Ode V

Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange darkness covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me, and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

“What shall I give as ransom for my soul?” the holy Thais reasoned to herself, “for it doth in nowise profit me if, gaining the whole world, I lose my soul. Wherefore, all earthly things I cast to the ground, and corruptible things I consign to the fire, that I may inherit blessed and everlasting life.”

Theotokion: With love do we approach thee, O Virgin, crying out in compunction: O Mistress, O Mistress, save us! O Queen of Heaven, redeem us, for we know none other helper than thee, and we call upon thy name without ceasing!

Irrigated with the mystic waters of the Spirit, through the pangs of asceticism thou didst come to blossom forth in faith with the fruitfulness of the virtues.

Irmos: Thou hast come, O my Lord, as a light into the world: a holy light turning from the darkness of ignorance those who hymn Thee with faith.

“O ye who with me committed iniquity, come now, and behold your gifts devoured by the fire!” thou didst cry, O blessed Thais, burning thy treasures in the streets of the city and loudly confessing thy sins.

Theotokion: Thy grace hath truly been shown to be marvelous, O all-pure one, all-gloriously performing wonders and mighty acts throughout the earth.

Thou, O Lord, the Light of men who lie in darkness, hast shone forth in the heart of the venerable one the splendor of divine understanding.

Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange darkness covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me, and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

“I consign this gold, silver and fine linen to the fire, that I may be delivered from the everlasting fire,” Thais cried aloud to God in repentance, “but cleanse Thou and renew me with the fire of Thy divine Spirit, consuming the reproach of my sins.”

Theotokion: In the mercy of His compassion, the Son of God was immutably born of the Virgin, taking what was foreign to Him as His own, and, though in His essence uncircumscribable, He willingly appeareth circumscribed in this form.

Sown with tears, O honored Pelagia, thy pangs have gathered in an abundance of gladness and joy in the heavens.

Deliberating together with exalted intelligence, the honored fathers committed the iconoclasts to anathema, as ones who in mind devised strange things. And they commanded that honor be rendered unto the icon of Christ, as is fitting.

Now is the time for gladness! Now is the day of salvation made manifest! Let us therefore be glad, and with joy let us cry out to Christ: Grant us Thy peace, through the entreaties of the fathers of the Seventh Council, O Thou Who lovest mankind.