Canon to the venerable one, in Tone II—

Exapostilarion of the Apostles: Spec. Mel.: “Hearken, ye women...”—

Irmos: Overwhelming power once laid low the whole army of Pharaoh in the deep, and the incarnate Word hath destroyed pernicious sin. All-glorious is the Lord, for gloriously hath He been glorified.

Kontakion of the Forefeast, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Thou hast appeared...”—

Having cultivated the ground of thy heart with the plough of prayer, thou didst sow it with the seed of the word, O divinely wise father, and didst reap the grain of abundance, thereby nurturing the souls of all the pious who hymn thee.

Glory..., the Sessional hymn of the venerable one, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “When the stone had been sealed...”—

Sessional hymn of the apostles, in Tone III: Spec. Mel.: “Of the divine Faith...”—

At the Praises, 4 stichera, in Tone VI: Spec. Mel.: “Go forth, O angelic hosts...”—

Theotokion: Come ye, and with a pure mind let us bless the pure one, the beauty of Jacob, whom God loved and chose, and within whom He made His abode. Let us hymn her as the tabernacle of sanctification, the most honored of all creatures.

Christ, the Torrent of sweetness, cometh like a servant to the waters of Jordan to be washed. Ye mountains, leap for joy! Ye hills, gird yourselves about with joy! Ye defiled ones, make ready for divine cleansing!

Irmos: There is none as holy as Thee, O Lord my God, Who hast uplifted the horn of Thy faithful and established us on the rock of the confession of Thee, O Good One.

Kontakion of the apostles, in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “Seeking the Highest...”—

Now and ever..., in the same tone—

Christ is come to the Jordan’s streams, Whose herald appeared before Him; and He said to the Forerunner: “Come and wash Me with the waters; baptize Me Who now go down into them, for I have come to wash away the primal fall of Adam.” Blessed art Thou Who hast appeared! O our God, glory to Thee!

Theotokion: O Virgin Mother, truly pure wast thou before giving birth, during birthgiving, and after birthgiving; for thou gavest birth unto God Whom the company of angels hath most splendidly heralded.

Thy splendid memorial hath today shone forth the sun-like rays of thy corrections, dispelling the cloud of our passions. And celebrating it, with faith and love we call thee blessed.

Irmos: O Theotokos, thou living and abundant fountain: in thy divine glory establish those who hymn thee and spiritually form themselves into a choir; and vouchsafe unto them crowns of glory.

The choir of angels on high doth marvel, beholding Thee naked Who coverest heaven with clouds; and they cry out: What is this Thy great condescension towards mankind?

“I have in no wise reckoned the number of the stars of the heights of heaven, nor have I measured the earth,” the Forerunner said to the Master; “How then can I touch Thy head with my hand? How can I baptize Thee Who holdest creation in Thy hand? Wherefore, I cry to Thee: Blessed art Thou Who hast appeared! O our God, glory to Thee!”

Theotokion: Many are those who war against me from above, and my life hath grown faint in pain; and I have fallen headlong into the abyss of transgressions. Save me, O Mistress; disdain me not, for thee do I have as an invincible intercessor.

Having taken wing through the love of Christ, thou didst soar aloft, leaving the tumult of the world behind. Wherefore, thou didst live like an angel, setting thyself apart for asceticism through onerous labor and abstinence.

Irmos: Establishing me upon the rock of faith, Thou hast enlarged my mouth against mine enemies, for my spirit doth exult when I chant: There is none holy as our God, and none righteous save Thee, O Lord!

Glory..., Now & ever...: Exapostilarion of the Forefeast: Spec. Mel.: “Thou hast visited us...”—

“Being enthroned together with the Father and the Spirit, I am upborne in triumph by the legions of the angels. Yet in My loving-kindness I was born a stranger in the little cave in Bethlehem. Wherefore, lend Me now thy right hand, that in Me I may wash away the transgressions of the world!”

Theotokion: The most blessed choir of those who of old uttered prophecies in the Spirit, O all-pure one, now in godly manner, with sacred and divine utterances, call thee the portal of heaven and the mountain densely wooded.

