Isaiah 41.4-14 (6th Hour)

4Who has wrought and done these things? he has called it who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to all futurity, I AM. 5The nations saw, and feared; the ends of the earth drew near, and came together, 6every one judging for his neighbor and that to assist his brother: and one will say, 7The artificer has become strong, and the coppersmith that smites with the hammer, and forges also: sometimes he will say, It is a piece well joined: they have fastened them with nails; they will fix them, and they shall not be moved. 8But you, Israel, are my servant Jacob, and he whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraam, whom I have loved: 9whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and from the high places of it I have called you, and said to you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and I have not forsaken you. 10Fear not; for I am with you: wander not; for I am your God, who have strengthened you; and I have helped you, and have established you with my just right hand. 11Behold, all your adversaries shall be ashamed and confounded; for they shall be as if they were not: and all your opponents shall perish. 12You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who shall insolently rage against you: for they shall be as if they were not, and they that war against you shall not be. 13For I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, 14Fear not, Jacob, and you Israel few in number; I have helped you, says your God, he that redeems you, O Israel.

Genesis 17.1-9 (Vespers)

1And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am your God, be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless. 2And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. 3And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke to him, saying, 4And I, behold! my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of a multitude of nations. 5And your name shall no more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraam, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6And I will increase you very exceedingly, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7And I will establish my covenant between you and your seed after you, to their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be your God, and the God of your seed after you. 8And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land wherein you sojourn, even all the land of Chanaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them a God. 9And God said to Abraam, You also shall fully keep my covenant, you and your seed after you for their generations.

Proverbs 15.20-16.9 (LXX) (Vespers)

20A wise son gladdens his father; but a foolish son sneers at his mother. 21The ways of a foolish man are void of sense; but a wise man proceeds on his way aright. 22They that honor not councils put off deliberation; but counsel abides in the hearts of counselors. 23A bad man will by no means attend to counsel; neither will he say anything seasonable, or good for the common weal. 24The thoughts of the wise are ways of life, that he may turn aside and escape from hell. 25The Lord pulls down the houses of scorners; but he establishes the border of the widow. 26An unrighteous thought is abomination to the Lord; but the sayings of the pure are held in honor. 27A receiver of bribes destroys himself; but he that hates the receiving of bribes is safe. By alms and by faithful dealings sins are purged away; but by the fear of the Lord every one departs from evil. 28The hearts of the righteous meditate faithfulness; but the mouth of the ungodly answers evil things. The ways of righteous men are acceptable with the Lord; and through them even enemies become friends. 29God is far from the ungodly; but he hearkens to the prayers of the righteous. Better are small receipts with righteousness, than abundant fruits with unrighteousness. Let the heart of a man think justly, that his steps may be rightly ordered of God. The eye that sees rightly rejoices the heart; and a good report fattens the bones. 32He that rejects instruction hates himself; but he that mind reproofs loves his soul. 33The fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom; and the highest honor will correspond therewith.

2All the works of the humble man are manifest with God; but the ungodly shall perish in an evil day. 5Every one that is proud in heart is unclean before God, and he that unjustly strikes hands with hand shall not be held guiltless. The beginning of a good way is to do justly; and it is more acceptable with God than to offer sacrifices. He that seeks the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness: and they that rightly seek him shall find peace. All of the works of the Lord are done with righteousness; and the ungodly man is kept for the evil day.

Hebrews 2.11-18 (Epistle, Theotokos)

11For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”

13Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.” 14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Luke 1.24-38 (Gospel, Theotokos)

24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, 25“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”

26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’ 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. 36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”

38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Leavetaking of Annunciation

Each of the Great Feasts of the Church is followed by a commemoration of some holy one who figures in the events of the Feast. So, today we commemorate the Holy Archangel Gabriel, who brought the glad news of the conception of Christ to Mary, the Theotokos. The Prologue gives the following teaching:

“The herald of the incarnation of the Son of God, he is one of the seven great angels who stand before the throne of God. He revealed to Zacharias the birth of the Forerunner, and said of himself: ‘I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God’ (Lk. 1:19). His name, Gabriel, signifies ‘man of God’. Speaking about the Annunciation, the holy Fathers comment that an angel with such a name was sent to signify who He was, and of what nature He was, who would be born of the most pure Virgin. He would be the Man of God, the Man-God, the strong and mighty God. Others have found that it was this same Gabriel who announced the conception of the Virgin Mary to Joachim and Anna, and that it was he who taught Moses in the wilderness to write the Book of Genesis. The holy Fathers consider that Gabriel belongs to the foremost and highest order of the heavenly powers, the seraphim, since the seraphim stand closest to God. And so he is one of the seven seraphim closest to God. The names of these seven are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selathiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel. Some would add Jeremiel to this number. Each has his own particular service, but all are equal in honour. Why did God not send Michael? For the reason that Michael’s service is the suppression of the enemies of God’s truth, while Gabriel’s is the annunciation of the salvation of the human race.”

Synaxis of Archangel Gabriel

On this day all the many visitations and miracles of the holy Archangel, recorded in Holy Scripture and ever since, are commemorated. This feast duplicates the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel that is celebrated on March 26, the day after Annunciation; it is thought that it was added to the calendar here some time in the ninth century, so that it could be celebrated more festively outside of Great Lent.