Canon to Saint Cyril of Alexandria

The Canon to Our Holy Father, St Cyril of Alexandria, the Acrostic Whereof Is: “Cyril Is the Harp of Divine Visions” 

The Composition of Theophanes, in Tone IV.

 Ode I, Irmos: Through the deep of the Red Sea, * marched dry-shod Israel of old, * and by Moses’ outstretched hands, * raised in the form of a cross, * the power of Amalek was routed in the wilderness.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Receiving light-giving grace from God, O Cyril, and revealed as a radiant beacon, thou hast shone forth noetic rays upon us by thy commemoration, that we may hymn thee as is meet.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

As a keeper of the commandments of Christ thou wast full of the effulgence of the Spirit, O most wise Cyril, having been cleansed of the passions; thou didst truly become a dwelling-place of the most divine Trinity.

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

As one full of zeal and boldness, O glorious Cyril, contending for the right Faith thou hast truly denounced the God-opposing blasphemies of impious heresies.

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

In giving birth to the Creator of all, Who raised up us who had been humbled by the fall of our first father, O all-immaculate Bride of God, thou hast thereby healed the broken state of mankind.

Ode III, Irmos: Thy Church, O Christ, rejoiceth in Thee crying aloud: * Thou, O Lord, art my strength, * my refuge and foundation.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Strengthened in Christ, O Cyril, with a steadfast mind thou didst destroy the wiles of the evil serpent like a spider’s web.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Thou didst shake off the mire of the passions from thy soul, O Cyril, and cast down the uprising of every thought which exalteth itself against Christ.

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

As a successful spiritual athlete, O father, thou didst steadily turn away from every carnal pleasure, as being harmful and detrimental.

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

With joy we all exceedingly glorify thee as the only blessed one among women who became the habitation of God.

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

Sessional Hymn, in Tone III: Spec. Mel.: “Awed by the beauty of thy virginity …”: As a pillar and sacrifice of the Church of Christ, O father, thou didst most wisely preserve it unshaken by the temptations of the evil one; for thou didst destroy all the evil works of Nestorius, proclaiming the Mother of God to be the Theotokos. Wherefore, having assembled, we honour thee, O divinely blessed Cyril.

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

Doxasticon from the Pentecostarion, or this Theotokion in Tone III: As an uncultivated vine, O Virgin, * thou didst sprout forth the most-comely Cluster of grapes * Which poureth forth upon us the wine of salvation * making glad the souls and bodies of all. * Wherefore, ever blessing thee as the cause of good things, * with the angel we cry out to thee: ** Rejoice, O thou who art full of grace!

Stavrotheotokion: Thy pure unwedded Mother, O Christ, * upon seeing Thee hanging dead upon the Cross, * said, weeping maternally: * “How hath the iniquitous and thankless council of the Jews * repaid Thy many and great wonders, O my Son, * Thou Who hast filled them with Thy gifts? ** I hymn Thy divine condescension!”

Ode IV, Irmos: Beholding Thee, the Sun of righteousness, * lifted up upon the cross, * the Church now standeth arrayed and doth worthily cry aloud: * Glory be to Thy power, O Lord.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Seeing thee, O God-bearing father Cyril, who hath vanquished soul-corrupting passions and restrained carnal thoughts, Christ set thee as a primate of His divine Church.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Inheriting the paternal virtue of Mark as a beloved son, thou wast a successor of his divine throne, following in the footsteps of the evangelist.

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

Tended by Christ like a lamb, O father, thou didst pasture like a shepherd, thy flock, on thy spiritually nourishing discourses, feeding them grace as though it were grass and flowers.

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

Giving birth to the incarnate Word of God Who before was incorporeal, O all-hymned and most joyous one, thou hast restored the world. Wherefore, O Bride of God, with Orthodox faith we proclaim thee.

Ode V, Irmos: Thou, O Lord, who camest into the world, * art my light, * a holy light turning from the darkness of ignorance * those who sing Thy praises in faith.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Thy discourse, O Cyril, likened to a mighty torrent which floOdeth rivers, hath scoured away the craftiness of the heretics.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

The vile division of Arius and the abominable mingling of Sabellius hast thou equally consigned to the abyss, O Cyril.

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

O Cyril, like treasuries of gold and precious stones, thou hast left to the Church of Christ thine enriching discourses.

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

Let heaven sprinkle down gladness and grace upon the earth, for it now sendeth on high gladness, the only Mother of God.

Ode VI, Irmos: The church crieth out unto Thee O Lord, * ‘I will sacrifice unto Thee with a voice of praise’ * having been cleansed of the blood of the demons’ * by the blood that for mercy’s sake flowed from Thy side.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

With tongs the seraph gave the prophet an ember, and by thy hands, O initiate of the sacred mysteries, thou hast given to the Church of Christ a purifying ember from the divine Fire.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Thou didst not destroy aliens as did Samson, but cast down all the foreign doctrines of the heterodox, giving might to the Orthodox, O Cyril.