Though Thou art God Who hast mastery over all, Thou hast assumed the form of a servant; and to a servant dost Thou come in the flesh, O Compassionate One, freeing us from slavery to the enemy through Thy divinely accomplished baptism.

Irmos: Christ is my power, my God and my Lord, the honored Church doth sing, crying out in godly manner with a pure mind, keeping festival in the Lord.

Glory..., in the same tone and melody—

“Of old, in the days of Noah, Thou didst drown sin, O Thou Who by Thy word didst throw wide the flood-gates of the heavens. And how will Jordan bear the sight of Thee? For already its streams withdraw! All creation doth recognize Thee, and I cry out to Thee: Blessed art Thou Who hast appeared! O our God, glory to Thee!”

Theotokion: Day and night I cry unto thee, O all-immaculate one, and I am saved. And through thy mediation I scale the rampart of pleasures and am delivered from the temptation of the demons.

Wherefore hast Thou come to the river’s streams? What manner of cleansing dost Thou desire? What defilement seekest Thou to wash away? I hymn Thy loving-kindness and condescension which pass understanding, O Word!

Irmos: Perceiving the inscrutable counsel of God—the Incarnation of Thee, the Most High, from the Virgin—the Prophet Habbakuk cried aloud: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!

Now and ever, in the same tone and melody—

“That the Father’s good pleasure might be fulfilled, I have come to earth clad in poverty. Heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool. I incline My neck before Thee, for his have I come to do. Baptize Me Who wash away the transgression of men in Myself!”

Theotokion: Enlighten the eyes of my heart, O Virgin, and illumine me with the radiance of repentance. From everlasting darkness deliver me, O portal of light, thou refuge of all Christians who hymn thee with faith.

Seeking the lamb which the savage wolf separated from the flock by deception, O Christ, Thou dost stand in the Jordan’s streams, crying out to the Forerunner: Come thou and baptize Me!

Irmos: Thou didst come forth from the Virgin, neither a mediator nor an angel, but Thyself incarnate, O Lord, and hast saved me, the whole man; wherefore, I cry to thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!

“O Thou Who of old guided Israel with a pillar of fire and of cloud, and Who didst send down dew in the wilderness! Thou Who hast dominion over all, Who art ineffable in Thy nature! How art Thou clothed in human form? I, who am grass, dare not touch Thee Who art fire! Do Thou Thyself baptize me, for I have need to receive cleansing of Thee!”

Theotokion: Thou hast been shown to be the portal of the Orient Who revealed Himself from on high, and the most exalted throne of the King, O all-pure one, and the lofty ladder reaching to heaven, whereby Christ descended and entered into fellowship with rejected men.

The Word sent thee forth, O most wise ones, like rivers throughout all the world, filling it with floods of the Spirit of God and quenching the flame of godlessness by grace.

Irmos: With Thy divine light illumine the souls of those who with love rise at dawn unto Thee, I pray Thee, O Good One, that they may know Thee, O Word of God, to be the true God Who calleth all forth from the darkness of sin.

Theotokion: I hymn thee, O thou who alone art all-hymned! I ever glorify thee, O divinely glorious one! And I bless thee whom all generations call blessed, O divinely blessed Virgin.

Let us hymn the godly Timon, Silas and Silvanus; and with faith let us praise the glorious Epenetus, Urban and Agabus, the true preachers of Christ.

Irmos: All things are filled with awe at thy divine glory; for thou, O Virgin who hast not known wedlock, didst contain within thy womb Him Who is God over all, and gavest birth to the timeless Son, granting peace unto all who hymn thee.

Theotokion: He Who stretched out the Heavens with a gesture hath shown thee to be another heaven on earth, O immaculate Theotokos; and from thee He hath revealed Himself to those in darkness.

Being already blessed, having truly acquired God, the blessed Teacher, O most wise ones, those who before were accursed did ye show forth as partakers of the blessedness of God.

Irmos: O Christ my Savior, enlightenment of those who lie in darkness and salvation of the despairing: rising early unto Thee, O King of the world, may I be enlightened by Thy radiance, for I know none other God than Thee.

