Canon of the Feast

Exapostilarion of the feast: Spec. Mel.: “Heaven with stars…”—

Irmos: O Christ, Thou creative and almighty Wisdom and Power of God, establish the Church immovable and unshaken; for Thou alone art holy Who restest in the saints.

Kontakion of the martyrs, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “As first-fruits…”—

The choir of the apostles assembled, borne as on a cloud to Sion from the ends of the earth, to serve thee, the light cloud through whom God Most High, the Sun of righteousness, hath shone forth upon those who are in darkness and shadow.

Sessional hymn of the martyrs, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “Of the Wisdom…”—

At the Aposticha, these stichera, in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “O house of Ephratha…”—

Theotokion: O Virgin who knewest not wedlock, for whose sake the Word hath shone forth upon us, Who is understood to transcend any principality: save thy flock, and every city and countryside, from every evil circumstance, O thou who art full of divine joy.

The glorious apostles, seeing thee to be a mortal woman, yet, in manner transcending nature, the Mother of God, O all-immaculate one, with awe touched with their hands thee who art resplendent in glory, perceiving thee to be a habitation acceptable to God.

Irmos: O Lord, Fashioner of the vault of heaven and Creator of the Church: establish me in Thy love, O Summit of desire, confirmation of the faithful, Who alone lovest mankind.

Kontakion of the feast, in Tone II—

The choir of the apostles buried thy body, which had held God; and gazing upon it with fear, they exclaimed with a loud voice: “As thou ascendest to thy Son in the habitations of heaven, thou dost ever save thine inheritance, O Theotokos.”

Glory…, Now & ever…: Sessional hymn of the feast, in the same tone & melody—

Brought together from the ends of the earth by the hand of God, the choir of the disciples, gathereth together to bury the Mother and Theotokos.

Theotokion: God, the Creator of all, chose thee from among all generations as a pure Ever-virgin, O Theotokos; and the only King of the ages made thy womb an undefiled palace and appeared to men through thee.

When God preserved with the glory of His divinity the honor of the animate ark wherein the Word became flesh, the judgment of retribution overtook the insolent one through the severing of his audacious hands.

Irmos: The sayings and indistinct images of the prophets showed forth Thine incarnation from the Virgin, O Christ. The effulgence of Thy radiance issueth forth to enlighten the nations, and the deep crieth out to Thee with gladness: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

Stichos: Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy holiness.

Theotokion: The preëternal Word of the Father, the great mystery hidden from before time began, which was unknown to the first generations, O most immaculate one, was ­revealed through thee, incarnate, having become man.

Fulfilling the divine law, O all-praised martyrs, ye generously gave bread to the poor and guided them to divine piety, becoming mediators of their salvation.

Irmos: Thou art my strength, O Lord, Thou art my power; Thou art my God, Thou art my joy, Who, without leaving the bosom of the Father, hast visited our lowliness. Wherefore, with the Prophet Habbakuk I cry unto Thee: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

The Bride of God, the Virgin Queen, the glory of the elect, the boast of virgins, passeth over to dwell with her Son.

Theotokion: Heal thou my soul, which hath become sick through sin, O all-pure one who gavest birth to the Physician of souls and ­bodies, confessing Whom, the divine martyrs were shown to be physicians of the passions.

The two radiant martyrs, shining with beams of miracles, dispelled the darkness of the falsehood of polytheism and have guided to the effulgence of faith all who have been ­deceived.

Irmos: We confess the divine and ineffable beauty of Thy virtues, O Christ; for having shone forth from eternal Glory as the co-eternal and hypostatic Effulgence, incarnate of the Virgin’s womb Thou hast shone forth like the Sun upon those in darkness and shadow.

Stichos: The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, and He will not annul it.

Theotokion: O Maiden, Christ chose thee like a rose in the valley of life, and, making His abode within thee, O most immaculate one, He passed forth in the flesh, perfuming with exhalations of divine knowledge us who ever confess thee to be the Theotokos.

O pious and blessed martyrs, with divine teachings ye guided a childish people to the path of divine understanding, and cast down the temples of the demons by your supplication.

Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange darkness covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me, and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

Thy body was untouched by corruption, and though given over for burial according to the law of nature, it remaineth incorrupt.

Theotokion: O all-holy Virgin who art holier than the angels, thou gavest birth to Him Who, in His loving-kindness, became man without confusion, as we are, that He might save those who cry out to Him unceasingly: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

The whole world doth all-gloriously honor Florus and Laurus today, as martyrs of piety and divinely wise athletes of Christ, that we may receive grace and mercy through their prayers, and may be delivered from tribulations and dangers, and from wrath and sorrow on the day of judgment.

Irmos: The inner fire of the sea from the deep which giveth rise to the whales was a prefiguring of Thy three-day burial, whereof Jonah was shown to be the proclaimer; for, remaining unharmed as he was before he was sent forth, he cried: I will sacrifice to Thee with a voice of praise, O Lord!

