Ode 7. The Irmos.

Of the Saint. The same Irmos.

’When the golden image was being worshipped in the plain of Deira, your three Youths despised the godless decree; but cast into the midst of the fire, they were refreshed by dew and sang: Blessed are you, the God of our Fathers’.

The nativity of Christ is all radiant and bright, and traces out today the mystery of the renewal of the age to come; because by the regulation of the Law the Saviour is circumcised , not as God, but as a mortal and the fulfilment of the Law.

Fulfilling the Law the Maker of the Law is today willingly circumcised in the flesh, bringing about the circumcision of the winter of sin, and granting grace to cry: Blessed are you the God of our Fathers.

The Son, the image of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son have appeared; while you, O Basil, are an unsullied mirror of the Spirit and a house for the whole Trinity; blest is your memory; and those who glorify it are glorified in return.

Sinking your mind deep into the unfathomable depths of God, and gathering the pearl of knowledge of great price, you enriched the world with wisdom and taught it to cry: Blessed are you the God of our Fathers.

O harmony of mind, sacred pair, soul as one though separated in two bodies, united by godly love, Basil in Gregory and Gregory, now intercede with Christ on behalf of your flock.

Father of orphans, defender of widows, wealth for paupers, consolation of the weak, pilotage for those with wealth, staff of old age, guidance of youth and rule of virtue for monks you have been declared, O Basil.

Cleansing your mind of every miry defilement, Basil, you looked deep into the things of the Spirit by the Spirit which you longed for; therefore as you praised the Trinity, you cried with boldness: Blessed are you, the God of our Fathers.

Moses foresaw you on Mount Sinai as a bush that flamed, Pure Virgin, who bore within you unconsumed the unendurable radiance of the ineffable Being, united to the solidity of one flesh of the two natures in it.

’The whistling wind of dew and the descent of God’s Angel preserved the devout youths unharmed as they walked in the fiery furnace; therefore, refreshed with dew in the flame, they sang in thanksgiving: O highly exalted, the Lord and God of our Fathers, blessed are you’.

"He burned the heads of dragons in the stream,

Who once within the furnace stilled the flame,

Which leapt high in the air around the youths.

While with the Spirit’s dew he washes clean

The mist hard to restrain that comes from sin’.