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The Small Paraklesis is chanted in times of distress and sorrow of soul and during the first fourteen days of August. The Service of the Small Paraklesis (Supplicatory Prayer) To the Most Holy Theotokos The priest: Blessed is our God always, now and forever and unto the ages of ages.If there is no priest, then: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. The reader: Amen. The priest or reader: Glory to You, our God, glory to You. Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, Who is everywhere present and fills...

The Great Supplicatory Canon is chanted during the first fourteen days of August during the Fast of the Theotokos (Mother of God), alternately with the Small Paraklesis. It is also be chanted in every tribulation and in sorrow of the soul. The Service of the Great Paraklesis (Supplicatory Prayer) To the Most Holy Theotokos The priest: Blessed is our God always, now and forever and unto the ages of ages.If there is no priest, then: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. The reader: Amen. The priest or reader: Glory to...

THE FAST OF THE DORMITION OF THE HOLY THEOTOKOS AUGUST 1st through 14th By Fr. Gabriel Barrow During the first fourteen days of August during each year, the Holy Orthodox Church enters into a strict fast period in honor of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. The eminent Orthodox theologian, Father Sergei Bulgakov, beautifully expresses the high regard which the Orthodox Christians have for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, for her special role in the salvation of mankind, when he affirms, “The warm veneration of the Theotokos is the soul of Orthodox Piety.” St. John of...