Ode I, Irmos: He Who of old gathered the waters into one at His divine behest, and parted the sea for the people of Israel, is our God and is most glorious. To Him let us chant, for He hath been glorified!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
At a loss how to traverse the waters of life’s tumult, O venerable Methodius, thou didst abandon all the beauties of this world and, fighting the invisible foe in the angelic habit, thou didst serve the one God, joyously singing: to Him alone let us chant, for He hath been glorified!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Thou wast shown to be a chosen vessel from thine infancy, O blessed Cyril, in nowise desiring to receive milk from a stranger’s breasts, thereby showing that thy mind would not be deceived by a strange doctrine, but would be illumined by the teaching of the holy Orthodox Church, and that thou thyself wouldst become the teacher and enlightener of many.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Bedewed by the waters of your teachings, even to this day the Slavic lands bring forth fruit right pleasing unto Christ the Master; wherefore, the Holy Church doth bless you, crying aloud: Deliver us from tribulations, for ye have been glorified!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The waters of sin have entered in unto my soul, O Mistress, and I am sunk in the mire of the passions. To thee do I flee, O most immaculate one: still thou the turmoil of impure thoughts and grant me peace of mind.
Ode III, Irmos: O Most High, Thou Ruler of all, Who out of non-existence hast brought all things, which are fashioned by Thy Word and made perfect by the Spirit: Confirm me in Thy love!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
O venerable Methodius, hearing with the ear of thy heart: “He who would come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow after Me,” thou didst follow Christ, shouldering the cross of the monastic life. Him do thou entreat, that in His love He establish me, who am cold.
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
He Who of old showed Jacob, in a dream, a ladder which extended up into the heavens, O holy Cyril, when thou wast a boy also in a wondrous dream betrothed thee to a maiden more lovely than all others, Sophia by name. And, behold! the wisdom which sitteth at His throne hath established thee in the love of the Most High.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
He Who hath brought all things out of non-existence, O right wondrous fathers, sanctified you for Himself as chosen vessels from your mother’s womb, that ye might bring His name before the nations. Wherefore, celebrating your honored memory, we entreat you, O Cyril and Methodius, to establish your wavering mind in the confession of the right Faith.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O pure one, who hast given peace to the world and given birth to the Origin of tranquility, still the waves of my passions and establish me upon the rock of dispassion.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional hymn of the saints, Tone IV: Thou didst liken the holy consubstantial Trinity to the sun, O divinely inspired Cyril, declaring that the visible, created sun in the sky is an image of the Holy Trinity, saying: “The solar disc is an image of God the Father, Who hath neither beginning nor end; and as a ray of light issueth forth from the solar disc, illumining the earth, so is the Son, the Effulgence of the Father, begotten of God the Father; and the warmth which giveth life to the whole world, and with the ray is poured forth from the same disc, is an image of the Holy Spirit, Who proceedeth from the same Father.” Heeding thy wondrous teaching, we also worship the one God in Trinity, blessing thy memory, O right wondrous one. 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.
Repeat the foregoing hymn.
Ode IV, Irmos: Thou hast shown us constant love, O Lord, for Thou didst give Thine only-begotten Son over to death for us. Wherefore, in thanksgiving we cry to Thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Thou didst set the keeping of the commandments as thy corner-stone, O venerable Methodius, and building the house of thy soul thereon thou didst make it a habitation of the Holy Spirit. And I, who am the abode of sin, fall down before thee, O most blessed one: cleanse me with the dew of thy prayers, that I may cry out in thanksgiving: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
“Grant that I may understand what is pleasing unto Thee, O Master!”, thou didst cry out, O blessed Cyril, when thou wast given over to study with the young emperor; wherefore, in addition to outward philosophy, thou didst receive the wisdom of the Spirit and the fear of God from on high, and didst regard earthly wisdom as nought, crying: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst set love for thy Creator like a seal upon thy heart, O most blessed Cyril; wherefore, thou didst reject an earthly betrothal and the glory of this world, and, escaping like a bird from the hunters’ snares, thou didst attain unto the calm haven of monastics and wast clothed in the robe of joy, chanting with Methodius: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Setting mine iniquities and injustices before me, I see that they have multiplied more than the sands of the sea. To thee do I flee, O most immaculate one: heal the sores of my soul, that in thanksgiving I may cry out to Him Who was born of thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Ode V, Irmos: In a vision Isaiah beheld God exalted upon a throne borne aloft by angels of glory, and he cried: O accursed am I, for I have beheld beforehand the incarnate God, the unwaning Light, Who reigneth with peace!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Thou didst flower like a fragrant lily in the wilderness, O venerable Methodius, adorning thy soul with prayer, vigils and fasting; and, having lived angelically upon the earth, with the angels thou dost now contemplate in splendour the never-waning Light Who reigneth with peace.
