Theotokia, or Stanzas to the Mother of God, from the Greek Menaia

^A ruined, he took away the wall of enmity standing between us, established peace, and bestowed life and divine redemption.

Virgin chaste, you remained so after birth, O most holy; for you gave birth to God the Word, who became like us, without sin. Heal the wounds of my heart, O Maiden, and direct the movements of my soul on a straight and happy path to perform the will of God, O Virgin.

Hail, lone Mother of Him who begged for our flesh; hail, raising up of the fallen world, O most immaculate; hail, dissolution of sorrow; hail, salvation of the faithful; hail, most high throne of God.

Revolving in their minds, the divine-speaking prophets proclaimed the depth of your mystery, O Virgin, prophetically, illuminated by the divine Spirit; and we, now seeing the forecasts fulfilled in deed, gaze with great joy and believe. ^B O more-than-admirable Maiden, you bore Him for us who is before all ages and who was made like us through His extreme compassion, that He might save those who sing: Blessed are You, the God of our fathers.

Following your divine words, the generations of men call you blessed, O ever-blessed one, sweetly singing together: Bless the Lord, all you works. ^C O Virgin, lover of good things, make good my soul, which has been corrupted by the malice of sin; for you gave birth to the good God and Lord.

*From the Canon on the Vigil of the Lights, or Epiphany, day 3.*

O miracle of miracles! How is it that our God, who is above all creation, is created and formed from the Mother of God; and by His own will, He renews and fashions us again out of water and spirit, a most wonderful creation, He the only Benefactor? ^D The Cherubim and every heavenly nature shudder, O most immaculate one, out of reverence for your incomprehensible and venerable Offspring, who became like us through His ineffable mercy and was baptized in the flesh; whose divine appearance we now all celebrate with rejoicing.

*From the Canon on the holy seventy apostles, day 4.*

Let us honor the divine palace of the King, in which He dwelt as He willed; let us praise the unwedded and only Theotokos, through whom we have been deified. ^D Truly, you appeared as Virgin-Mother, chaste before birth, in birth, and after birth; for you gave birth to God, whom the assembly of the apostles manifestally proclaimed. ^D The most blessed choir of prophets of old...

[Note: To the Bishop of Cythera, Antonius Pinellus of Venice published in 1529, in quarto. But since in the Menæa, of which we have spoken, there are very many canons of our Joseph scattered throughout each month concerning the praises of the saints, all those things from among them which pertained to the Theotokos have been culled, and now present themselves to the eyes of the pious to be read.]

^A in the Spirit, invokes thee divinely, O most pure one, as the gate and the shaded mountain.

Illumine, O Virgin, the eyes of my heart; shine upon me with the ray of repentance; deliver me from the everlasting darkness, O gate of light, refuge of all Christians who faithfully sing thy praises.

I praise thee, the only one worthy of all praise; I glorify thee, O ever-glorified by God; and I call thee blessed, whom generations of generations call blessed, O Virgin most blessed by God.

Thou hast become an expiation, O most pure one, for those who are always sinning, having given birth in an order above nature to Christ who takes away the sin of the world, to whom we cry out: Blessed art Thou, O Lord and God of our fathers.

^B O miracle surpassing all miracles! How dost thou give birth and remain a Virgin, O most pure bride of God? For thou hast brought forth the Word, co-eternal with the Father, to whom we all sing: Praise the Lord, all ye works, and superexalt Him unto all ages.

The splendor of the lightning of thy delivery shone forth and brightened the whole world, and destroyed the prince of darkness, O most pure Mother of God, the boast of angels and the salvation of all men who celebrate thee with unceasing voices.

From the Canon for our holy Mother Domnica, day 8.

Before birth thou wert incorrupt, O pure one, and after birth thou remained Mother of God, in a manner above nature; wherefore Domnica, desiring thee in the Holy Spirit, was led after thee, incorrupt, to thy son, the King of all, O immaculate one.

Strengthen, O most immaculate Lady, my weakness, [thou] who gavest birth to the power of the Most High, who grantest being to all, and who magnified the memory of Domnica.

Adam cast off the tunics of mortality by thy divine birth, and clothed himself in the robe which the Word alone, becoming incarnate, wove in thy womb.

Thou hast brought forth the Holy Lord of all, O Giver of the Lord, whom Domnica, desiring from her soul, dominates the death-dealing passions, O Virgin, praising thee.

^D For my sake, like unto me, that infant became, He who is most perfect, that He might renew me, grown old from passions, through thee, most holy bride of God.

My strength, and my praise, and my salvation is the Lord, who chose thee beforehand as a most pure Mother and an unwedded bride; before whom do not cease to intercede for thy servants, O immaculate one.

The supersubstantial God becomes substance for our sake from thy bowels, desiring to renew the corrupted substance through pity, O Virgin, and through mercy, He who is glorified unto all ages.

Spare me, O Lord, spare me, when Thou shalt come to judge,

^A and do not condemn me to the fire, do not reprove me in Thy wrath. The Virgin who gave Thee birth, O Christ, entreats Thee together with the hosts of angels and the orders of the saints.

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus, day 13.

The Lord, who cannot be grasped or contained by any creature, is contained within Thee, O Lady, having become mortal through His mercy, so that He might save mortals through His ineffable love for mankind.

O most holy one, who didst give birth to the most holy Word, sanctify our souls and bodies, while we bless Thee who art worthy of all praise.

