Today is the second anniversary of the ordination of Father Deacon Mark to the sacred diaconate, and we send him our congratulations and best wishes.
I think that he will not mind me saying that his ordination was sooner than any of us had expected, but this event showed foresight and wisdom on the part of our bishop, given parish developments and trials we have faced as a community.
The demands of operating under lockdown and the subsequent growth of parish life made having a deacon an absolute necessity, rather than a liturgical luxury, and Deacon Mark has acted as a very able and professional parish-administrator, making things happen – such as my approaching full-time appointment.
His relationship with our parishioners, community partners and visitors is one of great warmth and trust, and – as a priest – I know that I am very fortunate to have such a fellow minister and concelebrant.
We thank Deacon Mark for his ceaseless and selfless labours on our behalf, and pray that his ministry may be blessed and filled with God’s Grace.
Father Deacon Mark, may God grant you many, blessed years!
If we ask people to name the greatest glories and treasures of Egypt, most (even Orthodox Christians) will name the Sphynx, the Great Pyramid, the Valley of the Kings and the mask of Tutankhamen, yet how many will stop and reflect that the greatest treasures are not the relics of Pharaonic Egypt, but the saints who made Egypt the great light of the ancient Christian world?
Sanctified by the ministry of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist, Mark, the founder of the Apostolic See of Alexandria, Egypt became a mother of martyrs such as St Catherine and St Varus, the great monastic saints, headed by St Anthony the Great, and the spiritual giants among the Holy Fathers, Athanasius and Cyril.
Today, we celebrate one of the most beloved Egyptian saints, the Holy Great-Martyr Menas, a wonderworker who continues to pour forth miracles upon the faithful. The treasure we call Menas is far greater than any gilded death mask or mausoleum built to house a royal corpse, and St Menas not only lives in Christ, but cares for us, intercedes for us, and defends us in our earthly lives.
As they sought to imitate life even in their funerary rites, the pharaohs’ paraphernalia of death arranged around their mummified remains brought them nothing and led them nowhere, as they sought to evade the clutches of death with an earthbound delusional view of the future-life.
In contrast, St Menas, stripped for torture, willingly embraced death-in-Christ, knowing that this was the gateway to eternal life with his Lord and Saviour, where he had no needs of the chariots, rotting loaves of bread, amphorae of wine and oil, and jars of honey that surrounded the lifeless mummies of the pharaohs.
St Nikolaj Velimirović summarises the life and passion of the Great-Martyr for us:
“Menas was an Egyptian by birth and a soldier by profession. As a true Christian, he was not able to witness the abominable sacrificial offerings to the idols and left the army, the town, the people and everything else, and went to a deserted mountain, for it was easier for him to live among the wild beasts than with pagans. One day Menas clairvoyantly discerned a pagan celebration in the town of Cotyaeus. He descended into the town and openly declared his faith in Christ the Living God. He denounced idolatry and paganism as falsehood and darkness. Pyrrhus, eparch of that town, asked Menas who he was and where he was from. The saint replied: “My fatherland is Egypt, my name is Menas. I was an officer, but witnessing the worship of idols, I renounced your honours. I now come before you all to proclaim my Christ as the true God, that He may proclaim me as His servant in the Heavenly Kingdom.” Hearing this, Pyrrhus subjected St. Menas to severe tortures. They flogged him, scraped him with iron claws, burned him with torches, and tortured him by various other means, and finally beheaded him with the sword. They threw his body into a fire so that Christians would not be able to retrieve it, but Christians recovered several parts of his body from the fire nevertheless. They reverently buried those remains, which were later transferred to Alexandria and buried there, where a church was built over them. St. Menas suffered in about the year 304 and went to the Kingdom of Christ. He was and remains a great miracle-worker, both on earth and in heaven. Whoever glorifies St. Menas and invokes his help with faith, receives his help. The saint has often appeared as a warrior on horseback, arriving to help the faithful or punish the unfaithful.”
The details of his life are scant, but the details of his countless miracles may fill volumes of books, ever growing in length through the continued outpouring of grace, with the miracle of St Menas’s before the Battle of El-Alamein in 1942 changing the direction of the Second World War in North Africa, and ending the threat of the Axis powers in North Africa.