Glory…, Now & ever…, in Tone IV—

Theotokion: Awesome is thy birthgiving, O pure Mother; for thou gavest birth supernaturally to the Word of God, Who became man on earth, and before Whom the ranks of heaven tremble; yet thou remainest a virgin as before. Wherefore, confessing thee to be the Theotokos with tongue and heart, we magnify thee.

Ye were shown to be spiritual architects, and through faith founded the souls of the pious by divine grace on the rock of Faith; and, having made yourselves a consecrated temple of the worshipful Trinity, ye suffered steadfastly. Wherefore, ye pour forth healings upon those who have recourse to you with faith, and drive away sufferings, O brethren and passion-­bearers. Entreat Christ God, that He grant forgiveness of sins unto those who honor your holy memory with love.

Irmos: Cleanse me, O Savior, for many are my transgressions; and lead me up from the abyss of evils, I pray, for to Thee have I cried, and Thou hast hearkened to me, O God of my salvation.

O all-holy and pure virgin, we, the multitude of angels in heaven and the generation of men on earth, bless thy most honored dormition, for thou wast the Mother of Christ God, the Creator of all. We pray thee: Him do thou never cease to entreat in behalf of us who have set our hope on thee and God, O most hymned Theotokos who knewest not wedlock.

Having conceived God without seed and given birth to Him, incarnate, without corruption, thou wast clad in the new raiment of the incorruption of the Spirit; for as the Mother of Life and the Queen of all, O Virgin, thou hast been translated to ­immaterial life. Wherefore, as is meet, thou hast truly been shown to be a cloud pouring forth the waters of our life, O most immaculate Mother of God. Entreat thy Son and God, that He grant forgiveness of offenses unto those who celebrate thy holy dormition with love.

Irmos: The divine will, opposing the shameless rage and the fire, bedewed the fire and put wrath to shame by the divinely inspired three-stringed lyre of the venerable youths, opposing the musical instruments amid the flames, chanting: O all-glorious God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Behold, O ye people, and marvel, for the holy and openly manifest mountain of God is exalted on high to the mansions of heaven: the earthly heaven becometh a celestial and incorrupt habitation.

Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fire stood in awe of the condescension of God; wherefore, the youths, dancing with joyous step in the furnace, as in a meadow, chanted: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Thy death became a passage to an everlasting and better life, O pure one, translating thee from transitory life to that which is truly divine and eternal, that thou mightest behold thy Son and Lord in gladness, O pure one.

Irmos: The almighty Angel of God showed forth for the youths a flame which bedewed the venerable and utterly consumed the ungodly; and He made the Theotokos a life-creating wellspring pouring forth destruction for death and life for those who chant: O ye who have been delivered, let us hymn and exalt the one Creator for all ages!

The gates of heaven were raised and the angelic choirs chanted; and Christ received the vessel of His Mother’s virginity. The cherubim lifted her up with gladness, and the seraphim glorify her, rejoicing.

Irmos: Madly did the Chaldæan tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but, beholding them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Wrestling with the enemy like youths, O valiant ones, ye firmly cast him down by the weapon of the Cross; and those who had been broken by sin ye made into living temples of the Lord, who piously chant: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

Irmos: In thee are the laws of nature overcome, O pure Virgin, for thy birthgiving is virginal and death is betrothed to life. A Virgin giving birth and alive after death, O Theotokos, thou hast saved thine inheritance.

Strengthened, O most glorious saints, by Christ, the Stone cut, as is written, from the mountain of the divine Virgin Maiden, ye broke the idols in pieces and have been taken up to the high mountain of martyrdom, having manifestly emulated the angels.

Irmos: Heaven was stricken with awe, and the ends of the earth were amazed, that God hath appeared in the flesh, and that thy womb became more spacious than the heavens. Wherefore, the ranks of men and angels magnify thee as the Theotokos.

Rejoicing, Florus and Laurus, the two honored martyrs, proclaimed the single effulgence of the three-Sunned Godhead, and zealously drained the cup of martyrdom, chanting to Christ: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind.

Having placed yourselves under the law of God, O divine martyrs, by opening the eyes of the ungodly ye convinced them to worship Him alone, illumining their noetic sight, casting light upon all the ends of the earth like two beacons.

More melodious than clarions, the God-pleasing tongues of the theologizing men sounded forth to the Theotokos, playing a funeral hymn inspired by the Spirit: Rejoice, O incorrupt fountain of God’s life-creating incarnation which saveth all!

The two godly martyred brethren did not suffer separation; for, believing in the indivisible Holy Trinity with a single hope, through grace they united those held fast by unseemly division.

Piously quarrying stony minds with the measuring-line of Truth and the stonecutter’s maul of divine understanding, O athletes, through divine faith ye made all-glorious temples for the Trinity through the power of the Spirit.

Ye were shown to cut off all wickedness at the root, O glorious martyrs, and to plant of all piety by your words and deeds: in impassive hearts ye planted the Flower of Jesse which sprang forth from a divine root.

God, the King of all, giveth thee that which transcendeth nature; for, as He kept thee a virgin during thy birthgiving, so did He preserve thy body untouched by corruption in the tomb; and He glorified thee with Himself by a divine translation, rendering thee honor as a Son to His Mother.

