Category Archives: Saints

The Canon to St Michael, Metropolitan of Kiev

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The Canon to St Michael, First Metropolitan of Kiev, in Tone VI.


Ode I, Irmos: When Israel walked on foot in the sea as on dry land, * on seeing their pursuer Pharaoh drowned, * they cried: * Let us sing to God * a song of victory.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Standing with the choirs of the saints of heaven before the throne of the Most High, as a hierarch and servant of God, pray for us who serve with divinely inspired hymns, that we may stand with thee where the gladness of the righteous is.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

As one chosen by the Lord for the service of His glory in the work of the Gospel of Christ, O holy hierarch Michael, pray for us who have assembled for thy memorial, that we may labour in the commandments of the Gospel and may receive as our reward the gladness of the venerable.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Standing like a candle upon a candlestick, thou didst shine far and wide with the light of thy good works, O father, for by thine instruction the light of the vision of God illumined the unbelieving people, and the land enlightened by thee

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

In that thou art she who from thy womb hath revealed to the world the true Light, enlighten and direct upon the way us who walk in the darkness of the passions, O Mary Bride of God, who gavest birth to the Way for the human race.

Ode III, Irmos: There is none as holy as Thou, * O Lord my God, * who hast exalted the horn of the faithful O Good One, * and strengthened us upon the rock * of Thy confession.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

The Faith was not planted nor piety rooted in Rus, O holy hierarch Michael, until thou, as a most wise husbandman, didst plough up the barren ground of polytheism, deepening the steadfast confession of the knowledge of God.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Illumined by light from on high, the great Vladimir, receiving thee like a radiant beam, O hierarch of God, brought thee to the land of Rus, which was darkened by idolatry, that there the people might be enlightened by thy coming and be brought to knowledge by thy confession of the steadfast Faith.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Christ God, the Sun of righteousness, revealed thee, O Michael, to the land of Rus as a ray of splendour, and, illumining it with the regeneration of the font of baptism, thou didst bring to the Master a new people, restored through the confession of the good Faith.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Our true God, the Sun of righteousness, borrowing flesh from thee, O Virgin Mary, shone forth upon the world and utterly destroyed the darkness of polytheism. Illumine me with light, O Virgin Mary, who am darkened by despondency, and guide me to the path of goodly works.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional Hymn, in Tone VIII: With the axe of the teaching of the Gospel thou didst fell the graven idols, and overthrowing their temples thou didst plant piety. And the city of Kiev, adorned therewith, crieth out to thee with love: Rejoice, O Michael, first enthroned of the hierarchs of Rus!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Theotokion, in Tone VIII: O thou who hast delivered from barbaric slavery those who chant unto thee “Rejoice!”, rescue us from slavery to the alien, root out idolatrous passions from our thoughts, and plant therein the right-mindedness of the fear of God; for thou art the cause, beginning and fulfilment of all that is good.

Ode IV, Irmos: Christ is my power, * my God and my Lord, * the holy Church divinely singeth, * crying with a pure mind, * keeping festival in the Lord.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Sensing thee, the servant of Christ and steward of piety, O holy hierarch, the idols bitterly lamented their destruction; but the people, renewed through baptism, were filled with gladness, celebrating a splendid festival in the Lord.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

When thou, O father, didst arrive at the mountains of Kiev, Perun, the foremost idol, was cast down and dragged away by horses, and the rest of the graven images trembled with fear. But the people chanted, celebrating the day of their regeneration.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

People of every age and gender, who before were darkened, came to the River Dnieper for enlightenment, a countless multitude with thee at its head. And having administered to them the laver of regeneration, thou didst guide them to the knowledge of God, O Michael, holy hierarch of God.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

All generations call thee blessed O Mary our Queen, and we, blessing thee with hymns, bow down before thy countenance, depicted upon thine icon, and celebrate a splendid feast in memory of thy holy hierarch.

Ode V, Irmos: Illumine with Thy divine light, I pray, O Good One, * the souls of those who with love rise early to pray to Thee, * that they may know Thee, O Word of God, * as the true God, * Who recalleth us from the darkness of sin.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

The newly-baptized people, illumined by the light of God, cried out with thee, O Michael: O Christ God, grant that we may behold Thee alone, the Word of God, Who dost rescue us from the darkness of the madness of idolatry!

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

When Joshua son of Nun bore the ark around the walls of Jericho, they tumbled down; and when thou camest forth with the Cross, O holy hierarch, the idols likewise fell. And the people glorified Thee, the Word of God, O Christ, who dost rescue mankind from the darkness of unbelief.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Clothed by thee through the font of baptism, the city of Kiev is adorned even to this day, O holy hierarch; and it beareth upon its shoulders the precious Gospel of Christ, as it were coins of gold. And we, kissing it, glorify the Word of God Who hath rescued us from the darkness of sin.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

We are all adorned by thy beauty, O Mary Bride of God, for thou art truly beauteous. And desiring thy beauty, the Most High united Himself to thy flesh: God became a man, for thy sake deifying us who had fallen into corruption, O pure Virgin.

Ode VI, Irmos: Beholding the sea of life surging with the tempest of temptations, * I run to Thy calm haven, and cry to Thee: * Raise up my life from corruption, * O greatly Merciful One.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Like Moses thou didst cut through the fetid sea of the madness of idolatry with the staff of the Cross, O hierarch Michael; and cleansing the people with the water of the vision of God, thou hast led into harbour those who chant: Glory to Thee, O greatly merciful Christ!

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

The land of Rus, which of old had gone astray and was not established in the Faith, hath now come to the vision of God, guided by thee, O hierarch Michael; and having received the ring of adoption, it rejoiceth, crying aloud: Glory to Thee, O my greatly merciful Christ!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Having subdued in the land of Rus the people who raged in their unbelief and imposed upon them the yoke of obedience to the Church, O Michael, thou didst bring many labourers to the vineyard of the heavenly Master. Make us also wise husbandmen, O holy one, for we offer thee praise this day.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Tame thou the passions which rage within me, and impose upon me the yoke of humility, O Theotokos, that I may labour the rest of my days therein and find mercy on the day of judgment.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Kontakion, tone II: Thou wast shown to be a second Moses for Rus, O father, * bearing the noetic grapes from the Egypt of idolatry * to the land foreseen by prophecy, which said: * The Faith will be established in this land, * and on the peaks of the mountains of Kiev will the Fruit which nourisheth the whole world * be exalted higher than Lebanon! ** And tasting thereof, we bless thee, O Michael, thou hierarch of God.

Ikos: Having brought the scattered people together into one understanding of the vision of God, and washed away by baptism the old blindness of the land of Rus, thou didst illumine it by the Cross. And having taught it to glorify the most holy Trinity – the Father, the Son and the most Holy Spirit, thou didst make it a reason-endowed flock of Christ God, and standing with faith before Him to this day, it crieth out: Deliver from every evil circumstance the city and people who bless thee, O Michael, thou hierarch of God!

Ode VII, Irmos: An Angel made the furnace bedew the holy children. * But the command of God consumed the Chaldeans * and prevailed upon the tyrant to cry: * O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

By thee, O holy hierarch, was Rus washed with the dew-giving water of grace, and the scales fell away from its noetic eyes in the holy font. It recognised the one Creator, and crieth out with faith: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

When thou wast filled with gladness after baptism, O city of Kiev, the abominable idols lamented. And the idol Perun, which was the first of them to be dragged away, cried out bitterly. Wherefore, the people, acknowledging their former error, cried out with thee, O Michael: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Placing the golden ring of the new grace upon the hand of Rus, O hierarch Michael, thou didst betroth her, the Church of the nations, as a pure bride unto Christ. And spiritually rejoicing to this day, she crieth aloud: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O pure Virgin, we call thee the golden ring, adorned as with a precious diamond by Christ’s union with the flesh. Wherefore, we cry out with love: Blessed art thou alone, whose Son is the God of our fathers!

Ode VIII, Irmos: Thou didst make flame bedew the holy children, * and didst burn the sacrifice of a righteous man with water. * For Thou alone, O Christ, dost do all as Thou willest, * Thee do we supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Snatching the land of Rus land from the flame of the deception of idolatry, O most wise one, thou didst bedew it with the dew of baptism, and it no longer yearneth to return to its old ways, but supremely exalteth Christ and thee, its pastor, throughout the ages.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Disposing all things well for the newly-elect people, thou didst ordain pastors and teachers for the cities; and having thereby made provision for the newly-chosen flock, thou thyself didst depart unto Christ God, the Chief Shepherd, to reign with Him throughout the ages.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Much weeping and lamentation didst thou cause the city of Kiev by thy departure, O father; but the Jerusalem on high, taking thee to its bosom, rejoiced. And living there, forget not thy flock, but pray that it may dwell with thee throughout the ages.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Much gladness and joy do I cause the demons by my evil deeds, and thus much grief also to my guardian. O pure Mary, Mother of Christ God, guide me to repentance, that they may weep and mine angel may find joy, and me with him throughout the ages.

Ode IX, Irmos: It is impossible for mankind to see God * upon Whom the orders of Angels dare not gaze; * but through thee, O all-pure one, * did the Word Incarnate become a man * and with the Heavenly Hosts * Him we magnify and thee we call blessed.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Like a palm-tree didst thou flourish in the house of God, O father, and thou didst show forth the incorruption of thy relics like fruit unto all; wherefore, we the people, understanding from this that thou standest before Christ, magnify thee with hymns.

Holy Hierarch, Michael, pray to God for us.

Like a fragrant cedar dost thou spread thy perfume, O holy hierarch, and delightest those who bow down before thee. Fill us also with the sweet savour of thy prayers, for we magnify thy memory with hymns.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

We magnify the choir of the holy hierarchs of Rus and the council of those who love the feasts of the Church. Haste ye together to the holy cave, ye pastors of the Chief Shepherd! Ye people, with us honour your father with hymns! For today we magnify his memory.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

All creation hymneth thee, O Virgin, as her who passed through all the gates of heaven and standeth at the right hand of the fiery throne. Grant that we also may stand at the right hand of thy Son, for with hymns do we magnify thee and Him Who was born of thee.

Troparion, in Tone IV: Today hath the prophecy of the first-called apostle been fulfilled, * for, lo! on these mountains grace hath shone forth and the faith hath increased. * And those who had grown old through unbelief have found rebirth * through the divine font and became a renewed people, * a holy priesthood, a hallowed nation, the flock of Christ. * And thou wast shown to be His first pastor, * in that thou didst first serve Him by baptism. * Standing now before Christ God the Master, * pray thou that all the children of Rus may be saved; * for thou art possessed of boldness, ** as a hierarch and sacred minister of God.

The Canon to the Holy, Right-Believing Prince Wenceslaus

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Ode I, Irmos: When Israel walked on foot in the sea as on dry land, * on seeing their pursuer Pharaoh drowned, * they cried: * Let us sing to God * a song of victory.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

O ye faithful, with joy let us join chorus, hymning the Savior with radiant souls, on the most wondrous memorial of Wenceslaus, the servant of Christ!

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Slain unjustly like an innocent lamb, thou didst emulate the sufferings of the Master, O glorious one; wherefore, thou dost now rejoice with the choirs of the martyrs, O thou who art blessed of God.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Receiving a death which won thee life, thou standest now in glory before the Master of all. Pray thou that we who keep thy most wondrous memory may also obtain it, O holy one.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Who can tell of the countless wonders which thou workest in the world, O glorious one? For thou dost continually grant healing in abundance unto all the faithful.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O Sovereign Lady, raise me up who have fallen among thieves through my soul-destroying deeds and am drowning in death. I pray thee: Entreat thy Son and God for me.

