Ode III

Irmos: None is as holy as the Lord, and none is as righteous as our God, Whom all creation doth hymn, singing: None is righteous save Thee, O Lord!

Kontakion, in Tone III: Spec. Mel.: “Today the Virgin…” —

Sessional hymn, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Go Thou quickly before...: —

Theotokion: Lo! the time for the assistance of the all-holy Theotokos is come, for temptations have multiplied. Behold! now is the time for us to sigh unto her, O brethren! Let us therefore say with our whole heart: O Mistress, O Mistress, help thou thy people!

The sacred and great Lavra, which was founded by thee, O venerable father Anthony, first of all the monks of Russia, most gloriously preacheth and soundeth forth more loudly than a clarion; and the house of the Mother of God doth glory in splendor, chanting unto God: By Thee have I been established, O Lord!

Let us radiantly hymn the blessed Theodosius, eminent in miracles and great in the virtues, the founder of the cœnobitic monastic life in Russia, the glorious favorite of Christ and the all-pure ­Theotokos; and with him Nestor, the recorder of memorable events, and Alypius, the first iconographer in Russia.

Thou art a noetic paradise, O holy Mountain of the Caves, who produced a multitude of spiritual trees — the blessed fathers, whose number it is not possible to reckon individually. We therefore offer praise and hymnody to the one Master for all of them together.

O martyr Anthony and steadfast Eustathius, together with John, ye adornment of the Lithuanian land, who set at nought the arrogance of Olgerd: Quench ye the passions which mortify me!

Be ye intercessors for your earthly homeland and for the city wherein ye struggled in martyrdom, O venerable-martyr Athanasius, and thou, O young Gabriel. And teach us also to confess Orthodoxy with boldness and not to fear the enemy.

Let the venerable Job be honored, the adornment of the Lavra of Pochaev, together with all the wonderworkers and saints of Volyn’, who have illumined the ends of our land with their deeds and miracles.

With sacred hymns let us praise Athanasius, the holy bishop of Constantinople, who brought his own precious relics, as an earnest of unity with the universal Church, to be a blessing for the land of Russia, and hath left them to us.

Today the choir of the saints who have pleased God in our land standeth forth in the Church and invisibly prayeth to God for us. With them the angels give glory, and all the saints of the Church of Christ celebrate with them; for all together they entreat the preëternal God for us.

Ikos: Beautiful trees of the Garden of Eden, laden with goodly fruit, have the saints been shown to be, producing the sweet-smelling blossoms of doctrine and the fruits of good works: whereby our souls are fed, and our spiritual hunger is assuaged. Come ye, therefore, let us hasten beneath their shadow and bless them as the delight and adornment of our land, and as a model and pattern for our life; for they have received imperishable crowns from the preëternal God.

Christ, the Sun of righteousness, sent you forth as rays illumining the land of Russia, O favored ones of God, enlightening our race. Wherefore, with your divine entreaties, O blessed ones of God, make radiant my darkened soul.

Glory…, Now & ever …, in the same tone —

O ye faithful, let us make haste to the divine and healing robe of God our Savior, Whose good pleasure it was to assume this flesh and to shed His own holy Blood upon the Cross, and thereby redeemed us from slavery to the enemy. Wherefore, we cry out to Him in thanksgiving: Save Thou our Orthodox episcopate and this city, and with Thy precious robe defend all the people and save our souls, in that Thou lovest mankind.