Lazarus Saturday

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Lazarus Saturday  29 March / 11 April

Resurrection of Lazarus

Lazarus Saturday is a paschal celebration.It is the only time in the entire Church Year that the resurrection service of Sunday is celebrated on another day. At the Liturgy of Lazarus Saturday, the Church glorifies Christ as “the Resurrection and the Life” who by raising Lazarus has confirmed the universal resurrection of mankind even before His own suffering and death.

At the Divine Liturgy of Lazarus Saturday, the baptismal verse from Galatians (“As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” Galatians 32:27) replaces the Thrice-Holy Hymn, thus indicating the resurrectional character of the celebration, and the fact that Lazarus Saturday was once among the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church Year.

Because of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, Christ was hailed by the masses as the long-expected Messiah-King of Israel. Thus, in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, he entered Jerusalem, the City of the King, riding on the colt of an ass (Zechariah 9:9;John 12:12) the crowds greeting him with waving branches and shouts of praise: Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! The Son of David! The King of Israel! Because of this glorification by the people, the Jewish priests and scribes were finally driven “to destroy Him, to put Him to death.” (Luke 19:47; John 11:53, 12:10)

Taken from The Orthodox Faith, Vol. II: Worship, by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

The Fifth Sunday of Great Lent

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The Fifth Sunday of Great Lent / Venerable Mary of Egypt

23 March/ 5MarchApril

St Mary of EgyptResurrection Tropar, Tone 1:When the stone had been sealed by the Jews; / while the soldiers were guarding Thy Most Pure Body; / Thou didst rise on the third day, O Saviour, / granting life to the world. / The Powers of Heaven therefore cried to Thee O Giver of Life: / glory to Thy Resurrection O Christ! / Glory to Thy Kingdom; / Glory to Thy Dispensation, O Thou who lovest mankind.

Tropar of St. Mary of Egypt, Tone 5: Enlightened by the grace of the Cross, thou wast shown forth as a radiant lamp of repentance, dispelling the darkness of the passions, O all-holy one. Wherefore, thou didst appear as an angel in the flesh unto the sacred Zosimas in the wilderness. O Mary, our righteous mother, do thou intercede with Christ for us.

Resurrection Kondak, Tone 1:As God, Thou didst rise from the tomb in glory, / Raising the world with Thyself. / Human nature praises Thee as God, for death has vanished. / Adam exults O Master, Eve rejoices, for she is freed from bondage, and cries to Thee; / Thou art the Giver of Resurrection to all, O Christ.

Kondak of St. Mary of Egypt, Tone 3:Thou who once of old wast filled with all manner of fornication, art now seen today to be a bride of Christ by thy repentance. Thou didst love and emulate the life of the angels. By the Cross, thou didst annihilate the hordes of demons; for this cause thou art a bride now in the kingdom of the heavens, O Mary, thou all-modest one.

 

St. Mary of Egypt

St Mary of Egypt and St ZossimaThe recorder of the life of this wonderful saint was St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. A hieromonk, the elder Zossima, had gone off at one time during the Great Fast a twenty-days’ walk into the wilderness across the Jordan. He suddenly caught sight of a human being with a withered and naked body and with hair as white as snow, who fled in its nakedness from Zossima’s sight. The elder ran a long way, until this figure stopped at a stream and called:’ Father Zossima, forgive me for the Lord’s sake. I cannot turn round to you, for I am a naked woman.’ Then Zossima threw her his outer cloak, and she wrapped herself in it and turned round to him. The elder was amazed at hearing his name from the lips of this unknown woman. After considerable pressure on his part, she told him her life-story. She had been born in Egypt, and had lived as a prostitute in Alexandria from the age of twelve, spending seventeen years in this way of life. Urged by the lustful fire of the flesh, she one day got into a ship that was sailing for Jerusalem. Arriving at the Holy City, she tried to go into one of the churches to venerate the Precious Cross, but some unseen power prevented her from entering. In great fear, she turned to an icon of the Mother of God that was in the entrance, and begged her to let her go in and venerate the Cross, confessing her sin and impurity and promising that she would then go wherever the Most Pure led her. She was then allowed to enter the church. After venerating the Cross, she went out again to the entrance and, standing in front of the icon, thanked the Mother of God. Then she heard a voice: ‘If you cross the Jordan, you will find true peace.’ She immediately bought three loaves of bread and set off for the Jordan, arriving there the same evening. She received Communion the following morning in the monastery of St John, and then crossed the river. She spent forty-eight whole years in the wilderness in the greatest torments, in terror, in struggles with passionate thoughts like gigantic beasts. She fed only on plants. After that, when she was standing in prayer,Zossima saw her lifted up in the air. She begged him to bring her Communion the next year on the bank of the Jordan, and she would come to receive it. The following year, Zossima came with the Holy Gifts to the bank of the Jordan in the evening, and stood in amazement as he saw her cross the river. He saw her coming in the moonlight and, arriving on the further bank, make the sign of the Cross over the river. She then walked across it as though it were dry land. When she had received Communion, she begged him to come again the following year to the same stream by which they had first met. Zossima went, and found her dead body there on that spot. Above her head in the sand was written: ‘Abba Zossima, bury in this place the body of the humble Mary. Give dust to dust. I passed away on April 1st, on the very night of Christ’s Passion, after communion of the divine Mysteries.’ Zossima learned her name for the first time, and also the awe-inspiring marvel that she had arrived at that stream the previous year on the night of the same day on which she had received Communion—a place that he had taken twenty days to reach. And thus Zossima buried the body of the wonderful saint, Mary of Egypt. When he returned to the monastery, he recounted the whole story of her life and the wonders to which he had been an eyewitness. Thus the Lord glorifies repentant sinners. St Mary is also commemorated in the Fifth Week of the Great Fast. The Church holds her up before the faithful in these days of the Fast as a model of repentance. She entered into rest in about 530.

