Ode III

Irmos: Thou art the confirmation of those who have recourse to Thee, O Lord; Thou art the light of the benighted; and my spirit doth hymn Thee.

Kontakion, in Tone I: Spec. Mel: “The choir of angels...”—

Glory..., Now and ever...: Theotokion—

Sessional hymn, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel: “Of the ­Wisdom...”—

With the burning coal of asceticism thou didst utterly consume the thorns of the passions, and thou warmest the companies of monastics.

Theotokion: Still thou the raging tumult of my thoughts, O pure Mother of God, directing the movement thereof toward thy Son.

From the aromatic essence of fasting thou wast wholly distilled as an oil of sanctification, unto the fragrance of the sweet savor of God.

Gaining instruction in the laws of God, with the flow of thy tears thou didst drown the passions, as though they were the minions of Pharaoh.

Bringing forth ever-burgeoning fruits of teaching from thy book, O blessed and all-wise one, thou dost delight those who with vigilance attend thereto; for it is a ladder of the soul leading from earth to heavenly and lasting glory for those who honor thee with faith.

Shining forth supernaturally in vision and deed, thou dost shed the light of doctrines; and thou hast issued divinely wise laws, O blessed one, setting as rungs the beauties of the virtues, and indicating the deceits and machinations of evil. Hence, thou leadest up those who follow thy divine teachings from the passions to dispassion, O angelic John. Entreat Christ God to grant remission of transgressions unto those who with love honor thy holy memory.

All of us, the generations of men, bless thee as the Virgin who, alone among women, gavest birth without seed unto God in the flesh; for the fire of the Godhead dwelt within thee, and thou gavest suck unto the Creator and Lord as a babe. Wherefore, we, the generation of angels and men, glorify thine all-holy birthgiving, and together we cry out to thee: Entreat Christ God to grant remission of offenses unto those who with faith worship thine all-holy Offspring.

Or this stavrotheotokion—

The Ewe-lamb, beholding the Lamb, Shepherd and Deliverer upon the Cross, exclaimed, weeping and, bitterly lamenting, cried out: “The world rejoiceth, receiving deliverance through Thee; but my womb is pained to behold Thy crucifixion, which Thou endurest in the loving-kindness of Thy mercy. O longsuffering Lord, Abyss and inexhaustible Wellspring of mercy: Have pity and grant remission of offenses unto those who with faith hymn Thy divine sufferings!”