Ode III, Irmos: There is none as holy as Thou, * O Lord my God, * who hast exalted the horn of The faithful O good One, * and strengthened us upon the rock * of Thy confession.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Thou didst ever burn with Christian love for the Holy Church, O most blessed one, where, like an innocent lamb, thou didst look forward to thine unjust slaughter.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Adorned with thy most splendid blood, thy Church emitteth the radiant beams of miracles, hymning thy memory, O right glorious one.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Enlightened from childhood by the rays of the Trinity, O venerable one, thou didst become an heir of Christ. Him do thou entreat, that He send peace unto our souls.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Thy divine birthgiving doth transcend every other miracle, O pure one; for, having conceived in thy womb and given birth unto the transcendent God, thou didst remain Ever-virgin.

Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)

Sessional Hymn, Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “Of the Wisdom …”: Seeking to prevent thee from ascending thy throne, the enemies of the Orthodox Faith murdered thy pious grandmother, the saintly Lyudmila, that she might no longer guide thee with Christian counsel; yet so well grounded wast thou by her in reverence for things divine and in love for Christ, that her martyrdom in nowise moved thee from thy sacred purpose, and the wiles of thine enemies served only to strengthen thee in thy resolve, and to gain for the Holy Church another martyr in heaven.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Theotokion, Tone VIII: All we, the generations of mankind, * call thee blessed, * in that thou art the Virgin who alone among women * hast given birth without seed unto God in the flesh; * for the fire of the Godhead made its abode within thee, * and thou didst feed the Creator and Lord * with milk as an infant. * Wherefore, we, the race of mankind and of angels, * glorify thy birthgiving, * and together we cry out to thee: * Entreat Christ God to grant forgiveness of sins ** unto those who with faith worship thy most holy Offspring.

Ode IV, Irmos: Christ is my power, * my God and my Lord, * the holy Church divinely singeth, * crying with a pure mind, * keeping festival in the Lord.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Lovingly raised in the pure Faith from childhood, by thy pure works thou didst lovingly follow the Master and put His false enemy to shame by thy hope.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Shining with radiance, O holy Wenceslaus, by thy supplications enlighten those who are darkened by sins, for with the choirs of the martyrs thou hast boldness to pray for us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Cut down by the sword, O invincible saint, thou didst cut down the wicked foe with the sword of patience; wherefore, thou hast received a crown from the hand of the Almighty.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Truly the mysteries of thy divine birthgiving are ineffable and unattainable for those on earth and those in heaven, O Ever-virgin Theotokos.

Ode V, Irmos: Illumine with Thy divine light, I pray, O Good One, * the souls of those who with love rise early to pray to Thee, * that they may know Thee, O Word of God, * as the true God, * Who recalleth us from the darkness of sin.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Having received through thy sufferings the life which is devoid of pain, O all- praised and holy Wenceslaus, thou hast been shown to be a help for all who suffer and with faith call upon thee for aid.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

With the most radiant beams of thy miracles thou hast enlightened the north, the south and the west more than the sun, O blessed one; wherefore, illumine us who celebrate thy memory, O saint.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thou wast a helper of those amid misfortunes, the sustainer of the poor, and the comfort of the grieving; wherefore, even after thy death, O holy one, thou dost deliver all who with faith call upon thee for help.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O good Sovereign Lady of the world, save those who with all their soul confess thee to be the Theotokos; for we have thee, who art truly the Theotokos, as our help, O immaculate one.

Ode VI, Irmos: Beholding the sea of life surging with the tempest of temptations, * I run to Thy calm haven, and cry to Thee: * Raise up my life from corruption, * O greatly Merciful One.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Having acquired a pure life through fasting, O most wondrous Wenceslaus, thou hast been revealed to be a fellow citizen with the angels. With them pray thou for the salvation of our souls.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Forsaking a transitory earthly princedom, and receiving a royal adornment from the right hand of the Master, thou didst acquire through corruptible things that which is eternal, in that thou art wise.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O holy one, accept praise from the accursed lips of one who is unable to fashion worthy praises for thee, and entreat the merciful God, that He grant us great mercy.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O most pure Lady who for mortals gave birth to the Helmsman and Lord, confound my wicked lusts, and grant serenity unto my heart.

Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Kontakion, Tone I, Spec. Mel.“The choir of the angels …”: Standing with the choirs of the angels, * O blessed Prince Wenceslaus, * thou delightest in divine and ineffable goodness; * and drawing thence the goodly gifts of miracles, * thou pourest forth abundant cures upon all ** who with faith flee to thy holiness.

Ikos: Great is the consternation of the enemy of our salvation! For, seeking to destroy the Christian Faith which was planted in Bohemia by the pious Borivoy and the holy Lyudmila, he instilled within the accursed Prince Boleslaus the treacherous intention to murder his godly brother, the holy Prince Wenceslaus, and thus unjustly to seize his throne. Yet the Savior bestowed upon His martyr so great an abundance of the grace of miracles that the people of Bohemia were amazed and hastened to be enlightened. Thus the machinations of the devil were utterly foiled, and the Holy Orthodox Church grew and thrived. And even to this day the precious relics of the martyr pour forth an abundance of cures upon all who with faith flee to his holiness.

Ode VII, Irmos: An Angel made the furnace bedew the holy Children. * But the command of God consumed the Chaldeans * and prevailed upon the tyrant to cry: * O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

The ancient malefactor envied thy sacred life and incited the mindless brigand to slay thee; but with a pure conscience thou didst unceasingly cry out to thy Creator: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Prague, thy most glorious city, danceth with gladness today, honoring thy memory, and, radiantly emitting thy miracles, it calleth the whole land to cry aloud: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Through the deception of the wicked one, of old the ground was stained by the hand of Cain, who slew his own brother; but sprinkled now with blood, it offereth sacrifices of sweet savor unto Christ, crying: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Through thee, O Virgin, Light hath shone forth upon those in darkness, for thou hast given birth to the Creator and God of all. Him do thou beseech, O most pure one, that He ever send down great mercy upon us, the faithful.

Ode VIII, Irmos: Thou didst make flame bedew the holy children, * and didst burn the sacrifice of a righteous man with water. * For Thou alone, O Christ, dost do all as Thou willest, * Thee do we supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Sanctified from on high by rays of grace, O most glorious one, thou didst shine forth more brightly than the sun in the land of Bohemia with the beauties of gladness, supremely exalting Christ throughout the ages.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Receiving thy holy body today, O blessed one, Prague, thine all-praised city, proclaimeth thy most wondrous miracles unto all the world, supremely exalting Christ throughout the ages.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Adorned with meekness and illumined with a proper understanding of Orthodoxy, O most wondrous one, thou wast truly shown to be a herald of the most holy Trinity, supremely exalting Christ throughout the ages.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Thou didst ineffably conceive and give birth unto the Transcendent One, the Word, the Bestower of light, Who is begotten of Light, O Virgin, for the Spirit of God made His abode within thee. Wherefore, we hymn thee, O pure one, throughout all ages.

Ode IX, Irmos: It is impossible for mankind to see God * upon Whom the orders of Angels dare not gaze; * but through thee, O all-pure one, * did the Word Incarnate become a man * and with the Heavenly Hosts * Him we magnify and thee we call blessed.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Thou wast deemed worthy of great grace, O glorious one, and hast illumined the whole world, granting healings in abundance unto all.

Holy, right-believing prince,Wenceslaus, pray to God for us.

Accept the joy of the angels, O holy one, and, standing before thy Creator, pray for us who magnify thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thou hast now received blessed repose, O most glorious one. Cease thou never to pray that those who magnify thee may continually share in holy blessedness.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O Virgin Theotokos, who after the word of the archangel hast given birth to thy Creator in a manner beyond all telling, entreat Him, that our souls be saved.

Troparion, in Tone IV: Today angels and men share a common joy. * Heaven and earth join together in splendid chorus for thy memorial, O holy one. * And we sinners earnestly cry aloud unto thee: * Pray thou to the Master on our behalf, * that from dangers and from visible and invisible foes, * He may deliver us ** who honor thine all-honored memory.

St Nikander of Pskov

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Saint Nίkander of Pskov was born on July 24, 1507 into a peasant family in the village of Videlebo in the land of Pskov. His parents were called Philip and Anastasia, and in Holy Baptism, he was named Nikon.

From childhood he dreamed of continuing the ascetical contests of his fellow villager, Saint Euphrósynos of the Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (May 15), who lived in the Pskov wilderness. The first of Nikon’s family to enter the Monastery was his older brother Arsenios. After the death of his father, the seventeen-year-old Nikon was able to convince his mother to dispose of her property and enter a convent, where she lived until her repose.

After visiting Pskov’s monasteries and venerating the relics of Saint Euphrósynos and his disciple Saint Savva of Krypetsk (August 28), Nikon was firmly convinced of his calling to the monastic life.

In order to be able to read the Word of God, Nikon went to work for a resident of Pskov, whose name was Philip. He rewarded Nikon’s diligence by sending him to study with an experienced teacher. Seeing the young man’s zeal, the Lord Himself guided him to the place of his podvig.1 While praying in one of the Pskov churches, he heard a voice from the altar commanding him to go to a place in the wilderness, which the Lord would show him through His servant Theodore. The peasant Theodore led him off to the Demyanka River, between Pskov and Porkhov. Afterward, both Philip and Theodore, who helped him attain his goal, would become monks as well. They were tonsured at Krypetsk Monastery with the names Philaret and Theodosios.

After several years of silence and strict asceticism, emaciating his flesh, Nikon went to the Monastery founded by Saint Savva of Krypetsk. The Igoumen, seeing his weakened body, would not agree to accept him right away, fearing that the difficulties of monastic life would be too much for him. Nikon bowed down before the tomb of Saint Savva, and spoke to him as if he were alive, entreating him to accept him into his Monastery. The Igoumen relented and tonsured Nikon with the name Nίkander.

Saint Nίkander endured many temptations and sorrows on his path of asceticism. Blessed Nicholas (February 28) while still at Pskov predicted Father Nίkander’s trials in the wilderness. Through the prayers of all the Pskov Saints, as well as those of Saint Alexander of Svir (August 30 and April 17), who appeared to him twice, guiding and strengthening him, Father Nίkander was able to avoid all the manifold snares of the Evil One, by the grace of God.

He overcame the weakness of his flesh, as well as human failings, and diabolical apparitions by the power of prayer. On one occasion he was almost killed by robbers, who stole the only and most precious property for an anchorite – books and icons. By the Saint’s prayers, two of them, frightened by the sudden death of their comrade, repented of their wicked deeds and the Elder forgave them.

Saint Nίkander did not remain very long at Krypetsk Monastery, and obtained a blessing to return to his own wilderness. Later, he came to live at Krypetsk Monastery again, where he fulfilled the obediences of ecclesiarch and cellarer. Then he went into the wilderness once more and lived there in fasting and prayer, meditating on the Word of God.

Once a year, during Great Lent, Saint Nίkander visited the Damianov Monastery, where he made his confession and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Eight years before his death, he was tonsured into the Great Schema. Many people began coming to him in order to benefit from his counsels, because according to Saint John of the Ladder: “Angels are a light for monks, and the monastic life is a light for all mankind” (Step 26:31). Thus, the faithful turned to Saint Nikander for help, for the Lord had bestowed many gifts of grace upon him.

This dweller in the wilderness took care of all the needs of the visitors and even built a guest house for them, for which he provided heat. The Saint did not permit himself to reveal his spiritual gifts. People sometimes heard him praying in his cell with bitter tears. When he was aware of people nearby, he prayed silently, concealing from them the gift of tears which he had received.

