The forty holy martyrs who perished on the ice of Lake Sebaste in Armenia.
Tuesday: The holy prophet and forerunner, John, the baptist.

For the martyrs

Troparion, Tone I
By the sufferings your holy ones endured for you, O Lord and lover of mankind, * be pleased to heal our every ill.

Kondakion, Tone VI
Renouncing all the honors of the military, * you enlisted in the service of the divine master, O triumphant martyrs of the Lord, * and in suffering the ordeal of fire and water, * you received a myriad of crowns in the glory of heaven.

For the forerunner

Troparion, Tone II
Praise goes well with every just man's memory, * but for you the witness of the Lord is more than enough. * Of all the prophets, you are indeed the greatest, * for while they could but foretell his coming, * you were chosen to baptize him in the Jordan. * Truth has cost you much, O John, the baptist, but joy has also filled your heart, * for even those long dead were graced to hear your words: * God has taken flesh to save the world from sin, * and grant us his great mercy.

Kondakion, Tone III
For years she bore the shame of being barren, * until she bore her son called John, * the last and greatest of the prophets. * When the one foretold by all of them set foot in Jordan's flow, * on him John laid his hand and showed himself to all the world * a prophet, herald, and forerunner of the word.

Theotokion, Tone II
Through you, O ever virgin Theotokos, we share in the divine nature. * It is only right, then, that we should revere you and praise you, * for you gave birth to God who took flesh for us.

Blessed is the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit both now and forever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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