Before the ages before the morning star, Thou wast begotten of the womb of the Father without mother; yet Arius calleth Thee a creature, refusing to glorify Thee as God, with audacity mindlessly confusing Thee, the Creator, with a creature, laying up for himself fuel for the everlasting fire. But the Council in Nicæa proclaimed Thee to be the Son of God, Who art equally enthroned with the Father and the Spirit. Twice

¶10

A Reading from Deuteronomy

¶11

Wisely did ye mend the robe of Christ which had been rent and torn by the jaws of dogs, O honored fathers, unable to endure the sight of His nakedness, as of old Shem and Japheth could not bear to see their father’s nakedness. And ye put to shame the mindlessness of those of like mind with Arius, the namesake of wrath. Twice

¶12

The Macedonians, Nestorians, Eutychians and Dioscorans, the Appollinarians, Sabellians and Severians, savage wolves who came clad in sheep skins, did ye, as true pastors, drive far away from the flock of the Savior, stripping each of the thrice-wretched ones of their sheep’s clothing. Wherefore, we call you blessed. Twice

¶13

Let us praise today the mystic clarions of the Spirit, the God-bearing fathers who in the midst of the Church chanted the harmonious hymn of theology, that the Trinity is one and immutable in essence and divinity; for they are the destroyers of Arius, the champions of the Orthodox, who ever pray to the Lord that our souls find mercy.

¶14

Entrance. Prokimenon of the day. And three lessons:

¶15

Abram, having heard that Lot, his nephew, had been taken captive, numbered his own home-born servants, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued after them to Dan. And he came upon them by night, he and his servants; and he smote them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus. And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he recovered Lot, his nephew, and all his possessions, and the women and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he returned from the slaughter of Chedorla-omer, and the kings with him, to the valley of Shaveh (this was the plain of the kings). And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought forth loaves and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed Abram, and said: “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, Who made heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God Who delivered thine enemies into thy power.” And Abram gave him the tithe of all.

¶16

In those days, Moses said to the children of Israel: “Behold, God hath delivered the land before you. Go in and inherit the land, which He promised to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them. And I spoke to you at that time, saying: I shall not be able by myself to bear you. The Lord your God hath multiplied you; and, behold, ye are today as the stars of heaven in multitude. The Lord God of your fathers add to you a thousandfold more than you are, and bless you as He hath said to you. How shall I alone be able to bear your labor, and your burden, and your gainsayings? Take to yourselves wise men for your tribes, and I will set your leaders over you. And ye answered me, and said: ‘The thing which thou hast told us is good to do.’ So I took of you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and officers to your judges. And I charged your judges at that time, saying: Hear causes between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother, and the stranger who is with him. Thou shalt not have respect to persons in judgment, thou shalt judge small and great equally; thou shalt not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgment is God’s.

¶17

In those days, Moses said to the children of Israel: “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord thy God, the earth and all things that are therein. Only the Lord chose your fathers to love them, and He chose out their seed after them, even you, beyond all nations, as at this day. Therefore, ye shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and ye shall not harden your neck. For the Lord your God, He is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, and strong, and terrible God, Who doth not accept persons, nor will He by any means accept a bribe: executing judgment for the stranger and orphan and widow. And as He loveth the stranger, to give him food and raiment, so shall ye love the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shalt cleave unto Him, and shalt swear by His name. He is thy boast, and He is thy God, Who hath wrought in the midst of thee these great and glorious things, which thine eyes have seen.

¶18

At the Litia, the sticheron of the temple; and Glory..., in Tone III —

¶19

O holy fathers, ye were careful preservers of the Traditions of the apostles, for, having taught in Orthodox manner the consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity, in council ye cast down the blasphemy of Arius; and having denounced both him and Macedonius, who contended against the Spirit, ye condemned Nestorius, Eutyches and Dioscorus, Sabellius and the mindless Severus. Pray ye that we be delivered from their deception, that our life may be kept undefiled in the Faith, we beseech you.