Until the end of his life, Saint Nίkander remained an anchorite in the wilderness, but he left instructions that after his repose, the place of his podvig would not be forsaken, promising his protection to those who would live in a future monastery. The Saint gave his final instructions to Deacon Peter of the Porkhov convent, charging him to build a church at his grave, and to transfer the icon of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos there from the Tishanka church cemetery.

He knew the day of his own death, predicting that he would die when enemies invaded the land, and he foretold this imminent assault. On September 24, 1581, during an invasion by the army of the Polish king Stephen Bathory, a certain peasant found Saint Nίkander dead. He lay on his bed with his hands crossed on his chest. The clergy and those who revered him came from Pskov, among whom was Deacon Peter, and they performed the service of Christian burial.

In 1584, at the place which Saint Nίkander sanctified by almost half a century of prayer, a monastery was established by a monk named Isaiah, and was known as the Annunciation – Nikandrov Hermitage. Father Isaiah had been healed of a foot ailment after praying to the Saint.

The glorification of Saint Nίkander Nikander took place under Patriarch Joachim in 1696, and festal celebrations were appointed for September 24, the day of his repose; on June 29, the uncovering of his holy relics during the reconstruction of the Monastery’s cathedral church; and on the Monastery’s temple Feast (the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos). Saint Nίkander is also commemorated on the third Sunday after Pentecost, the Synaxis of the Saints of Novgorod and Pskov (movable Feast).

Troparion, Tone 6: Thou hast become a luminary of unwaning light for our land, blessed by God, / and didst valiantly endure tribulations from the Enemy. / Thy beatings and wounds became for thee a garment of incorruption, / for thou didst fight the beasts, and wast wounded by robbers. / Thou didst pray for them, saying, / “Impute not this sin to them,” / thereby becoming like the Master, Christ. / O Father Nίkander, worthy of glory, pray for our souls.

Kontakion, Tone 1: Christ hath shown thee as the dawning of the sun, O venerable one, / for thou shinest in the Russian land with the grace of miracles, / dispersing the darkness of suffering and sorrow for those who come to thee in faith. / Therefore, we honor thy memory, O Father Nίkander, and we cry out to thee: / “Rejoice, adornment of ascetics, the glory and strength of our land.”

The Holy Wonderworkers Peter and Febronia of Murom

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Dear brothers and sisters,

Tomorrow, we will celebrate the feast of the Holy Wonderworkers, Peter and Febronia of Murom, cherished as exemplars and saintly-guardians of Christian marriage.

Their united lives of devotion and their example of righteousness and holiness impressed themselves upon the faithful, who recognised qualities to be emulated in Holy Matrimony, reminding us that the first duty of each Orthodox husband and wife is to nurture one another in Faith and to lead one another into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Though they completed their lives in monasticism, the miraculous movement of their relics to lie beside one another in their tombs remindsus of the equality of marriage with the angelic-life as a way of Christian-living and a path to holiness and salvation.

On the feast, we will pray for the faithful united in holy matrimony, with additional petitions in the Liturgy of Fervent Supplication and a prayer at the end of Liturgy. 

The Canon to the Holy Wonderworkers, Prince Peter and Princess Febronia of Murom

Ode 1, Irmos: Having passed through the water as upon dry land, * and having escaped the malice of the Egyptians, * the Israelites cried aloud: * Unto our God and Redeemer let us sing.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

O God, grant that I may offer hymnody unto Peter, Who was pleasing unto Thee and glorified Thee on earth, that I may magnify Thee, the Giver of understanding, with hymns.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

To your homeland hath Christ shown you to be like an all-radiant sun, illumining with miracles all who have recourse to you with faith.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Having given no mind to the things of the body, hated earthly things as corruptible and renounced the world, ye have been vouchsafed the honour of the venerable. With them pray ye for the world.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O all-pure Ever-virgin Theotokos, who gavest birth in the body to the eternal Word of the unoriginate Father, unto Him do we now cry aloud: Let us chant unto our Deliverer and God!

Ode 3, Irmos: As we who are wise in God celebrate this divine and solemn feast of the Mother of God, come, let us clap our hands, with faith, glorifying Him Who was born from of her.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Be thou a helper for the helpless and merciful consolation for the grieving, O blessed Peter, that, delivered by your supplications, we may honour thee.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

As thou didst once commit the serpent to utter destruction, slaying him, O thrice blessed one, so now vanquish those who make war upon thy homeland, that we may glorify thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Behold our despondency; behold our grief; behold the misfortune that the enemy bringeth upon us! Wherefore, change it by your prayer unto the Lord, O Peter, that we may piously honour thee.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thee have all of us Christians acquired as a refuge and bulwark, and thee do we unceasingly glorify, O thou who knewest not wedlock.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional hymn of the Saints: Tone 4: O ye faithful, let us hasten to the blessed and splendid solemnity /of Peter and Febronia as to the shining sun, /and let us unceasingly cry out: /Even though ye have passed from this earth, O all-glorious ones, /ye have not parted from us, /but stand with the angels before the Trinity, Whom do ye entreat, //that our souls be saved.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

We know the Word of the Father, Christ our God, wast incarnate of thee, O Virgin Mother of God, O only Pure and only blessed one. Wherefore, we unceasingly glorify thee.

Ode 4, Irmos: O Lord, I have heard the mystery of Thy dispensation; * I have considered Thy works, * and I have glorified Thy Divinity.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

As a mediator and helper of thy homeland, be thou as one who scattereth the adversary, as an ally of thy people, who glorify thee, O Peter.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

As ye dwell in the mansions of heaven with the venerable and the righteous, O all-blessed Peter and Febronia, never cease to pray for thy people.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thee do we beseech, O all-blessed one: quell the uprisings of adversaries and ease the infirmities of men, that we may magnify thee with voices of praise.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Grant us cleansing from our transgressions, in that Thou art all-good, and bring peace to Thy world, O God, through the supplications of her who gave Thee birth.

Ode 5, Irmos: Illumine us O Lord with Thy commandments, * and with Thine arm raised on high * grant us Thy peace, * O Lover of mankind!

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

The ground that received your precious bodies hath been sanctified, O divinely blessed Peter and Febronia; and receiving healing through you, men glorify Christ Who hath glorified you with might.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Even though ye have passed from this earth, yet have ye attained unto the abodes of heaven, where ye stand with the angels before the Trinity, Whom do ye entreat, that those who honour you with love may be saved, O blessed ones.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Having acquired you as all-radiant stars and a never-setting sun, your homeland boasteth, cherishing your all-honoured memory, O Peter and Febronia.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

We hymn thee, who art virgin even after giving birth, O Theotokos; for,  for us thou gavest birth in the flesh to God the Word, to Whom we all cry out thus: Make straight our paths, we pray Thee!

Ode 6, Irmos: I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, * and to Him will I proclaim my grief; * for my soul is filled with evils, * and my life unto Hades hath drawn nigh, * and like Jonah I pray unto Thee: * Raise me up from corruption, O God.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

O all-honoured couple! O great luminaries! Sanctify and glorify those who with love glorify you in hymns, O wonderworkers.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

As an all-radiant twain and an all-honoured summit and couple, who took up the yoke of the Lord, ye served Him with all your soul.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As good counsellors for your own way of life, possessing a single mind in two bodies, ye illumine the world with miracles; wherefore, illumine us also by your supplications.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The voices of the prophets make clear that thou art the Mother of God, O Virgin; and beholding the fulfilment of their honoured prophecies, we also hymn thee, who art truly the abode of virginity and purity.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Kontakion of the Saints, Tone 8: Pondering the transitory glory and governance of this world, /for this thou didst live piously in peace with the all-wise Febronia thy spouse, /O Peter, pleasing God with almsgiving and prayers. /Wherefore, lying inseparably in the tomb even after death, ye invisibly impart healing. //Pray ye now unto Christ, that He preserve your city and the people who glorify you.

Ikos: Make clear my tongue and pacify my heart; enlarge my mouth and fill it with the Spirit and wisdom, that therewith I may give utterance and chant thus to Thy wonderworkers: Rejoice with the all-praised Febronia, O blessed Peter! Rejoice, allies of the land of Russia and helpers of Orthodox princes! Rejoice, preservers of our homeland and confirmation of our city! O all-honoured twain and goodly couple, pray ye to Christ, that He preserve the city and people who glorify you!

Ode 7, Irmos: The Children of Judaea, * who of old came to dwell in Babylon, * trampled underfoot the flame of the furnace * through their faith in the Trinity, * as they sang: ‘O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.’

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

O all-blessed Peter and all-praised Febronia, deliver those who flee unto you amid sickness and who cry out unto Christ: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Be ye a refuge for all and tranquility untouched by storms for those amid sins, that with you we also may cry out to Christ: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Be ye a refuge for me on the day of wrath, O divinely blessed ones, for I walk among many snares; wherefore, deliver me from them, that I may hymn you.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Drop, divinely flowing, that was born of thee, O Virgin Theotokos, hath sanctified the world. Pour forth upon me the drops of mercy that sanctify the souls and minds of those on earth.

Ode 8, Irmos: The King of heaven, * Who is glorified by the hosts of angels, * let us praise and supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Wash away and forgive our offenses, O Sinless One, through the supplications of Peter and Febronia who pleased Thee, that we may hymn Thee, O Christ, forever.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Accept the praise offered thee offered thee with an unworthy hand from the depths of my heart, O blessed ones, and make entreaty in our behalf unto Christ God.

O Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory be to Thee.

Remit the offenses of the singers who hymn Thee, O all-holy Trinity, in that Thou art all good, through the supplications of Peter and Febronia, that we may hymn Thee forever.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

As thou art the vessel of divinity, O pure one, enlighten me, that I may walk in the commandments of the Light Who shone forth from thy womb and hath illumined the hearts of the faithful, O all-pure one.

Ode 9, Irmos: Saved by thee, O pure Virgin, * we confess thee to be truly the Theotokos, * and together with the choirs of the bodiless hosts * thee do we magnify.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

Possessed of a conscience pure before God from your youth, ye therefore lived in piety and have passed over to the Most High. Entreat Christ God in our behalf, that we may honour you with love.

Holy, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, pray to God for us.

As ye stand before the Holy Trinity with the venerable and the righteous, O blessed ones, pray ye that He deliver us from wrath and every threat, that we may unceasingly magnify you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thy people beseech thee, O Peter blessed of God: with the all-wise Febronia, with whom ye lived a God-pleasing life in the world, entreat Christ to deliver us from all evils.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O great wonder! How did Christ God, Whom naught can contain, make His abode in thy womb? Beseech Him on behalf of those who praise thee, O Virgin, that He ever deliver us from misfortunes and from iniquitous men.

Prayer to the Holy & Right-believing Prince Peter & Princess Fevronia
O great favourites of God and all-wondrous wonderworkers, right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia, intercessors for the city of Murom, preservers of honourable marriage and diligent advocates for all of us before the Lord! In the days of your earthly life ye showed forth a model of piety, Christian love and fidelity one to another, and thereby glorified lawful and blessed marriage. Wherefore, we have recourse unto you and pray with mighty zeal: Offer your holy supplications unto the Lord God for us sinners, and ask for us all things of goodly benefit to our souls and bodies: right faith, good hope, unfeigned love, unshakable piety, success in good works; and by your supplications grant even more unto those united by the bond of matrimony chastity, love for one another in the bond of peace, oneness of mind of souls and bodies, an unsullied marriage bed, an undisgraced sojourn, long-lived progeny, the favour of children, homes full of goodness, and the imperishable crown of everlasting glory in eternal life. Yea, O holy wonderworkers, disdain not our prayer which are offered unto you with compunction, but be ye our faithful helpers before the Lord, and vouchsafe that through your intercession we may receive eternal salvation and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, that we may glorify the ineffable love for mankind of God Who is worshiped in Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Christian Sacrifice in Solovki: Baroness Natalia von Fredericks

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Sacrificial living and dying: Baroness Natalia Modestovna von Fredericks (†1926), from Chapter 24 of ‘The Inextinguishable Lamp’, by Boris Shiryayev, New York 1954.