In the words of the Synaxarion:
““In June 1942, during the North-Africa campaign that was decisive for the outcome of the Second World War, the German forces under the command of General Rommel were on their way to Alexandria, and happened to make a halt near a place which the Arabs call El-Alamein after Saint Menas. An ancient, ruined church there was dedicated to the Saint; and there some people say he is buried. Here the weaker Allied forces including some Greeks confronted the numerically and militarily superior German army, and the result of the coming battle seemed certain. During the first night of engagement, Saint Menas appeared in the midst of the German camp at the head of a caravan of camels, exactly as he was shown on the walls of the ruined church in one of the frescoes depicting his miracles. This astounding and terrifying apparition so undermined German morale that it contributed to the brilliant victory of the Allies. The Church of Saint Menas was restored in thanksgiving and a small monastery was established there.”
How many Allied soldiers owe their lives to the miraculous intercession and intervention of St Menas will never be known.
On this feast, our Cardiff and Cheltenham communities received a great blessing with the ordination of Deacon Mark, named for the Holy Apostle Mark, another treasure of the Church in Egypt. It is my firm conviction that the Great-Martyr has gifted us many things, including our Deacon, and we were blessed with an offer of a home after losing use of the University Church after a week of prayer to St Menas!
I pray that we will continue to be blessed and aided by Menas, Great-Martyr and treasure of Egypt, and greet you all on this feast, especially our friends in Egypt, and our Cypriot brothers and sisters who have great devotion to St Menas.
We also congratulate Father Deacon Mark on this second anniversary of his ordination, commending him to the protection of the Holy Great-Martyr Menas.
We pray that God will grant him many, blessed years!
The coming weekend will again see confessions heard in Deacon Mark’s office on Saturday, and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, which is the first day of the Nativity Fast, the feast of Saints Guriy, Samon and Aviv – the preservers of the Christian family – and the feast of the great monastic father, St. Paisiy (Velichkovsky) of Moldavia and Mt. Athos.
As always, I ask those wishing to confess on Saturday and Sunday to email me at otetzmark@hotmail.com as soon as possible.
The variable parts of Sunday’s Liturgy may be found at ‘Orthodox Austin’ –
If bringing food for the bring-and-share lunch after the Liturgy, please remember that the food must be Lenten – meat, egg and dairy free, though fish will be permitted.
I am delighted to announce that through the generosity of Father Dean, of St Mary Butetown, we will be able to use the small parish-hall attached to the church for our Friday Advent Reflection, with the first gathering on 3 December at 19:00. We will be reflecting upon the presence of the Saviour in the Old Testament and the ‘Christophanies’ that lead the way to His Incarnation.
As we are only permitted twenty attendees, due to the size of the room, we ask that you let us know if you wish to attend.
It is with sadness that we have received news that Marina, one of the pillars of Orthodox life in Little Walsingham, departed to the Lord yesterday evening.
Together with her husband Cennydd, Marina has devotedly and devoutly preserved Orthodox spiritual life in ‘England’s Nazareth’, supporting Mother Melangell in prayer and worship in the shrine and in Mother’s Skete chapel.
When serving in the shrine on behalf of ROCOR, on pilgrimage with Norman and Georgina – and of course the other parishioners whom we introduced to Walsingham – Marina has been a peaceful and prayerful presence, singing at the kliros, and praying with a thoroughness that is wonderfully summed up in her pomianik: the commemoration book for Liturgy.
Page after page records the names of hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and lay people from so many different Orthodox parishes across the world, from every Orthodox nation, every Orthodox jurisdiction and every pilgrimage that Marina and Cennydd have made – and their record of pilgrimage across the Orthodox world is formidable.
These pages of names, show that Marina was a woman of prayer, who embraced all whom she met as brothers and sisters, remembering them before the Lord with love and compassion.
Now is the time for all who have benefitted from her prayers to repay her, remembering her before the Lord, and praying for the peaceful repose of her soul.
