Ode IX

Exapostilarion: Spec. Mel.: “The heaven with stars…”—

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.

Clad, like a bridegroom, in garments woven of the blood of torment, O most blessed Nicephorus, thou didst depart to partake of the divine splendor of the Benefactor of all, Who adorned and embellished thee with His honored suffering on the Cross.

Theotokion: Thou hast been shown, O Virgin Mother of God, to have given birth, in manner transcending nature, to the all-good Word, Whom the Father begat from His heart before all the ages, in that He is good. Him do we now also understand as transcending all bodies, though He wrapped Himself in the flesh.

Thou wast drawn by the beauties of the Master, than which there is nought more comely; and, yearning to delight in His never-waning and magnificent splendor, aflame with the love of thy Lord, thou didst urge the tormenters to cut off thy head with the sword, O Nicephorus.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

Having contended splendidly against deception and vanquished it as a victor, O glorious martyr of Christ, thou didst receive for thy head a crown of spiritual gifts. And now thou joinest chorus martyrically with the choirs of the martyrs before the throne of the King of all, O Nicephorus.

Triadicon: Glorifying the Son, Who was divinely begotten of the unbegotten Father, and the upright Spirit, Who proceedeth from before the ages, we honor the three Hypostases of the transcendent and reigning Trinity, united in a Unity unconfused; and theologizing, we magnify God.

Thou wast shown to be a true namesake of victory, O Nicephorus, having vanquished the tyrants by thy love and torment. Wherefore, thou hast received from the Lord a crown of victory.

With thy mighty protection, O pure one, preserve all thy servants unharmed by the assault of the enemy; for thee alone have we acquired as a refuge amid our needs.

Directive Concerning the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord

Be it known that if the leaving-taking of the Meeting falleth before the Sunday of the Publican & Pharisee, on any weekday, the service of the leave-taking is done as followeth:

At Vespers, after the usual kathisma, on “Lord, I have cried…”, 6 stichera (those chanted on the feast itself). Glory…, Now & ever…: the doxasticon idiomelon of the feast. (But if it be Friday evening: Glory…: the Doxasticon; Now & ever…: the Dogmaticon of the current tone.) There is no Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. The Readings are not done. All the aposticha stichera as on the feast itself, with their stichoi. Troparion of the feast, once. Litany and dismissal.