According to the strict rule of the Solovetsk Monastery, women were not allowed on the island. They could venerate the holy objects only from afar, from the tiny “Hare’s Island.” From the wharf it was only a little more than a verst, and its entire kremlin with its soaring cupolas could be seen as if on the palm of a hand.

The tradition was preserved. The island’s new master set Hare’s Island apart as a women’s “special” zone. Its denizens were primarily those who had sinned against the seventh commandment. The only man allowed, who was there in the capacity of a representative of the regime, was a seventy-year-old Jew. God knows how he came to occupy a managerial position in the Cheka. His transgressions, however, eventually exceeded the limit, and he had the good fortune to be exiled. His age and decrepitude placed him, like Caesar’s wife, above suspicion.

Women prisoners who were not guilty of any infractions there on Solovki, lived on the main island, but outside the kremlin, in a compound encompassed by three rows of barbed wire. From there they were taken to work under heavily armed escort to the laundry, the rope-making shop, the peat extraction works, or the brick factory. The laundry and rope-making were considered light work, but the brick factory – the molding and transporting of the raw clay – struck fear. The women stopped at nothing in order to avoid being assigned to the “bricks.” Few lasted more than two or three months at this arduous labor, which was beyond a woman’s physical capacity.

Life in the women’s barracks was more difficult than in the kremlin. Its residents, who were profoundly dissimilar in respect of spiritual make-up, cultural level, habits, and needs, were all mixed and pounded into one mass, without any possibility of separating into individual, homogeneous groups, as happened in the kremlin. The number of criminals far exceeded the number of political prisoners, and the former were united in lording it over the latter. Prostitutes, drug dealers, contrabandists. . ., and among them-aristocrats, officers’ wives, ladies-in-waiting.

Departure from the barracks was strictly controlled. Even to the theater, the women went under escort and sat there in a bloc, also under surveillance.

Women are considerably less adaptable than men to communal life, even under normal circumstances. Life in the women’s barracks was a hell, and thrown into this hell was a woman who had been a lady in waiting for three empresses. She was a sixty-five-year-old baroness whose family name was well known throughout all of Russia.

Dostoevsky spoke a great truth when he said, “Simple people who are sent to hard labor come into their own milieu, a milieu that is perhaps even more developed than their own. An educated person, who is subject to the same punishment, often loses incomparably more than the simple man. He must crush within himself all his needs, all his habits; he must enter a milieu that is for him inadequate; he must learn to breathe another kind of air… And often it happens that the same punishment that is meted out to everyone else is for him ten times more torturous. This is the truth…” (House of the Dead, p 68.)

It was precisely this greatly intensified punishment that this old lady bore, a lady whose only fault lay in being born into an aristocratic rather than a proletarian family.

If for Korablikha, the mistress of a criminals’ haunt in the port city of Kronstadt, the life of the women’s barracks and its atmosphere were the “usual,” what were they for a graduate of the Smolniy Institute, who belonged to the closest circles around the throne? How much harder for her was each year, each day, each hour of captivity?

It was a constant trial that never let up, neither day nor night. The GPU knew this, and sadistically separated the political prisoners among the various cells, so that no two of them were together. They could not do this with the men in the kremlin, but it was possible in the women’s zone. The baroness’s life in Saint Petersburg cultivated very few qualities that could mitigate her lot on Solovki. So it appeared. But it only appeared that way. In fact, the baroness lady-in-waiting carried away from it a genuine feeling for the human dignity and, inextricably bound to this, respect for the individual person; maximum, at times incredible, self-control; and a profound consciousness of personal duty.

When she turned up in the barracks, the baroness was given a worse than hostile reception. It was evoked by envy for her past. Women are unable to suppress this feeling, to curb it, and they give in to it completely. The weak, frail old lady was despised not for herself, for who she really was, but as a bearer of that illusion that fascinated and attracted to itself the dreams and fancies of her haters. Every movement of the elderly lady-in-waiting, every sound of her voice, reflected the past, its elegance, its refinement, its brightness. She could not conceal it, even had she so desired, but she did not desire to do so. She remained an aristocrat in the best and true meaning of the word. In the women’s barracks on Solovki, amid the stench of cursing and foul language, in the chaos of brawls, she was the same as she was observed to be in court. She did not remain aloof, she did not wall herself off from those around her; there was about her not a shadow of that haughtiness that is an invariable mark of false aristocrats. In becoming a prisoner, she acknowledged herself as being such, and accepted her lot as unavoidable, as a cross that she must bear without murmuring, without complaining, without pitying herself, without tears, without looking back.

As soon as she arrived, the baroness was, of course, assigned to “the bricks.”  One can only imagine how difficult it was for her, already in the seventh decade of her life, to carry trays loaded with seventy-five pounds of clay. Her comrades at work taunted her gleefully:

“Baroness! Lady-in-Waiting! Hey, you’re no longer hauling around her majesty’s train. Get a taste of our kind of work!” Although few of them had really worked before coming to Solovki.

They did not take their eyes from her and greedily awaited groans, complaints, tears of weakness – but they waited in vain. Self-control and inner discipline, nurtured through the course of her life, saved the baroness from humiliation. Doubtless fatigued, she gave no sign of it, and labored to the end of the day, and in the evening, as always, prayed at length, standing on her knees before a small icon.

My good friend from my time on Solovki, the Kronstadt mistress Korablikha, a real Russian wench, gutsy and sharp-tongued, who nevertheless retained a sense of “compassion” in her heart, related to me later:

“As soon as she stood on her knees, Sonka Glazok began grumbling: ‘Take a load of this. She’s even put up her God. We’ve got a saint here.’ But Annusha retorted, ‘What’s it to you? Has she taken any of your stuff? Look, the lady is taking care of her soul!’ Sonka bit her tongue.”

The same was repeated in the days that followed. The baroness calmly and deliberately carried the raw bricks. Returning to the barracks, she carefully cleaned her dress, ate her bowl of fish slop in silence, prayed, and went to sleep on her neatly made plank bed. She did not join the elite circle of intelligentsia there in the women’s barracks, but neither did she hold herself aloof, just as she did not hold herself aloof from any of her fellow women prisoners. She spoke in the same way to Princess Shakhovskoy, who constantly peppered her speech with French phrases, as she did to Sonka Glazok, whose use of unprintable vulgarities was similarly constant. She spoke only in Russian, although the “elite” preferred French.

As the dismal Solovetsk days passed, the attacks against the baroness grew less and less frequent. It was evident that the “barbs” of the sharp-tongued women failed to reach their mark.

“This morning Manka Dlinnaya jumped on the baroness as she was at the wash sink,” Korablikha related to me that evening at rehearsal. “She swiped her brushes and her soap – You’re hogging the faucet! I gave her a good swat with a dirty rag. Why are you offending a godly old woman? What’s the matter, don’t you have enough water? What’s it to you if she’s trying to keep clean?”

Attitudes towards the former lady-in-waiting changed definitively when the cleaning woman for her barracks “came forward.” To “come forward” in Solovetsk slang meant to report that one was pregnant. It was a general rule that those who transgressed the regulation against sexual relations were sent to isolationist cells on Hare Island, even those who were up to seven or eight months pregnant. However, those who were closer to their due date were sent to Anzersk, where they gave birth and breastfed their infants in relatively tolerable conditions, where they were given just light work. Pregnancy, therefore, was carefully concealed, and was declared only then when one could, by-passing Hare’s Island, be sent directly to “the moms.”

The cleaning woman who had “come forward” had to be replaced. It was an old prison custom that this replacement was democratically chosen. The position required relatively light work: washing the floors, bringing in firewood, tending the stove. The women fought for the position.

“Who are we going to put?” asked Korablikha. She was the cell leader.

“The baroness!” yelled Sonka Glazok, unrestrained both in hate and in love.

“Who besides her? She’s the cleanest of any of us. There won’t be any unpleasantness…”

The argument had weight. For dirt or untidiness, the whole barracks was punished. And so the lady-in-waiting who had served three Russian empresses became the cleaning lady of a cell of thieves and prostitutes. This was a great “mercy” for her. It was obvious that “the bricks” were leading her towards the grave.

I myself never spoke to the baroness, but I attentively followed news of her through my acquaintances who worked in the theater: Korablikha and that same Sonka Glazok, who sang in the chorus.

In occupying a specific social position in the prison collective, the baroness not only ceased to be a foreigner, but she automatically acquired a certain authority, even power, corresponding to her “rank.” It seems that she began to draw near to the rest of the women in her cell when they began consulting her on the intricate mysteries of make-up, a subject that received the same studious attention in prison as it did at the court.

Later the conversations became more profound, more serious… And so… At the theater we were preparing to put on A. Tolstoy’s, The Empress’s Plot, an entertaining pot boiler that was playing at the time in all the theaters of the USSR. Armanov played Rasputin, and eagerly collected any information about him from those who had seen the enigmatic elder.

“That’s a bunch of lies. The empress never had an affair with him,” declared Sonka peremptorily. “She received him only because he prayed hard for the Heir… There weren’t nothing else between them. Our baroness was a witness, and she wouldn’t lie.”

Korablikha, who had received her political credo from among the Kronstadt sailors, illumined the matter from another angle:

“One peasant reached the Tsar and told him the truth. For this the bourgeoisie killed him. The Tsar had promised him that if the Heir should be healed, he would give the land to the peasants. That’s what happened!” The baroness’s growing spiritual influence was felt more and more strongly there in her cell. This great mystery of Man’s awakening took place without any compulsion, without any arguments or debates. She did and said what was necessary, just as she had done throughout her life. The strength of her influence on those around her lay precisely in the simplicity and total lack of moralizing in her words and actions.

Sonka continued to swear a blue streak in the company of men, but among women she became noticeably restrained, and her epithets lost their former insolence, turning into mere words, without which she was not always able to express her tempestuous emotions. On Passion Week, she, Korablikha, and two other women from the chorus prepared for Holy Communion and went to confession to the “comforting priest,” who was smuggled into the theater for that purpose. They partook of the Mysteries in a dark prop room, with Gifts brought in an ordinary soldier’s mug in the side pocket of a sailor’s jacket. Standing guard at the door was the prop-man, a Turk by the name of Reshad-Sedad, in the recent past a communist, a member of the People’s Commissariat and “enlightener” of Adzharistan. If they were found out, they would all be sent to Sekirka or Hare Island – if not worse.

A terrible epidemic of typhus broke out and a call was made for nurses or those who could do their job. The chief of the Sanitary Department, M. V. Feldman, did not want to be assigned to this potentially fatal work. She came to the women’s barracks and, gathering its residents, tried to persuade them to go voluntarily, promising them a wage and good rations. There were no takers. She tried appealing to their conscience, calling them to the aid of the dying. But her effusiveness was no more successful. Just then the elderly cleaning lady entered the cell with a load of firewood. Her head was wrapped in a scarf; outdoors there was a bitter frost. Stacking the wood by the stove, she only heard Feldman’s last words.