We thank the Lord for her inspiring example and devout witness to the Faith, and pray for Cennydd at this time, knowing that he will be greatly comforted by Marina’s immense faith, and the peacefulness of her departure.
The coming weekend confessions will be heard in Deacon Mark’s office in Morganstown on Saturday, and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael will be celebrated in St John’s on Sunday. On this day, we also celebrate the Synaxis of the Holy Unmercenary Healers.
As always, I ask those wishing to confess on Saturday and Sunday to email me at otetzmark@hotmail.com as soon as possible.
The variable parts of Sunday’s Liturgy may be found at ‘Orthodox Austin’ –
This weekend was blessed with the Divine Liturgy in Cheltenham and Cardiff, bringing our communities together to celebrate the Holy Mysteries and share the communion of the Lord’s Body and Blood.
Each of these services was not celebrated in the consecrated Byzantine ‘otherness’ of an Orthodox sanctuary, surrounded by icons and lamps, and walls and domes painted with angels and saints, flickering the light of hundreds of candle and lamp-flames.
Rather, the Liturgies were celebrated in the plainness of a little Victorian Congregational Chapel and a Victorian parish church surrounded by horse-chestnuts and red-brick terraces. Yet, they began with the same priestly proclamation, as the sign of the Cross was made over the antimins with the Gospel: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…”
When we pray and worship together in peace and unity; when our spiritual gifts and capabilities are woven together in eucharistic offering; when we assemble as a community to offer not only the Holy Gifts, but our whole selves and lives to God; when we gather in love and fellowship to share the Lamb of God who is “broken but never divided, ever eaten but never consumed” – we reflect the life of the Triune-God as a community of love. We anticipate the mystery of the eternal Eighth Day and receiving a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven, towards which we journey in the pilgrimage of the Christian-life.
Independent of our environment and the lack of an ‘Orthodox setting’, in the otherness of the Liturgy – so different from the hours of work and labour, employment or unemployment, cooking, cleaning and family life – Christ calls us to put aside the cares of the world, “that we may receive the King of All, who comes invisibly upborne by the angelic hosts”.
Our weekly eucharistic journey into the Kingdom is reflected by Hisjourney into the borrowed buildings in which we are able to celebrate, and the little chapel in Prestbury and the Victorian interior of St John’s are transfigured and joined to Heaven.
They may be far from the ideals of the sanctuary in which we wish to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and worship as Orthodox Christians, yet we must be grateful for God’s mercy and grace, and mindful of the ongoing miracle of His revealed-love in these humble places.
Beneath their roofs, the Saviour is welcomed week by week, as we chant “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord”, and they become the sacred ground at the foot of the Heavenly Ladder on which the Lord descends, so that we may join the Patriarch Jacob and say,
“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Cheltenham:Saturday 13th November – Confessions 09:15, Hours and Divine Liturgy 10:00
Address: Prestbury United Reformed Church, 5 Deep St, Prestbury, Cheltenham GL52 3AW.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Our Gloucestershire community will celebrate the Divine Liturgy tomorrow, honouring the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves, Saints Spyridon and Nikodim the Prosphora Bakers, also remembering our departed Hierarch, Archbishop Nikodem of Richmond and Great Britain on his nameday.
We will chant the litia for the departed after our Liturgy, which will be celebrated just a few weeks after the 45th anniversary of his repose on 4th / 17th October 1976, at the age of 93. Eternal Memory!
We look forward to celebrating the Holy Mysteries together, and spending time socialising after the service, when there will be a bring-and-share lunch and confession time for Cardiff and Wiltshire visitors.
May God bless you. Venerable Fathers Spyridon and Nikodim, pray to God for us!
The coming weekend will see the resumption of normal parish life with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Cheltenham on Saturday, and Cardiff on Sunday.
Our Gloucestershire mission will meet for the Divine Liturgy in Prestbury United Reformed Church, with confessions from 09:15 and the Hours and Liturgy as close to 10:00 as possible, though the number of confessing communicants meant an unavoidably late start last month. There will be a bring-and-share lunch after Liturgy, and our Cardiff faithful who will be communing on Sunday are welcome to make their confessions before their homeward journeys.
