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At early dawn let the bishop assemble the people, so that the service may be finished before the rising of the sun. When he saith the First Hymn of Praise, of the Dawn, the presbyters and deacons and the rest, the faithful also, [standing] close by, let him say thus: Praise to the Lord. And let the people say: It is meet and right. HYMN OF PRAISE FOR THE DAWN The bishop: It is meet and right that we should praise and laud and give thanks to Thee, who didst make all, ineffable God. Stretching forth our souls upward, we raise to Thee, O Lord, a hymn of praise for the morning,—to Thee who art all-wise, powerful, great in mercies, O God, the Con- firmer and Raiser-up of our souls; we praise Thee, the Word who before the worlds wast begotten of the Father, and restest alone with Thy saints who art praised with the hymns of the archangels——Thee the Maker, who wast not made with hands, and who makest known holy things which are invisible, pure, and spotless——Thee who hast made known to us the hidden mysteries of wisdom, and didst promise to us immortal light; we lift up praise to Thee in pure holiness, we Thy servants, O Lord. And let the people say: We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks to Thee, O Lord; and we beseech Thee, O our God. Also [let] the bishop say: O God, the Begetter of light, the Principle of life, the Giver of knowledge, the Gift of grace, the Maker of souls, who makest things [that are] beautiful, the Giver of the Holy Ghost, the Treasure of Wisdom, and the Maker of good things, the Lord, the Teacher of holiness, who rulest the worlds by Thy will, the Receiver of pure prayers; we praise Thee, the Only-begotten Son, the First-born and Word of the Father, who didst bestow all Thy grace on us who call upon Thee, the Helper, and upon the Father who begat Thee; who hast an essence that cannot be injured, where neither moth nor worm doth corrupt; who givest to all that with all their heart trust in Thee those things which the angels have desired to behold; who art the Guardian of light eternal and [of] treasures incorruptible; who hast by the will of Thy Father shed light on the darkness which [is] in us; who from the depth hast raised us up to light; who hast given us life out of death, and bestowed upon us freedom out of slavery; who by the cross hast made us of the household of Thy Father, and by Thy gospel hast guided us to the heights of heaven, and hast comforted us by Thy prophets; who in Thine own Person hast made us of the household of God the Father of lights; grant us, O Lord, that we may praise Thee, our God, so that always with unceasing thanksgiving’ we may speak praises to Thee, we Thy servants, O Lord. The people: We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks to Thee, we beseech Thee, O our God. Let the bishop also say: We sing to Thee with our mouths this triple hymn of praise as a figure of Thy kingdom, O Son of God, who [art] by eternity; who [art] above all, with the Father; whom all creation praiseth, trembling with fear of Thy Spirit; at whom all nature trembleth in fear and [whom] every soul of the righteous blesseth; with whom all we have taken refuge; who hast made confusion, storms, [and] wind to cease from us; who hast been to us an haven of rest, and a place to flee unto from corruption; in whom we have hope of eternal salvation; who makest the peace- fulness of fine weather 1 for those who are buffeted on the seas and with the tempests; who in sicknesses art entreated and healest without price; who art with those that are shut up in prison; who hast loosed us from the bonds of death; [who art] the Comforter of the poor, and of those who mourn, and of those who have laboured and wearied them- selves with the cross; who turnest away from us every menace; who for us hast reproved the craft of Satan; who drivest away his menaces, and givest us courage; who thrustest away all error from those that trust in Thee; whom the prophets and apostles praised secretly: we praise Thee, O Lord, we lift up to Thee a doxology, so that, having known Thee, we may rest in the habitations of life, doing Thy will alway. And grant to us, O Lord, to walk according to Thy commandments, and in mercy visit us all, both small and great, the prince and his people, the shepherd and his flock; for Thou, O Lord, art our God, and blessed and praised [is] Thy kingdom—Tthe kingdom] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, both before the worlds, and now and always, and for the ages, and for ever and ever without end. And let the people say: Amen. Let them sing psalms and four hymns of praise; one by Moses, and of Solomon, and of the other prophets. Thus: little singing-boys; two virgins; three deacons; three presbyters. And so let the hymn of praise be said by the bishop, or by one of the presbyters. Let wt be said thus: The grace of our Lord [be] with you all. And let the people say: And with thy spirit. And let the priest say: Also let us praise our Lord. And let the people say: Meetly and rightly. Let the priest say: Let your hearts be fixed. And let the people say: We have [them fixed] with the Lord. HYMN OF PRAISE OF THE SEAL O Lord, the Father, the Giver of light, the Author of all power and of all spirits, the Sealer of eternal light, and the Guide of life, the Maker of felicity and immortality, who hast made us to pass through