On Lord, I have cried, six stichera are sung from Vespers on Christmas Day (pp. 121 ff):

Tone Two

Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord… (twice)

When the Lord Jesus was born… (twice)

Thy Kingdom, O Christ our God…

What shall we offer Thee…

Glory be to the Father… Both now…

Tone Six

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace. Today Bethlehem receives Him that at all times ever sits with the Father. Today angels glorify with holy hymns the Babe that is born. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.

Entrance, O joyful light.

Great Prokimenon:

Tone Seven

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou only art the God that doest wonders (Psalm 76:14–15).

℣ 1. Thou hast made known Thy power among the nations (Psalm 76:15).

Who is so great a God…

℣ 2. And I said, Now have I begun to understand: this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High (Psalm 76:11).

Who is so great a God…

℣ 3. I remembered the works of the Lord: for I will remember Thy wonders from the beginning (Psalm 76:12).

Who is so great a God…

Aposticha:

Tone Eight

by John the Monk

A marvellous wonder has this day come to pass: nature is made new, and God becomes man. That which He was, He has remained; and that which He was not, He has taken on Himself while suffering neither confusion nor division.

℣. The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand (Psalm 109:1).

O Lord, Thou art come to Bethlehem and hast made Thy dwelling in the cave. Thou who hast heaven as Thy throne art laid in a manger. Thou whom the hosts of angels attend on every side hast come down among shepherds, that in Thy compassion Thou mightest save our kind. Glory to Thee!

℣. From the womb before the morning star have I begotten Thee (Psalm 109:3).

How shall I tell of this great mystery? He who is without flesh becomes incarnate; the Word puts on a body; the Invisible is seen; He whom no hand can touch is handled; and He who knows no beginning now begins to be. The Son of God becomes the Son of man: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and for ever.

Glory be to the Father… Both now…

Same Tone

The shepherds hasten to Bethlehem, revealing the true Shepherd, seated upon the cherubim and lying in a manger. For our sakes He has taken upon Himself the form of a child. O Lord, glory to Thee!

Apolytikion (troparion) of the feast:

Tone Four

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone upon the world with the light of knowledge: for thereby they who adored the stars through a star were taught to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory to Thee.

And the Dismissal.

Everything as on Christmas Day, except the following:

After Canticle Three of the Canon, the kontakion of the feast:

Tone Three

Today the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being, and the earth offers a cave to Him whom no man can approach. Angels with shepherds give glory, and Magi journey with a star. For unto us is born a young Child, the pre-eternal God.

After Canticle Six, the following kontakion:

Tone Six

by Romanos the Melodist

He who before the morning star was begotten without mother of the Father, is today without father made flesh upon earth of thee. A star announces the good tidings to the Magi, while angels with shepherds sing the praises of thine undefiled child-bearing, O thou who art full of grace.

Ikos

The mystical Vine put forth the bunch of grapes that was never husbanded, and with her arms as branches she carried Him, saying: ‘Thou art my fruit, Thou art my life: from Thee have I learnt that I remain what I was. Thou art my God: for seeing the seal of my virginity unbroken, I proclaim Thee to be the unchangeable Word, now made incarnate. I have known no seed, and I know that Thou art the destroyer of corruption: for I am pure, yet Thou hast gone forth from me. As Thou hast found my womb, so Thou hast left it. Therefore all creation shares in my joy and cries to me: Hail, thou who art full of grace.’

At Canticle Nine of the Canon we do not sing the Magnificat but the megalynaria and troparia as on Christmas Day.

At Lauds, the stichera as on Christmas Day (p. 138), followed by the doxastikon:

Glory be to the Father…

Tone Six

Today the invisible Nature is joined to mortal men, coming forth from the Virgin. Today the infinite Essence is wrapped in swaddling clothes at Bethlehem. Today God leads the Magi by a star to worship Him, and with gold and frankincense and myrrh they foretell His three-day burial. Therefore we sing: O Christ our God, made flesh of the Virgin, save our souls.

Both now…

Tone Two

Today Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Today He who knows no beginning now begins to be, and the Word is made flesh. The powers of heaven greatly rejoice, and the earth with mankind makes glad. The Magi offer gifts, the shepherds proclaim the marvel, and we cry aloud without ceasing: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.

Great Doxology and Dismissal.

In the Greek practice we sing, as on Christmas Day, the antiphons, introit, troparion, and kontakion of the feast: and in place of the trisagion we sing:

As many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia.

In the Slav practice, we sing the Typika (Psalms 102 and 145) and the Beatitudes, with four troparia from Canticle Three of the first Canon of the Feast, and four troparia from Canticle Six of the second Canon.

Adam, though formed from dust, shared in the higher breath of life; yet through the beguilement of a woman he slipped and fell into corruption. But now, beholding Christ born of a woman, he cries aloud, ‘O Thou who for my sake hast become as I am, holy art Thou, O Lord.’ (twice)

O Christ, who hast made Thyself in the form of a creature of vile clay, by Thy sharing in that which is worse, even our flesh, Thou hast made us partakers in the divine nature; for Thou hast become mortal man, yet still remainest God. Thou hast raised up our horn, holy art Thou, O Lord.

Be glad, O Bethlehem, for thou art Queen among the princes of Judah; for from thee comes forth, before the sight of all, the Shepherd who tends Israel, He that is seated upon the cherubim, even Christ. He has raised up our horn and reigns over all.

And I, O Christ, pricked by the dart of the tyrant, call upon Thee, the Slayer of evil, beseeching Thee to come quickly and deliver me from my slothfulness (twice).

God the Word, who was in the beginning with God, seeing our nature powerless to guard unharmed its ancient fellowship with Him, now grants it new strength: Abasing Himself, in a second act of fellowship He makes it once again free from the passions.

For our sakes He has come forth from the loins of Abraham, to raise up as His sons those who were sadly fallen into the darkness of sin that bowed them down to the earth; and He that dwells in light has now been pleased, despite His high dignity, to dwell in a manger for the salvation of mankind.

At the entry, we sing in the Slav practice:

O Son of God, born of the Virgin, save us who sing to Thee: alleluia.

Then the troparion of the feast, Thy Nativity, O Christ our God…, and the kontakion, He who before the morning star….

Prokimenon in both the Greek and the Slav use:

Tone Three

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46–47).

℣. For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed (Luke 1:46–48).

Reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:11–18).

Brethren, both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.

Alleluia:

Tone Eight

℣ 1. Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest: Thou and the Ark of Thy holiness (Psalm 131:8).

℣ 2. The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn from it (Psalm 131:11).

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (2:13–23).

And when the wise men were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

In place of It is meet, we sing the megalynarion and irmos from Canticle Nine of the second Canon.

It would be easier for us, because free from all danger, to keep silence in fear: While it is hard indeed, O Virgin, in love to devise songs harmoniously put together. But do thou, O Mother, give us strength that so we may fulfil our good intent.

Communion verse:

The Lord hath sent deliverance unto His people (Psalm 110:9).

The apodosis of the feast of Christmas falls on 31 December. On that day all the office of the feast for Vespers, Mattins and the Liturgy is repeated, omitting only the entrance, lessons, lity, and blessing of bread at Vespers; and the polyeleos and Gospel at Mattins.