The Forth Sunday of Great Lent

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The Forth Sunday of Great Lent  / St John of the Ladder

16/ 29March

ResurrectionTropar, Tone 8: Thou didst descend from on high, O Merciful One! / Thou didst endure the three-day burial / to free us from our sufferings! / O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to Thee.

Tropar of St. John Climacus, Tone 3: Having raised up a sacred ladder by thy words/ thou wast shown forth to all as a teacher of monastics/ and thou dost lead us, O John/ from the purification that cometh through godly discipline/ unto the light of Divine vision/ O righteous father/ do thou entreat Christ God// that we be granted great mercy.

Resurrection Kondak, Tone 8: By rising from the tomb Thou didst raise the dead and resurrect Adam/ Eve exults in Thy Resurrection, / and the world celebrates Thy rising from the dead, O Greatly Merciful One.

Kondak of St. John Climacus, Tone 1: Offering teachings from thy book as ever-blossoming fruits, O wise one, thou dost sweeten the heart of them that attend to them with vigilance, O blessed one; for it is a ladder that, from earth unto the heavenly and abiding glory, doth lead the souls of those who with faith do honour thee.

Our Holy Father John Climacus

Our Holy Father John Climacus (of the Ladder) -The author of the famous ‘Ladder’, he came from an unknown place to Mount Sinai as a sixteen-year-old boy and remained there, first as a novice, then as a hermit and finally as abbot of Sinai, until he died at the age of eighty, in about 649. His biographer, the monk Daniel, says of him: ‘He brought his body up to Mount Sinai, but his spirit he brought to the Mount of Heaven’. He spent nineteen years in obedience to his spiritual father, Martyrios. Anastasius of Mount Sinai, who saw John once as a young man, foretold that he would be abbot of Mount Sinai. After the death of his spiritual father, John took himself off to a cave, where he lived for twenty years in strict asceticism. His disciple, Moses, fell asleep one day in the cool shade of a huge rock. John was at prayer in his cell, and, perceiving that his disciple was in danger, began to pray for him. Moses came up to him later, fell to his knees and began to thank him for saving him from certain death. And he related how he had heard John calling him in his sleep and had jumped up at the very moment that a rock fell. Had he not jumped out of the way, the rock would certainly have killed him. At the importunate urging ofthe brethren, John accepted the abbacy, and guided their souls to salvation with loving zeal. He once heard a monk reproach him for being too verbose. He was not in the least angered, but was silent for an entire year, not uttering a single word until the brethren begged him to speak. He then began to instruct them with the wisdom with which God had endowed him. Once 600 pilgrims came to Mount Sinai. At supper they all noticed an agile young man dressed as a Jew who was serving at table and giving orders to the other servants, taking charge of everything. Suddenly, he disappeared. While everyone was pondering this and asking questions among themselves, John said: ‘Do not bother to look for him; that was the prophet Moses serving you in his own home.’ During the time that he was silent in his cave, John wrote many instructive books, of which the most famous, ‘The Ladder’, is much read to this day. It describes the way to raise the soul to God as if on a ladder. Before his death, John appointed his own brother, George, to the abbacy, but George began to grieve greatly at the approaching parting with John. Then John said that, if he were found worthy to stand close to God in the next world, he would pray that George be taken up to heaven in the same year. And so it came to pass. After ten months, George also fell asleep and departed to take his place among heaven’s citizens alongside his brother John.