Our ROCOR parish continues as the canonical Russian Orthodox presence in Cheltenham, and our parishioners remain committed to the diocese and the Russian Church Outside of Russia. We pray that God may sustain them and give them strength.
On our return to Cardiff, confessions will be heard at Deacon Mark’s office in Morganstown, and we will appreciate notification from those requiring confession as soon as possible. Confessions will also be heard in St John’s from around 10:15 on Sunday morning, and I again ask for an indication of those wishing to do so. Email: otetzmark@hotmail.com
Thank you, all who have already made arrangements.
I look forward to our celebration of the Hours and Liturgy, and remind you that we are very much seeking to re-establish our bring-and-share lunch, as it is so good to see parishioners catching up with one another after Liturgy. So, please think about bringing offerings for the table.
The variable parts of Sunday’s Liturgy may be found at ‘Orthodox Austin’ –
As Advent and December, and the end of my secular-employment approach, we look forward to increased parish prayer and services, formalised catechism, and pilgrimage. I hope that we may begin to discuss these important aspects of the development of parish-life on Sunday – especially the celebration of a weekly Advent Moleben around the parish.
Many thanks to all who continue to have been in touch over the last week and to those who have sent ‘care parcels’. The kindness, care and generosity of our parishioners is both exemplary and inspiring.
Grant me, O Lord, both in wakefulness to stand pure before Thee, my Redeemer, and in slumber to partake of sleep without sin.
If in wakefulness I commit transgressions, may I be cleansed by Thy grace, O Lord. And if I sin while asleep, may Thy loving-kindness be unto me purification.
With the cross of Thy humility, make my sleep untroubled, preserve me from the iniquitous dreams of sleep and from the impure conjurings of the imagination. Grant that I might spend the whole night in peaceful sleep and that evil and deleterious thoughts might not take possession of me.
With Thy life-creating Body, of which I have partaken, preserve me from impure lust, that I might lie down and fall asleep in peace. May Thy Blood protect me. And grant my soul, that is Thine image, the freedom that is proper to Thine image. And my Thy right arm shelter my body that was made by Thy hands.
Encircle me with the wall of Thy compassions like a defensive shield. And when my body rests and sleeps, may Thy goodness be my guard, that the Evil One might not approach my bed. By the protection of the Mother who bore Thee, by the sacrifice that Thou hast offered for all men, I beseech Thee: drive away Satan, that he might no trouble me.
In me, O Lord, fulfill Thy promise and preserve my life by Thy Cross. I shall praise Thee when I awake for showing me who am miserable Thy love. May both those who sleep, resting in peace, and those who abide in wakefulness, girded by Thine armor, give praise to Thee, O Preserver Who livest eternally and Who hast aroused me to sing Thy glory.
‘Psalm’ 82, from “A Spiritual Psalter, or Reflections on God”, excerpted by Bishop Theophan the Recluse from the works of our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian
Greetings to you, as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Great-Martyr, Demetrios, whose relics still stream myron in the city of Thessaloniki, and are visited and venerated by the faithful from all corners of the world.
St Demetrios is one of those saints who is loved and venerated not only by Orthodox Christians, but even by Muslim Turks. During the Ottoman centuries, the Muslims of Thessaloniki visited his church (turned into a mosque) to venerate his relics, knowing the generosity of the Great-Martyr in hearing the prayers of all who sought his intercession, and Muslims in Turkey still venerate him and visit his holy spring/ayazma in Istanbul.
Below his life, from the Orthodox Church of America, the akathist to the Great-Martyr is appended.
Happy Feast!
The Great Martyr Demetrios the Myrrh-gusher of Thessaloniki was the son of a Roman proconsul in Thessaloniki. Three centuries had elapsed and Roman paganism, spiritually shattered and defeated by the multitude of martyrs and confessors of the Savior, intensified its persecutions. The parents of Saint Demetrios were secret Christians, and he was baptized and raised in the Christian Faith in a secret church in his father’s home.