material darkness, and hast bestowed upon us immaterial light; who hast loosed the bonds of dis- obedience and crowned us with the faith which is Thine; who dost not keep far off from Thy servants, but art in them always; who dost not neglect those [souls] which with labour and in Thy fear beseech Thee; who knowest all things before they are thought, and searchest out all things before they are considered, and givest what Thou wilt give before we ask Thee; who art well pleased to hear’ those who with heart undoubting serve Thee, O King of the highest lights and the soldiery of heaven, who hearest the archangels when they praise Thee, and art pleased in them; Answer us, O Lord, we beseech Thee. Grant us with boldness [with] unceasing voice to praise Thee, to laud Thee, to lift up to Thee a doxology; so that being guarded by Thee and guided in light, we Thy servants, O Lord, may constantly praise Thee. The people: We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks to Thee, O Lord; and we beseech Thee, O our God. The priest: O Lord Jesus, hear us, O Holy One, who wast the Voice of the dumb and the irrational, the Strength of the paralysed, the Giver of light to the blind, the Guide of the lame, the Cleanser of the lepers, the Curer of material fluxes, the Healer of the deaf and dumb, the Reprover of death, the Tormentor of darkness, the Ray of light, and the Lamp that is not quenched, the Sun that is not darkened [and] resteth [not]; but who always givest light unto Thy saints; who hast established all things together for the good likeness of comeliness; who art the well-tempered Reason; who hast plainly given light to all; who art the Saviour of the sons of men, and the Converter of souls; who art the Provider of all things as is right, the Maker of the angels, who adornest all; the Thought of the Father; who didst found the worlds in prudence and wisdom, and didst establish them together; and wast sent from Thy eternal Father unto us; the Intelligence of the Spirit who may not be apprehended or understood, the Maker-known of things invisible; Thou art glorious, and Thy Name is Wonderful.’ Therefore we also, Thy servants, O Lord, give praise to Thee. The people: We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks to Thee, O Lord; we beseech Thee, O our Lord. The priest: We sing, O holy Lord, this threefold hymn of praise to Thee, who didst give us a faith in Thee which cannot be loosed, whereby Thou didst make us to conquer the bonds of death; who didst create upright minds in them that trust in Thee, that they might be gods; who by the Spirit didst give unto us to tread under foot all the power of the enemy that we may not profane those things which may not be profaned; who by Thy mediation hast made friendship for us with Thy Father. Answer us Thy servants, O Lord, [Thou] whom without ceasing we entreat, who at our supplication givest [us] power against the adversary; whom alway we ask, as [it were], for the overthrow of the Evil one; Hear us, O King Eternal; comfort the widows, help the orphans; pity and cleanse those who are possessed with unclean spirits, give wisdom to the unwise; convert those who go astray; deliver those who are in prison; guard us all, for Thou, O Lord, art our God; blessed and glorious is Thy kingdom. The people: Amen.

After that let the bishop teach the mysteries to the people. But if he be not present, let a presbyter speak so that the faithful may know to whom they are approaching and who is their’ God and Father. Then let the teaching of the mysteries be said thus: [MYSTAGOGIA oR] INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES WHICH IS SAID BEFORE THE OFFERING TO THE FAITHFUL [We confess] Him who is pre-existent, and was present, and is, and cometh; who suffered and was buried, and rose, and was glorified by the Father; who loosed our cords from death, who rose from the dead; who is not only Man but therewith also God; who by the Holy Ghost restored the flesh of Adam with [his] soul to immortality, because He preserved Adam by the Spirit; who clothed Himself with dead Adam and made him to live; who ascended into heaven; under whom, after the cross,’ Death fell, and was conquered, when its bonds, whereby the Devil sometimes waxed strong and prevailed against us, were dissolved; [and] through whose passion [Death] was manifested useless and weak when [Jesus] cut his cords and his power, when his snares were cut, and He struck him on his face, [even Death] who was filled with dark- ness and was shaken, and feared, beholding the Only-begotten Son; who in His [human] soul" descended in the Godhead into Sheol; who descended from the pure heights above the heavens; Him [we confess] the indivisible Thought who is from the Father, and [is] of one will with Him; Him the Maker, with His Father, of heaven; who is the Angels’ Crown, the Archangels’ Strength, the Raiment of the Hosts and the Spirit of the Dominions; Him, the Ruler of the everlasting Kingdom, and Prince of the Saints, the unfathomable Intelli- gence of the Father; Him who is the Wisdom, the Power, the Lord, the Thought, Intelligence, Hand, Arm of the Father. As we believe, we confess Him who is our Light, Salva- tion, Saviour, Protector, Helper, Teacher, Deliverer, Rewarder, Assister, Strength, Wall; our Shepherd, Entrance, Door, Way, Life, Medicine, Provision, Drink, [and] Judge. We confess Him passible [yet] not passible, Son [yet] not created,’ dead [yet] alive, the Son of the Father, incomprehensible [yet] com- prehensible; who, [Himself] sinless, hath borne our sins when He left the Father’s heaven; whose Body being broken becometh our salvation, and [His] Blood and Spirit [our] life and holiness, and the water our cleansing; who giveth light to the hearts of those who fear Him, being with them in all things; who hath made us strangers to the whole way of the Devil; the Renewer of souls, in whom we all have put our trust. He, being God, and before the worlds with the Father, eternal God, when He saw the world perishing in the bonds of sin, and trodden down by the power of a crafty wild beast, and made subject to death through ignorance and error, deter- mining to heal the race of mankind, came to a virgin womb, though hidden from all the camps of the heavenly ones, and cast into ignorance [the] opposing hosts. But when [He], the Incorruptible, clothed Himself with corruptible fiesh, making flesh which was under death to be incorruptible, He thus showed in the flesh of dead Adam, wherewith He clothed Himself, an example’ of incorruptibility, by which example the things of corruption were abolished. He delivered indeed holy commandments through the Gospel, which is the fore-proclaiming of the kingdom; by which Gospel as a figure of the kingdom we learned to live; through which Gospel the bonds of the Devil have been cut, so that we may attain immortality instead of 1 death, and instead of ignorance may receive [the grace] of watchfulness. He, then, having become Man, the Son of God, the Lord, who took [on Him] the dead race of Adam in all its kinds, by emptying [Himself!], He who is the First, came to birth, as Man, though He is God; He who was foreknown by the prophets,” and preached by the apostles, and lauded by angels, and glorified by the Father of all’ He was crucified for us; and His cross is our life, our strength, [our] salvation, for it is the hidden mystery,‘ the ineffable joy, and through it the whole nature of mankind, always bearing it, is made insepar- able from God, for it is the virtue benign’ and inseparable from God, that cannot be spoken as is meet by these lips, [and] that was hidden from the beginning; but now the mystery which is revealed, which is for the faithful, shall be, not as it seemeth to be, but as it is. This cross in which we boast, so that we may be glori- fied, [and] the bearers whereof, the faithful and perfect, separate their souls from everything that can be felt, from everything that is seen, as from a thing which is not true —by this ask for yourselves, O ye who quit you like men’; make deaf your visible ears"; make blind your bodily eyes; so that ye may know the will of Christ and all the mystery of your salvation. Holy men and women, whose property it is to make your boast in the Lord, listen to the inward man. Our Lord, when He taught us and appointed to us a covenant, and made us of [His] household, and came, after His passion, into Sheol, made captive all the earth—He who made the nature of death captive to life, and Death when it saw Him descending in His soul’ to Sheol, was deceived, and hoped that He was food for him, as was his custom. But when he saw in Him the beauty of the Godhead, he cried out with [his] voice, saying: Who is this that hath clothed Himself with Man who [was] under me, and hath conquered me? Who is this that snatcheth from destruction flesh which was bound by me? Who is this that hath clothed Himself with earth but [Himself] is heaven? Who is this that was born in corruptibility, but suffereth no corruption? Who is this [that is] a stranger to my laws? Who is this that maketh captive those that are mine? Who is this that striveth with the power of burning Death, and conquereth darkness? What is this new glory which [is] in this vision that preventeth me from doing the things which I would? Who is this new dead One without sin? Who is this that by the abundance of light extinguisheth darkness, and doth not allow me to have rule over those that are mine, but draweth to heaven the souls which were given unto me? What is this glory which preventeth the body from being corruptible? Who is this whom I cannot touch? What is this glory unsearchable to its surroundings? Woe’ isme! I am put to flight’ by Him and by those things which are His, for I cannot injure them. He, being the Christ, who was crucified, by whom the [things] that were on the left hand were’ [placed] on the right hand, and those which were beneath [were] as those which [were] above, and those which [were] behind as those which [were] before, when He rose from the dead, and trod down Sheol, and by death slew Death"; after 12 He rose on the third day He gave thanks to the Father, saying: I give thanks to Thee, O My Father, not with these lips which are fixed together, nor yet with a corporeal tongue through which truth and lying go out, nor with this created and material word; but I give thanks to Thee, the King, with that Voice which through Thee understandeth all [things], which cometh not by a bodily organ, which falleth not on carnal ears, which After the people are taught the Initiation’ into the mysteries, let the Eucharist be offered; but let not the Initiation into the mysteries be said each time, but only at Pascha, on Saturday, and on the first day of the week, and on the days of the Epiphany and of Pentecost.

