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For Services of the Holy Sophia
in the Month of October
THE COLLECT
Almighty and immortal God of all Gods, who abidest in the inmost of the inmost, whose seat is beyond all aeons of manifest existence, thou who art the source and the ending of all; to thee do we aspire in our great longing for our true home and rest. In thy great and unfathomable wisdom and benevolence, thou hast sent to us the Holy Sophia to bestow upon us thy supreme Gnosis and to assist us in our ascent toward thine eternal and marvelous abode. Through thy beloved Logos, thou hast also promised, saying, ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. So give now unto us who ask; let us who seek, find; open the gate unto us who knock; that we, thy children may receive the hand of the holy Sophia, and guided by her, may come to the eternal kingdom which thou hast promised by thy prophets, seers and saints of old.
Amen.
THE LESSON
The Lesson is taken from the hymn to the divine Wisdom:
Thou, Sophia, art the breath of the power of God: a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Most High. Thou art the brightness of the everlasting light: the unspotted mirror of the splendour of God. Through thee are all things accomplished: thou makest all things new. In all ages thou enterest holy souls: thou makest them friends and prophets of God. Thou reachest from one end to another mightily: and sweetly dost thou order all things. Teach us, O Sophia, breath of God: give us an understanding spirit, lively, clean and undefiled.
THE GOSPEL
The Gospel is taken from the Book of the Revelation of Saint John the Apostle:
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a Crown of twelve stars. And being with child she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven. And, behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and on his head seven diadems...And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the man-child. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert, unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and a half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water, as it were a river; that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened her mouth, arid swallowed up the river which the serpent cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry against the woman; and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the word of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.