By the time Demetrios had reached maturity and his father had died, Emperor Galerius Maximian had ascended the throne (305). Maximian, confident in Demetrios’s education as well as his administrative and military abilities, appointed him to his father’s position as proconsul of the Thessaloniki district. The young commander’s principal duties were to defend the city from barbarians and to eradicate Christianity. The Emperor’s policy regarding Christians was expressed simply: “Put to death anyone who calls on the name of Christ.” The Emperor did not suspect that by appointing Demetrios he had provided him with the opportunity to bring many people to Christ.
Accepting the appointment, Demetrios returned to Thessaloniki and confessed and glorified our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of persecuting and executing Christians, he began to teach the Christian Faith openly to the inhabitants of the city and to overthrow pagan customs and the worship of idols. The compiler of his Life, Saint Simeon Metaphrastes (November 9), says that because of his teaching zeal he became “a second Apostle Paul” for Thessaloniki, particularly since “the Apostle to the Gentiles” founded the first community of believers in the city (1 Thess. and 2 Thess.).
The Lord also destined Saint Demetrios to follow Saint Paul on the path to martyrdom. When Maximian learned that the newly-appointed proconsul was a Christian, and that he had converted many Roman subjects to Christianity, the Emperor’s rage knew no bounds. Returning from a campaign in the area of the Black Sea, the Emperor decided to lead his army through Thessaloniki, determined to massacre the Christians.
Learning of this, Saint Demetrios ordered his faithful servant Lupus to give his wealth to the poor saying, “Distribute my earthly riches among them, for we shall seek heavenly riches for ourselves.” He began to pray and fast, preparing himself for martyrdom.
When the Emperor came into the city, he summoned Demetrios, who boldly confessed himself a Christian and denounced the falsehood and futility of Roman polytheism. Maximian ordered Demetrios to be thrown into prison. An Angel appeared to him, comforting and encouraging him.
Meanwhile the Emperor amused himself by staging games in the circus. His champion was a German by the name of Lyaeos. He challenged Christians to wrestle with him on a platform built over the upturned spears of the victorious soldiers. A brave Christian named Nestor went to the prison to Saint Demetrios, his instructor in the Faith, asking for his blessing to fight the barbarian. With the blessing and prayers of Saint Demetrios, Nestor defeated the fierce German and hurled him from the platform onto the spears of the soldiers, just as the murderous pagan would have done with the Christian. The enraged commander ordered the execution of the holy Martyr Nestor (October 27) and sent a guard to the prison to kill Saint Demetrios. At dawn on October 26, 306 soldiers appeared in the Saint’s underground prison and ran him through with lances. His faithful servant, Saint Lupus, gathered up the blood-soaked garment of Saint Demetrios he took the imperial ring from his finger, a symbol of his high status, and dipped it in the blood. With the ring and other holy things sanctified the blood of Saint Demetrios, Saint Lupus began to heal the infirm. The Emperor ordered his soldiers to arrest and kill him.
The body of the holy Great Martyr Demetrios was cast out for wild animals to devour, but the Christians took it and secretly buried it in the earth.
During the reign of Saint Constantine (306-337), a church was built over the grave of Saint Demetrios. A hundred years later, during the construction of a majestic new church on the old spot, the incorrupt relics of the holy martyr were uncovered. Since the seventh century a miraculous flow of fragrant myrrh has been found beneath the crypt of the Great Martyr Demetrios, so he is called “the Myrrh-gusher.”
Akathist to St. Demetrios the Great Martyr and Myrrh-streamer written by the former bishop of Thessaloniki, St. Athanasios Patelarios, of Crete
In the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Kontakion 1: O faithful, let us praise with hymns and divine praises the Myrrhstreamer, who deposed the cruelty of the tyrant, and conquered the audacity of Lyaios, and preached Christ as God clearly, and let us cry out to him: Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Ikos 1: Angels were astonished in heaven, beholding the godless rage of the tyrant (3), and as you were put to death by his decree, O Demetrios, we cry out to you thus:
Rejoice, the sacred pinnacle of martyrs, Rejoice, the joyous radiance of Saints. Rejoice, for you were placed in a pit as one condemned, Rejoice, for you ascended to Heaven as one without a body. Rejoice, dweller in the ranks of the Angels, Rejoice you who bore the tortures of the tyrant. Rejoice, for you despised the wiles of the enemies, Rejoice, for your soul now dwells in Heaven. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 2: The divine Nestor, beholding himself in manliness, approached the king with boldness: “Your exceeding danger appears as an abomination to my soul. For I will put to death the godless Lyaios, crying out: Alleluia.
