On the Holy and Great Saturday, the Canon, sung in place of the Compline, for the Divine Burial of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and for the Lamentation of our most holy Lady Theotokos.
Ode 1, plagal of the 2nd tone: He Who in ancient times hid the pursuing tyrant beneath the waves of the sea, is hidden beneath the earth by the children of those whom once He saved. But let us, like the maidens, sing unto the Lord, for gloriously is He glorified.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Willing to give Thy life for Thy creation, O my Saviour, Thou wast suspended on the Cross and wounded by the spear, but Thy spotless Mother, standing before Thee, was deeply troubled, O Master, beholding the wellsprings of Thy blood.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Having inclined Thy divine neck, O my Saviour, Thou hast slept with a life-giving sleep upon the Tree, but all of creation is troubled and the heavenly ranks of Angels are shaken, seeing Thee suffering in the flesh.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Most swiftly and secretly did Thy Mother approach Joseph, Thy secret disciple, and lamenting mystically, she begged him to request Thy pure body from Pilate, the lawless judge.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
“Be gracious, O Joseph, to the Stranger who stands speechlessly before me and is pushed by the lawless ones, abandoned by friends and acquaintances, as I am lamenting together with only one disciple.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
“Come before Pilate – quickly, do not tarry! – and ask for the pure Body of Christ God and, taking it down from the Cross, hide it in thy tomb. The unmerciful ones shall no longer pierce His side!”
Ode 3: When the creation beheld Thee, Who hast hung the whole earth freely upon the waters, hanging on Golgotha, it was seized with horror and cried aloud: “There is none holy beside Thee, O Lord.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
No one dares to petition for the pure Body of the Teacher, dead and hung upon the Cross, naked, marked and covered with insults, unanointed, but rather deeply wounded in its side.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“First, Peter denied him, then all have abandoned the Teacher; feel sympathy, O noble man, and having petitioned, remove the Body of my Master and I alone will be weeping with longing as a Mother over her most beloved Child.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
O my Christ, as Joseph saw Thy Mother crying and heard her words, he felt the pain of sympathy and also raised the lament, and quickly rushed to ask for Thy pure Body.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
Giving assent to the pleading, Pilate grants Thy divine Body, and taking it from the Cross with Nicodemus, Joseph made it to recline in the grave, and the earth trembled and hastily gave back the dead out of the tombs.
Ode 4: Foreseeing Thy divine self-emptying upon the Cross, Habakkuk, amazed, cried out: “Thou hast cut asunder the strength of the mighty, O Good One, and preached to those in hades, as the Almighty One.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Embracing Thee, the blameless Mother kisses the wounds of Thy pure members, saying: “I will die with you, O Child, for I cannot bear the pouring of thine all-pure Blood!”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Embracing also Thy knees, the Birth-Giver placed her arms around them, lamenting – she kisses Thy hands and Thy side, which are still dripping with thy divine Blood, O Master.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
The Birth-Giver cried out, with her song of lamentation, “I embrace the voiceless mouth and the immovable lips of Him who by uttering a word placed a living man upon the earth.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
“The Persian kings, O Master, offered Thee gifts, venerating Thee as God, but now Nicodemus brings Thee burial unguents, O Child, as to a dead man. How shall I bury Thee, O God?”
Ode 5: Thy Theophany, O Christ, the Unwaning Light, that mercifully came to pass for us, Isaiah, keeping watch, beheld out of the night, and he cried aloud: “The dead shall arise, and those in the tombs shall be raised up, and all that are born of earth shall rejoice.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“I cannot bear to see Thee, deprived of breath, whom I suckled as a child when thou wast jumping in my arms. If Thou descendest into Hades to Adam, I shall descend as well, proclaiming Thy mystery to Eve!”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“Do not weep, O Mother,” Christ spoke in a divine manner to his Birth-Giver, “for thou shalt see me rising again, joyously uttering to thee ‘Rejoice!’, and raising Adam and Eve with Myself.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
“How do I endure, O Child, the pangs in my womb when I kiss Thine eyes, extinguished upon the Cross, which I saw before shining as fair in beauty, and giving sight to the blind with Thy divine assent.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
“I shall rather come with Thee, I shall see Thy glory in Hades, O my Son, and then I shall go up with Thee again, for I do not bear beholding Thy Body without breath or movement and kissing Thy wounded members.”
