Ode IX

Exapostilarion: Spec. Mel.: “O Light immutable…”—

Irmos: The bush which burnt with fire yet was not consumed showed forth an image of thy pure birthgiving. And now we pray that the furnace of temptations which rageth against us may be extinguished, that we may magnify thee unceasingly, O Theotokos.

Glory..., the Evangelical Sticheron (or the doxasticon from the Triodion). [N.B.: If the temple be dedicated to the new martyrs: Glory..., the sticheron of the martyrs, in Tone I: “It is not man....” (from Little Vespers).]

O new passion-bearers, ye took up the struggle against the malice of the godless ones, holding up the Faith of Christ as a shield before the teaching of this world, and showing us an example of patience and endurance of evils as is meet.

Theotokion: O thine awesome wonder! For, having given birth ineffably to God the Word, O Virgin Theotokos, thou hast revealed the mystery hidden in God, Who hath created all things, before time and before all generations.

Troparia of the Apostle:

Exapostilarion—

Irmos: Lament Me not, O Mother, beholding in the tomb the Son Whom thou didst conceive in thy womb without seed; for I shall arise and be glorified, and as God everlasting shall I exalt with glory those who magnify thee with faith and love.

O, the steadfastness and valor of the host of Christian martyrs slain for Christ! They have adorned the Orthodox Church and given their blood in their land as the seed of the Faith. Let them be honored as is meet, together with all the saints.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

The saying of David hath been fulfilled, for thou hast appeared to the world like lightning, illumining the ends of the earth with thy preaching, O ever all-memorable and blessed Timothy. Wherefore, we unceasingly magnify thee, O thou who wast revealed by God.

Let us all hear how the wondrous Lydia, though she wept, was steadfast in her sufferings, and moved Cyril to suffer with her. And he became a shield for her, but a sword against the bestial tormenters. And having recounted these things to the Church, Alexis also suffered. By the supplications of these three, O God, have mercy upon us!

Theotokion: O all-hymned Mother: even though thy great Church of the Caves hath been demolished by the wicked, wherein the hieromartyr Vladimir, when the day of his murder drew nigh, read the akathist hymn with great compunction, praying to thee, yet thy mercy for repentant people doth not fail utterly. Rejoice, O joyous one, who in thy dormition hath not forsaken us!

Partaking of the light-bearing radiance and divine effulgence of the three-Sunned Godhead, and therein delighting in purity, O blessed and most honored initiate of the sacred mysteries, from the darkness of transgressions save those who hymn thee.

O ye saints whom we have remembered here, and ye countless multitude of those unknown, forgive the poverty of these words, and vouchsafe that praises may be written more fitting for you. To reckon your number is not possible. By the supplications of all of you may we that honor you receive from the Lord and Master of our life grace and great mercy.

Now & ever...: Theotokion, in Tone II: Most blessed art thou....

Made steadfast by the teachings of Thine apostles—Paul, the preacher of Thy dispensation, and the divinely wise Timothy—, O only-begotten Master, reasoning aright we glorify Thee as equal to the Father and the Spirit.

O holy new martyrs and confessors, exceeding luminous is your struggle for us in these days which are benighted by faint-heartedness: for faith hath failed because of the multitude of our iniquities; love hath grown cold, and hope hath been shaken; but your valor hath enlightened the Church of Russia with new glory.

Troparia of the Martyr

On the Praises: 4 stichera of the resurrection, and 4 of the new martyrs, in Tone VI: Spec. Mel: “Having set all aside....”—

With the streams of thy blood thou didst quench all the falsehood of idolatry, O glorious one, and didst adorn the fullness of the Church, for which do thou never cease to pray to the Master, O most excellent one, that we all may bless thee.

Our sacred and great Council of All Russia heard the dreadful report of the persecutions raised against the Church of God, and its members all joined in one conciliar thought and appointed prayers for the persecuted and the slain, confessors and martyrs, on the day of the suffering and death of the holy hierarch Vladimir. He who today doth reason with the Church knoweth: the days of the repose of those who have departed unto God amidst torment are called the days of their birth. Wherefore, let us celebrate this feast as the nativity of the new passion-bearers of Russia.

O thy glory and thy truly ineffable and divine radiance, which pass understanding, whereof thou hast partaken, O Anastasius, as a victor, standing before Christ the Master. Him do thou now entreat in behalf of us who hymn thee.

The first who were slain for the Faith and the Church were the first commemorated by name by the most holy Patriarch. O holy hierarch Vladimir, lamb of the Caves, and ye senior priests: John, Peter, Joseph and Paul, ye venerable martyrs Gervasius and Gerasimus, and ye hieromartyrs Paul, Peter and Theodore, Michael, Vladimir and Constantine, deacon John, novice Anthony and custodian John, with the vast multitude of clergy, monks and laity, whose names are all known unto the Lord: Entreat Him, that we be saved.

Two beacons shine forth radiantly in the world—Timothy, great among the apostles of Christ, and the martyr Anastasius, among his fellows,—whom we praise together.

Stichos: Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord; in His commandments shall He greatly delight.

All of us, the faithful, appoint thee as mediator before Him Who hath now been born of thee, O all-holy one; and we are crucified with Him for the sake of that which is more sublime. Wherefore, cease thou never to pray for us.

O ye that with the holy Tsar were oppressed every day, O holy and passion-bearing Tsaritsa and royal virgins, holy royal son, and faithful fellow sufferers who served you: unjustly were ye all slain at night; and utterly consumed as victims for justice, ye are become mediators for us, like incense well-pleasing unto God. Ye also who on the next day were buried alive amid dreadful torments with the holy Princess and her companion. And now, O Tsar Nicholas, leading all that suffered with thee, O holy lamenter of our generation, like a new Job, entreat the Lord to forgive all.

Stichos: Thy priests shall be clothed with righteousness, and Thy righteous shall rejoice.

Condemned by the godless, the priests of God whom the holy Patriarch had blessed to undergo torments and death for Christ refused to ask for mercy. And when on the morrow they were led to execution, the guardsmen were at a loss how to drive back the faithful who came forth to meet them. For the people kissed the doomed ones condemned to death and their sacred hands and the hem of their garments, and some chanted triumphantly: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death! O Lord, through the supplications of these hieromartyrs, have mercy upon us!