“So, no one wants to help the sick and dying?”

“I do,” came a voice from near the stove.

“You? Can you read?”

“I can.”

“And can you read a thermometer?”

“Yes. I worked for three years as a surgical nurse in the imperial infirmary.”

“What’s your name?”

The baroness gave her family name without mentioning her title.

“Baroness!” cried out Sonka, followed by several more women. Among them were none of the “elite,” in spite of their frequent talk of Christianity and of their religiosity.

The doors of the typhus barracks closed after the lady-in-waiting, a lady who had served three empresses. There were few survivors. The majority who entered the barracks did not leave it alive.

M. V. Feldman later related that the baroness was assigned as the head nurse but worked alongside those under her. They were short-handed. The work was hard. The sick lay side by side on the floor, and as the nurses changed the bedding, their hands would be covered by the putrid discharge. It was a frightful place.

 The baroness worked day and night. She worked just as quietly and deliberately as she had carried bricks or washed the floor of the women’s barracks. With the same careful and deliberate manner in which she doubtless carried out her duties as a lady-in-waiting. This final act of service was not some impulsive outburst of selflessness but the result of a profound inner culture, not only imbibed together with her mother’s milk, but inherited from preceding generations. The time will come when genetics will reveal the great mystery of hereditary transmission.

 Her sense of duty and profound personal discipline gave her the strength to carry on her work to the last hour, the last minute, her last breath… This hour struck when the fatal typhus showed up on the baroness’s hands and neck. M. V. Feldman noticed it.

“Baroness, go and find a bed for yourself in the special ward. Haven’t you noticed it yourself?”

“What for? You well know that at my age no one recovers from typhus. The Lord is calling me to Himself, but I can still serve Him another two or three days.”

They stood facing one another. The aristocrat and the communist. The virgin and the passionate, still unrepentant Magdalene. The believer and the atheist. Women from two different worlds.

The effusive, impulsive Feldman embraced and kissed the old lady. When she told me about this later, her eyes filled with tears.

“You know, I wanted to make the sign of the Cross over her, just as my old nanny used to cross me when I was a child.  But I was afraid of offending her religious sensibilities. After all, I’m Jewish.”

The baroness drew her final breath a day later. During the morning rounds, she sat down on the floor, then she lay down. Shortly thereafter she was overtaken by delirium.

Sonka Glazok also never left the barracks of death. Their souls appeared together before the Throne of God.

Canons to the Holy and Glorious Prophet Elias

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Canon I, in Tone II:

Ode I, Irmos: Let us chant a hymn of victory unto the Lord, * Who of old guided the people in the midst of the sea, * and drowned Pharaoh and all his army therein, * for He hath been glorified.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Desiring to behold the fiery power of the miracles of Elias, his fiery and honoured tongue and strength of spirit, we have assembled as is meet.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

O God-bearer, our lips and the muteness and lack of skill of our tongue do thou open through the activity of the Spirit which is within thee, and illumine us, that we may hymn thy wonders.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou dost grant that which transcendeth nature unto those who have submitted to Thine honoured precepts, O Word, and Thou dost make the portals of the rain subject to them through the Spirit, confirming their word.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

To the Lord Who was born of the Virgin and Who hath renewed the world, and Who for her sake hath bestowed upon us divine life, we chant a hymn of victory, for He hath been glorified.

Canon II, the acrostic whereof is: “I sing praise to the great Elias,” the composition of Hieromonk Pachomius, in Tone VIII:

Ode I, Irmos: Having passed through the water as upon dry land, * and having escaped the malice of the Egyptians, * the Israelites cried aloud: * Unto our God and Redeemer let us sing.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou hast been shown to be an instrument struck by the divine plectrum, O most wondrous prophet, hymning the omniscient God Who doth visit retribution upon all according to their deeds.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

O wondrous prophet, unable to endure deception, thou didst denounce the unrighteous king for his iniquity. Wherefore, thou didst impose God’s judgment of condemnation, full of wrath, upon him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O divine Elias, prophet and forerunner of grace, having denounced Ahab, the iniquitous king, as a transgressor of the Law, thou didst destroy the shameful prophets as impious.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Ye faithful, let us make haste to praise in hymns as is meet the Mother of Christ, for she gaveth birth unto the Saviour of all, Who is the Master of life and death.

Ode III, Irmos: Thou hast established me on the rock of faith, * and my mouth hath been emboldened against mine enemies. * For my spirit rejoiceth when I sing: * There is none as holy as our God * and none more righteous than Thee, O Lord.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

He, that alone sustaineth every living thing by His good will, through a raven provided thee with a banquet as a chosen guest, O Prophet. To Him do we all cry aloud: Thou art our God, and there is none holy save Thee, O Lord!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Grace be to the Benefactor and Guardian Who, in His ineffable providence, nourished the widow and the prophet. To Him do we all cry out: Thou art our God, and none is holy save Thee, O Lord!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

O thou who didst forbid the rain-laden clouds to pour forth, when the widow of Zarephath was deprived of food, thou didst cause the remnant of her food to increase continually; and didst cry aloud: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Thou alone, surpassing all of ages past; hast been deemed worthy of great things transcending nature, for thou didst receive the infinite God of all creation within thy womb and gave Him flesh. Wherefore, we all honour thee as the Theotokos.

Another Irmos: O Lord, Creator of the vault of Heaven * and Builder of the Church, * do Thou strengthen me in Thy love, O Summit of desire, * O Support of the faithful, * O only Lover of mankind.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

With mercy dost thou chastise all, taking pity on all who with faith have recourse to thee in thy temple. And in asking help of thee they have in no wise sinned.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou didst denounce Ahab, the impious king, O divine prophet, and judge him with the judgment of God as a violator of the Law.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

The shameless Queen Jezebel sought to slay thee, O most divine prophet, for thou didst pronounce the sentence of death upon her unholy priests, as was meet.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Lady, we hymn thee as a palace of the priesthood of glory and the altar which held Christ, the Bread of life, O pure one.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional Hymn, Tone VIII:  Ye faithful, with hymns let us all praise Elias the Tishbite, the wellspring of miracles and adornment of prophets; for, being immortal while yet in the flesh, as a mortal he assured us of the resurrection of the dead. Wherefore, having boldness before God, he granteth healing to those who ask with faith, and earnestly beseecheth Christ to bestow forgiveness of sins upon those who with love celebrate his holy memory. (Twice)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Theotokion, Tone VIII: From the snares of enemies visible and invisible, * we have been overcome by the storms of our uncountable sins, * and fleeing unto the safe harbour of thy goodness O pure one, * we have thee as our rampart and sure protection. * Wherefore we thy servants beseech thee * to ceaselessly make fervent supplication, O most pure one, * unto Him who seedlessly became incarnate from thee, * that those who worthily hymn thee ** may be granted the remission of their sins.

Ode IV, Irmos: I have heard report of Thy dispensation, O Lord, * and have glorified Thee * Who alone art the Lover of mankind.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou art shown to be one that cutteth down evil at its root and a planter of virtue, O wise prophet. Wherefore, we bless thee.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

With words the widow who fed thee upbraided thee for the death of her son, compelling thee to raise him from the dead.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou didst clearly signify the glory of the Trinity with thy threefold breathing, and didst hand back alive the child to his mother.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

How thou didst burn, aflame with divine fire and zeal, O prophet, denouncing the king who wrought iniquities!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

O pure one, who without seed didst conceive God, we entreat thee ever to pray for thy servants.

Another Irmos: I have heard report of Thee O Lord, * and I was afraid, * for thy counsel is ineffable, * being the ever-existent God, * Thou didst come forth from the Virgin, * wherefore I hymn Thee: * glory to Thy condescension, O Christ, * glory to Thy power.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The Lord crowned thee a prophet, O most wise one, granting thee the grace to foretell things of the future as though they were of the present. Wherefore, beholding now the fulfilment of thy words, we bless thee ever with praises as a true prophet.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

As the soul of Thy prophet hath been most greatly adorned with humble-mindedness, O Christ God, so, aflame with zeal which surpasseth fire, he destroyed the shameful priests.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Reflecting like a mirror with thy countenance, the face of Christ before Whom thou dost stand, O most wondrous prophet; from whence do thou mercifully visit us, that with praises we may all bless thee as a prophet.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Having acquired thee as our hope and confirmation, an impregnable rampart of salvation, O all-hymned one, we are delivered from every evil circumstance.

Ode V, Irmos: O Lord, Bestower of light and Creator of the ages: * guide us in the light of Thy commandments, * for we know none other God than Thee.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The Law of thy fathers hath shown thee to be a true man of prayer, O Elias, a wonderworker who transformed the nature of the elements and utterly consumed the righteous sacrifice with water.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

As thou art a true minister of God, thou didst utterly put to shame the prophets of abominable ignominy, O venerable and all-blessed Elias, clearly marking the power of the Trinity.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Rendering priestly service through the word of grace, O Elias, thou didst slay the shameful priests with thy blameless hands, consumed with zeal as with fire.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

To thee who hast given birth unto Christ, the Creator of all, we cry aloud: Rejoice, O pure one! Rejoice, thou who hast shone forth the Light upon us! Rejoice, thou who didst contain the infinite God!

Another Irmos: O Light never-waning, * why hast Thou turned Thy face from me * and why hath the alien darkness surrounded me, * wretched though I be? * But do Thou guide my steps I implore Thee * and turn me back towards the light of Thy commandments.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

O prophet Elias, whom the unwaning splendour of divine grace hath revealed: having diligently acquired a most divine mind, thou dost rouse the pious to song.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Who doth not marvel at thy divine zeal, O wondrous prophet? And who doth not hymn Christ Who hath given thee such great might?

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

With prophecy wast thou adorned by God, O Elias, thou most wondrous prophet; hence, having wholly united thyself to God, and denouncing deception, thou didst lead the Israelites to the knowledge of God.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Theotokos, who hast given birth to the never-setting Sun, enlighten me who am utterly darkened by the passions, and fill me with the divine light.

Ode VI, Irmos: The deep abyss of offenses hath surrounded me, O Lord, * but do Thou lead up my life from corruption, * as Thou didst the Prophet Jonah, O Lord.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

A pillar of piety and of a pure life, an instiller of purity, and an emulator of the angels wast thou, O wondrous God-bearer Elias.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The wrath of the prophet-slaying woman, having frightened thee who had received the power to bind and loose the flow of the rains, O wondrous Elias, caused thee to flee.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Having knelt down, thou didst raise on high the supremely exalted eye of thy mind, and by thine eminent entreaty didst cause the rains to be loosed; and with showers, watered the furrows of the earth.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

The bush on Sinai, which drew nigh to the Fire without being consumed, prefigured thee, the Ever-virgin Mother, O all-hymned Theotokos Mary.

Another Irmos: Cleanse me, O Saviour, * for many are mine iniquities; * lead me up from the abyss of evils I pray Thee, * for unto Thee have I cried, * and Thou hast hearkened unto me, * O God of my salvation.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

A hymn of supplication do thou offer unto God, O most honoured prophet, on behalf of all who have recourse to thy divine temple, that we may honour thee as a great helper.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The mortal mind doth not suffice to praise thy life as is meet, O prophet; for, beholding the transfiguration of Christ, thou wast exalted far above the noetic ranks.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

He who is the Lord and Creator of all hath appeared to us in accordance with thy prophecy, O blessed Elias, calling all to the knowledge of Him, for He is the Lover of mankind.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Mary, pure vessel of virginity: cleanse thou my mind of the gloom of the passions, and fill my heart with righteousness, O all-immaculate one.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone II: O prophet, foreseer of the mighty works of our God, * Elias of great renown, * who by thy voice didst restrain the cloud of rain: * on our behalf entreat thou Him ** who alone is the Lover of mankind.

