The Order of Worship for
Preparatory Service
Thooyaba
Part I
P: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen. Grant to us O Lord, weak and sinful as we are, we ask for
Your mercy and Your compassion in this life and in the life to come.
Amen.
P: O Lord, You are merciful and loving to each one of us. Give to us
reverence and understanding of heart, that we may hold ourselves in
Your presence free from all discord and impurity, and worship You as
Lord and Creator, as is Your due, both now and forever.
C: Amen.
Psalm 51 – Psalm of Confession
P: Have mercy on me O God, according to Your steadfast love;
according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
C: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my
sin!
P: For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
C: Against You, You only have I sinned, and done that which is evil
in Your sight.
P: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow.
C: Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Psalm 51 – Psalm of Confession
P: Create in me a clean heart O God, and put a new and right spirit
within me.
C: Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy
Spirit from me.
P: Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing
spirit.
C: O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth Your
praise.
P: Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
C: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world
without end. Amen.
Promeon
P: O Lord, grant us Your grace and Your mercy.
C: Merciful Lord, have mercy and help us
P: Help us, O Lord, continually to offer to You our praise and
thanksgiving. To the One merciful Father, who hears the prayers of all
sinners who calls upon Him; to the One merciful Son, who receives all
who knock in penitence at His door; and to the One holy and life-giving
Spirit who cleanses all who turn and seek Him, belong glory and honor
and worship now and forever.
C: Amen.
Sedra
P: O God, You are gracious, approachable and merciful; You love us and
desire above all else the offering of a broken spirit. Receive us, we
humbly pray, all that we have and are. Make us worthy to come before
You with contrition and humility, purify us from all stain that we may be
transformed by the renewal of our life, and go forth, as did the wise
virgins, to a new world, bearing the shining lamps of faith. Enable us to
sing Your praises, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever.
C: Amen.
P: At Your door I knock and from Your treasure-store, O Lord, I ask for
mercy. I am a sinner who for long has turned aside from Your ways.
Help me to confess my sins, to leave them behind me and to live by
Your grace. To whom shall I turn, if not to You, O compassionate Lord,
and who will plead for our faults, if not You, O glorious King? O
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be to us a refuge from all evil. Protect us
under the wings of Your mercy both now and to the end of time.
C: Amen.
Ethra
P: May the perfume of our prayers be always acceptable to You.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. Reconcile the whole creation to Yourself.
P: O Lord, we have sinned.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. Pardon our offences.
P: O Lord, make us worthy to offer to You all our thoughts, words and
deeds.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. Receive us as an acceptable sacrifice of
praise and thanksgiving.
Part II
[Vesting of the Priest]
P: (Removing outer garment) Remove from me, O Lord, the filthy
garments with which Satan has covered me and clothe me with the
garments which are fit and proper for the service of Your Majesty.
P: (Washing his hands) Grant us, O Lord, with purified hearts and
cleansed consciences to enter with awe into Your Holy of Holies and to
offer to You spiritual sacrifices in true faith; in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Part II
[Vesting of the Priest]
P: (Putting on the stole) Equip me, O Lord, with strength to fight
against evil.
P: (Putting on the girdle) Gird me, O Lord, with the sword of Your
Spirit.
P: (Putting on the left sleeve) O Lord, make us chosen vessels for
ministering to Your honor, consecrate every member of our body for
Your service, our hand to perform all the tasks that You may reveal to
us.
P: (Putting on the right sleeve) May Your right hand O Lord, support me
and chasten me.
Part II
[Vesting of the Priest]
P: (Putting on the cape) O Lord, You will clothe Your priests with
justice and Your righteous ones with glory. Do not turn away Your face
from me, for the sake of Your Anointed.
P: (Placing the bread on the paten) Our Lord was led like a lamb for
slaughter. As a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so He did not open
His mouth before accusers. In holiness, O Lord, You have established
Your kingdom. The Lord will reign forever and ever.
Part II
[Vesting of the Priest]
P: (Mixing water and wine in the chalice) Our Lord was crucified
between two robbers and His side was pierced with a spear. Thence
flowed blood and water to atone for the sins of all creation.
What shall I render to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will take
the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my
vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.
O Jesus, first-born of God the Father, accept these offerings from the
hands of Your weak and sinful servant.
Part II
[Vesting of the Priest]
P: (Covers the paten and chalice with kablanna, and prays kneeling)
Lord God Almighty, kind and forgiving, I stretch out to You the hands
of my heart, humbly asking You to pardon all my sins. I am not worthy,
O Lord, to live wholly in You, or to receive from You the gift of Your
divine mysteries. Yet I earnestly pray You to protect my mind from the
snare of the adversary, my eyes from lustful looks, my ears from
listening to worthless things, my hands from hurtful deeds, that my
inner being may be moved and used by You now and always.
Prayer
P: O Lamb of God, pure and spotless, who offered Himself to the Father
for the redemption of the whole world, make us fit to offer ourselves to
You as a living sacrifice, pleasing to You and following Your sacrifice
for us.
[The Priest places his hands in the form of a cross, the right hand on top
holding the paten and the left hand holding the chalice]
Prayer
P: We recall the ministry of our divine Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in accordance with His command, we meditate upon all that He did and
suffered for our sake, and especially upon the annunciation, His glorious
conception and birth, His baptism and fast, His suffering and crucifixion
and death, His glorious resurrection and ascension, and His eternal
presence with God the Father.
[The Priest places Chalice (east) and paten (west) on the Thabaleetha
and covers them with the Sosappa]
Prayer
P: We recall the ministry of our divine Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in accordance with His command, we meditate upon all that He did and
suffered for our sake, and especially upon the annunciation, His glorious
conception and birth, His baptism and fast, His suffering and crucifixion
and death, His glorious resurrection and ascension, and His eternal
presence with God the Father.
[The Priest places Chalice (east) and paten (west) on the Thabaleetha
and covers them with the Sosappa]
The end of the Thooyaba Service.