Ode III

Irmos: Thou art the confirmation of those who have recourse to Thee, O Lord; Thou art the light of the benighted; and my spirit doth hymn Thee.

Glory..., Now and ever..., Theotokion—

Sessional hymn, in Tone IV, Spec. Mel: “Having been lifted up...”—

The fire of torment did not frighten thee, O Theodore; wherefore, thou dost still the fire of temptation for those who have recourse to thee.

Theotokion: Still thou the constant turbulence of my thoughts, O Mother of God, directing the movement thereof to thy Son.

Irmos: Thou art the confirmation of those who have recourse to Thee, O Lord; Thou art the light of the benighted; and my spirit doth hymn Thee.

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

By thy praise deliver me from the grief that besetteth me, O martyr of Christ, smoothing out all the roughness of life.

Theotokion: The account of thy miracles, O Theotokos, which the holy hierarch Hermogenes wrote to the glory of thy Kazan’ icon, ever moveth all of Orthodox Russia to flee to thee amid every evil circumstance, and earnestly to pray: O all-holy Theotokos, help us!

All my heart, thought and soul do I stretch forth to thee, O passion-bearer, seeking thine aid.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

Adorned with the comeliness of martyrdom, O martyr, crowned, thou dost stand rejoicing before the King of heaven; for thou wast raised aloft upon a cross for His sake and didst steadfastly endure the bite of the nails and iron claws, the lash of the knout, and the gouging out of thine eyes. Wherefore, we honor thee with faith, O thou who art most great. Twice

He Who sitteth upon the throne of the cherubim and abideth in the bosom of the Father doth sit in thy womb as upon a throne, O Lady; for, truly God incarnate, He reigneth over all nations, and with understanding do we now chant. Entreat Him also that thy servants be saved.

Or this Stavrotheotokion—

She who in days past gave birth in the flesh unto Thee Who wast begotten of the unoriginate Father, O Christ, beholding Thee upon the Cross, cried out: Woe is me, O Jesus, my most beloved! How is it that Thou Who art glorified as God by the angels art now crucified by iniquitous men, O my Son? I praise Thee, O Long-suffering One!

I have remembered years of old, and have pondered all thy works, O holy hierarch; I have found the knowledge of how to live in this world, being taught by the holy fathers and the lives of the saints.

Thou wast a wise bishop for the people, O holy hierarch, and wast like unto the man in the ancient chronicles who saw, as in a mirror, the face of the genesis of our Orthodox land, learning the wisdom of Orthodoxy in times of old.

O Lord our Lord, how wondrous is Thy name throughout all of Russia! The Lord holdeth our enemies in derision. The Lord is our helper. This truth didst thou commit to writing, O holy hierarch, teaching generations of generations, as the chronicler of Orthodox Russia.

Learn, O ye people! Ye people, feel compunction, expressing yourselves in the hymns and spiritual songs wherewith the holy hierarch Hermogenes glorified the Theotokos, the helper of our race.

Except the Lord build the house, in vain do they labor that build it. This truth didst thou impart to the guardians of our land, O holy hierarch, that their efforts prove not to be in vain, and that they not rise up to no effect.

Thou wast the priest of the church of the holy hierarch Nicholas, O Hermogenes, and, stirring up the gift which abode within thee, thou didst win the great love of the Mother of God, by whom thou wast led from glory to glory, even unto heaven, and hast come to dwell amid the mansions of the righteous.

Thou wast like unto the merchant who found a priceless pearl when thou didst remove the icon of the Mother of God from the earth like a treasure full of grace, which enricheth the poor in spirit.

Ascending to the summit of heaven, and having been illumined by an effulgence of miracles therefrom, O father, thou wast truly shown to be an all-radiant pastor for Orthodox Russia, and art for us an invincible intercessor amid perils. Wherefore, having all-gloriously vanquished our enemies, thou didst drive away the falsehood of heresy and save thine Orthodox land from destruction. Entreat Christ God, O Hermogenes, that He grant remission of sins unto those who with love honor thy holy memory.

Emulating the holy hierarch Hermogenes, let us venerate the all-radiant icon of the Mother of God as an inexhaustible wellspring of healings, and let us bless the Mother of God Most High as the Virgin who, alone among women, gave birth to God in the flesh.