Ikos: Beholding the great iniquity of mankind and the great love of God for them, the prophet Elias was troubled and grew wroth; and he addressed pitiless words to the Merciful One, crying aloud: Be Thou angered against those who deny Thee, O righteous Judge! But he could not move the compassion of the Good One to torment those who deny Him, for He who alone is the Lover of mankind doth ever await the repentance of all.

Ode VII, Irmos: The bush which burned with fire on the mountain * and the dew-bearing furnace of the Chaldeans * clearly prefigured thee, O Bride of God; * for, without being consumed, * thou didst receive the divine and immaterial Fire * within thy material womb. * Wherefore, we chant unto Him Who was born of thee: * O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Most gloriously vested with divine and formidable power, thou didst undertake a long journey, having eaten of food that sufficed thee for forty days, O wondrous Elias. Wherefore, thou didst say on Horeb: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The mild and gentle breeze showed the Lord to thee, O Elias, who wast zealous for God Almighty: not the wind of the tempest, nor the earthquake, nor yet the fearsome fire. Wherefore, to meek Jesus thou didst chant: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Like the great Moses, thou wast deemed worthy of the vision of God and prophecy, O wondrous Elias, anointing prophets and kings with the Spirit. And having borne witness to the glory of Christ on Tabor, thou didst chant: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

In times past thou didst supra-naturally and without seed give birth in the flesh to the beginningless and pre-eternal Lord, the Son, Power and Wisdom of the Father, O most pure one, unto the renovation of mortals. Wherefore, we cry out to Him who was born of thee: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!

Another Irmos: The Children of Judaea, * who of old came to dwell in Babylon, * trampled underfoot the flame of the furnace * through their faith in the Trinity, * as they sang: ‘O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.’

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The people of Israel that came to thee with a captain of fifty thou didst utterly consume with fire from heaven as unworthy, O divine Elias.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou wast a most divine prophet who wast rightly illumined with the vision of God, O most honoured Elias; and didst straightway put an end to the sacrifices made to Baal.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Inasmuch as the most holy Spirit gave thee the gift to prophesy, O most honoured prophet Elias, thou didst foretell the coming of the Son of God and didst not sin, O all-blessed one. To Him do we chant: ‘O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Truly, as was meet, the poison of death was poured forth through the judgment of God and the hand of the prophet upon the shameful priests that ate unrighteously at the table of Jezebel.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Mother of God, save me who am held fast by the abyss of sins, and rescue me from all the malice of the foe, that, saved by thee, I may magnify thine aid.

Ode VIII, Irmos: The relentless fire, fed with endless fuel, * drew back in fear before the pious Children, * pure in body and in soul; * and as the flame waned in strength, * they sang an everlasting song: * O all ye works, praise ye the Lord * and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Well did Ahab find the just destruction of his house, through the prophet’s condemnation, to be the dread retribution for his vile commission of murder. And with fiery mind the Tishbite chanted a hymn unto the Bestower of life: All ye works of the Lord, hymn and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Fire rained down from heaven for thee, O Elias, twice consuming captains of fifty, in that thou art God’s chosen minister; for to Him who controlleth everlasting life didst thou in a godly manner hymn: All ye works of the Lord, hymn and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

On Tabor Christ showed thee to be an initiate of the mystery of His divine incarnation, as thou wast an instiller of purity and a most divine offshoot of virginity, showing the unapproachable light of the Godhead in His Body to thee who dost cry aloud: All ye works of the Lord, hymn and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Most rich was the womb of the Mother of God; for, having received the Word in the coarseness of the flesh and wrought therefrom an earthly form according to His hypostasis, it was shown to be the city of God wherein the Most High was well-pleased to dwell. To Him do we chant: All ye works of the Lord, hymn and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Another Irmos: The King of heaven, * Who is glorified by the hosts of angels, * let us praise and supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

He who, as God, knoweth all things, entrusted to thee, O Elias, in that thou art faithful, the knowledge of things to come and of things that shall come to pass; and He showed thee things which are afar off as though they were near.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Having strengthened thy mind with pious boldness, O blessed prophet, thou dost foretell those things that are far off as though they were near, O most honoured prophet.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Having cleansed thy mind of all defilement, O divine prophet, thou didst become completely holy, guiding all to the divine Light.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Word, to Whom thou didst give birth indescribably, do thou entreat on behalf of those who faithfully honour thee, O pure Birthgiver of God.

Ode IX, Irmos: Thee do we magnify, O blessed and most pure Theotokos, * who through thy virginal womb ineffably brought forth * God incarnate, * the Luminary Who shone forth before the sun * and hath come to us in the flesh.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Having lived on earth the course which man cannot change, and crossed the Jordan’s stream by means of his mantle, the Tishbite, that air-borne charioteer, made a strange and heaven-traversing journey in the Spirit.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The Tishbite, aflame with the zeal of piety, was taken up on a fiery chariot; and he let drop his mantle; and Eliseus, robed therein, received divine grace which could not be concealed.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

The Tishbite and Moses the God-seer beheld in a revelation on Tabor what eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and what hath not entered into the hearts of earth-born men: the Lord Almighty, incarnate.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

O Theotokos, we magnify thee, who removed the severe condemnation which was of old the correction of our first mother, and who art ever the reconciliation of our race to God, thou bridge to the Creator.

Another Irmos: Saved by thee, O pure Virgin, * we confess thee to be truly the Theotokos, * and together with the choirs of the bodiless hosts * thee do we magnify.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou hast been deified by the immaterial splendour of the life-creating Trinity, O prophet Elias; wherefore, we all appoint thee as an intercessor to God for the world, O blessed one.

Holy and glorious Prophet, Elias, pray to God for us.

Thou wast known as an angel on earth, O divine prophet, and in heaven as a man of God; for the Lord Himself said: Because thou art an austere man, O Elias, thou canst not endure iniquitous Israel. Come thou up to Me, that I may come down!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thou didst live on earth as one of the bodiless ones, O divine prophet, and now, borne up to heaven, thou dost join chorus with the angelic choirs. From on high watch over us who hymn thee, O blessed one.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou didst bear in thine arms God Who beareth all things, and thou hast fed the Nourisher Who became like unto us, O pure one. Him do thou beseech, that He grant to thy people deliverance from all oppressors.

Troparion, Tone IV: The angel in the flesh, and foundation of the prophets, * the second forerunner of the Coming of Christ, * the glorious Elias from on High * sent down grace upon Eliseus * to dispel infirmities and to cleanse lepers. * Wherefore, he poureth forth healings ** upon those who honour him.

The Holy and Glorious Prophet Elijah

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Commemorated on July 20 / August 2

The Holy Prophet Elijah (Elias) is one of the greatest of the prophets and the first dedicated to virginity in the Old Testament. He was born in Tishba of Gilead into the Levite tribe 900 years before the Incarnation of the Word of God.

Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus gives the following account about the birth of the Prophet Elijah: “When Elijah was born, his father Sobach saw in a vision angels of God around him. They swaddled him with fire and fed him with flames.” The name Elijah (the Lord’s strength) given to the infant defined his whole life. From the years of his youth he dedicated himself to the One God, settled in the wilderness and spent his whole life in strict fasting, meditation and prayer. Called to prophetic service, which put him in conflict with the Israelite king Ahab, the prophet became a fiery zealot of true faith and piety.

During this time the Israelite nation had fallen away from the faith of their Fathers, they abandoned the One God and worshipped pagan idols, the worship of which was introduced by the impious king Jereboam. Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab, was devoted to idol worship. She persuaded her husband to build a temple to the pagan god Baal, which led many Israelites away from the worship of the true God. Beholding the ruin of his nation, the Prophet Elijah began to denounce King Ahab for impiety, and exhorted him to repent and turn to the God of Israel. The king would not listen to him. The Prophet Elijah then declared to him, that as punishment there would be neither rain nor dew upon the ground, and the drought would cease only by his prayer. Indeed, the word of Elijah was a torch (Eccles. 48: 1). The heavens were closed for three and a half years, and there was drought and famine throughout all the land.

During this time of tribulation, the Lord sent him to a cave beyond the Jordan. There he was miraculously fed by ravens. When the stream Horath dried up, the Lord sent the Prophet Elijah to Sarephta to a poor widow, a Sidonian Gentile who suffered together with her children, awaiting death by starvation. At the request of the prophet, she prepared him a bread with the last measure of flour and the remainder of the oil. Through the prayer of the Prophet Elijah, flour and oil were not depleted in the home of the widow for the duration of the famine. By the power of his prayer the prophet also performed another miracle: he raised the dead son of the widow.

After the end of three years of drought the Merciful Lord sent the prophet to appear before King Ahab, and promised to send rain upon the earth. The Prophet Elijah told the king to order all of Israel to gather upon Mount Carmel, and also the priests of Baal. When the nation had gathered, the Prophet Elijah proposed that two sacrificial altars be built: one for the priests of Baal, and the other for the Prophet Elijah who served the True God.

The Prophet Elijah told them to call on their gods to consume the sacrificial animals with fire, and he would call on his. Whichever was first to send fire on the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true God. The prophets of Baal called out to their idol from morning till evening, but the heavens were silent. Towards evening the holy Prophet Elijah built his sacrificial altar from twelve stones, the number of the tribes of Israel. He placed the sacrifice upon the wood, gave orders to dig a ditch around the altar and commanded that the sacrifice and the wood be soaked with water. When the ditch had filled with water, the prophet turned to God in prayer. Through the prayer of the prophet fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and even the water. The people fell down to the ground, crying out: “Truly, the Lord is God!” Then the Prophet Elijah had all the pagan-priests of Baal put to death, and he began to pray for rain. Through his prayer the heavens opened and an abundant rain fell, soaking the parched earth.

King Ahab acknowledged his error and repented of his sins, but his wife Jezebel threatened to kill the prophet of God. The Prophet Elijah fled into the Kingdom of Judea and, grieving over his failure to eradicate idol worship, he asked God to let him die. An angel of the Lord came before him, strengthened him with food and commanded him to go upon a long journey. The Prophet Elijah traveled for forty days and nights and, having arrived at Mount Horeb, he settled in a cave.

The Lord told him that the next day Elijah would stand in His presence.There was a strong wind that crushed the rocks of the mountain, then an earthquake, and a fire, but the Lord was not in them. The Lord was in “a gentle breeze” (3 Kings 19: 12). He revealed to the prophet, that He would preserve seven thousand faithful servants who had not worshipped Baal.

Later, the Lord commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha into prophetic service. Because of his fiery zeal for the Glory of God the Prophet Elijah was taken up alive into Heaven in a fiery chariot. The Prophet Elisha received Elijah’s mantle, and a double portion of his prophetic spirit.

According to the Tradition of Holy Church, the Prophet Elijah will be the Forerunner of the Dread Second Coming of Christ. He will proclaim the truth of Christ, urge all to repentance, and will be slain by the Antichrist. This will be a sign of the end of the world.

The life of the holy Prophet Elijah is recorded in the Old Testament books (3 Kings; 4 Kings; Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 48: 1-15; 1 Maccabees 2: 58). At the time of the Transfiguration, the Prophet Elijah conversed with the Savior upon Mount Tabor (Mt. 17: 3; Mark 9: 4; Luke. 9: 30).