Ode 6: Caught but not held in the belly of the whale was Jonah; for, bearing the image of Thee, Who hast suffered and wast given to burial, he came forth from the monster as from a bridal chamber, and he called out to the watch: “O ye who keep guard falsely and in vain, ye have forsaken your own mercy.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“How didst thou, O Peter, deny the Saviour, whom thou didst confess to be Christ, the Son of the living God, and how didst thou abandon Him alone crucified on the Cross, having neither breath nor countenance, and didst not hasten swiftly to lower his Body into the tomb?” saith the Undefiled one in her motherly lamentation.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
O Word, the Pure and Undefiled [Lady] called together her friends, the myrrh-bearers, and stirred up the lament, crying: “Come, O friends, mourn the hard-toiling Body of the Teacher, come see the voiceless mouth, the lips that do not move, the eyes closed of Him in Whose hand is the breath of all the living beings.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
“Give me a word, do not remain silent, O Word,” cried the Pure and Undefiled One to Thee with weeping, “for I cannot endure to lay Thee breathless in the tomb, O my Son, who dost liberate the dead. O Master, behold Thy Mother who laments ceaselessly, for my heart was pierced with a flaming sword.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
“Come, all ye heavenly powers, see the Body of Christ abandoned by friends and acquaintances, even by the chosen disciples, and shudder in fear: alone I labour in lamenting my murdered Child with only one disciple, thy beloved Apostle.”
Ode 7: O ineffable wonder! He Who delivered the holy Children from the fiery furnace is laid a corpse without breath in the tomb, for the salvation of us who sing: “O God our Redeemer, blessed art Thou.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
The hosts of angels, gazing from the heavens, were in fear seeing as dead in his Mother’s lap the One before Whom they stand trembling and Whom they behold as being in the bosom of the Father and raising the dead from Hades.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
All the ranks of angels above and below hurried, shaking in agitation, to behold the Body of Christ breathless, lying in His Mother’s lap, and seized with amazement and astounded they turned back in fear.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
O Christ, who shall lament Thy striking, scourging, mocking, and spitting, Thy crucifixion, the crown of thorns, gall and vinegar, and the piercing of the side? How shall I lament thee, O Son, Who art dead in the tomb?
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
To the mystical herald of thy Nativity, O Master, the Virgin spoke weeping: “Woe to me, O Gabriel, where are the good tidings, where is my ‘Rejoice’, where are (thy words) ‘Blessed (art thou among women)’? The Light which came out of my womb has been extinguished upon the Cross!”
Ode 8: Be ye astonished and afraid, O heaven, and let the foundations of the earth be shaken; for lo, He Who dwelleth on high is numbered with the dead and lodgeth as a stranger in a narrow tomb. Him do ye children bless, ye priests praise, and ye people supremely exalt unto all ages.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“Seeing Thee naked, hanging on the Cross, O sweetest Child, how could the law-transgressing people have no compassion? But like savage beasts they pierced Thy divine side. How was the creation not destroyed in confusion? But it stood, being ever sustained by thy hand, O Word.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“Be astonished, O earth and heaven! O sun, extinguish the rays of your light! For behold, God the Word, Who established the light for thee and has shone out of my loins, has ascended upon the Cross, as He saw fit, willing to raise Adam. And holding Him breathless, I cannot bear the pains.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“O my Son and God, how shall I conceal in a dark grave Thine immaculate Body that emptied the tombs, and how shall I return empty-handed, not seeing thee, O Child? I cannot bear to depart from Thee, O my Son; I would rather die and descend into Hades!”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
“Hear, O earth and heaven, and incline your ear to my maternal laments! For behold, your Creator was buried by the lawless hands and is seen in the flesh without breath or countenance upon His Mother’s lap, the Fashioner slain for the sake of those who put him to death.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
The Pure One cried, “I wish I could still hear Thy sweetest voice, O Jesus, and that Thy comely lips might move, and thine eyes, fair in beauty, might shine with radiance. I wish I could see Thee rising again, O my Son, and be filled with joy instead of bitter tears!”
Ode 9: Weep not for Me, O Mother, beholding in the tomb the Son Whom thou hast conceived without seed in the womb; for I shall arise and shall be glorified, and as God I shall exalt with glory unceasing those that with faith and love magnify thee.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“Instead of swaddling bands, O my Son, I will wrap Thee in a burial shroud, instead of the manger, O my Light, I will lay Thee in a dark tomb; instead of milk, I will rain tears onto thine all-immaculate lips, and instead of hearing Thy living and beautiful words, I will converse with Thee as Thou layest dead.”
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
“Do not lament me as one dead in the tomb, O Mother, Whom thou didst behold reverently as God in swaddling bands, when the Persian magi worshipped Me and the angelic ranks hymned with fear. When I shall arise, thou wilt be the first to whom I shall appear.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
“Depart, O Child, into Hades, raising as God with Adam those who, being from Adam, fell into corruption! But I will shed for Thee maternal tears, sitting across the entrance to Thy tomb. I will lament until thou shalt rise again.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of age. Amen.
“O most blessed Mother, no longer weep and shed tears before the gates of the tomb: for I shall arise and be glorified, and, radiantly saying to thee, ‘Rejoice!’ I will send to thee ineffable joy when I shall ascend into the heavens.”