Ikos 2: Having godly knowledge, O Demetrios the boast of martyrs, you said to the tyrant: “From soulless matter [i.e. idols], how is possible to give birth to God? Speak to me.” To [the Martyr], the faithful who honor God cry out with fear:
Rejoice, the most-radiant lamp of Thessaloniki, Rejoice, for you overcame Lyaios in victory. Rejoice, you who pours forth divine myrrh from your grave, Rejoice, you who bears divine zeal in your heart. Rejoice, for your blood was a purifying bath, Rejoice, for through you there is blotting out of sins. Rejoice, you who deposed the delusion of the idols, Rejoice, you who censured the mania of tyrants. Rejoice, for you healed the passion of hemorrhage, Rejoice, you who offered your soul from its depths. Rejoice, for you delivered Marinon from leprosy, Rejoice, for your beloved Istron you sent. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 3: Power from heaven then strengthened Nestor to fight, and he took up arms against the utterly strong Lyaios, and with swift hand, he struck him down as dead, and therefore cried out to the Savior, chanting: Alleluia.
Ikos 3: Having the divine desire to obtain the body of Demetrios, the pious Emperor [Justinian] went., but as [St. Demetrios] did not desire this, fire came forth from his grave threatening death. And he said to him such words in fear:
Rejoice, the unemptying river of wonders, Rejoice, the irrevocable icon of traumas. Rejoice, for you did not offer your Relic to him who sought it, Rejoice, for you grant sanctification to those who venerate you. Rejoice, for you summoned fire from your divine grave, Rejoice, for you censured the mania of the tyrant. Rejoice, for you deposed the worship of the idols, Rejoice, for your body was pierced with spears. Rejoice, for your blood was given as drink to the godless, Rejoice, for you sanctified the whole world with your body. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 4: Having godless confusion and evil thoughts, the senseless king was enraged, beholding the Martyr not preaching the delusion of the idols. We, beholding the unjust slaughter of the Saint at his hands, cry out: Alleluia.
Ikos 4: The ends of the world heard of the murder of Demetrios at the hands of the senseless tyrant, and beholding him dead, they hastened to him, seeing the sacred wonders that he pours forth throughout the whole world, as they honor him, saying:
Rejoice, he who traded the corruptible things for the heavenly, Rejoice he who deposed the counsels of the evil ones. Rejoice, you who joined chorus with the bodiless Angels, Rejoice, you who entered the land of the greatly-suffering Saints. Rejoice, you who serve together with the spotless Cherubim, Rejoice, you who walk together with the pure Seraphim. Rejoice, for you served the Lord of lords, Rejoice, for you bore within the seat of divine thrones. Rejoice, the most-fervent fellow servant with the Angels, Rejoice, the most-wise fellow counselor with the Archangels. Rejoice, the sacred adornment of the Venerable, Rejoice, the radiant rejoicing of the Martyrs. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 5: Perceiving Demetrios to be a God-bearer, the most fervent man hastened to be delivered through him from the terrible demon. And having touched his deliverance, he rejoiced in the Lord, crying out: Alleluia.
Ikos 5: Leontios, the son of the Orthodox, formerly saw the unspeakable might of the Martyr, and desiring to come to him, he sought for Istron to hasten to pass by him with his robe, and cried out to him:
Rejoice, he who through his robe worked awesome wonders, Rejoice, he who did not bear stains of offenses. Rejoice, for your streams have become our own. Rejoice, for you drove back the campaigns of barbarians, Rejoice, for you dwell in the thrones of the Martyrs. Rejoice, you who drove away the plague from Thessaloniki, Rejoice, our sun which shines upon the faithful. Rejoice, he who delivered from idol-mania, Rejoice, he who delivers all from the bonds of slavery. Rejoice, he who grants grace to all those who approach him, Rejoice for you ever dwell with those who praise you. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 6: The deluded became preachers of corruption of souls, as they hastened through Thessaloniki, performing idolatry and preaching atheism everywhere, as the Martyr left the tyrant like a mule, as he said: Alleluia.