Then let the appointment of the presbyter be thus. All the priestly company conducting him, the bishop laying his hand on his head, the presbyters touching him and holding him, let the bishop begin, and say thus: PRAYER OF ORDINATION OF A PRESBYTER O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the In- effable One, the Light, who hast neither beginning nor ending,’ the Lord, who hast ordered‘ all things, and set bounds to [them], and by reason hast defined the order of all things by Thee created; Hear us, and look upon this Thy servant, and make him partaker of, and grant unto him, the Spirit of grace and of reason and of strength, the Spirit of the presbyterate 7 who doth not grow old,’ and is indissoluble, homogeneous loving the faithful, rebuking, that he may help and govern Thy people by labour, by fear, by a pure heart, by holiness, by excellency, by wisdom, and by the working of the Holy Spirit, through Thy care, O Lord. In like manner as when Thou didst look upon Thy People, the Chosen, Thou didst command Moses to ask for the elders and filling [them] with Thy Spirit didst bestow Him on Thy minister so now, O Lord, bestow on [this man] abundantly 7 Thy Spirit, whom Thou didst give to those who by Thyself were made disciples, and to all those who through them truly believed in Thee And make him worthy, being filled with Thy wisdom and Thy hidden mysteries, to feed Thy people in holiness of heart: pure, and true; praising, blessing, laud- ing, giving thanks, offering a doxology alway, day and night, to Thy holy and glorious Name; labouring with cheerfulness and patience to be a vessel of Thy Holy Spirit; having and bearing alway the cross of Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom [be] praise and might to Thee with the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Let the people say: Amen. Let both the priests and people give him the Peace, with an holy kiss.

Let the appointment be thus. As she prayeth at the entrance of the altar and looketh down, let the bishop say quietly, so that the priests may hear, thus: PRAYER OF THE INSTITUTION OF WIDOWS WHO SIT IN FRONT O God, the Holy One, the Most High, who seest the [things] that are humble, who hast chosen the weak and the mighty; the Honoured One who hast created also those [things] which are despised; give, O Lord, the spirit of power to this Thine handmaid, and strengthen her with Thy truth, so that doing Thy commandment and serving in the house of Thy sanctuary, she may be an honoured vessel " unto Thee, and may glorify!? [Thee] in the day 3 when Thou wilt glorify Thy poor, O Lord. And grant to her power cheerfully to accom- plish Thy teachings which Thou hast determined for a rule for Thine handmaid. Grant to her, O Lord, the spirit of meek- ness and of power and of patience and of kindness, so that, bearing with ineffable joy Thy burden, she may endure labours. Yea, O Lord God, who knowest our weakness, perfect Thine handmaid for the praise of Thine house; strengthen her for edification and a good example,’ sanctify [her], make [her] wise; comfort [her] O God; for blessed and glorious” is Thy kingdom, O God the Father. And to Thee [be] praise, and to Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Ghost [who is] good and adorable and the Maker of life,” and of equal essence with Thee,” now and before all the worlds and for the ages and for ever and ever. The people: Amen.

After the catechumens pray, let the bishop or presbyter, laying on them a hand, say the prayer of the laying on of the hand of catechumens: PRAYER OF CATECHUMENS O God, who dost send thunderings and preparest lightnings, who hast founded the heaven and established the earth, and enlightenest the faithful and convertest them that err; who hast quickened those who were dead and hast given hope to those who [were] without hope, and hast freed the universe from error by the coming down of Thy Only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; hear us, O Lord, and give to these souls intelli- gence, perfectness, undoubting faith, knowledge of the truth, that they may be in a degree higher than this, through the holy Name of Thee and of Thy beloved Son Jesus, our Lord, through whom [be] praise and might to Thee with the Holy Ghost, both now and alway and for ever and ever. Amen. After this let them be dismissed. If any one, being a catechumen, be apprehended for My Name and be judged with tortures, and hasten and press forward to receive the laver, let not the shepherd hesitate, but let him give [it] to him. But if he suffer violence and be killed, not having received the laver, let him not be anxious. For, having been baptized in his own blood, [he is] justified

[CONCLUSION] When ye the faithful accomplish these things, teach and instruct one another, causing the catechumens to make pro- gress, as loving all men‘; ye do not perish, but will be in Me and I will be among you. But alway let the faithful take care that before he eat he partake of the Eucharist,’ that he may be incapable of receiv- ing injury. When ye teach these things and keep [them], ye shall be saved, and evil heresy shall not prevail against you. Lo, then, I have taught you now all [things] that ye desire; and those things which I have spoken with you [of] from the beginning, and have taught and commanded you before I should suffer, ye know.

And thou ” especially John, and Andrew and Peter, even now ye know all [the things] which I have spoken to you while I am with you, as also that which [is] in this Testament, in order that when ye deliver [them] to the nations the will of My Father may alway be accomplished, abiding’ firm in carefulness, so that there may be good fruits in them that hear. Ye know that I have spoken with you that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. All [things], then, that I have commanded you openly and secretly, do. And the God of tranquillity be with you.’