INTROIT
Ps 138:17
To me, Your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Ps 138:1-2
O Lord, You have probed me and You know me; You know when I sit and when I stand.
Glory Be to the Father…
To me, Your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
COLLECT
Protect Your people and make them holy, O Lord, so that, guarded by the help of Your Apostle James, they may please You by their conduct and serve You with peace of mind.
Through our Lord…
COMMEMORATION COLLECT
Of St. Christopher
Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that we, who honor the anniversary of the death of blessed Christopher, Your Martyr, may be his intercession be strengthened in love of Your name.
Through our Lord…
EPISTLE
Lesson from the first letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
1 Cor. 4:9-15
Brethren: I think God has set forth us the Apostles last of all, as men doomed to death, seeing that we have been made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are without honor! To this very hour we hunger and thirst, and we are naked and buffeted, and have no fixed abode. And we toil, working with our own hands. We are reviled and we bless, we are persecuted and we bear with it, we are maligned and we entreat, we have become as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all, even until now! I write these things not to put you to shame, but to admonish you as my dearest children. For although you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, through the gospel, did I beget you.
GRADUAL
Ps 44:17-18
You shall make them princes through all the land; they shall remember Your name, O Lord.
℣. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; therefore shall nations praise You. Alleluia, alleluia.
John 15:16
℣. I have chosen you out of the world, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
Continuation ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matt 20:20-23
At that time, the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons; and worshipping, she made a request of Him. He said to her, What do you want? She said to Him, Command that these my two sons may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand, in Your kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink of the cup of which I am about to drink? They said to Him, We can. He said to them, Of My cup you shall indeed drink; but as for sitting at My right hand and at My left, that is not Mine to give you, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.
OFFERTORY
Ps 18:5
Through all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message.
SECRET
May the holy martyrdom of blessed James, the Apostle, make acceptable the offerings of Your people; and because our own merits are insufficient, may his prayer make them pleasing to You.
Through our Lord…
COMMEMORATION SECRET
Of St. Christopher
Grant, we beseech You, O Lord our God, that we who in this life joyously assist in the veneration of Your saints, may rejoice in beholding them forever in heaven.
Through our Lord…
PREFACE
of Apostles
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, to entreat Thee humbly, O Lord, that Thou wouldst not desert Thy flock, O everlasting Shepherd, but, through Thy blessed Apostles, wouldst keep it under Thy constant protection; that it may be governed by those same rulers, whom as vicars of Thy work, Thou didst set over it to be its pastors. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying:
COMMUNION
Matt 19:28
You who have followed Me shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
POSTCOMMUNION
Help us, O Lord, we beseech You, by the intercession of blessed James, Your Apostle, for whose festival we have joyfully received Your holy sacrament.
Through our Lord…
COMMEMORATION POSTCOMMUNION
Of St. Christopher
Grant, we beseech You, O Lord our God, that we who in this life joyously assist in the veneration of Your saints, may rejoice in beholding them forever in heaven.
Through our Lord…