Theotokion: A mercy seat hast thou been for us that are ever sinning, O all-immaculate one, having given birth in manner transcending nature unto Christ Who taketh away the sins of the world, to Whom we cry out: O Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

He Who created the deeps and covered the chambers thereof with the waters, entereth the waters to be baptized. Take care, O soul, to cleanse thyself of the passions, offering up a flowering of the virtues.

Irmos: Beholding the sea of life surging with the tempest of temptations, fleeing to Thy calm haven I cry unto Thee: Lead up my life from corruption, O greatly Merciful One!

Theotokion: Having for us given birth unto the hypostatic Life Who hath abolished death by death, O Virgin, by thine entreaties enliven me who have been done to death by grievous tempests, O pure, blessed and most glorious one.

Through the Spirit’s cultivation, O Theoctistus, thou didst bloom in the meadow of asceticism like a sweet-smelling rose, ever filling with fragrance those who sing: There is none holy save Thee, O Lord!

Irmos: Celebrating this divine and most honored festival of the Mother of God, come, ye divinely wise, let us clap our hands and glorify God Who was born of her.

Theotokion: O wonder more sublime than all wonders! How is it that thou givest birth, yet remainest virgin, O all-holy Bride of God? For thou didst bear the Word Who with the Father is equally without beginning. Unto Him do we all sing: Hymn the Lord, ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Like a fruitful olive tree hast thou sprung forth in the house of the Lord, O venerable Theoctistus, anointing with the oil of thy labors the faces of us that sing: There is none holy save Thee, O Lord!

Irmos: Whirled about in the abyss of sin, I call upon the unfathomable abyss of Thy loving-kindness: Lead me up from corruption, O God!

Theotokion: Out of all generations Christ chose thee as a habitation for Himself, O Theotokos, renewing us corrupt mortals by a higher union. Wherefore, we hymn thee for all ages!

In the streams of the Jordan the Lord crieth out to John today: “Fear not to baptize Me, for I have come to save Adam the first-created!”

Irmos: The Angel caused the furnace to pour forth dew upon the pious youths, and the command of God, which consumed the Chaldæans, prevailed upon the tyrant to cry out: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Theotokion: The radiance of the splendor of thy birthgiving hath shone forth and illumined all the world and destroyed the prince of darkness, O all-pure Theotokos, thou boast of angels and salvation of all men who praise thee with unceasing cries.

Ikos: “I do not require thee to transgress the bounds of what is meet, O Baptist; I am not saying unto thee: Tell Me what thou tellest the iniquitous, and what thou teachest sinners. Only baptize Me in silence, awaiting those things which come through baptism; for it is for this cause that thou hast received a dignity which even the angels do not possess; for I have made thee greater than all the prophets. Thus, not one of them beheld Me plainly, but only in images, shadows and reflections; but thou beheldest Me standing before thee. For I am come to save Adam the first-created!”

Irmos: The divinely wise youths worshipped not a creation rather than the Creator, but, manfully trampling the threat of the fire underfoot, they rejoice, chanting: Blessed art Thou, the all-hymned God of our fathers!

Theotokion: O pure Virgin, who gavest birth unto Him Who is life, for the deliverance of mortals: enliven my soul, in that thou art compassionate, who alone art intercessor for those who have recourse to thy protection, O all-immaculate one.

O unshakable pillars of the Church, as ye are disciples of God, the foundations of piety, preserve it unharmed, dispelling the temptations of the deceiver, and ever entreating Christ God to grant us great mercy.

Irmos: The command of the iniquitous tyrant, opposed to God, raised up a lofty flame; but Christ, Who is blessed and all-glorious, spread a spiritual dew upon the pious youths.

Playing the shepherd’s pipe of the Word, thou didst lead the Lord’s flock in God-pleasing manner to the pasture of dispassion, O God-bearing Theoctistus, and thou didst bring it, saved, unto God. And departing unto Him, thou didst receive a reward befitting thy labors. Glory to Him Who gave thee strength! Glory to Him Who hath crowned thee! Glory to Him Who worketh healings for all through thee!