Changes to the church services during coronavirus shutdown.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Great Lent 2020 will remain in our minds as a special visitation from God and challenge to our faith.
We are witness to the fact that our regular life is changing because of limitations imposed in order to stop the speed of the dangerous illness. Because of this the government of Victoria has introduced temporary bans on the places of worship.
We need to follow the guidelines imposed by the government in order to protect the health of people and because of this we are forced to cease general services in our Holy Trinity parish.
But as Christians we do not need to fall into a state of fear and panic.
We need to accept what is happening with humility and mindfulness.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ says to us, «Do not fear, Little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.» (Luke 12:32)
Lent is a time for limitations, solitude, repentance and prayer. We have an opportunity this year to increase our personal prayer at home and to experience spiritual support from each other.
Services by the clergy and prayers for our community will continue, but for now without parishioners. We are waiting for instruction from the hierarchy in Moscow about how to proceed with our parish life during these extreme times.
Pastoral care and Holy Communion to the sick, the support of those who are in need will continue as usual. Prayers will continue to be said for those who are listed in our notes and booklets. New names for inclusion can be sent to the priest, deacon Leonid or to our warden, Alexander.
May God give us strength, mindfulness and love for all those close to us during this time of Great Lent.
With Love in the Lord!
Very. Rev. Fr. Igor Filianovsky

The Third Sunday of Great Lent

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The Third Sunday of Great Lent  /Veneration of the Holy Cross / The Fourty Martyrs of Sebaste 9 / 22March

  Veneration of the crossResurrection Tropar, Tone 7: By Thy Cross, Thou didst destroy death / to the Thief, Thou didst open Paradise / for the myrrh-bearers, Thou didst change weeping into joy! / and Thou didst command Thy disciples, O Christ God / to proclaim that Thou art risen / granting the world great mercy.

Tropar of the Holy Cross, Tone 1:Save O Lord Thy people and bless Thine inheritance / Granting unto Orthodox Christians victory over their enemies / and by the power of Thy cross / preserving Thy community.

Troparion of the Martyrs tone 1: Together let us honour that holy company united by faith,/ those noble warriors of the Master of all;/ they were divinely enlisted for Christ and passed through fire and water./ Then they entered into refreshment and pray for those who cry:/ Glory to Him Who has strengthened you; glory to Him Who has crowned you;/ glory to Him Who has made you wonderful O holy Forty Martyrs.

Resurrection Kondak, Tone 7: The dominion of death can no longer hold men captive, / for Christ descended, shattering and destroying its powers. / Hell is bound, while the prophets rejoice and cry: / The Saviour has come to those in faith, / enter, you faithful to the Resurrection.

Kondak of the Holy Cross, Tone 4: O Thou Who wast lifted up willingly on the Cross, bestow Thy mercies upon the new community named after Thee, O Christ God: gladden with Thy power the Orthodox Christians, granting them victory over enemies; may they have as Thy help the weapon of peace,the invincible trophy.

Kontakion of the Martyrs tone 6: You left all earthly armies to cleave to the heavenly Master,/ O Forty Prize-winners of the Lord./ You passed through fire and water/ and received glory from heaven and many crowns.

 

The Sunday of Orthodoxy

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The First Sunday of Great Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy

24 February/ 8March

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Resurrection Tropar, Tone 5: Let us, the faithful; praise and worship the Word, / Co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, / born for our salvation from the Virgin; / for He willed to be lifted up on the cross in the flesh, / to endure death, / and to raise the dead / by His glorious Resurrection!

The First Sunday of Great Lent, Troparion, Tone II: We worship Thy immaculate Image, O Good One, and ask forgiveness of our sins, O Christ God; for of Thy own will Thou wast pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, to deliver from slavery to the enemy those whom Thou hadst created. Therefore we thankfully cry to Thee: Thou hast filled all things with joy, O our Saviour, by coming to save the world.