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Praying in the wilderness to Him Who is upborne by the angels of glory, O Cyril, thou wast prevailed upon to return to the Imperial City and adorned with priestly rank, that thou mightest show the way of salvation to men, illumining them with the light of doctrine and offering up the unbloody sacrifice to the never-waning Light Who reigneth with peace, for all.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou wast shown to be an inexhaustible well of wisdom, O God-bearing Cyril, when thou wast sent by the emperor to dispute with the Saracens, who blaspheme the all-holy Trinity; and they were unable to drown in the turgid waters of their false religion thee who art illumined from on high by the never-waning Light.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
How can I fail to fear the dread felling, since I am a barren tree, wretch that I am? Make haste quickly to her who is full of grace, O my soul; for if she will not help thee, thou wilt never behold the never-waning Light Who reigneth with peace!
Ode VI, Irmos: The uttermost abyss of sins hath engulfed me, and my spirit doth perish. But, stretching forth Thine upraised arm, O Master, save me as Thou didst Peter, O Helmsman!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
“Our God is like the deep of the sea, unfathomable by the mind and indescribable in words,” thou didst say to the Moslems who disputed with thee, O all-wise Cyril; “and some who attempt to sail across this deep in the leaky boats of their own intellect are drowned, falling into errors and heresies, while others are buffeted by incomprehension and doubt, knowing not how to chant: O Helmsman, save us, as Thou didst Peter!”
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Sunk deep in the abyss of their false understandings, the Moslems secretly offered thee deadly poison. But He Who said: “If ye drink anything deadly, it will not harm you”, preserved thee whole and returned thee with honor to the Imperial City. And, fittingly blessed by the emperor and patriarch, thou wast supremely exalted, crying: “O Helmsman, Thou hast saved me as Thou didst Peter!”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit once said to the disciples: “Separate for Me Barnabas and Saul for the task to which I have called them,” the enlightenment of the nations who are perishing in the abyss of ignorance of God; and He likewise commanded that ye be sent to the lands of the Slavs, O venerable fathers. And, illumined by the light of your teaching, people who sat in darkness and the shadow of death have cried out: “O Helmsman, Thou hast saved us as Thou didst Peter!”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The uttermost abyss of sins hath encompassed me, and, beset with trembling and terrified of utter drowning, I offer thee entreaty, O all-immaculate one: Have mercy upon my passion-plagued soul! Stretch forth thy hands, in that thou art good, and as Thy Son saved Peter, so do thou save me, O thou who dost steer my soul.
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 III: Let us honour our two sacred enlighteners, who poured forth upon us a spring of divine knowledge through their translation of the divine Scriptures. Drawing forth abundantly therefrom to this very day, we bless you, O Cyril and Methodius, who stand before the throne of the Most High and fervently pray for our souls.
Ikos: Come, ye faithful, let us praise our God-bearing fathers Methodius and Cyril, the preachers of piety who shone forth in virtue, the true pillars and foundation of the Church, the divine clarions of Christian dogmas; for having driven the darkness of unbelief away from us and burned up the impieties of heresy with the fire of the Spirit, by their translation of the Scriptures they transformed the Slavic race from wild olive-trees into a fruitful grove, through divine baptism have brought them into the Christian Faith, and have filled the whole world with a multitude of miracles; wherefore, they stand, crowned, before God Almighty. And we cry out to them: O divine fathers, peers of the apostles, entreat Christ, that He grant all the Slavic peoples steadfastness in Orthodoxy and oneness of mind, bring peace to the world, and save Thou our souls.