Irmos: From the flame didst Thou pour forth dew upon the venerable ones, and didst consume the sacrifice of the righteous one with water; for Thou, O Christ, dost do all things soever Thou desirest. Thee do we exalt supremely for all ages!

Jesus, having been born of the Virgin Mary, was baptized of John in the Jordan; and the Spirit, seen in the guise of a dove, descended upon Him. Wherefore, with the angels the prophet said, crying aloud: Glory to Thine advent, O Christ! Glory to Thy Kingdom! Glory to Thy dispensation, O Thou Who alone lovest mankind!

Irmos: The birthgiving of the Theotokos saved the pious children in the furnace—then in figure, but now in deed—and it moveth all the world to chant to Thee: Hymn ye the Lord and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

When the stream of the Jordan beheld Thee, O Lord, it drew back. But our nature, which hath been laid low by the many passions, doing homage to Thee, hath turned back to the heavens.

Irmos: God, Who descended into the fiery furnace for the Hebrew children and transformed the flame into dew, hymn ye as Lord, O ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

The sun was stricken with fear, beholding Thee, the Sun, bare by the flesh and mystically illumining our whole nature which hath been stripped bare by dark transgression, O Master.

Irmos: It is not possible for men to behold God, upon Whom the ranks of angels dare not gaze; but through thee, O most pure one, hath the Word appeared incarnate unto men; and magnifying Him with the armies of heaven, we call thee blessed.

Lo! the cleansing, deliverance, renewal and enlightenment of all is come unto His own! Let us therefore cleave unto Him through purity of life!

Irmos: Let every mortal leap for joy, enlightened by the Spirit; and let the nature of the incorporeal intelligences keep festival, honoring the sacred feast of the Mother of God, and let them cry aloud: Rejoice, O most blessed Theotokos, pure Ever-virgin!

Like stallions did the divinely wise disciples of the Savior enter the sea of paganism and trouble it; and they saved the faithful by holy water and the Spirit.

Irmos: God the Lord, the Son of the unoriginate Father, hath revealed Himself to us incarnate of the Virgin, to enlighten those in darkness and to gather the dispersed. Wherefore, we magnify the all-hymned Theotokos.

Pudens, Apelles and Philologus, Herodion, Rufus and Patrobus have shone like the sun upon the earth and enlightened the faithful, delivering them from the darkness of unbelief.

O glorious ones, the Compassionate One, having brought you together, let you fly like sharp arrows, bolts to fell the enemy and to heal by the grace of God those grievously wounded.

Let us offer praise to the Deliverer, hymning the divinely eloquent Rodion, the glorious Hermes, the wise Asyncritus, and the godly Linus and Gaius.

Thy sweat exuded the sweetness of pangs, removing the bitterness of the demons, O right wondrous and glorious one, and dispelling bitter afflictions by the sprinkling thereof.

Deified by unceasing purifications, O venerable one, thou wast a most luminous beacon, a most renowned model and guide, and an unshakable pillar for monastics.

Thou didst cleave the sea of the passions with the staff of faith, O venerable father Theoctistus; and having drowned the invisible Pharaoh, thou didst attain unto the promised land.

Let us bring to Christ a pure life as an offering of fruit, for He Who alone is the sinless Creator of all cometh to wash away the defilement of sins with the waters and with grace.

O ye people who from of old have been sitting in the darkness of sorrows, a Light which fadeth not away hath appeared unto us! Behold, and be ye illumined with the rays thereof, and hymn ye the grace of Him Who hath appeared!

To Thy great Forerunner dost Thou come, O most compassionate Lord, bringing a great mystery to pass, ineffably magnifying humanity through baptism.

Receiving, as apostles, the authority to bind and to loose, O all-praised ones, ye released those bound with the bonds of unbelief. Wherefore, joining chorus, we celebrate your memory with faith.

With divine hymnody let Aristarchus be honored, together with Tertius, Jason and Sosthenes, Cæsar and Mark, Luke and Sosipater, Quartus and the godly Apelles, Clement and Epaphras, and Erastus the most wise.

