Prayer.

    Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy family, who, afflicting their flesh, abstain from food, by following justice may fast from sin. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc. Amen.

he Prophecy of Daniel, ix. 15-19.

In those days, Daniel prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, Who hast brought forth Thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and hast made Thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, O Lord, against all Thy justice: let Thy wrath and Thy indignation be turned away, I beseech Thee, from Thy city Jerusalem, and from Thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and Thy people, are a reproach to all that are round about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of Thy servant, and his prayers: and show Thy face upon Thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for Thy own sake. Incline, O my God, Thy ear, and hear: open Thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which Thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before Thy face, but for the multitude of Thy tender mercies. O Lord, hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken and do: delay not, for Thy own sake, O my God: because Thy name is invocated upon Thy city, and upon Thy people.

he Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to St. John, viii. 21-29.

At that time Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: I go, and you shall seek Me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come. The Jews therefore said: Will He kill Himself, because He said: Whither I go, you cannot come? And He said to them: You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sin. They said therefore to Him: Who art Thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, Who also speak unto you. Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But He that sent Me is true: and the things I have heard of Him, these same I speak in the world. And they understood not that He called God his Father. Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know, that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father hath taught Me, these things I speak: and He that sent Me is with Me, and He hath not left Me alone: for I do always the things that please Him.