Lord
because they have rebelled against You.
But let all who hope in You be glad in You;
they will rejoice forever
And You will live in them.
All who love Your name will glory in You,
Because You will bless a righteous person, Lord.You have
crowned us with goodwill as with a shield.
Psalm 89
Lord, You have been our refuge
from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were born and before the earth and the
world
were formed,even from age to age eternally You are.
Do not abandon us to humiliation,
for You have said, “Return, children of men.”
For a thousand years in Your eyes are like a day,like
yesterday which has come and gone,
And like a watch in the night.
Mere nothings will their years beIn the morning like grass
they may pass away.
In the morning it blooms, then passes away;By evening it
droops, grows hard and withers.
For we perish in Your angerAnd we are troubled by Your
wrath.
You have set our sins before You,Our life in the light of
Your face.
For all our days have passed and we have perished in Your
anger.Our years have spun out like a cobweb.
The days of our life may be seventy years,
And if in the strong they are eighty years,yet most of it
is labor and trouble,
Because weakness comes over usand we are corrected.
Who knows the power of Your angerand who can gauge Your
wrath from Your fear?
So make Your right hand known to meand those disciplined in
heart by wisdom.
Lord, return! How
long?And be gracious to Your servants.
Let us be satisfied with Your mercy in the morning,
Lord,and we shall be glad and rejoice all our days.
Let us be glad for the days in which You humbled us,for the
years in which we have seen evils.
And look upon Your servants and Your works,and guide their
children.
And may the radiance of the Lord our God be upon us,and
direct the works of our hands for us,and direct the work of our hands.
Psalm 100
I will sing to You, Lord, of mercy and justice,
I will sing praise and understand in a faultless way.
When will You come to me?I have walked in my house in the
innocence of my heart.
I set no unlawful thing before my eyes,I hate those who do
wrong,
No crooked heart has joined me.A villain who avoided me, I
refused to know.
The man who in secret talks against his neighbor,him I
drive away.
A man with a proud eye and a greedy heart,with him I was
not eating.
My eyes are on the faithful of the land,that they may sit
with me.
He who walks in a blameless wayhas been employed in my
service.
One who acts proudly has not lived in my house;one who
talks wrong things will not prosper in my sight.
Each morning I put to death all the sinners of the land,to
destroy all evildoers from the city of God.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit,
now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glory to You, O God (Three times)!
Lord, have mercy. (Three times)
Reader: (Chanted to the tone of the prescribed
Troparion:)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit . . .
Chant the prescribed troparion. If two or more troparia are prescribed, then chant the first one
before the Glory.
Then the following Theotokion in the same tone:
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
What shall we call you, Full of Grace? Heaven, for from you shone forth the Sun of
Righteousness? Paradise, for you have budded
forth the flower of immortality?
Virgin, for you have remained undefiled? Pure Mother, for you have held in your arms the Son, Who is God
of all? Pray that He may save our
souls.
Direct my steps according to Your word, and let no
lawlessness have dominion over me.
Deliver me from the accusations of men,and I will keep Your
commandments. Let Your face shine on
Your servant and teach me Your requirements.
Lord, let my mouth be filled with Your praise, that I may sing of Your
glory and honor all the day long.
Holy God! Holy
Mighty! Holy Immortal! Have mercy on us. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit,now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us! Lord, cleanse us from our sins! Master, pardon our transgressions! Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities,
for Your name’s sake!
Lord, have mercy. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, now and ever and to the 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 Evil.
Priest: For Thine is the Kingdom,
the Power and the Glory, of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Reader: Amen.
Reader: Chants the
prescribed Kontakion.
Reader: Lord, have mercy. (40x)
The Prayer of the Hours
At every season and every hour, in heaven and on earth, You
are worshiped and glorified, Christ our God, long-suffering, merciful, and
compassionate. You love the righteous
and show mercy to the sinner. You call
all to salvation through the promise of blessings to come: Lord, in this hour receive our supplications
and direct our lives according to Your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts,
cleanse our minds; deliver us from all tribulations, evil, and distress. Surround us with Your holy angels, that
guided and guarded by them, we may attain unity of the faith and knowledge of
Your Unapproachable Glory, for You are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
Amen.
More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond
compare than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the
Word. True Birthgiver-of-God, we
magnify you.
{During the Pascha Season} Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem! The Glory of the Lord has
shone on you! Exult now and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, Pure Birthgiver-of-God in the Resurrection of your Son!
In the name of the Lord, Father, bless.
Priest: May God have compassion on us and bless us,
may He manifest His presence to us and have mercy on us.
Reader: Amen.
The Prayer of the First Hour
Reader: Christ, You are the True Light Who
enlightens and sanctifies every person
who comes into the world. Let the light
of Your countenance shine on us, that in it we may behold the Unapproachable
Light, and guide our footsteps aright to the keeping of Your commandments,
through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and of all Your saints. Amen.
If no other service will
immediately follow, the Priest pronounces the Dismissal, otherwise, the
Reader proceeds directly into the Third Hour: