XII. THE SIXTH HOUR,

OR SEXT.

O come, let us worship .... thrice. Psalms 53 (54), 54 (55) and 90 (91).

Glory. Both now. Alleluia .... thrice. Lord, have mercy, thrice. The Troparion of the Day. Both now.

As we have not daring .... Vide page 67.

ET thy compassions soon overtake us, O Lord, for we have become very poor. Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of thy name. O Lord, deliver us and cleanse our sins, for thy name's sake.

In the fasting time, instead of the Troparion, the following is said.

Priest. Thou that at the sixth day and hour didst nail to the Cross the sin Adam dared in Paradise; tear asunder also the

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handwriting of our offences, O Christ our God, and save us.

The First Choir repeateth the verse.

Priest. Hearken, O God, unto my prayer, and despise not my petition.

Second Choir. Thou that at the sixth day ....

Priest. I have cried unto God, and the Lord heard me.

First Choir. Thou that at the sixth day...

Priest. Glory. Reader. Both now. As we have not daring .... And, Let thy compassions ....

Trisagion, &c. After Our Father, the Condakion of the Day. Or, in the fasting time, the following.

THOU hast perfected salvation in the midst of the earth, O Christ our God; thou hast stretched forth thy most pure hands upon the Cross, gathering together all the nations to cry unto thee, Glory to thee, O Lord. Glory.

Before thy most pure image we bow down, entreating forgiveness of our sins, O Christ our God; for thou wast pleased willingly to ascend the Cross in thy flesh, that thou mightest deliver them that thou didst make from the servitude of the enemy. Therefore we thankfully exclaim to thee, Thou

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hast filled all things with joy, O our Saviour, thou that camest to save the world. Both now.

Thou that art the fountain of loving-kindness, vouchsafe unto us thy sympathy, O Mother of God. Look down on the people who have sinned, shew unto us thy wonted power; for, trusting in thee, we cry unto thee, Hail! as once did Gabriel the bodiless Chieftain.

Lord, have mercy, forty times.

And the Prayer, Thou that in all times.... Vide page 76.

In the Fasts, the Prayer of S. Ephrem.

Closing Prayer of the Sixth Hour. Of Basil the Great.

GOD and Lord of hosts, Maker of all creation, who, through the loving-kindness of thine incomparable mercy, didst send thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of our race, and, through his honourable Cross, hast blotted out the handwriting of our sins, and triumphed over the princes and powers of darkness; thyself, O Lord, accept from us sinners these thankful and prayerful supplications, and deliver us from every dark and deadly sin, and from all visible and invisible enemies that seek our hurt. Penetrate our

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flesh with the fear of thee, and incline not our hearts to evil words and imaginations, but wound our souls with thy love. Then shall we always look unto thee, and discern thee, who art the unapproachable and everlasting light, and, led thereby, shall ever pay unto thee our vows and thanksgiving, O unbeginning Father, with thine only-begotten Son, and thy most holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.

The Dismissal is as in the First Hour.