Ikos 6: The divine Nestor, shining together with the sacred Demetrios, drove away the darkness of error, for they anathematized the idols steadfastly, and cast them down, while the faithful who were saved cries out to those strugglers:
Rejoice, O Demetrios, the firm support, Rejoice, O Nestor, the splendid pride. Rejoice, you who granted strength to Nestor, Rejoice, you who granted corruption to Lyaios. Rejoice, you who firstly censured the blind tyrant, Rejoice, you who secondly kept [St. Demetrios’] example. Rejoice, he who received death by spears, Rejoice, he who received incorruptible life through the sword. Rejoice, he who was murdered in prison like a convict, Rejoice, he who was preached throughout the world as one immortal. Rejoice, he who before death worked awesome deeds, Rejoice, he who after death works wonders. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 7: The holy dyad of Martyrs then passed on from this world, as the sacred Martyrs had greatly endured lawless murder. Therefore, those who behold this are astonished, and cry out to the Lord: Alleluia.
Ikos 7: A new song was found, as we bitterly sing the funeral hymn to Demetrios, for he was slaughtered by a godless tyrant, and did not sacrifice to the idols. We therefore hymn him and fervently cry out:
Rejoice, you who were placed dead in a grave, Rejoice, you who ride throughout the world as one alive. Rejoice, for your blood was shown to be a new cleansing bath, Rejoice, for your soul is mixing with the Angels. Rejoice, for you are hymned from the ends of the earth, Rejoice for they draw forth from your fragrant myrrh. Rejoice, lamp amidst the Martyrs, Rejoice, ray of godly graces. Rejoice, you who were dyed with your holy blood, Rejoice, you who were sanctified in your divine body. Rejoice, you who received diamond crowns, Rejoice, for you now dwell in the halls of the ever-memorable. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 8: Beholding a strange wonder, the idols were moved by the bravery of the martyrs. Therefore, he who now dwells on high gives bravery to those who dwell on the earth to take courage, and aim their arrows at the idols. To him we now cry out: Alleluia.
Ikos 8: Having his mind wholly on things above without departing from earth, was the most-pure Martyr, for he clearly conquered the delusion of the idols, and preached Christ with boldness, hearing thus:
Rejoice, for you were killed on behalf of Christ your God, Rejoice, for you desired the joyous things of Paradise. Rejoice, for you traveled the upper road to Heaven, Rejoice, for you inhabit the dwelling-places of the pure. Rejoice, for you now travel with the Angels, Rejoice, for you have come to dwell with the Saints. Rejoice, for you preached your Christ like a holy trumpet, Rejoice, for you dwell in the spotless mansions of Paradise. Rejoice, you who put forth myrrh from your godly body, Rejoice, you who scoffed and the rubbish of the godless, Rejoice, for you broke asunder the intrigues of rulers, Rejoice, for you trampled upon the delusion of the idols. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 9: You received every grace from heaven, O Martyr Demetrios, and preached paradoxically that the inaccessible God became man, being the Son of God. Therefore, to Him let us cry: Alleluia.
Ikos 9: O Martyr Demetrios, you showed the many words of the orators of the tyrants to be foolish, for they were astonished at how you strongly condemned the delusion of the idols. We, being astonished at this paradox, cry out to you:
Rejoice, the rose of virginity, Rejoice, the pinnacle of continence. Rejoice, you who lived purely before you were killed, Rejoice, you who after you were killed were led towards God. Rejoice, in whom the light of God was planted, Rejoice, in whom the grace of the Trinity made its dwelling. Rejoice, the length and breadth of the pious, Rejoice, the sharp sword against the faithless. Rejoice, you who shine with the rays of the sun, Rejoice, you who drive away the mania of the tyrant. Rejoice, tree bearing the fruits of many graces, Rejoice, for you bore the shoots of many victories. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 10: Saving the Orthodox from the delusion of the godless idols, you came straightaway, O Martyr, and you preached the Lord as perfect God to the deluded and idiotic tyrant, crying out to him: Alleluia.
