Ep.42: Vespers Part 3/ Lead us not into Temptation
Channel: Coffee with Sr. Vassa
Date: 2014-11-25

Subtitles: ENGLISH, SERBIAN, RUSSIAN, SPANISH, ITALIAN, UKRAINIAN, ROMANIAN, BULGARIAN, SLOVAK and GREEK
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A brief, weekly reflection on the Byzantine tradition, hosted by Dr. Sr. Vassa Larin of the University of Vienna in Austria. 





So, we‘ll be continuing our thrilling discussion of the Byzantine liturgical service called Vespers, the evening service, and we‘ll be discussing today something we read or sing in the very middle of the service, called “Vouchsafe, O Lord“ (or Kataxioson Kyrie in Greek). This is a very fascinating text and helpful, really, for any evening, zillions. So even if you‘re not particularly interested in liturgical services, I assure you, this will be interesting, so please stay with me until the very end.
 (Amos Lee sings Stay With Me)
This text, called by its first words, „Vouchsafe, O Lord,“ is partly a hymn, and partly a prayer. It is comprised of phrases taken from the Bible and also of words composed in early Christian times. Parts of this text can already be found in a late -4th c. church order (Apostolic Constitutions VII.48). And some of you might know that this text also comprises part of another liturgical text from another service – it forms the end of the Great Doxology at weekday matins. But I don‘t want to bore you with these details,zillions, so let‘s take a look at the text: Vouch-safe, O Lord, that we be kept this evening with-out sin. Blessed are You, O Lord, God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is Your Name forever (Dan 3:26 – this is from the Canticle of the 3 youths of the Old Testament). Amen. Let Your mercy be upon us,
O Lord, even as we have set our hope on You (Ps 32:22 – these words are also taken from the Old Testament, from the Book of Psalms). And this is followed by another verse from the Psalms (Ps 118:129, but it is modified to express the theology of the Holy Trinity: “Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes. Blessed are You, O Master, make me to understand Your statutes. Blessed are You, O Holy One (this is to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Ho-ly Spirit); enlighten me with your statutes. Your mercy endures forever, O Lord! Do not despise the work of Your hands! (this is from Ps 137:8, 
and appeals to God as our Creator – I remind you that Vespers has specifically praised God for the creation of the world). And finally we come to the conclusion of this text, which is a doxology, a concluding phrase that praises God: „To You belongs worship, to You belongs praise, to You belongs glory; to the Father and to the
Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.“ And this final phrase is important, be-cause we are often ready to ascribe glory to all sorts of people and things that aren't worth it: like, celebrities, and very wealthy or powerful people, - and this, perhaps subconsciously,makes us feel insufficient or dissatisfied. But glorifying God, Who is the source of all glory, enriches us, because we participate in it by step-ping into His sunlight, so to say, and lending our voices to His praise. 
Now let‘s talk about the very first words of this