The Lord sent you forth, as He did the twelve, to uproot all ungodliness and to plant the knowledge of God splendidly among all men, O glorious apostles, intercessors for our souls.

Ever possessed of a vigilant mind, O divinely wise father, thou didst lull to sleep the soul-corrupting passions and didst strive to attain unto the morning of God, to the radiance of the unwaning Light, wherein is the abode of those who rejoice.

As a luminous light-bearer, full of the gifts of the Spirit of God, O father, manifesting a character pure and guileless, thou wast revealed to all as an angel living in a body.

Being water full of mysteries, O our only Lord, as a river of peace Thou camest to the river, asking to be baptized by the least drop thereof, O Thou Who alone art sinless.

Lo! He that is full emptieth Himself; He that is invisible hath appeared incarnate! Rejoice, O river Jordan! Fill up thy streams, that thou mightest wash the Regeneration of all!

O ye apostles, manifest as animate clouds, ye have sprinkled the saving water of life upon all the world, and have bedewed the hearts of the faithful.

The power of your divine words vanquished the great evil of the sages and made wise the ignorant who had become foolish through the deluding knowledge, O all-wise ones.

Let the divine Pudens and Trophimus, the glorious Philemon, Aristarchus, Onesiphorus and the most renowned Tychicus, be exalted as disciples of the Word.

Vested in human form, Christ cometh to His servant asking baptism, by grace showing forth the enslaved to be liberated from passions.

Revealed as a vessel of the Holy Spirit Who breathed power into thee, O most blessed God-bearer Theoctistus, thou didst subdue the spirits of wickedness.

With the staff of thy discourse didst thou tend thy reason-endowed flock on the pasture of fasting, O venerable father, and thou didst guide it to the fold of Heaven.

In hymns, O ye faithful, let us divinely praise the choir of the seventy disciples of Christ; for through them have we all learned to worship the indivisible Trinity. And they remain beacons of the divine Faith.

Ikos: With sacred hymnody, O ye faithful, let us together praise the choir of the seventy apostles: Stephen, Prochorus, Silas and Nicanor, Mark, Matthias and Herodion, Crescens and Phlegon, Barnabas, Linus and Olympas, Ananias, Luke and Asyncritus, and the rest; for they remain beacons of the divine Faith.

How can the river’s streams admit Thee Who art the Torrent of sweetness, O Christ? How can the Forerunner extend his hand over Thee Who by Thy hand hast created all and hast delivered us from the hands of the deceiver?

As Thou art Thyself a stream of goodness, how is it that Thou comest to the streams of the Jordan seeking to give the waters of incorruption as drink to us who through wicked eating have been cast down into corruption through the hatred of the serpent?

Let the mountains pour forth joy, let the hills exult in gladness, let the rivers clap their hands, for Christ hath appeared and cometh to the river to drown men’s transgressions.

Casting forth the word as a net, up from the depths ye drew the far-flung nations; and rendering their minds steadfast with signs and wonders, O wise apostles, ye were guides for those astray.

Having entered the harbor most calm, ye were shown to be saviors of those tempest-tossed upon the sea of evils, and wise helmsmen who cry out: O Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Let us all bless Euodias and Carpus, Tychicus and Cephas, Justus and Artemas, and Zenas the glorious, for they are disciples of Christ who chant: O Lord God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

The apostles of Christ, whose visages shone like lightning through the Spirit, delivered those held fast in the night of ignorance, and have guided to the Light of life those who ever cry: Blessed art Thou, O God!

Let the wilderness of Jordan blossom forth today, for the Deliverance of all cometh through the fire of the Godhead to submerge in water and the Spirit us who have been grievously broken by our falls into sin.

With floods of tears thou didst extinguish the burning of the passions, O blessed Theoctistus, and thou hast poured forth ever-living streams of miracles whereby infirmities both of body and soul are washed away, O all-glorious one.

The meekness of David didst thou emulate, O father, having acquired the blameless dispassion of Job, the simplicity of Jacob, the faith of Abraham and the fervor of Peter. Dwelling with them, be thou mindful of us.