¶20

Now & ever..., in the same tone —

¶21

Through the divine Spirit, by the will of the Father, without seed thou didst conceive the Son of God Who hath existed without mother from before the ages, and for our sake thou gavest birth in the flesh unto Him Who came forth from thee without father; and thou didst nurture Him on milk as a babe. Wherefore, cease not to pray, that our souls be saved.

¶22

On “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera: 3 for the archangel, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Thou hast given a sign…” —

¶23

The preëternal Mind hath by divine communion fashioned of thee a secondary luminary who enlightenest the whole universe, O Gabriel, and revealest unto us the truly great and divine mystery which was from of old: of Him Who became incarnate in the Virgin’s womb and, though incorporeal, became man, that He might save mankind.

¶24

Standing before the throne of the three-Sunned Godhead, and shining richly with the divine splendors which unceasingly emanate therefrom, do thou deliver from the gloom of the passions us who with joy form a chorus on earth and praise thee, O Gabriel, thou supreme commander; and illumine us with enlightenment, O intercessor for our souls.

¶25

Cast down the arrogance of the Hagarenes who oft-times descend upon thy flock; heal thou the schisms of the Church; still the tempest of our boundless temptations; and from misfortunes and evil circumstances do thou deliver us who honor thee with love and have recourse to thy protection, O Gabriel, thou supreme commander, intercessor for our souls.

¶26

And 3 stichera for the venerable one, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “O all-glorious wonder…” —

¶27

O our God-bearing father Stephen, having splendidly strengthened thy mind with wisdom divine, with love of wisdom thou didst restrain all the power of the soul with righteousness, thy wrath with manliness, and thy desire with chastity; and thou didst make thy soul a comely chariot of the virtues; and, seated thereon, thou didst ascend, rejoicing, to the heights, O glorious one.

¶28

O divinely eloquent father Stephen, thou didst fortify thy mind with theology, bearing thy wrath as a spear aimed at the blasphemous heretics, O venerable and blessed one, and thou didst yearn for heavenly sustenance. And, vouchsafed to partake thereof, O glorious one, thou didst stand before the throne of the King and Ruler of all.

¶29

O divinely eloquent father Stephen, having hedged thy mind all round with temperance, thou didst ascend on high to the Cause of all things; thou didst quell the turmoil of the world and didst still the tumult thereof; thou wast made steadfast in purity of mind, O most wise one, by Him Who is truly the ultimate Desire, O divinely wise and venerable one.

¶30

Glory…, the composition of Byzantius, in Tone VI —

¶31

Rejoice with us, O all ye ranks of the angels, for your commander and our helper, the great archangel, appearing today in his most honored temple, doth bestow sanctification. Wherefore, raising hymnody as is meet, we cry out to him: protect us with the shelter of thy wings, O great archangel Gabriel.

¶32

The all-pure one, when she beheld Thee hanging upon the Cross, cried out, lamenting maternally: “O my Son and my God, my Child most sweet! How is it that Thou dost endure disgraceful suffering?”

¶33

At the Aposticha, the stichera from the Octoechos; and Glory…, Now & ever…, the composition of John the Monk, in Tone VIII —

¶34

As captain, champion and foremost leader of the angels, O supreme commander, from all want and tribulation, infirmity and grievous offenses do thou free those who hymn thee with faith and entreat thee, O glorious one, who, as thou art immaterial, dost clearly behold the Immaterial One and art illumined with the unapproachable light of the Master’s glory. For in His love for mankind He received flesh for our sake from the Virgin, desiring to save our race.

¶35

O supreme commander of the hosts of heaven, unworthy though we are, we ever entreat thee, that, by thy supplications, thou protect us with the shelter of the wings of thine immaterial glory, preserving us who earnestly fall down and cry aloud: Deliver us from misfortunes, in that thou art the commander of the hosts on high.

Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.