Ode IX

Irmos: Christ, the Chief Cornerstone uncut by human hands, Who united the two disparate natures, was cut from thee, the unquarried mountain, O Virgin. Wherefore, in gladness we magnify thee, O Theotokos.

Thou didst mercifully pass over to the Benefactor of all, O father, adorned with the beauty of innocence and shining with the comeliness of the virtues. Wherefore, we all call thee blessed.

Theotokion: All of us, the faithful, honor thee with praises as the true root of incorruption and confirmation, O Virgin; for thou gavest birth for us to the hypostatic Immortality.

Submitting to the law of the Master, thou didst bend thy neck under the struggle of monasticism, O most blessed father, and as victor didst attain unto perfect guilelessness.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

Thou wast vouchsafed to send up hymnody to God with the incorporeal ones, having preserved their manner of life and purity; and through patience thou hast received the glory of the martyrs’ feats.

Accept from us this hymnody which we offer to thee from a pure heart, O God-bearer, and through thine entreaties grant us remission of offenses and salvation, O most honored one.

Stichera of the venerable one, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “As one valiant among the martyrs…”—

By abstinence thou didst mortify carnal-mindedness, and by fasting and the perfection of the virtues thou didst enliven thy soul. Wherefore, thou hast truly appeared as one alive even after thy repose; for death was reckoned as but sleep by thee who hast passed over to God and placed thy soul in His hands, O glorious Acacius.

Thou didst lull to sleep the desires of the passions, O Acacius, having acquired all-night vigilance in prayer, obedience and humility, study of the divine Scriptures, a pure heart and an untroubled mind. Wherefore, thou becamest a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, shining forth rays of miracles upon the ends of the earth.

Having utterly spurned the passionate attachments of the world, thou becamest a vessel of dispassion; and through active ascent of the love of knowledge, O glorious one, thou didst mount on high to thine uttermost Desire, and didst behold with mystic vision the inconceivable and divine beauties of invisible things, O most wise and blessed Acacius.

From thy pure blood thou gavest flesh to Him Who is consubstantial with the Father and equally enthroned with the Spirit, and thou gavest birth in manner past recounting to Him Who is truly known in two active natures and in two volitions. Him do thou entreat, O all-holy Virgin, as thy Son and God, that He save those who with pure faith call thee blessed.

Stavrotheotokion—

When the ewe-lamb who gave Thee birth saw Thee, the Lamb and Shepherd, upon the Tree, she lamented and maternally exclaimed to Thee: “O my Son most beloved! How is it that Thou art suspended upon the tree of the Cross, O Long-suffering One? How is it that Thy hands and feet have been pierced with nails by the iniquitous, O Word? How hast Thou shed Thy blood, O Master?”