Elisha clove the river’s streams with the mantle of Elijah, foreshadowing the grace of baptism which Christ, our only Benefactor, doth accomplish, going up to them therefor.

The glorious Prophet Elisha once prefigured the grace of baptism, making waters that before were barren fruitful through salt, through the power of our God Who hath revealed Himself.

Every valley is filled with divine gifts, and every obstinate hill is laid low, and the crooked ways are made straight again at the appearance of our incarnate God.

Having cultivated stony minds with the plough of the word, O most glorious ones, ye sowed therein the seed of salvation and have reaped a multitude of the saved, the grain of piety, an hundredfold, O most wise apostles of the Lord.

With divine praises let us honor James, Cleopas, Barnabas and Stephen, the most wise Narcissus, Mark, Aristobulus and Apelles, crying out: Hymn the Lord, ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Bearing the Cross instead of a breastplate, ye manfully arrayed yourselves against all the legions of the serpent, O most wise apostles, and vanquished them. And with faith ye pursued the men he had captured, and brought them to the Master, the Bestower of life.

O Savior, Thou Wellspring of wisdom, in the Jordan Thou wast revealed as the enlightenment and cleansing of souls. And bestowing upon us a refreshing torrent of living water, Thou hast drowned our sin in the waters.

Having truly passed thy life in innocence, O divinely wise father, with a mind made most perfect thou didst set at naught the malice of the enemy, crying out: Hymn the Lord, all ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Now the axe doth threaten to hew down souls. Haste thou, O my soul, and, having cut down the thorns of the passions, bring ripe fruits to the Lord, being saved at the supplications of the God-bearer.

O Christ Who with Thy hands fashioned man, Thou dost go down under the hand of the Forerunner, humbling Thyself as a man, that Thou mightest exalt me who of old was humbled and perished. Glory to Thy glorious and strange economy!

The cleansing and enlightenment of souls is at hand! The loosing of grievous bonds is nigh! Be glad, O river Jordan! Make merry, all creation! Clap your hands, ye earth and sea, glorifying the all-good Christ!

As Thou art the fullness of all good things, Thou comest crying out to Thy servant who hath been filled with holiness and who marvelleth at Thy condescension: “Draw nigh and baptize Me, for I wish to fill the nature of mortals with sanctification and purification!”

O Christ, heal Thou the contrition of our hearts through the prayers of those who loved Thee, who preached Thee as God and Lord, the Creator of all, among all the nations, and dispelled all the gloom of idolatry with the light of their preaching.

Like bolts of lightning have Luke and Hermas, Mark and Ananias, Matthias and the sacred Olympus enlightened the world, and have manifestly illumined the fullness of the faithful. With faith let us honor them today with sacred hymns of homage.

Let us stand reverently in the house of the Lord and bless the sacred heralds and disciples, rich in angelic wisdom, the saviors, defenders and intercessors for all who honor their memory.

Aquila, Achaicus, the glorious Lucius and Fortunatus, together with the sixty-six other favorites and sacred disciples of Christ, have been illumined with the immaterial life of the Spirit. And they illumine the hearts of all through their radiant memorial today.

Thou wast a pure dwelling-place of God, O venerable Theoctistus, not having befouled the beauty of thy soul with the mire of sins; and thou didst adorn thyself wholly with good gifts. Wherefore, we honor thee.

Adorned with the virtues, enlightened with love, luminous with divers good deeds, thou didst pass over to thy fathers, O wise father, in the richness of old age, being stored up like ripe wheat in the granaries of God.

Thy flock doth today join chorus, celebrating the splendid commemoration of thy repose. Standing with the angels before God, O thrice-blessed and most blessed one, cease not to bless them from heaven even after thy repose.

O all-praised apostles and disciples of the all-compassionate Christ, ye who beheld God: Fall not silent in your supplications in behalf of us who celebrate your memory with love, that we may find remission of sins and divine grace on the day of judgement.

Make ready, O Zabulun! Adorn thyself, O Naphtali! Receive, O Jordan, the Creator and God of all, Who cometh to thee in the flesh, desiring to wash our sins away!