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we will receive in our hands. Thus let us pray fervently for our brothers, and let us say to Christ: You alone, the good God then and now, and man-loving Master, who through the Passover delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt and through the blood of the lamb granted him freedom, you also now, through your immaculate body, and your precious blood, grant freedom from bitter bondage to your world. You who accepted the weeping of the sinful harlot, accept today also the groaning of your Church and of the captivity; you who accepted the supplication of the faithful thief, accept the petition of your faithful people; you who accepted the repentance of Peter, and his groaning, accept also the weeping of us, the poor; you who did not turn away the tears of the Canaanite woman, receive also a small Church interceding for a great captivity, and crying out to you, God, today and saying: O God, who rose on the third day from the dead, raise up your faithful people from their enemies; you who raised Adam from the dead, raise up the horn of the Christians; you, the God then and now, who took on the form of a servant, redeem your humble people from bondage; you who deigned to become an infant for our sake, save the multitude of our infants from the sword. You, the God of then, who lived as a foreigner in Egypt with your mother, recall the mothers and children from their long exile; you who were willingly sold for the sake of many, stop the selling of the people of the Churches; you who for our sake received on your back the scourges and threats of Pilate, you who for our sake grew weary from the journey, put an end to the toils and hardships of your people; you who cried out on the cross, "I thirst," refresh the souls that are terribly thirsty and hungry; you who were condemned with the lawless by the lawless, deliver us also from the counsel of the lawless; you who were stripped like an evildoer by the lawless, you yourself, O Master, bound by transgressors, release those who are shackled in bonds; you who from the cross comforted your immaculate mother in her lamentation, and her weeping; you who then cried out to the myrrh-bearing women, "Rejoice," you also now cry out to your Churches, "Rejoice"; you whose hands and feet were nailed with the precious nails, release the hands and feet of peoples bound in iron chains. Yes, man-loving Master, who said, "My soul is sorrowful unto death," deliver your people from sorrow and death; you whose side was pierced by the spear, shatter the spear of the enemies with your mighty hand, and remember, O Master, as 43.476 of your faithful thief and of your people; you who shed your immaculate blood for us, stop the shedding of our blood. Save your people, O Master; spare your inheritance. Arise; why do you sleep, O Lord? Why are you long-suffering with our enemies? Why do you turn your face from us? Arise, and do not cast us off forever; do not overlook us completely. Remember your cross, remember your people, remember your compassions. You who for forty days were willingly tempted for our sake, O Master, remember your peoples who are being tempted in the deserts, in pathless and waterless places; remember them with us, and before us, O good and man-loving one. Help them, go before them; visit them then; them, the most pitiful of all, who are more humble than all upon the earth; them, who in the deserts have been despaired of by men; who have been driven far from your hand; who have been greatly chastised by your wrath; who have been greatly rebuked by your anger; who before death were filled by men as though they were dead; who were condemned to live with wild beasts; whose violence no one sees, except

