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.”
Hieromartyr Simeon, kinsman of the Lord, second Bishop of Jerusalem
Troparion — Tone 1
The Church glorifies you as a kinsman of Christ, O Hierarch Simeon, / and as a steadfast martyr, for courageously you destroyed all deceptions and preserved the Faith. / Therefore, we celebrate your holy memory today, / and by your prayers, we receive the remission of our sins.
Kontakion — Tone 2
As one who has become a citizen of Zion on high, / you had been ordained to the throne of Zion below. / You guided your flock to the heavenly sheepfold, blessed Simeon, / and for the sake of Christ, you were crucified, / imitating His passion.
Venerable Stephen, Abbot of the Kiev Far Caves, and Bishop of Vladimir, in Volhynia
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 Stephen, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!