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Arise, you catechumens; ask for the peace of God through His Christ, for a peaceful and sinless day and for all the time of your life, for a Christian end to your lives, for God to be merciful and gracious, for the forgiveness of sins; commend yourselves to the only unbegotten God through His Christ. Bow and be blessed. And at each of these things which the deacon proclaims, as we have said before, let the people say: Lord, have mercy, and especially the children. And as they bow their heads, let the ordained bishop bless them with a blessing such as this: O God Almighty, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the only true God, the God and Father of Your Christ, Your only-begotten Son, the God of the Paraclete and Lord of all, who through Christ appointed teachers for the disciples for the learning of piety; look now also upon Your servants who are being instructed in the Gospel of Your Christ, and give them a new heart and renew a right spirit within their inward parts so that they may know and do Your will with a full heart and a willing soul. Deem them worthy of holy initiation and unite them to Your holy Church and make them partakers of the divine mysteries through Jesus Christ, our hope, who died for them, through whom to You be glory and worship in the Holy Spirit for ever; amen. And after this let the deacon say: Go forth, you catechumens, in peace. And after they have gone out, let him say: Pray, you who are vexed by unclean spirits. Let us all earnestly pray for them, that the merciful God through Christ may rebuke the unclean and evil spirits and deliver His suppliants from the oppression of the adversary; He who rebuked the legion of demons and the arch-evil devil, may He rebuke now also the apostates from piety and deliver His own creatures from their working and cleanse them, which He made with much wisdom. Let us pray for them yet more earnestly: Save and raise them up, O God, in Your power. Bow, you who are vexed, and be blessed. And let the bishop pray over them, saying: O You who bound the strong man and plundered all his goods, who gave us authority to tread on serpents and

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Ἐγείρεσθε, οἱ κατηχούμενοι· τὴν εἰρήνην τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ αἰτήσασθε, εἰρηνικὴν τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ ἀναμάρτητον καὶ πάντα τὸν χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς ὑμῶν, χριστιανὰ τὰ τέλη ὑμῶν, ἵλεω καὶ εὐμενῆ τὸν Θεόν, ἄφεσιν πλημμελη μάτων· ἑαυτοὺς τῷ μόνῳ ἀγεννήτῳ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ παράθεσθε. Κλίνατε καὶ εὐλογεῖσθε. Ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ δὲ τούτων ὧν ὁ διάκονος προσφωνεῖ, ὡς προείπομεν, λεγέτω ὁ λαός· Κύριε ἐλέησον, καὶ πρὸ πάντων τὰ παιδία. Κλινόντων δὲ αὐτῶν τὰς κεφαλὰς εὐλογείτω αὐτοὺς ὁ χειροτονηθεὶς ἐπίσκοπος εὐλογίαν τοιάνδε· Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἀγέννητος καὶ ἀπρόσιτος, ὁ μόνος ἀληθινὸς Θεός, ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ σου, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Παρακλήτου καὶ τῶν ὅλων Κύριος, ὁ διὰ Χριστοῦ διδασκάλους τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐπιστήσας πρὸς μάθησιν τῆς εὐσεβείας· αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους σου τοὺς κατηχουμένους τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου, καὶ δὸς αὐτοῖς καρδίαν καινὴν καὶ πνεῦμα εὐθὲς ἐγκαί νισον ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸ εἰδέναι καὶ ποιεῖν τὸ θέλημά σου ἐν καρδίᾳ πλήρει καὶ ψυχῇ θελούσῃ Καταξίωσον αὐτοὺς τῆς ἁγίας μυήσεως καὶ ἕνωσον τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου Ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ μετόχους ποίησον τῶν θείων μυστηρίων διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν, τοῦ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντος, δι' οὗ σοι δόξα καὶ τὸ σέβας ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν. Καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ὁ διάκονος λεγέτω· Προέλθετε, οἱ κατηχούμενοι, ἐν εἰρήνῃ. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἐξελθεῖν αὐτοὺς λεγέτω· Eὔξασθε, οἱ ἐνεργούμενοι ὑπὸ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων. Ἐκτενῶς πάντες ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δεηθῶμεν, ὅπως ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς διὰ Χριστοῦ ἐπιτιμήσῃ τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις καὶ πονηροῖς πνεύμασιν καὶ ·ύσηται τοὺς αὐτοῦ ἱκέτας ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου καταδυναστείας· ὁ ἐπιτιμήσας τῷ λεγεῶνι τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τῷ ἀρχεκάκῳ διαβόλῳ, αὐτὸς ἐπι τιμήσῃ καὶ νῦν τοῖς ἀποστάταις τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ ·ύσηται τὰ ἑαυτοῦ πλάσματα ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεργείας αὐτῶν καὶ καθαρίσῃ αὐτά, ἃ μετὰ πολλῆς σοφίας ἐποίησεν. Ἔτι ἐκτενῶς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δεηθῶμεν· Σῶσον καὶ ἀνάστησον αὐτούς, ὁ Θεός, ἐν τῇ δυνάμει σου. Κλίνατε, οἱ ἐνεργούμενοι, καὶ εὐλογεῖσθε. Ὁ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος ἐπευχέσθω λέγων· Ὁ τὸν ἰσχυρὸν δήσας καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσας, ὁ δοὺς ἡμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