Ode IX

Irmos: Christ, the Chief Cornerstone uncut by human hands, Who united the two disparate natures, was cut from thee, the unquarried mountain, O Virgin. Wherefore, in gladness we magnify thee, O Theotokos.

From things here thou hast passed over to the haven most calm, O father; for like a sparrow thou hast been delivered from the snare of those who hunted thee, O most courageous hieromartyr, blessing Him Who delivered thee.

Theotokion: O all-pure Theotokos, thou hast caused a Rod to spring forth from the root of Jesse, giving birth for us today to Christ, the Flower of the Godhead, the uncontainable God Who hath now been swaddled as a babe.

Shining supernaturally, thou didst depart unto the Master, the Light Who appeared from the heights of the East, illumined with the radiance of the star which hath now shone forth from Judah.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

Thou hast been vouchsafed to join chorus now in the broad expanse of paradise, where the radiance of the blessed and the joy of the saints are, O Euthymius, for they have received thee as a victorious athlete.

Possessing boldness before God as a holy hierarch and martyr, O most blessed one, amid this present winter ask thou peace for the Church and remission of offenses for those who hymn thee.

Stichera of the hieromartyr, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “O all-glorious wonder…”—

Still dripping with blood, swathed in its warmth and emitting the vapor thereof, thou hath stood before Christ, O divinely eloquent father Euthymius, putting forward now the sores of thy wounds instead of supplications; and thou hast prayed for those who hymn thee earnestly. O blessed one, pray thou for thy flock.

Thou didst offer a gift unto Christ Who hath been born and hath become a babe in the flesh, O venerable one: thine honorable gray hairs, adorned with the gifts of the priesthood, O father, and stained with the blood of thy suffering, the Orthodox Faith, hope fervent and truly inviolable, and love unshaken, O venerable one.

O venerable one, thou hast been shown to be a tongue moved by the Spirit, manifestly declaring true doctrines, divinely exuding God-given grace, a harp of piety played by God, the immovable foundation of Orthodoxy, a mouth flowing with honey, a treasury of wisdom, the clarion-voiced trumpet of the Churches.

The preëternal God, receiving flesh through thy blood, hath shown thee to be an intercessor for men, O pure one; wherefore, deliver thou thy servants from all want and every evil circumstance, and from the snares of the most evil enemy, and vouchsafe that all who glorify and do thee homage may partake of the splendor of the elect.

Be it known that on the afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany, Little Compline is chanted without the canon of the Theotokos. At compline on December 26th, after “It is truly meet…” and the Trisagion through “Our Father…”, we say the kontakion for the synaxis of the Theotokos: “He Who was begotten of the Father without mother before the morning star…”. At Nocturns we read the usual kathisma. After the first Trisagion, instead of “Behold, the ­Bridegroom…”, we say the troparion of the feast: “Thy nativity, O Christ our God…”; after the second Trisagion, we say the kontakion of the synaxis: “He Who was begotten of the Father…”; then, “Lord, have mercy!”, twelve times, and the dismissal. We do not say the prayers: “Remember, O Lord…”.