THE SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY

“This is the Apostolic faith, this is the faith of your fathers, this is the Orthodox faith, this is the faith which has consolidated Christendom”(from the “Order of Orthodoxy”)All our feast days are directly connected with sacred events and persons glorified by God. The present feast, however, is of a different nature. This first Sunday in Lent, dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Church has designated for the celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This feast is unlike most others in the Orthodox Church, for it grew out of the very heart of our Mother Church, out of her long struggle to defend the true faith.

The Triumph of Orthodoxy was instituted by the Holy Church as a sign that the saving dogmas, i.e., the truths of Christ’s teachings, have been received by the Church from the Son of God Himself and His Holy Apostles. Not only have these teachings been preserved unchanged and in all their purity, they have also received the necessary definition and elucidation during the long drawn-out struggle against various heresies and errors.

The last such heresy, whose defeat brought about the definite triumph of Orthodox dogmas, was that of the iconoclastic controversy. The heretics believed it wrong to depict in artistic images the Invisible and Indescribable God. This false interpretation of the veneration of icons led to the expulsion of icons from churches and the destruction of sacred images.

Orthodox defenders of icon veneration have shown from the Holy Scriptures and writings of the Holy Fathers that with the coming of the Lord of Glory in the flesh to the world, the depiction of God and of the history revealing the mystery of our salvation has become not merely possible but essential. The teaching on the veneration of icons and sacred images expresses the dogmatic unity of all Christian dogmatic truths, and has culminated in the present-day celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Through the decision of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Holy Church has enhanced the splendid edifice of Christian dogma, whose firm walls have sheltered the spiritual life of Christians from the winds of heresy.

As understood by the Mother Church herself, the Triumph of Orthodoxy expresses the joyous unity of all Christians in the truths of the holy faith, and the plenitude of communion with Christ through His Church. “Play music and clap your hands,” proclaims the feast-day stikheron, “sing aloud with joy: so wondrous and fearful are Your deeds, O Christ! And who can express, O Savior, Your might, which has united the Church through our harmony of mind and concord?” (Apostikha).

What a profound and clear idea lies at the basis of our feast day! Our harmony of mind and common belief in the truths of faith revealed to us by God have united that which has been put asunder, have healed the terrible affliction of division, and have again made whole the Body of Christ, thus ensuring the triumph of the Universal Church.

How is this holy accord and singleness of mind of Christians manifested? In the very holy of holies of the Christian faith: the firm and unwavering faith and conviction in our Lord Jesus Christ as the True and Perfect God and Perfect Man.

Once again our Holy Church is filling the hearts and minds of her children with an awareness of the triumph of ecumenical faith. Each and every heresy is a denial of either the Divine or the Human nature of the Founder of our faith, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. “True faith,” says St. Athanasius the Great, “consists in believing and confessing that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the God-Man — God, consubstantial and begotten of the Father in pre-eternity, and Man, born of the substance of the Mother within time. Perfect God and Perfect Man…. This is ecumenical faith. Whosoever will not steadfastly nurture the seed of faith cannot be saved” (“An extensive homily on faith”).

Christians, as members of the Church of Christ, must bear witness to the world through their life, deeds and work: “professing salvation by deed, word, and images” (Ikos of the Feast day). Immersing our minds and hearts in the teachings of the Orthodox Church, we must ask ourselves in these days of penance: is our faith firm and well-founded, is our life pleasing to God, and do we have a living communion with the Mother Church through her Sacraments, prayers and teachings?

Thus it is with good reason that the Holy Church in today’s Gospel reading has given us the outline of true Christians in the persons of the Holy Apostles Philip and Nathaniel, in whose thoughts there is no cunning, whose words are straightforward, and whose lives and deeds are pure and holy. From the moment they believed in Christ our Savior, they devoted their entire lives to His service.

Thus we too, brothers and sisters, must profess our Orthodox Faith not by acceptance of Christ’s teachings alone, but also by leading righteous lives before God. Preserve and embody these few truths of faith revealed to us by God, “imprinting them into your memory like a seal. They will serve you as an invincible wall against slanderers, and will provide a fortress for your soul” (St. Basil the Great, “Homily on Faith”). Thus does the Holy Orthodox Church preach to us in the days of Great Lent, in celebrating the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Amen.

The Living Word A.G.B

 

Forgiveness Sunday

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Forgiveness Sunday(Cheesefare Sunday), Commemoration of the exile of Adam from Paradise 17February/ 1March

Excile of Adam

The Sunday of Forgiveness is the last Sunday prior to the commencement of Great Lent. During the pre-Lenten period, the services of the Church include hymns from the Triodion, a liturgical book that contains the services from the Sunday of the Publican andthe Pharisee, the tenth before Pascha ,through Great and Holy Saturday. On the Sunday of Forgiveness focus is placed on the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and event that shows us how far we have fallen in sin and separated ourselves from God. At the onset of Great Lent and a period of intense fasting, this Sunday reminds us of our need for God’s forgiveness and guides our hearts, minds, and spiritual efforts on returning to Him in repentance.

