At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera, in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “When from the Tree…”—

Now & ever…, Theotokion, or this Stavrotheotokion: Spec. Mel.: “Having set all aside…”—

Troparion of the martyr, in Tone IV—

Submitting to the laws of Him Who, for our sake, assumed our flesh on earth and endured His honored sufferings, O divinely blessed one, thou didst show love for thy neighbor, which is the epitome of the law and the prophets. Wherefore, thou didst receive a blessed end, O Nicephorus, and standest now before the Wellspring of love.

Thou bendest thy neck to God, before Whom all knees do bend, O wondrous martyr, thy head is severed and parted from thy comely body, and with thy most honored mind thou art united to Christ, the Head of all. And now drawing close to His light, O Nicephorus, beseech enlightenment for us who praise thee.

Thou hast sanctified the earth with streams of thy blood shed for Christ, O martyr, and by thy spirit thou hast gladdened the spirits of the incorporeal hosts, and hast enlightened the whole flock of the martyrs, O blessed one, united with them as a valiant warrior and an invincible martyr; and thou prayest to God in our behalf.

Glory…, the composition of John the Monk, in Tone VI—

O athlete Nicephorus, thou hast clearly shown to all that he who loveth not his neighbor cannot love the Master; wherefore, in purity thou didst love thine own neighbor Sapricius. Hence, thou didst take wing to divine Desire, and lay down thy life in confession of Christ and the Faith. But Sapricius of ill repute, having conceived for thee an implacable hatred, showed himself also a betrayer of Christ the Master. Standing now before Him, pray thou that our souls be saved.

O all-pure Mistress, a sword pierced thy heart, as Symeon said, when thou didst behold Him Who shone forth from thee in manner past recounting, lifted up on the Cross by the iniquitous as one condemned, given vinegar and gall to drink, His side pierced, His hands and feet run through with nails; and, lamenting, thou didst exclaim, crying out maternally: “What is this new mystery, O my Child most sweet?”

In his suffering, O Lord, Thy martyr Nicephorus received an imperishable crown from Thee, our God; for, possessed of Thy might, He set at nought the tyrants, and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. By his supplications save Thou our souls.