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ὑποδεξόμεθα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἡμῶν. Οὕτως ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν ἐκτενῶς προσευξώμεθα, καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ εἴπωμεν· Αὐτὸς ὁ μόνος ὁ τότε καὶ νῦν ἀγαθὸς Θεὸς, καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ∆εσπότης, ὁ διὰ τοῦ Πάσχα τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ δουλείας Αἰγύπτου ῥυσάμενος καὶ διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀμνοῦ ἐλευθερίαν αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος, αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν διὰ τοῦ ἀχράντου σου σώματος, καὶ τοῦ τιμίου αἵματος, τῆς πικρᾶς δουλείας ἐλευθερίαν τῷ κόσμῳ σου δώρησαι. Ὁ προσδεξάμενος τῆς ἁμαρτωλοῦ πόρνης τὸν κλαυθμὸν, πρόσδεξαι σήμερον καὶ τὴν σὴν Ἐκκλησίαν καὶ αἰχμαλωσίας τὸν στεναγμόν· ὁ προσδεξάμενος τοῦ λῃστοῦ τοῦ πιστοῦ τὴν παράκλησιν, πρόσδεξαι τοῦ λαοῦ σου τοῦ πιστοῦ τὴν δέησιν· ὁ προσδεξάμενος τοῦ Πέτρου τὴν μετάνοιαν, καὶ τὸν στεναγμὸν, πρόσδεξαι καὶ ἡμῶν τὸν κλαυθμὸν τῶν πτωχῶν· ὁ μὴ ἀποστρέψας Χαναναίας τὰ δάκρυα, δέξαι καὶ μικρὰν Ἐκκλησίαν ὑπὲρ μεγάλης αἰχμαλωσίας πρεσβεύουσαν, καὶ πρὸς σὲ τὸν Θεὸν σήμερον βοῶσαν καὶ λέγουσαν· Ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ τριήμερος ἀναστὰς ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἀνάστησον ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τὸν πιστόν σου λαόν· ὁ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐγείρας ἐκ τῶν θνητῶν, ἔγειρον τὸ κέρας τῶν Χριστιανῶν· αὐτὸς ὁ τότε καὶ νῦν Θεὸς, ὁ τὴν μορφὴν τοῦ δούλου ἀναλαβὼν, λύτρωσαι ἐκ δουλείας τὸν ταπεινόν σου λαόν· ὁ νήπιος γενέσθαι καταξιώσας ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, σῶσον μαχαίρας τὸ πλῆθος τῶν νηπίων ἡμῶν. Αὐτὸς ὁ τότε Θεὸς, ὁ μετὰ μητρὸς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ξενιτεύσας, ἀνακάλεσαι τῆς μακρᾶς ξενιτείας τὰς μητέρας καὶ τὰ τέκνα· ὁ πραθεὶς ὑπὲρ πολλῶν ἑκουσίως, παῦσον τὴν πράσιν τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν· ὁ δι' ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ νώτῳ δεξάμενος τὰς τοῦ Πιλάτου μάστιγας, καὶ ἀπειλὰς, αὐτὸς ὁ κοπιάσας δι' ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας, παῦσον τοῦ λαοῦ σου τοὺς κόπους καὶ ταλαιπωρίας· ὁ ἐν σταυρῷ βοήσας· ∆ιψῶ, δρόσισον ψυχὰς δεινῶς διψώσας καὶ πεινώσας· ὁ μετὰ ἀνόμων ὑπὸ ἀνόμων κατακριθεὶς, ῥῦσαι καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀνόμων βουλῆς· ὁ γυμνωθεὶς ὡς κακοῦργος ὑπὸ ἀνόμων, αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος, ∆έσποτα, ὑπὸ παρανόμων δεσμευθεὶς, λῦσον τοὺς ἐν δεσμοῖς πεπεδημένους· ὁ τὴν ἄχραντόν σου μητέρα παρακαλέσας ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ ὀδυρμοῦ, καὶ τοῦ κλαυθμοῦ· αὐτὸς ὁ τότε βοήσας ταῖς μυροφόροις τὸ, Χαίρετε, αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν βόησον ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις σου, Χαίρετε· αὐτὸς ὁ τοῖς ἥλοις τοῖς τιμίοις προσηλωθεὶς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας, λῦσον σιδηροδέσμων λαῶν τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας. Ναὶ, ∆έσποτα φιλάνθρωπε, ὁ εἰπών· Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐκ θανάτου, ῥῦσαι τὸν λαόν σου τῆς λύπης καὶ τοῦ θανάτου· αὐτὸς ὁ τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ νυγεὶς τὴν πλευράν σου, σύντριψον τῶν ἐχθρῶν τὴν ῥομφαίαν τῇ χειρί σου τῇ κραταιᾷ, καὶ μνήσθητι, ∆έσποτα, ὡς 43.476 τοῦ λῃστοῦ σου τοῦ πιστοῦ καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ σου· ὁ χύσας τὸ ἄχραντον αἷμα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, παῦσον τὴν σύγχυσιν τῶν αἱμάτων ἡμῶν. Σῶσον τὸν λαόν σου, ∆έσποτα· φεῖσαι τῆς κληρονομίας σου. Ἐξεγέρθητι· ἵνα τί ὑπνοῖς, Κύριε; Ἵνα τί τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μακροθυμεῖς; Ἵνα τί ἀποστρέφεις τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀφ' ἡμῶν; Ἀνάστηθι, καὶ μὴ ἀπώσῃ εἰς τέλος· μὴ παρίδῃς εἰς πλήρης. Μνήσθητι τοῦ σταυροῦ σου, μνήσθητι τοῦ λαοῦ σου, μνήσθητι τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου. Ὁ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας ἑκουσίως δι' ἡμᾶς πειρασθεὶς, ∆έσποτα, μνήσθητι τῶν ἐν ἐρήμοις πειραζομένων λαῶν σου, τῶν ἐν ἀβάτοις καὶ ἀνύδροις· ἐκείνων μνήσθητι μεθ' ἡμῶν, καὶ πρὸ ἡμῶν, ἀγαθὲ φιλάνθρωπε. Ἐκείνους συμβοήθησον, ἐκείνους πρόφθασον· ἐκείνους λοιπὸν ἐπίσκεψαι· ἐκείνους τοὺς ὑπὲρ πάντας ἐλεεινοὺς, τοὺς παρὰ πάντας ὄντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ταπεινούς· ἐκείνους τοὺς ἐν ἐρήμοις παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ἀπεγνωσμένους· οἵτινες μακρὰν ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου ἐδιώχθησαν· οἵτινες μεγάλως τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐπαιδεύθησαν· οἵτινες μεγάλως τῇ ὀργῇ σου ἠλέγχθησαν· οἵτινες πρὸ θανάτου ὡς νεκροὶ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἐπλήσθησαν· οἵτινες μετὰ θηρίων ἀγρίων οἰκεῖν κατεκρίθησαν· ὧν τὴν βίαν οὐδεὶς καθορᾷ, εἰ μὴ