Ode VII, Irmos: The three children would not bow down before the golden image, the object of the Persians’ worship, but chanted in the midst of the furnace: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Abiding alone in solitude before, O Methodius, thou didst make thy soul like a divinely planted garden; but later, undertaking the apostolic preaching with the divinely wise Cyril, thou didst labor in the lands of the Slavs, where, unburnt by the fire of impiety like the youths in the furnace, ye chanted: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Thou didst best the Jews and Saracens in argument, O all-wise Cyril, and didst enlighten the land of the Khazars with holy baptism, freeing a multitude of captives, and didst transform brackish water in an arid wilderness into potable water; and, saved by thee, the people chanted: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O venerable fathers, ye were vessels chosen to bear the name of the Lord before the nations; wherefore, the Slavic peoples desired to be illumined by the light of your doctrine. And ye deemed it better to exchange the sweetness of solitude for apostolic labor, that ye might win a great many for Christ; and together with them ye chant: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
I am a vessel full of the passions, O all-holy Virgin Theotokos, and fear ultimate death and the threat of the fire. But do thou save me who am perishing, O all-pure one, and gird my spirit about with strength, that, bursting the bonds of sin, I may chant in thanksgiving: Blessed art thou who gavest birth to Him Who hath delivered the captives!
Ode VIII, Irmos: With immaterial flame the God-seeing children caused the flame of the material fire to die out, and they chanted: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Continually illumined by the immaterial fire of grace, thou didst receive the rank of priest, O blessed Cyril; and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, thou didst devise an alphabet for the Slavs, that the people, enlightened by the translation of divinely inspired books into their native speech, might chant: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
O most lauded fathers, ye first thundered out the chief heading of our Faith, the unearthly words of the son of thunder: “In the beginning was the Word”, and then the melodious Psalter, wherewith the Holy Church crieth out in gladness: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Ye have enriched us with an immaterial treasure, O right wondrous fathers, for thanks to you the divine liturgy began to be celebrated in the Slavonic language; and partaking of this grace to this day, we bless you, chanting: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The fire of temptations and evil perils hath surrounded me. To thee do I flee, O Virgin Theotokos. Disdain not the supplications of thy servant, O pure one, but deliver me from the cruel ones who beset me, that, uttering blessing, I may bless thee and exalt thy name supremely forever.
Ode IX, Irmos: Thee, the unconsumed bush, the holy Virgin, the Mother of the Light, the Theotokos, the hope of us all, do we magnify!
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
Who can praise thee fittingly, O most glorious Methodius? And who can reckon the labours thou didst apostolically undertake for the salvation of an erring people, O Cyril? We who have been taught by you to glorify God Most High in our native tongue magnify you in oneness of mind.
Holy Fathers, Cyril and Methodius, pray to God for us.
When thou hadst completed thy work and finished the race, O blessed Cyril, thou didst receive word of thy repose from on high, and, accepting it joyfully, thou didst chant: “My spirit was glad because of them that said unto me, Let us go into the courts of the Lord!” And yearning for the heavens, thou wast borne aloft in soul, where with the hosts of heaven thou dost continually magnify the consubstantial Trinity.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Receiving the episcopacy of the Church of Moravia, O venerable Methodius, in proclaiming the Holy Faith thou didst undertake many labours and struggles, and didst endure many tribulations and persecutions; and, rejoicing now in the highest with the holy Cyril, pray for us, that we may continually magnify you as our helpers and mediators.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Theotokion: O thou who art more exalted than the angels and more honourable than the cherubim, we pray thee: through the intercession of the holy Cyril and Methodius have pity on our lowliness, lead us up from the depths of sin, and deliver us from everlasting damnation, that with them we may magnify thee, the Theotokos and Mother of the Light, and our hope.
Troparion, Tone IV: In that ye share the ways of the apostles, O divinely wise Cyril and Methodius, ye teachers of the Slavic lands, entreat the Master of all, that He confirm all the Slavic nations in Orthodoxy and oneness of mind, grant peace to the world and save our souls.