Ikos 10: You are the shelter of the Martyrs, O Champion and Martyr, and all those who take refuge in you, for you revealed the Maker of heaven and earth to all, and deposed the tyrant and the idols. We therefore cry out to you:
Rejoice, the deliverance for those in sickness, Rejoice the savior of the continuously hemorrhaged. Rejoice, you who sow grace among all those who hymn you, Rejoice, for you are a pillar of graces. Rejoice, divine power, the casting-down of idols. Rejoice, pure dwelling-place of God, Rejoice, chaste type of Christ. Rejoice, for your blood became as a new baptism, Rejoice, for your body received death. Rejoice, bridge leaving those who die from earth to heaven, Rejoice, for you are a guide to the faithful. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 11: We your servants all offer funeral hymns at your grave, O Martyr, shedding tears and offering odes and psalms to you, for we are not at all worthy of what has been accomplished through, as befits your grave, but we cry out to the Savior: Alleluia.
Ikos 11: Your grave, O Martyr, has been shown to be light-bearing, shining forth with grace like light. For all those who approach are suddenly granted joy and health, while we who approach you cry out these:
Rejoice, you who preserved your Church unharmed, Rejoice, you who trampled upon the wiles of the evil one. Rejoice, for you drove back the nation of the Slavs, Rejoice, for you trampled upon the rule of the idols. Rejoice, you who uprooted the pride of the barbarians, Rejoice, you who cast out the conceit of the tyrants. Rejoice, you who preserved your city unharmed, Rejoice, you who shook up the delusion of the godless one. Rejoice, you who punished Onesiphoros for his theft, Rejoice you who uprooted the danger of the idols from the earth. Rejoice, the sure consolation of those who take refuge in you, Rejoice, the salvation of the souls of those who approach you. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 12: Bearing grace from above, O Demetrios, you drove out all the campaigns of the enemies. You preached Christ upon the heard as a steadfast hoplite of grace, and you cast down the idols, as you chant along with everyone: Alleluia.
Ikos 12: We hymn the wonder that you worked, O Martyr, as your city was preserved victorious, as you appeared as a god to the faithless, sending forth Angels speedily, saying: “Drive them far away from the city”, therefore we cry out:
Rejoice, for at your will your city was saved, Rejoice, for through your strength the enemy was cast down. Rejoice, you who met Achilleos in your flight, Rejoice, you who sent out Nestor with your strength. Rejoice, you who drown Lyaios in blood, Rejoice, you who raged against the faithless in spirit. Rejoice, you who strengthens your city through your presence, Rejoice, for if you left her, your city would be lost. Rejoice, you whose grave is beloved by hymnologists, Rejoice, you who put to death falsehood through your might. Rejoice, you who grants to us a sea of graces, Rejoice, you who sows the mercy of your myrrh within all. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 13: O pair of Martyrs, who preached Christ as the surpassing Word before all, (3) receive these funeral hymn and odes, and deliver us from every danger, and the coming trial through your prayers, those who cry out to the Lord: Alleluia.
Ikos 1: Angels were astonished in heaven, beholding the godless rage of the tyrant (3), and as you were put to death by his decree, O Demetrios, we cry out to you thus:
Rejoice, the sacred pinnacle of martyrs, Rejoice, the joyous radiance of Saints. Rejoice, for you were placed in a pit as one condemned, Rejoice, for you ascended to Heaven as one without a body. Rejoice, dweller in the ranks of the Angels, Rejoice you who bore the tortures of the tyrant. Rejoice, for you despised the wiles of the enemies, Rejoice, for your soul now dwells in Heaven. Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
Kontakion 1: O faithful, let us praise with hymns and divine praises the Myrrhstreamer, who deposed the cruelty of the tyrant, and conquered the audacity of Lyaios, and preached Christ as God clearly, and let us cry out to him: Rejoice, O Martyr Demetrios.
