Midnight Hour - Second Watch
The Midnight Hour commemorates the second coming of the Lord. The office consists of three watches, corresponding to the three stages of Christ's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 25:1-13).
Epshois nai-nan Epshois
nai-nan Amen Alleluia.
Khen
Efran nem Eviot nem Epshiri
nem pi Epnevma Ethowap Onoti
en o-out Amen.
The Second Watch of
Midnight prayers of this blessed day
we offer to Christ our King
and our God,
Beseeching Him
to forgive us our sins. From
the Psalms of our father
David the Prophet and the
King,
May his blessings be
upon us all Amen.
In my own affliction I cried to You, O Lord, and You heard me. O Lord, You shall deliver my soul from unjust lips, and from a deceitful tongue. What should be given to you, and what should be added to you, a crafty tongue?! The weapons of the mighty are sharpened with coals of the desert! Woe to me, that my sojourning is prolonged; I have lived among the dwellings of Kedar. My soul has long been a sojourner; I was peaceable among those who hated peace; when I spoke to them. they warred against me without a cause. ALLELUIA.
I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help shall come. My help shall come from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth. He will not let your foot be moved; and your keeper will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall not slumber nor sleep. The Lord shall keep you: the Lord shall cast a shelter upon your right hand. The sun shall not burn you by day, neither the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from every evil: the Lord shall keep your soul. The Lord shall keep your coming in and your going out, from this time and forever. ALLELUIA.
I was glad for those who said to me, “We will go into the house of the Lord.” Our feet stood in the courts of Jerusalem, Jerusalem which is built as a city that is closely compacted together. For there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony for Israel, confessing the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones for judgement, even thrones for the house of David.
Ask for the things which are for the peace of Jerusalem: and for the prosperity to those who love you. Let peace be within your strength, and prosperity in your heavy towers. For the sake of my brothers and my companions, I have indeed spoken peace concerning you. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have diligently sought good things for you. ALLELUIA.
Unto You I have lifted up my eyes, O You who dwell in heaven. Behold as the eyes of servants are unto to the hands of their masters, and as the eyes of a maidservant to the hands of her mistress; so our eyes are toward the Lord our God until He has pity on us. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. And our soul has been exceedingly filled: give the reproach to those who prosper, and contempt to the proud. ALLELUIA.
If it had not been that the Lord is among us, let Israel say; if it had not been that the Lord is among us when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us. Then the water would have drowned us. Our soul would have gone under the raging flood; then our soul would have gone under the unlimited water. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us for a prey to their teeth. Our soul has been delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the hunters. The snare has broken, and we were delivered. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. ALLELUIA.
Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion: he who dwells in Jerusalem shall never be moved. Mountains are round about her, and the Lord is round about His people, from this time and forever. For the Lord shall not allow the rod of sinners to be upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous might stretch forth their hands to iniquity.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their heart. But those who turn to stumbles, the Lord will banish with the workers of iniquity; peace be upon Israel. ALLELUIA.
When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we became as those who were comforted. Then our mouth was filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation. Then they shall say among the Gentiles, “The Lord has done great things among them.” The Lord has done great things for us, we became joyful. O Lord, You shall bring back our captivity, as the streams in the south. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. They went on and wept as they were carrying their seeds; but they shall surely come with exultation, carrying their sheaves. ALLELUIA.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it have labored in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen have watched in vain. It is vain for you to rise early: rise up after your sitting, you who eat the bread of grief; while He gives sleep to His beloved.
Behold, children are the inheritance of the Lord, the reward of the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gates. ALLELUIA.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord; who walk in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of your labors: you shall be blessed, and goodness shall be unto you. Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your children as young olive-plants round about your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed, who fears the Lord. The Lord shall bless you out of Zion; and you shall see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life. And you shall see the children of your children. Peace be upon Israel. ALLELUIA.
Many times they have warred against me from my youth, let Israel now say. Many times they have warred against me from my youth, and yet they have not prevailed against me. The sinners scourged me on my back, and prolonged their iniquity. The Lord is righteous; He has broken the necks of sinners. Let all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back. Let them be as the grass of the house-tops, which withers before it is plucked up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor he who gathers up sheaves, his bosom. Neither do they who pass by say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you, we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.” ALLELUIA.
Zoxasi Otheos Emon. Holy
Holy Holy. A passage from
the Gospel according to
St.
Luke, may his blessings be
with us all Amen.
Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went unto the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. And, behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat to eat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke within himself, saying “This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is who touch Him: for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he said, “Master, say it.” “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose that he, to whom he forgave more.” And He said unto him, “You have rightly judged.” And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet: but she has washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave Me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil you did not anoint: but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say unto you, `Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” And He said unto her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And they who sat to eat with Him began to say within themselves, “Who is this who forgives sins also?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Tenoo oosht emmok o Piekhristos nem Pekyot en Aghathos nem pi Epnevma Ethowap
je akee ak soti emmon nai nan
+ Give me, O Lord, many fountains of tears, as You gave, in the past, the sinful woman. Make me worthy to wash Your Feet which liberated me from the path of straying, and to offer you a precious fragrant oil, and gain, through repentance, a pure life, so that I may hear that voice full of joy: “Your faith has saved you.” (Zoxa Patri ... )
+ When I realize my many wicked deeds, and the thought of that awesome judgment comes to my heart, a tremble takes hold of me, and I take refuge in You, O God, the Lover of mankind. So do not turn away Your face from me, I entreat You, Who alone are without sin. Grant humbleness to my poor soul before the end comes, and save me. (Ke Neen ... )
+ The Heavens bless you, O full of grace, the Bride who was never married. And we, too, glorify your incomprehensible giving birth. O Theotokos, the mother of mercy and salvation, intercede for the salvation of our souls. (Ke Neen ... )
+ O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who is present in all places and fills all, the treasury of good things and the Life‑Giver, graciously come, and dwell in us and purify us from all defilement, O Good One, and save our souls. (Zoxa Patri ... )
+ Just as You were with Your disciples, O Savior, and gave them peace, graciously come also and be with us, and grant us Your peace, and save us, and deliver our souls. (Ke Neen ... )
+ Whenever we stand in Your holy sanctuary, we are considered standing in heaven. O Theotokos, you are the gate of heaven, open for us the gate of mercy.
O Lord hear us and have
mercy on us and forgive us
our many sins Amen
Kyrie Eleison (Lord Have Mercy) 41 times
Holy Holy Holy. Lord of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory and honor. Have mercy on us, O God the Father, the Almighty O Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, God of hosts, be with us. For we have no helper in our hardships and tribulations but You. Absolve, forgive, and remit, O God, our transgressions; those which we have committed willingly and those we have committed unwillingly, those which we have committed knowingly and those which we have committed unknowingly, the hidden and manifest, O Lord forgive us, for the sake of Your Holy name which is called upon us.
Let it be according to Your mercy, O Lord, and not according to our sins.
Make us worthy to pray thankfully: Our Father Who art in heaven ...