Ode VI

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.

Kontakion, in Tone VIII—

Being a most fervent champion of piety and a denouncer of the deception of idolatry, destroy thou the images of demonic delusion and the passions of my soul.

Theotokion: Splendor shone forth from the Sion on High, and robed in flesh which He received of thee, O thou who knewest not wedlock, and united thereto ineffably, He enlightened the world.

Irmos: Grant me a robe of light, O Thou Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, O most merciful Christ our God.

Kontakion, in Tone VI—

O martyr Theodore, be thou my confirmation and an invincible rampart for me, replacing the weakness and corruption of my mind with strength and preserving it unharmed.

Theotokion: O Virgin Theotokos, thou hope of Christians, protect, preserve, keep and save Russia, which hath recourse to thine aid.

Thou didst reject corrupting and corrupted warfare, O most blessed Theodore, yet didst utterly love the battle of life, wherein thou wast shown to be a victor, O right wondrous one.

Having received the faith of Christ within thy heart as a shield, thou didst trample down hosts of the adversary, O long-suffering one; and with a heavenly crown hast thou been crowned everlastingly, O Theodore, in that thou art invincible.

Ikos: With thanksgiving and faith do we praise Thee Who art upborne upon a throne of light; for Thou, O Christ, hast given us a divine gift in the suffering of the valiant Theodore, in the life of the thrice-blessed one, in that he is a champion of the truth who desireth Thee with pious thought, a mighty conqueror of the deceiver, for he is invincible.

By the election of the sacred council and the will of God thou didst ascend the throne of patriarchal authority, O holy hierarch, that thou mightest save Russia which was beset by many perils.

With thine own hand, O holy hierarch, thou didst write a staunch confession of unadulterated Faith, and didst proclaim this Faith before the whole Church in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the all-pure one, that all Russia might see the rock of the true Faith, whereon it is founded and made steadfast in Orthodoxy.

Thy tongue was the pen of a swiftly writing scribe, whereby the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceiver were stopped, and the tumult of the ungodly was quelled.

Dispelling the darkness of falsehood with the word of truth, and blessing the Orthodox army to do battle with the traitors, thou didst bear the wonder-working relics of the Tsarevich Demetrius through the streets of Moscow, that the truth of God might be known and the Orthodox land might be strengthened.

“If ye repent, ye shall be saved, and the Russian land will be strengthened by the power of God,” thou didst say, O holy hierarch.

At the throne of grace thou wast like a tree by springs of water, overshadowing Orthodox Russia with the coolness of consolation and the fruits of righteousness.

O holy hierarch, thou didst preach, reprove, summon, pray and command that prayers be said in all the temples for the salvation and pacification of the Orthodox land.

Wasting away in imprisonment and starvation, thou didst remain faithful even unto death, O blessed Hermogenes, driving faintheartedness from the hearts of thy people and calling all to the common struggle. Wherefore, thou didst set at nought the rebellion of the ungodly and make our land steadfast, that all might cry out to thee: Rejoice, O helper of the Russian land!

Ikos: Come, O ye Orthodox people, and with hymns let us bless the all-radiant luminary of the Church of Russia, the unshakable pillar of the Orthodox Faith, the fervent advocate and intercessor for our land, the mighty opponent of the enemy, the stern denouncer of the traitors and destroyers of the Orthodox land, the good pastor who laid down thy life for thy sheep, who thus was crowned by the Lord with a wreath of glory; and let us fall down before him, crying out thus with faith and love: Rejoice, O our father Hermogenes, High priest of Christ who art great among the hierarchs of Russia!