Epiphany

EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
Ramsho

INTRODUCTION

DOXOLOGY
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as we begin and until we conclude.
May mercy and compassion be poured forth upon us
in this world and the next.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.
OPENING PRAYER
Lord God,
grant us always to rejoice on your feasts,
and prepare ourselves for the great feast which we
will celebrate with you in heaven.
May we join all the angels and saints adorned in
wedding garments,
and praise you, for ever. Amen.
GREETING
Peace be with the Church and her children.
PRAISE OF THE ANGELS
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth and good will to all.
Praise the Lord all you nations,
glorify him all you peoples,
for steadfast is his mercy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.
and peace on earth and good will to all.

FIRST PRAYER
Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
Eternal Word,
you appeared on earth and fulfilled all that
prophets said of you.
Enlighten us with the light of your holy baptism
and renew us by the gift of your living Spirit,
that we may celebrate this glorious feast in
holiness of soul and body,
and give you glory,
now and for ever. Amen.

PSALM OF THE DAY
Antiphon:
The sea beheld and fled;
Jordan turned back.

Psalm 114: 3-8

The sea beheld and fled;
Jordan turned back.

The mountains skipped like rams,
The hills like the lambs of the flock.

Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?

You mountains, that you skip like rams?
You hills, like the lamb of the flock?

Before the face of the Lord, tremble, O earth,
before the face of the God of Jacob,

Who turned the rock into pools of water,
the flint into flowing springs.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.

Antiphon:
The sea beheld and fled;
Jordan turned back.

SECOND PRAYER
Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
Eternal God and son of the Eternal Father,
you became incarnate and were baptized to give us the
inheritance of sons and daughters
which makes us call your Father, “our Father”,
while we await our divine inheritance.
Enlighten us, then, O God, with the light of your baptism,
that we may praise you on this feast of lights.
For you are Light from Light, and have come to enlighten all
who come into the world.
May we glorify you, your Father and your Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
EVENING PSALMS
Psalm 141:1-4
O Lord, to you I call; hasten to me;
harken to my voice when I call upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, set a watch before my mouth,
a guard at the door of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to the evil
of engaging in deeds of wickedness
With men who are evildoers;
and let me not partake of their dainties.
Psalm 142
With aloud voice I cry out to the Lord;
with a loud voice I beseech the Lord.
My complaint I pour out before him;
before him I lay bare my distress.

When my spirit is faint within me,
you know my path.
In the way along which I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
I look to the right to see,
but there is no one who pays me heed.
I have lost all means of escape;
there is no one who cares for my life.
I cry out to you, O Lord:
I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land
of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought low indeed.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
Lead me forth from prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
The just shall gather around me
when you have been good to me.
Psalm 119: 105-112
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
I resolve and swear
to keep your just ordinances.
I am very much afflicted;
O Lord, give me life according to your word.
Accept, O Lord, the free homage of my mouth,
and teach me your decrees.
Though constantly I take my life in my hands,
yet I forget not your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but from your precepts I have not strayed.

Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
I intend in my heart to fulfill you statutes
always to the letter.
Psalm 117
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his mercy toward us,
and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.

HOOSOYO
PROEMION
Praise, glory and honor to the hidden Father who from heaven
gave witness to his incarnate Son;
to his only Son who received baptism from the hand of John, the Forerunner;
to the Holy Spirit who hovered over the Son in the form of a dove.
To the Good One is due glory and honor this evening,
and all the days of our lives,
now and for ever. Amen.
SEDRO
Glory to you, Son of God,
you have made us rejoice in your manifestation as man,
you have filled us with admiration by your wonders, words
and deeds.

Through your incarnation, you have elevated our nature,
and sanctified it by your baptism.
You received the witness of Father:
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
You did not disdain the testimony of John, your Forerunner:
“Here is the Lamb of god who carries the sins of the world.”
It is you whom Moses foreshadowed by the pascal lamb, whose
blood was sprinkled on the doorposts.
Today you light appears at the Jordan and baptism is made
holy for us.
We have victory over the enemy and triumph over sin.
Therefore, we ask you through your baptism in the Jordan:
enlighten us with your inspiration;
strengthen our decisions by your grace, that we may become
temples where each day we offer you sacrifice and
give you praise.
To you be glory, now and for ever. Amen.
QOLO
Today, the light of the Father appeared in the waters of the Jordan.
Heaven and earth were astounded when John poured water on
your head.
Today the Father’s voice was heard: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit hovered above the head of the Son in the form of a dove.
ETRO
O pure One,
who purified us by baptism,
received the incense and prayers which we offer you on the day of your holy baptism.
Make us pure temples where the life-giving Trinity will dwell, and we will give glory and praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