Truly, O Virgin, thine Offspring set thee in the Holy of Holies as the splendid candlestick of the immaterial Light, the golden censer of the divine Coal, the jar and the staff, the divinely inscribed tablet, the holy ark, the table of the Word of life.

Vanquishing the iniquitous with unwavering endurance, O athletes, in accordance with the law ye brought a right praiseworthy death unto Christ, without being covered by the vainglory of ungodliness.

Revealed as swords of the mighty Spirit, O blessed ones, ye conquered the incorporeal foe and piously emulated the blessed suffering of Him Who was pierced by the spear.

O glorious ones, ye were shown to be like two most comely breasts for the Church of Christ, not exuding milk, but pouring forth the free and saving gift of healings.

The tomb and mortality could not hold the Theotokos, who is untiring in her supplications and our certain hope in her intercessions. For, as the Mother of Life, she hath passed over to the Life Who dwelt within her ever-virgin womb.

Ikos: Guard thou my thoughts, O my Christ, for I make bold to hymn the bulwark of the world, Thy pure Mother. Establish me firmly in the bastion of my words, and help me in the midst of difficult thoughts; for Thou fulfillest the entreaties of those who cry out and ask with faith. Wherefore, grant unto me a deft tongue and a ready mind, for every good deed of enlightenment cometh down from Thee, O Bestower of light, Who dwelt within her ever-virgin womb.

Enraged, Moses smashed the divinely wrought tablets which had been inscribed by the divine Spirit; but the Master, preserving unharmed her who gave birth to Him, hath now caused her to dwell in the mansions of heaven. Celebrating with her, let us cry out to Christ: O all-glorious God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

On the cymbals of pure lips, with the music of a radiant heart, on the high-sounding clarion of exalted thought, clapping our diligent hands on the renowned and chosen day of the repose of the pure Virgin, let us cry aloud: O all-glorious God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Gather ye together, O divinely wise people, for the dwelling-place of the glory of God is translated from Sion to the habitation of heaven, where is the pure voice of those who keep festival, the voice of the unutterable rejoicing of those who cry out to Christ in gladness: O all-glorious God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Florus and Laurus of great renown, the pillars of divine knowledge, destroyed the wooden and stone gods of the ungodly and have set themselves before those who chant: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Full of the divine fire of the Spirit, O glorious martyrs, with the showers of your divine supplications ye preserved the righteous men who were about to be unjustly cast into the furnace.

The martyrs Florus and Laurus ever impart healing to the sick, deliverance to the oppressed and salvation to all the persecuted, chanting: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

With discourses the whole multitude of theologians accompanied the sacred coffin of the Theotokos in Sion, exclaiming: Whither goest thou, O tabernacle of the living God? Cease not to regard those who chant with faith: O ye who have been delivered, let us hymn and exalt the one Creator for all ages!

Thou goest forth, O all-immaculate one, lifting up thine hands, the hands wherewith thou didst bear God in the flesh; and as a Mother thou didst with boldness say to Him Who was born of thee: Preserve Thou forever those whom Thou hast given to me, who cry out to Thee: O ye who have been delivered, let us hymn and exalt the one Creator for all ages!

Nourishing souls with the living word, O ever all-memorable ones, ye have shown yourselves to be saving food for those famished with hunger, and care for the poor and the orphaned, seeing to the needs of all and chanting to Christ: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Having your life and end sanctified, and being hidden for a long time, O wise ones, ye were given forth by the earth, shining forth beams of all-glorious miracles brighter than the rays of the sun upon us who chant with faith: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Ye were shown to be two luminaries in the noetic firmament, adorning the Church with sanctity; and ye ever radiantly illumine all creation with miracles, crying aloud: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

The angelic hosts marvelled, seeing their Master in Sion bearing a woman’s soul in His arms; for He said in filial manner unto her who gave birth unto Him most purely: “Come, O pure one, and be thou glorified with thy Son and God!”

Behold now, David cried of old, what is so good, so beautiful and saving, as for godly brethren, who have manifestly struggled and won victory over the devil, to dwell together in the Spirit? We bless them as is meet.

Through grace ye have been shown to be the beautiful eyes of the honored Church; and before your death and after your sacred end, O holy and right laudable Florus and Laurus, ye have opened the eyes of those blinded from of old by the darkness of evil, unto the glory of the Benefactor of all.

By manifest and awesome signs, as He foretold of old, Christ revealeth your tomb and shrine, where your longsuffering bodies lie in sanctity, richly emitting rays of healing and right laudable fragrance.

O Florus and Laurus, ye two truly godly and radiant right victorious martyrs: ever standing in the heavens before the all-accomplishing Trinity, ask deliverance from evil sins for those who celebrate your divine memory on earth with faith.

O ye apostles, having gathered here from the ends of the earth, bury my body in the Garden of Gethsemane. And do Thou, O my Son and God, receive my spirit!

Glory…, Now & ever…: The foregoing is ­repeated.