Ode IX

Exapostilarion —

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!

Glory, Now & ever —

On the Praises, four stichera, in Tone IV —

Rejoice, O lamp who bore the never-waning Light and who in thy birth-giving hast destroyed the darkness of polytheism and delivered thy people from the abyss of hades! Rejoice, O Theotokos Directress, mediatress of all good things!

Irmos: Same as that of the preceding canon.

Glory, Now & ever, in Tone VIII —

Let us glorify the joyous Theotokos, O ye faithful, for we ever have her holy and blessed name upon our lips more than any other, unceasingly fleeing to her all-pure and healing icon; for thereby do we find all things good and profitable on earth, and we are delivered from the snares of the demons in the air. Yea, as the Mother who gave birth to the Creator of all, she saveth our souls from misfortunes. Twice

Rejoice, O earth from whence the Ear of heavenly grain hath budded forth for the faithful; and deliver the whole world from soul-destroying famine, O noetic and animate one! Rejoice, O vine who gavest birth to the Cluster of life, O pure Theotokos Directress!

Everlastingly may the assembly of the impious lament, who do not confess thee to be the Theotokos pure in thy birthgiving, and do not bow down before thine all-pure icon. But we, thy faithful people, rejoicing, confess thee to be the true Theotokos and Virgin, in that thou didst truly give birth unto Christ our God in the flesh, hast trampled the corruption of Adam underfoot, hast cleansed the whole world of sin, hast granted never-ending life and opened the gates of paradise to the faithful through thy divine Offspring. Him do thou entreat, that we who hymn thy mystery with faith may be saved.

Rejoice, most comely paradise of mystic flowers! Rejoice, Virgin Mother, O Theotokos who by purity hast most strangely vanquished the understanding of the invisible foe! Rejoice, O Maiden, rejoice, O Directress, thou universal wonder and report!

Let all the multitude of the pious be glad and rejoice with ineffable joy; and, falling down, let them all do homage and reverence the Mother of God with fear, giving thanks to her after God, in that she is the mediatress of such great blessings. The angels desire to gaze upon those things which Christ our God hath given to the faithful through the Theotokos, for He hath an abundance of compassions and great and all-rich mercy.

By thine aid, keep thou the remaining time of our life untouched by harm, O Virgin Maiden, and count us worthy to receive a good end, for we hymn thee and cry aloud: Rejoice, O most blessed and pure Theotokos and Directress!

Thy holy icon, which depicteth thy form, O Virgin Theotokos, is by thy grace an all-bounteous fountain which poureth forth its waters for all the earth and enlighteneth the whole world with the effulgent radiance of the Holy Spirit. For thou didst ineffably give birth in the flesh to God the Word, hearing such things as these from the Archangel Gabriel: Rejoice, O thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with thee, and the Holy Spirit overshadoweth thee at thy conceiving! And thus didst thou say to the first icon depicting thee, when thou didst gaze upon it: My grace is with it! And thy word was fulfilled in the power of the icon. Divine grace, transcending every image, voice, power, deed and mind, abiding with it forever, unceasingly worketh signs and wonders, and giveth spiritually profitable healing to all who approach it with faith, through thine unceasing divine, maternal supplications to God.

Second Canon

Thee, the steadfast helper of the human race, O Theotokos Mary, did the choir of the prophets foretell in many and divers ways, as the holy tabernacle more spacious than the heavens, the tablet divinely inscribed, the bush unconsumed by the Fire, the portal through which God passeth, the mountain and the ladder, the bridge and the rod which blossomed forth. And we truly magnify thee as the Theotokos.

The mystery of the depth of thy birthgiving moveth the mind of the angels to awe, O Virgin, and thine all-pure icon driveth the demons away, darkeneth the countenances of the ungodly, and putteth them to shame. For they cannot bear to look upon its power, and they flee and vanish away. And we lovingly bow down and venerate it, and magnify thee as the Theotokos.

As a constant intercessor before the King Most High, in that thou art possessed of undaunted boldness, establish thou the life of the Orthodox in peace profound, exalt our right-believing hierarchs, and ever grant unto thy servants all things profitable, that we may magnify thee as the Theotokos.

O most merciful helper of Christians, the mind of men or angels cannot hymn thee as is meet, for thou art more honorable than all creation, more glorious than all things of heaven and earth; for thou gavest birth unto the Creator and God of all. O Mistress, mercifully accept the hymn which we have composed for thee from the depths of our heart, and ever save us, for on thee have we set our hope.

Let the all-hymned Mother of God be honored, who gave birth unto Christ our God, our Life, for she is the opening of the gates of paradise, the cleansing of the whole world, the restoration to life. He is the One of Whom the prophets spake, and we worship Him as our God, the Savior of our souls. Twice

Come ye with purity, O ye faithful, and let us exalt the wondrous icon of the all-pure Mother of our God and Christ, the divine Infant Savior. For, having given birth to Him and borne Him in her arms, and possessing boldness before Him, she prayeth unceasingly for us, and bestoweth upon her servants rich mercies.

Great Doxology. Troparion. Litanies. Dismissal. First Hour.