Orthodox Christians of all times, and in all places, have venerated the Prophet Elijah for centuries. The first church in Russia, built at Kiev under Prince Igor, was named for the Prophet Elijah. After her Baptism Saint Olga (July 11) built a temple of the holy Prophet Elijah in her native region, at the village of Vibuta.

In iconography the Prophet Elijah is depicted ascending to Heaven in a fiery chariot, surrounded with flames, and harnessed to four winged horses. We pray to him for deliverance from drought, and to ask for seasonable weather.

Canons to Our Venerable Father, Seraphim of Sarov.

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Канон преподобному Серафиму Саровскому: https://azbyka.ru/molitvoslov/kanon-prepodobnomu-serafimu-sarovskomu.html

Канон преподобному Серафиму Саровскому (2‑й): https://azbyka.ru/molitvoslov/kanon-prepodobnomu-serafimu-sarovskomu-2-j.html

Canon I to the Venerable Seraphim, in Tone VI:

Ode I, Irmos: When Israel walked on foot in the sea as on dry land, * on seeing their pursuer Pharaoh drowned, * they cried: * Let us sing to God * a song of victory.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

O Lord, open mine unworthy lips and grant me a word of understanding, that I may worthily hymn the memory of the blessed Seraphim, who with the angels doth now beseech Thee to deliver us from every grievous circumstance.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Thou wast a great intercessor before the Theotokos, O venerable one, and wast deemed worthy to behold her with the apostles. And now, cease not to visit thy children by thine intercessions.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

From thy youth, O venerable one, thou didst surrender thyself in mind unto the Lord, and having subdued the passions of thy body through rigorous abstinence, thou wast adorned with every virtue, O most wise one.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

 O most blessed Sovereign Lady, who hast given birth unto the supremely good God in the flesh, cleanse thou my heart which is tormented by passions, that I may magnify thee with faith and love.

Canon II to the Venerable Seraphim, in Tone VIII:

Irmos: Having passed through the water as upon dry land, * and having escaped the malice of the Egyptians, * the Israelites cried aloud: * Unto our God and Redeemer let us now sing.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Thou didst tread the straight and narrow path to the heavenly kingdom in accordance with the commandment of Christ the Master, disdaining the broad and spacious path. And now do thou pray for us that keep thy most radiant memory.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Having ascended the mount of dispassion and taken up thy cross from thy youth, thou didst unfalteringly follow after Christ. And having acquired spiritual wisdom, thou didst attain the heavenly Jerusalem, O venerable one. Pray thou to the Lover of mankind on our behalf.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Standing now before the throne of God, O venerable one, intercede thou for the suffering Russian land; and by thy prayers, O venerable one, entreat salvation for the Christ-loving people of Russia.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Hearken, O Lady, unto those who flee to thee with faith and love, and who hymn thee with fear.

Ode III, Irmos: There is none as holy as Thou, * O Lord my God, * who hast exalted the horn of The faithful O good One, * and strengthened us upon the rock * of Thy confession.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Standing before God with the angels in thy prayer, O venerable one, pray thou for the whole world, that the assaults of the enemy be overcome and that Orthodox Christians be granted victory over their adversaries.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

From thy youth thou didst cleave with faith and love unto the Master of the hosts on high, O venerable Seraphim; and, shining forth like the sun in the wilderness of Sarov, thou wast a comfort to those who approached thee in sorrow. Pray thou that we be saved!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

To those who pray unto thee, thou hast been revealed to be an unshakeable pillar and a refuge for those who have recourse unto the Monastery of Sarov, and abundant grace for those who receive healings.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Our first mother Eve heard: In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. And thou, O pure Virgin, hearing: The Lord is with thee! Rejoice! didst put to flight the grief of our first mother with this cry of joy!

Another Irmos: O Lord, Creator of the vault of Heaven * and Builder of the Church, * do Thou strengthen me in Thy love, O Summit of desire, * O Support of the faithful, * O only Lover of mankind.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Beseech Christ God, O blessed one, to deliver us from famine and plagues, from sudden death, from secret transgressions and wicked thoughts, that with a pure heart we may cry out to Christ: O Lord, save us by the supplications of the venerable one!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Following after Christ the Master in meekness and humility, thou wast all things to all mankind; tirelessly instructing both rich and poor in piety, thou didst foresee the future as though it were the present. Beseech Christ God, O venerable one, to grant us forgiveness of our sins!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Deliver thy monastery from every assault of the enemy, O venerable one, and fill it with love and grace, that it heed not the cares of this life, but attain unto the goodness and beauty which save the soul.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Our trust and hope art thou, O most holy Sovereign Lady. Save the suffering Russian land and thy people that pray and call upon thy holy name!

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional Hymn of the venerable one, Tone IV: Having utterly overcome the passions of the sea of life by abstinence, and attained unto the haven of dispassion, thou wast revealed as a vessel of abstinence, O venerable Seraphim. Beseech Christ God to grant us great mercy!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Theotokion, Tone IV: When thou dost stand before the face of my Creator on the day of His righteous Judgment, O Lady, intercede for me, and deliver me from eternal torment, that I go not down into Hades, but that I be saved by thy defence, O most holy Theotokos.

Ode IV, Irmos: Christ is my power, * my God and my Lord, * the holy Church divinely singeth, * crying with a pure mind, * keeping festival in the Lord.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Today the Monastery of Sarov doth radiantly celebrate thy memory, O venerable one, beseeching thee: Ask of the Lord peace for the whole world and great mercy for our souls!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

In thy great struggles didst thou flourish like a palm tree, O venerable one, sweetening the hearts of those who have recourse unto thee with fruitful words and a blameless life: Wherefore, do thou now pray that we obtain mercy from Christ our Saviour!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

By thy prayers entreat God for us, O venerable Seraphim, and drive away the sinful darkness of our grief. Adorn with dispassion, faith and love all who honour thy most glorious memory!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Rejoice, O Virgin Sovereign Lady, thou beauty of the Churches, might and boast of the suffering Russian land! Pray to Christ God without ceasing, that He preserve us from misfortunes by thy prayers.

Another Irmos: I have heard report of Thy dispensation, O Lord, * and have glorified Thee * Who alone art the Lover of mankind.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

It is not the Monastery of Sarov alone, but the whole land of Russia which hath thee, O blessed one, as a fervent intercessor and speedy helper, almighty and invincible defender and mediator for our souls.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Be thou an intercessor and mediator for us before the most holy Trinity, and move thou to pray with thee the choirs of the saints whose life thou didst emulate, O venerable one. With them pray for peace and the good estate of the whole world, that in this age we may live a peaceful and quiet life, and in the future inherit eternal life.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Being great among fasters, O venerable one, thou didst lead an arduous monastic life in the wilderness, and didst end it in compunctionate prayer. Pray that we be saved!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Thou art our refuge and confirmation, O most pure Theotokos. Beseech thy Son and our God, that He grant us salvation and forgiveness of sins.

Ode V, Irmos: Illumine with Thy divine light, I pray, O Good One, * the souls of those who with love rise early to pray to Thee, * that they may know Thee, O Word of God, * as the true God, * Who recalleth us from the darkness of sin.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Unto all who come to thee thou hast been a true teacher and a great intercessor before the Theotokos. And now, O venerable one, cease not to pray for thy children, for thou hast great boldness.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Let the Christian people now enter into the temple of the Monastery of Sarov, bowing down before thy precious relics, O venerable Seraphim, and, glorifying Christ, let them ask of thee healing and salvation.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

The invisible enemy desired to affright thee when thou wast praying to God at night, O venerable one. But, put to shame by thy prayer, the most wicked one vanished.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.: O most pure Mary, beseech God Who was born of thee, that He grant forgiveness of transgressions unto thy servants.

Another Irmos: Illumine us O Lord with Thy commandments, * and with Thine arm raised on high * grant us Thy peace, * O Lover of mankind!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Thou didst glorify the Monastery of Sarov with fasting and unceasing prayer, O venerable one, anointing the infirm with oil from the icon of the Theotokos and granting them healing in abundance. Pray thou now that our souls be saved!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

O ye hierarchs and priests, rejoice with the monks of Sarov, and ye people, hymn together the blessed father, the calm haven of those who are tempest-tossed by sorrows, the ready healer of infirmities of body and soul.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Offer up thy prayers, O venerable one, as an acceptable and unblemished sacrifice unto the most holy Trinity, and forget not us who now keep thy memory. Beg mercy for those who hate, wrong and are angered against us, and deliver all from every sorrow.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Guide my mind which is tempest-tossed by many passions, O Sovereign Lady. Save us who have recourse unto thee, O Theotokos, for apart from thee we know none other help, O pure one.

Ode VI, Irmos: Beholding the sea of life surging with the tempest of temptations, * I run to Thy calm haven, and cry to Thee: * Raise up my life from corruption, * O greatly Merciful One.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Thy holy soul was an abode of God, wherein the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit dwelt. Wherefore, we pray thee, O venerable one, dispel the slanders of the enemy from those who honour thee, and grant peace to the suffering land of Russia.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

O venerable Seraphim, we honour thy great struggles and labours in the wilderness and the sweetness of thy teaching, whereby thou hast enlightened many who came to thee, teaching them to hymn the consubstantial Trinity.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Following after Christ the Master in purity of life, thou didst complete the good race, O venerable one. Having ascended to the eternal mansions, thou dost behold there what the angels see. Wherefore, honouring thy memory, we glorify Christ.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

I now flee unto thee, O most pure one. Save and preserve me by thy supplications. For whatsoever thou desirest, that thou canst do, in that thou art the Mother of the Almighty.

Another Irmos: I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, * and to Him will I proclaim my grief; * for my soul is filled with evils, * and my life unto Hades hath drawn nigh, * and like Jonah I pray unto Thee: * Raise me up from corruption, O my God.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

We are all full of sin, but thy prayers, O venerable Seraphim, ascend unto the Lord like fragrant incense. We now pray thee: Calm thou the raging storm of evil impiety in the land of Russia, and entreat the Lord for the salvation of our souls.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Truly blessed wast thou, O venerable Seraphim, having acquired riches through poverty, and through tears, joy, which thou didst abundantly bestow upon those who came to thee. And now emitting rays of miracles, thou dost heal all who have recourse unto thee in faith.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Having dug with thine own hands a well in the wilderness, O venerable one, thou didst give drink unto the thirsty that came unto thee. And now thou healest the diseases of the sick with the water of this well. Truly, the Master hath shown thee forth unto all as a miraculous intercessor and wonderworker, O venerable one.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

We confess thee to be indeed the Mother of God, the true Theotokos, for by thy birthgiving we have been delivered from the curse of corruption, by the tender compassion of God, the Lover of mankind, and have been called to life incorruptible.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Kontakion of the Venerable One, Tone II: Having forsaken the beauty of the world and the corruption therein, * thou didst take up thine abode in the Monastery of Sarov. * And having lived there as an angel, thou didst become a path for many to salvation. * Wherefore, Christ hath glorified thee, O father Seraphim, * enriching thee with the gift of healings and miracles. ** Therefore, we cry out to thee: Rejoice, O our venerable father Seraphim!

Ikos: Having forsaken family and friends, and regarding riches as but dust, thou didst take up thine abode in the wilderness of Sarov; and having struggled against the passions like one of the bodiless hosts, thou wast deemed worthy to stand in the angelic choir. Wherefore, having received spiritual knowledge, grant even us, O venerable one, to chant this unto thee with understanding, saying: Rejoice, O blessed Seraphim, heavenly man and earthly angel! Rejoice, emulator of Christ in thy love! Rejoice, abode of the Holy Spirit! Rejoice, great joy of the despondent! Rejoice, source of healing! Rejoice, sweet consolation for sorrowful souls! Rejoice, calm haven for monks and most wise instructor! Rejoice, boast of the land of Russia! Rejoice, O our venerable father Seraphim!

