3rd Sunday of Great Lent: Veneration of the Cross
Troparion — Tone 4
O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance. / Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians, / over their adversaries. / And by virtue of Your Cross / preserve Your habitation!
Kontakion — Tone 7
Now the flaming sword no longer guards the gates of Eden; / it has mysteriously been quenched by the wood of the Cross! / The sting of death and the victory of hell have been vanquished; / for You, O my Savior, have come and cried to those in hell: / “Enter again into paradise.”
Martyr Nikon and 199 disciples with him in Sicily
Troparion — Tone 4
By your ascetic way of life / you conquered the crafty one, Holy Father Nikon. / By virtue of your holy life you became a rule and model to your disciples, / and with them you struggled for the Faith in the West. / You have all attained glory in heaven.
Kontakion — Tone 8
Of like discipline with the Ascetics, and rivaling the holy Athletes in zeal, / you were offered to the Lord through martyrdom, steadfast and righteous Martyrs. / As your sure guide you had the glorious Nikon; / fighting together with him you sang: Alleluia.
Venerable Nikon, Abbot of the Kiev Far Caves
Troparion — Tone 8
By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, / and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. / By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe! / O our holy father Nikon, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!
Martyr Philetus the Senator, his wife and sons, and those with them in Illyria
Troparion — Tone 4
Your holy martyrs, O Lord, / through their sufferings have received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through their intercessions, save our souls!
Righteous Basil of Mangazea in Siberia
Troparion — Tone 8
By God's providence you came from the city of Yaroslavl to the Siberian region, / and we honor your suffering for chastity at the hands of your master in Mangazeya, O blessed Basil, / for Christ God has crowned you with a martyr's crown in Heaven, / and He has glorified you on earth with incorruption and miracles. / O revered Martyr, preserve our land in peace, and pray for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion — Tone 4
Enlightened by divine grace, O God-lover, / you completed the course of your life in chastity, patience, and martyrdom; / therefore, even after death the radiance of your life has been revealed, / for you pour forth miracles to those who come with faith to venerate your tomb, crying out: / “Rejoice, Saint Basil, wonderworker of Mangazeya and of all Siberia.”
Monastic Martyr Luke of Saint Anne’s Skete on Mount Athos and Odrin
Troparion — Tone 1
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father, / for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away / but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, venerable Luke, rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion — Tone 2
As a venerable and proven ascetic, as an honorable and renowned martyr, / and as a model of the desert life, O most exalted Luke, / we sing hymns of praise to you, / for you have trampled upon serpents.
Venerable Sergius (Srebryansky), the New Confessor of Tver
Troparion — Tone 8
Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship, / the enlightener of the universe and the adornment of hierarchs: / all-wise father Sergius, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things. / Intercede before Christ God to save our souls.