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

Manifestly heading the divinely elect council, O father, thou didst cast down the impiety of Nestorius and his Christ-opposing audacity, O father, breathing forth with zeal for the true Mother of God.

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

Thou didst bud forth the Fruit of incorrupt understanding, O Birthgiver of God, being revealed to the world as an ever-living mediator of incorruption for those who hymn thee with faith and love.

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

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

Kontakion, in Tone VI: Spec. Mel.: “Fulfilling the dispensation …”: Thou hast manifestly poured forth upon us * an abyss of the doctrines of theology * from the wellsprings of the Saviour, * drowning heresies and saving thy flock unharmed * from the threefold waves, O blessed Cyril, ** as a guide for all lands, revealing things divine, O venerable one.

Ikos: When the great, beauteous and radiant sun showeth itself at dawn, darkness is driven away and the moon retreateth, for night cannot abide therein: Shining forth with the light of day, it illumineth the air, revealing the sky as beautiful, and adorning the earth, causing plants to grow therein, it also maketh bright the sea, and adorneth the whole world. Alike in all is the most radiant Cyril, whose wise teachings save the world. For he illumineth the souls of the faithful therewith and ever vanquisheth heresies with piety; for he is a guide for all lands, revealing divine things.

Ode VII, Irmos: In the Persian furnace the youths and descendants of Abraham, * burning with a love of piety * rather than by a flame of fire, * cried aloud saying: * Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Of old Moses, entered the darkness on Mount Sinai, and received the law which slayeth by the letter; but thou, O blessed Cyril, hast disclosed the hidden beauty of the Spirit.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

As revelation was manifest to the children of old in the indistinct images of the law, O father, thou, having lifted the lid from the cup given thee, hast opened it like a rose of understanding, making manifest in speech the images.

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

Theologizing that the three Hypostases are an uncommingled indivisible divine unity but manifestly distinct, O father Cyril, thou didst utter immutable truths concerning the one Essence and Godhead.

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

The angels beheld strange things in thy birthgiving, O Mother of God: the corrupt nature of the race of mortals hastening toward the life of incorruption and the glory of heaven.

Ode VIII, Irmos: Having spread his hands, Daniel closed the lions jaws * in their den; * while the zealously pious youths, * girded with virtue, * quenched the power of the fire and cried aloud: * Bless ye the Lord, all ye works of the Lord.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Like a wave of the sea the well-spring of wisdom truly flowed forth in thee; for ever-flowing rivers of the doctrines of piety issued forth from within thee, as Christ foretold, O father; for thy divinely chosen words surpass in number, the sands.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

Thou wast a wise pastor and teacher of the Church, O venerable Cyril, manifestly interpreting both covenants; for, possessing thy discourses as an anchor and a paternal inheritance, it crieth aloud: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!

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

Thou hast taught that the indivisible, uncommingled, and ineffable union of the Word, the Fashioner of all, Who for our sake assumed flesh, O Cyril, pointed towards an individual will for each nature, crying aloud: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!

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

The Son and Word of God Who is wholly unapproachable in His essence, made His abode within thee, O most pure one, and, clothing Himself in our essence, in that He is merciful, He appeared accessible in the flesh and dwelt with us who cry aloud: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!

Ode IX, Irmos: Eve dwelt under the curse of sin * because of the infirmity of disobedience; * but thou, O Virgin Theotokos, * hast through the Offspring of thy pregnancy * blossomed forth blessing upon the world. * Wherefore, we all magnify thee.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

O Cyril, thou didst cast down the disdain directed against the understanding of Christ and His divine Mother, and all the might of the ungodly Nestorius, as well as the dual son-ship, and the mingling of essences of the Acephalites.

Hierarch of Christ, Cyril, pray to God for us.

With the power of understanding and the enlightenment of grace, O blessed one, thou didst theologize concerning the consubstantial Trinity and the incarnate Word of God; showing thyself to be a champion of the Theotokos, wherefore thou art now glorified in the highest.

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

O ever-memorable father, thou dost mercifully look down from on high upon us who hymn thee, granting victory over all heresies to our right-believing hierarchs, by thy supplications lifting up the horn of the Orthodox, and illumining those who magnify thy memory.

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

Beset by many falls and the cruelty of misfortunes, O all-hymned one, I now offer thee a sacrifice of praise and earnestly cry out to thee: O holy Theotokos, help me, for I finish my hymnody glorifying thee.

Troparion, Tone VIII: Teacher of Orthodoxy, instructor of piety and chastity, * luminary of the Church, God-inspired instructor of Hierarchs, * O supremely wise Cyril, thou hast illumined all by thy teaching; * O harp of the Spirit entreat Christ God that our souls be saved.

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