Ode VII, Irmos: An Angel made the furnace bedew the holy Children. * But the command of God consumed the Chaldeans * and prevailed upon the tyrant to cry: * O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Wondrously was thy life shown to be full of the grace of the divine Spirit, O venerable one. Truly thou didst receive the blessed end of the righteous, rejoicing in Christ. And we cry out to Him who hath glorified thee: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Gathering together at thy holy monastery today, a multitude of people doth bow down before thy precious relics, O venerable Seraphim, and we all draw forth healings therefrom, crying out unceasingly: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

This report hath gone out into all the world, that a most glorious wonderworker hath appeared in Sarov, pouring forth a multitude of healings upon all who with faith approach and cry out: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

O Virgin Theotokos, who ineffably didst give birth unto the Word, thy Creator: With the venerable Seraphim beseech Him to have mercy upon our souls!

Another Irmos: The Children of Judaea, * who of old came to dwell in Babylon, * trampled underfoot the flame of the furnace * through their faith in the Trinity, * as they sang: ‘O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.’

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, and through the prayers of him who pleased Thee, the venerable Seraphim, preserve us from every soul-corrupting evil, that we may all cry out with compunction: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Who is not astounded, who doth not glorify the unfathomable abyss of Thy tender compassion, O Lord? For Thou hast revealed to the whole world him that pleased Thee, the venerable Seraphim, the fervent intercessor before Thee for us who cry aloud: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Accept this hymn of thanksgiving which we offer unto thee, O venerable Seraphim, and grant healing unto all of us who keep thy holy memory, and who bow down before the shrine of thy relics and cry aloud: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou art our refuge and confirmation, O most holy Theotokos. Entreat thy Son and our God to grant us salvation and forgiveness of sins.

Ode VIII, Irmos: Thou didst make flame bedew the holy children, * and didst burn the sacrifice of a righteous man with water. * For Thou alone, O Christ, dost do all as Thou willest, * Thee do we supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Having subdued the passions of the flesh and died to the world, thou didst receive the words of eternal life in thy heart, O blessed one, teaching all who had recourse unto thee to cry aloud: O ye works, praise ye the Lord, and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

At the glorification of thy precious relics, O venerable one, the Monastery of Sarov was filled with joy. And all the people cried out unto God Who is wondrous in His saints: O ye works, praise ye the Lord, and supremely exalt Him for ever!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Being filled with the grace of the divine Spirit, O venerable Seraphim, through thy prayers beg forgiveness of sins for the faithful people that keep thy holy memory and cry out: Ye children, bless; ye priests, praise; ye people, and supremely exalt the Lord throughout all ages!

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

O Theotokos, who hast given birth unto the Saviour and Master of all, thou hast been shown forth to us as the mediatrix of salvation; wherefore, we pray thee: Grant salvation unto all who faithfully hymn thee throughout the ages.

Another Irmos: The King of heaven, * Who is glorified by the hosts of angels, * let us praise and supremely exalt throughout all ages.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

The most evil enemy, hating thy virtuous life, desired to cause thee to falter, O venerable one. But having put him to shame by the grace of God and the prayers of the Theotokos, thou didst glorify God, singing: O ye works, praise ye the Lord and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

As flashing lightning illumineth the firmament, so have the reports of thy wonders gone forth throughout all the world, O venerable one. And marvelling at thy glory, we cry out: O ye children, bless; ye priests, praise; ye people, supremely exalt the Lord throughout all ages!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Heal thou our minds which are disquieted by vain and passionate imaginings, O venerable one; quell thou the waves of evil disbelief in our land, and strengthen our hearts, which are crippled by worldly cares, that we may glorify Christ the Creator throughout all ages.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Rejoice, O fiery throne of the Lord! Rejoice, O ray of immaterial splendour! Rejoice, thou cloud of the radiant Sun of righteousness, Christ our Saviour, Whom we supremely exalt throughout all ages!

Ode IX, Irmos: It is impossible for mankind to see God * upon Whom the orders of Angels dare not gaze; * but through thee, O all-pure one, * did the Word Incarnate become a man * and with the Heavenly Hosts * Him we magnify and thee we call blessed.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Accept, and disdain not, our small tribute, offered unto thee from unworthy lips, O venerable one. Sanctify all who glorify thee, and deliver us from misfortunes, dangers and eternal torments, that we may hymn thee throughout the ages.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Manfully enduring the heat of the day and the cold of night in the solitude of the wilderness, thou wast an abode of the Wisdom of God, and didst hasten toward the unwaning radiance. Pray thou that we be saved!

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

This day is the monastery glorified, wherein thou didst consent to take upon thyself the yoke of Christ; for there didst thou spend thy days in the wilderness; and, enlightening by thy teachings the many who came unto thee, thou didst teach them to be children of the Church of Christ.

Most Holy Mother of God, save us.

Thou art our strength, thou art our boast and joy, our protectress, help, refuge and invincible intercessor. O most pure Theotokos, save thou thy servants!

Another Irmos: Saved by thee, O pure Virgin, * we truly confess thee to be the Theotokos, * and with the choirs of bodiless hosts we magnify thee.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

Emulating the great fathers who of old shone forth in fasting and ascetic struggle, O venerable one, thou didst spend all the days of thy life in prayer, tears and labour, until thou didst attain unto the heavenly mansions. Wherefore as is meet, we bless thee.

Venerable Father, Seraphim, pray to God for us.

With mighty power did Christ God gird thee about and strengthen thee to overcome the wiles of the demons, O venerable one. Wherefore, we now pray thee: Entreat God, the Lover of mankind, to deliver us all from the assaults and temptations of the enemies, and to save our souls.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

In our pain and sorrow, we flee to thee, O venerable one, and cry out from the depths of our souls: Be thou a calm haven and ready healer for the sick, and deliver us from every ill and want, that we may unceasingly magnify thee.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O most pure Virgin, thou didst give birth unto One of the Holy Trinity, the Son and Word, Whom do thou entreat with the saints and the righteous on behalf of thy servants who with faith ask forgiveness of sins.

Troparion, Tone IV: From thy youth didst thou love Christ, O blessed one; * and, aflame with the desire to serve Him alone, * thou didst struggle in the wilderness in unceasing prayer and labour; * and with compunction of heart, having acquired the love of Christ, * thou wast shown to be the beloved favourite of the Mother of God. * Wherefore, we cry unto thee: ** Save us by thy prayers, O our venerable father Seraphim.

From Today in Cardiff: Honouring St Calogero

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Stichera, Tone 4:

As a true ascetic of Christ, O Blessed One, wast thou crowned; verily, with mortifications thou didst purify the eye of the soul, and wast therefore made worthy to see the God whom thou didst love and whom Moses had once seen; thou also receivest from him, O Calogero, the grace of thy miracles, through which thou has made thyself known to us, and thee we celebrate with hymns.

Holy, Venerable Father, Calogero, pray to God for us.

Thou wast made truly worthy to receive the gifts of the Spirit, O Father, and dost reward the faithful who celebrate thy holy memory by bestowing upon them peace and mercy; also, freeing them from all dangers, O glorious Calogero, thou leadest them by thy thy prayers to the never-waning light, O Blessed One.

Holy, Venerable Father, Calogero, pray to God for us.

O Holy Father Calogero, taking the yoke of Christ upon thy shoulders, thou didst come into the cave, having no fear of the assaults the enemy launched with beatings and vain noises, O holy one; but thou didst refute them with thy prayers, O mighty soul, pride of ascetics; therefore, constantly beseech Christ to have mercy upon us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

O unwedded Virgin, bulwark and boast of those who praise thee, save the faithful who beseech thee, and free them from all misery, O thou who didst didst give birth to God who of his good pleasure wast made incarnate.

O great Saint of God, O glorious and venerable father, Calogero, we rejoice with thee in the glory thou enjoyest both in heaven and on earth, as the reward for thy virtue and the graces with which the Lord hath enriched thee, working great miracles through thine intercession: in giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and health to all manner of the sick.

Look down from the glory that is above, upon us who are humble and weak, burdened with our many sins, and who ask thy help and consolation; for thou, art our protector, thou art our guide and defence.

And, as thou didst hearken to the multitude of poor people who didst resort unto thee, so hearken unto our prayers. Incline to us thy loving kindness, and help us to fulfill God’s commandments without stain; firmly to keep the Orthodox Faith; to approach God in heartfelt contrition for all our sins; to make progress in Christian devotion and to be worthy of thy prayers before God.

Receive us under thy paternal care, and as in the world thou didst cast the devil from the bodies of a multitude of people, so do thou now cast out sin from our hearts.  

Hearken unto us, who pray to thee in faith and love, and despise not us who seek thee as our defender. Now, and at the hour of our departure, help us and defend us by thy prayers from the wicked assaults of the devil, lest evil powers should have dominion over us; but let us be granted, by thy help, to inherit the blessedness of the heavenly mansions.

For we place our hope in thee, O kind-hearted father: be thou indeed our guide to salvation, and bring us to the unwaning light of eternal life, by thy good intercession before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, so that we may glorify and hymn with all the Saints, the Name worthy of adoration, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Prayers to St Calogero after tomorow’s Liturgy

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Dear brothers and sisters,

In our final summer at Newman Hall, one of the greatest joys was to celebrate the feast of St Calogero of Agrigento, a 6th century Sicilian saint who arrived on the island as an exile, fleeing persecution and heresy, and by so doing blessed Sicily with his fearless preaching of Orthodox dogma– becoming one of the most well-loved saints and wonderworkers of the island. See:

Celebrating St Calogero. Buona Festa!

We were unable to celebrate his feast on his day, 18 June on the Church calendar, 1 July on the civil calendar- but will serve a litia before the icon, painted and presented in response to that Newman celebration, at the end of tomorrow’s Liturgy.

This happily reflects the celebrations held on and between the first two Sundays of July, in Sicily – and the icon remains a sign of friendship and proof that the saints bring us together in the bonds of Faith.

Though persecution and exile and the negatives of life caused St Calogero’s flight to Sicily, his preaching, miracles, and pastoral care in his new land show that blessings so often come through adversity – if only we take advantage and control of the new and unknown circumstances into which we are thrown.

Through exile, homelessness and escape from heresy came the preaching of Orthodoxy; countless miracles; the restoration of sight to the blind, speech to the dumb and hearing to the deaf; and the great consolation that this holy monk brought to the people of not only to the people of Byzantine Sicily, but to the Sicilian people to this day.

In the present dark times, an exiled, refugee saint should be an inspiration, opening our minds and hearts see that even in sorrow and darkness, God sends grace, light and life, and that seeds may be planted and new beginnings emerge even in adversity and trial.

Святый Преподобне Отче, Калогере, моли Бога о нас

Holy, venerable Father, Calogero, pray to God for us!

Troparion, Tone 8. By the streams of thy tears, thou didst make the soil of the desert fertile and with your deep groans didst make thy labours to bear fruit an hundredfold; and thou didst became a beacon for the whole world, radiating light by miracles, O Calogero, our Father; intercede with Christ-God to save our souls. 

Glory be to the father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Kontakion. Tone IV: Celebrating today the sacred memory of Calogero with songs, we give glory to Christ, to him who grantest him the grace of miracles to heal infirmities.

Celebrating St Calogero in the refectory of Newman Hall: Summer 2020.