MAZMOORO
On this night streams cease flowing and creatures are silent,
seeing the manifestation of their Lord.
From the mountain tops let it be proclaimed: this night streams cease flowing and creatures are silent, seeing the manifestation of their Lord.
You accepted the offerings made by the righteous before us, now accept, Lord, our worship and be attentive to our prayers.
SYNAXARION
Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Eastern Churches this feast is known by two names: Epiphany and Theophany. The Greek word, “Epiphany”
means “a manifestation” or “an apparition” and the word, “Theophany, “an appearance of God.”
On this day we celebrate the appearance or manifestation of Christ among us as God’s Son.
The feast of Epiphany was first celebrated in the East around the third century and eventually was adopted by the Western Church. In the Eastern Churches the celebration of the Epiphany originally centered on both the Birth of our Lord and his baptism. When the later Western feast of Christmas was introduced into the East, Christmas became the feast of the Birth of our Lord and the Epiphany, that of his baptism.
The feast of the Epiphany is intimately connected with the mystery of our Lord’s birth. The Child who was born for us and the Son who was given to us is manifested before us to be the Son of the Most High. Christ begins his public life with his baptism by John in the Jordan river. At his baptism Christ is seen as the fulfillment of John’s preaching: he is the Messiah and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Father and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to Christ for he is the beloved Son of the Father and upon him the Spirit rests. Thus at the baptism of the Lord we have not only an epiphany or manifestation of Christ as God’s Son, but also a theophany or manifestation of the Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The feast of the Epiphany reminds us not only of the baptism of Christ, but also of our own baptism. St. Ephrem in his Hymn on Epiphany says: “. . .our blessed Lord came to be baptized with sinners and because of his glory the heavens were opened. The One who purifies all
creatures, desiring to cleanse them, went into the waters and sanctified them for our baptism.” It is for this reason that we bless water on this day. Originally, the mystery of baptism was celebrated on this feast and the waters blessed were those of baptism.
Today we celebrate the manifestation or epiphany of the Trinity at the baptism of Christ as well as the manifestation of the glory of God in the person of the Lord come into the world, that is to say, the manifestation of Christ, the Word of God, among us. Let us then call to mind the grace of God who has appeared for the salvation of all, and thank him for the baptism through which we have been begotten in the Spirit and through which we have put on Christ and become children of the Father.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
A Reading from the Book of Exodus
Exodus 14: 21-31
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed in pursuit; all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers went after them right into the midst of the sea. In the night watch just before dawn the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive. With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel, because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians. Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the LORD hurled them into its midst. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army which had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not a single one of them escaped. But the Israelites had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the LORD
had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

A Reading from the Book of Joshua
Joshua 3: 11-17
The ark of the covenant of the LORD of the whole earth will precede you into the Jordan. Now choose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank.” The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest, than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.
SUPPLICATION
Lord of night and Master of all time, hear our supplication and have mercy on us.
You reconciled heaven and earth, grant peace to your Church,
and keep her children in the light of the cross.
The Spirit descended to the river and hovered over its waters; The Lord called to John asking for baptism. John hesitated
at first, then obeyed, and from the sky he heard a voice;
“Here is my beloved.”
The Spirit descended in the form of a dove; the Son drew near to John to receive baptism; cherubim and seraphim were
astonished at this immense humility of the eternal Son.
In his baptism in the Jordan, our Lord gave us the example of
baptism, the source of life. He himself had no need of it,
but in his mercy he wanted to show us the way. May his
name be blessed and sanctified, now and for ever.

Glory to your manifestation of the Father, and to your baptism by John. By your baptism you have enlightened the
universe and dispelled the darkness. Praise to your
manifestation; you who have given us the baptism of
forgiveness, the mystery which opens the door of life for us.
The Virgin Mary, your Mother, and the apostles, prophets and
martyrs intercede for us; O God, through their prayers,
strengthen the weak, comfort the sick, grant pardon to our
deceased and forgive the faults of us poor sinners.
Exalt, O Lord, the memory of your Mother an of your saints;
through their prayers, grant pardon to us and our deceased.
Through the prayers of your Mother, the prophets, apostles
and martyrs, watch over the living, and in your mercy,
forgive those who have died.
HOOTOMO
Let us thank, adore, and praise the holy and glorious Trinity: Father, Son, ✛Holy Spirit. Amen.
TRISAGION
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Holy are you, O God;
Holy are you, O Strong One;
Holy are you, O Immortal One;
have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, forgive us and have mercy on us.
Lord, hear us and have mercy on us.
Lord, accept our worship and our prayers.
Lord, come to our assistance and have mercy on us.

LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who are in heaven;
hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come;
your 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,
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
O Lord, the night and the day are yours;
you uphold the light and the sun.
Through your power you direct the sequence of the seasons.
O Lord,
you have brought the day to its close and called forth the night; be for us that great Day that never ends.
In the evening let your light shine in our hearts,
and in the darkness of the night
enlighten us with the knowledge of your truth.
And so, through all the days of our lives,
we shall praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
To you be glory and may your mercy rest upon us,
now and for ever.
Amen.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
Let us thank God for all the graces he has bestowed on us
this day which has passed in calm and peace.
Let us recall our failings against the commandments of God
and the Church in thought, word, deed and omission
We ask for God’s pardon as we pray:
“Forgive us, Jesus!”
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
Glory be to you, O Lord.
God,
Father in heaven,
by your living and holy name,
keep us from evil an lead us not into temptation;
for we call upon you, O Lord, our God, our constant hope,
glory to you for ever.
O Lord, our Lord,
may our humble worship be pleasing to you;
may our prayers come before you and our actions give
you honor.
Let you mercy, kindness, help, graces and divine love
be poured abundantly upon us poor sinners,
both in heaven and on the earth
which you have created in your goodness.
O Lord, our God, to you be glory for ever.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Peace be with you.
And also with you.
O God,
through the prayers of your Mother and the saints who have
believed in you;
through the prayers of the prophets, apostles, martyrs and
confessors;
through the prayers of the just, the priests, the holy fathers, pastors and teachers of the truth faith;
and through the prayers of N., Pope of Rome, N., our Patriarch, and N., our Bishop,
forgive your people and have mercy on your flock.
May God bless, forgive, sanctify, purify, and keep each of the faithful united with us in this spiritual office.
May mercy and compassion be upon us and all the faithful who
dwell here.
May peaceful rest be granted to those who have died in the faith.
May the faithful who live here experience the protection of
Christ’s victorious cross.

May we and all his servants, who adore him with bowed heads,
receive the mercy of the holy and glorious Trinity
Father, Son, ✛ Holy Spirit, to whom be glory now and for ever.
Amen.
May God forgive your sins,
pardon your failings,
and deliver you from the power of the enemy.
May he grant you the remission of your offenses.
Go in peace, and pray to Christ for me.