Resurrection Tropar, Tone 4: When the women disciples of the Lord / learned from the Angel the joyous message of Thy Resurrection / they cast away the ancestral curse / and elatedly told the Apostles / death is overcome / Christ God is risen / granting the world great mercy.Resurrection

Kondak,Tone 4: My Saviour and Redeemer / as God rose from the tomb and delivered the earth-born from their chains / He has shattered the gates of hell, / and as Master, / He has risen on the third day.

Kondak to Cheese-fare Sunday, Tone 6: O Thou guide unto wisdom, bestower of prudence, instructor of the foolish and defender of the poor: Establish and grant understanding unto my heart, O Master. Grant me speech, O Word of the Father; for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying unto Thee: O Merciful One, have mercy on me who have fallen

Sunday of the Dread Judgement

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Sunday of the Dread Judgement (Meatfare Sunday)

10/ 23February

Icon: Dread JudgementResurrection Tropar, Tone 3: Let the heavens rejoice / let the earth be glad / for the Lord has shown strength with His arm! / He has trampled down death by death! / He has become the first-born of the dead! He has delivered us from the depths of hell / and has granted the world great mercy.

Resurrection Kondak, Tone 3: On this day thou didst rise from the tomb, O Merciful One, / leading us from the gates of death / On this day Adam exults as Eve rejoices. / With the prophets and the patriarchs they unceasingly praise the divine majesty of Thy power.

Kondak to Meat-fare Sunday, Tone 1: When Thou, O God, shalt come to earth with glory, and all things tremble, and the river of fire floweth before the Judgement Seat and the books are opened, and the hidden things made public, then deliver me from the unquenchable fire and deem me worthy to stand at Thy right hand.

Gospel: St. Matthew 25: 31-46

The Lord said: 31 When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was ahungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee ahungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was ahungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee ahungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU GAVE ME FOOD

And in return for what do they receive such things? For the covering of a roof, for a garment, for bread, for cold water, for visiting, for going to prison. For indeed in every case it is what is needed, and sometimes not even that. For surely, the sick and one who is in bonds do not seek only for this, but the one to be freed, the other to be delivered from his infirmity. But He, being gracious, requires only what is within our power …leaving to us to exert our generosity in doing more…For even if they had done ten thousand things, the munificence would be of grace, since in return for services so small and cheap, such a heaven, and a kingdom and such great honour should be given them.

St. John Chrysostom. Homily LXXIX on Matthew XXV

 

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

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Sunday of the Prodigal Son   –  3/ 16February

THe Prodigal SonThe second preparatory Sunday of Great Lent is termed the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. In the touching parable of the Prodigal Son read during the Liturgy, the Holy Church teaches us to rely on the mercy of God, provided we have sincerely repented of our sins. On this Sunday and the succeeding two Sundays, during the Polyeleos at the All-night Vigil, Psalm 136 is chanted: By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Sion… This psalm describes the suffering of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity and their longing for their fatherland. The words of this psalm teach us about our spiritual captivity, the captivity to sin, and that we should aspire towards our spiritual fatherland, the Heavenly Kingdom. The final words of this psalm scandalise many with reference to Blessed shall be he who shall seize and dash thine infants (those of the Babylonians) against the rock! Of course, the literal meaning of these words is brutal and unacceptable for the Christian, for the Lord Himself taught us to love and bless our enemies and to worship God in spirit and truth. These words gain a pure and lofty significance with a Christian and spiritual nature, for they mean, “Blessed is he who has a firm resolve to break, on the rock of faith, the newly forming evil thoughts and desires (as it were in their infant state) before they mature into evil deeds and habits”. The Law of God

Kondak for the Prodigal Son, Tone 3:Having foolishly abandoned Thy paternal glory, I squandered on vices the wealth which Thou gavest me. Wherefore, I cry unto Thee with the voice of the Prodigal: I have sinned before Thee, O compassionate Father. Receive me as one repentant, and make me as one of Thy hired-servants.

Gospel:St. Luke 15: 11-32

THE LORD SAID THIS PARABLE: A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 2I And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, 21 and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.