The new infant, the Lord who is before the ages, appearing from the Virgin and becoming mortal, renews human nature. Let us sing to Him: Glory to Thy power, O Lord.

Thou didst give birth to God beyond speech and thought, and Thou didst remain a virgin after birth as Thou wast before birth, O chaste one, most dear to God.

Cause the waves of my fleshly passions to rest, I pray Thee, O Maiden, and as it were to fall asleep, through Thy ever-vigilant intercession; and do not allow me to fall into the deepest sleep of sin.

Thee, who didst bear in Thy womb the Manna of life, that ancient jar which contained the manna most truly and clearly prefigured. Blessed art Thou among women, O most pure Lady. ^C

Through Thee the ancient Paradise is opened once again, and man, formerly condemned, is brought into it, and is truly deified, O chaste one, full of God’s grace, the lump of mortals who cry out: All ye works, praise the Lord.

The Cherubim shudder, seeing that Word who is inexpressibly present among them and who rests there, held as an infant in the arms of Thy mother, O most holy Lady, who surpassest in the height of Thy dignity all created things.

From the other Canon for the same saints.

Check the floods of my sins, Thou who didst dry up the corruption of death by Thy birth; and grant me compunction, O most pure Mother of God. ^D

That turning sword, which used to bar the entrance to Paradise, blushes and is filled with shame, seeing the lance which pierced Thy Son, O Virgin Mother—He who was born of Thee.

Awaken me from sloth, for I am asleep and covered in sins; call me to repentance, O most chaste one, as Mother of the Word.

As fair, as beautiful, as radiant with the brightness of purity, Thou didst embody the Word who is beautiful in form and didst give Him birth, O Virgin Mother: He who by divine operation gives existence to all from the riches of His goodness.

Heal, O Virgin Mother of God, as one who is compassionate, the passions of my infirm soul, and the pain of my heart, O Virgin, and the wanderings of my

and calm the grievous storm of my passions, I beseech thee.

Loosing the curse of Eve, thou didst dwell in a womb free from all stain, pouring forth a fountain of blessing to those who cry aloud: Blessed, O most pure one, is the fruit of thy womb.

He who is in all things perfect and by nature inaccessible, was made accessible to me, being clothed in flesh from thee, O unwedded one; whom do thou fervently beseech to scatter the burden of my iniquities, and to save me as I sing: Priests, bless; O ye people, superexalt Christ unto all ages.

Spare me, O Savior, who wast born and didst keep her who bore thee undefiled after the birth, when thou shalt sit to judge my works, overlooking my iniquities and my sins, as one sinless, as a merciful God and lover of mankind.

From the Canon to Saint John the Hut-Dweller, day 18.

By the grievous assaults of my passions, O Virgin, being tossed by a tempest, and shaken by the onslaughts of sin, I flee with longing to thy sleepless protection, O all-praised one. Have mercy on me, and save me, O Ever-Virgin.

As a myrrh-breathing rose, O undefiled one, did the Pure One find thee in the valleys, and He dwelt in the midst of thee, filling the human race with most sweet fragrance.

Direct the impulses of my soul, O all-immaculate one, toward the divine commandments of Him who shone forth from thy womb, delivering me by thy intercessions from the tempest of the scandals of this life.

Thou didst bear Emmanuel, the Lord of all, without the seed of a man, remaining a virgin even after the birth, O Virgin-Mother; whom do thou unceasingly entreat to deliver from the invasions of enemies those who flee under thy protection.

The Word, who is co-equal in operation and upon the throne with His Begetter, thou didst embody from thy womb, O chaste one, because of His ineffable compassion, having assumed our whole nature.

We praise thy birth-giving, O blessed one, through which we were redeemed from ancient condemnation; and we call thee blessed, O divinely-blessed one, whom alone He loved who is blessed and super-glorious.

A perennial river thou pourest forth for us who flee to thee, O chaste one; of whose abundant grace tasting, we praise thy birth-giving, O most inviolate one, and superexalt it unto all eternity.

Thy womb became the dwelling-place of Light, through whom those who sat in darkness have seen the light; whence we continually praise thee with unceasing voices, O Mother of God, and with longing we venerate the hope of our souls.

From the Canon to the Adoration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-Praised Apostle Peter, day 16.

All the swords of the deceitful enemy have failed, O undefiled Virgin.

^A Since that time when that Word, who dwelt within your undefiled womb, was wounded by the lance, I beseech you now to wound my heart with his most sweet love.

Death halted when it reached you, its unbridled impetus [(50)] checked; for you alone gave birth to the fountain of immortality, O Mother of God, Virgin Mother.

As the King of all, inhabiting your holy womb as a spacious palace, he appeared incarnate, O most pure Lady. Burdened as I am, O undefiled one, by the weight of many sins, lift me up now, strengthening me to bear the most light yoke of Christ. Our first father was clothed in the leather tunics of mortality; but the Creator is clothed in him, having become incarnate from your blood beyond all understanding, O all-blameless one.

He who descended upon the earth as rain, O Virgin, watered the whole earth with divine knowledge, and showed you to be more honorable than all the angels, O pure one. The prophet of old prefigured you as an intellectual candelabra, O Mother of God, bearing the divine lamp which enlightened those who were formerly overshadowed by the many darknesses of evil. You became a dwelling-place of light: therefore enlighten me, O maiden, darkened by all the unbelief of the enemy, so that in faith I may magnify you, O most holy Mother-Virgin.

From the Canon to the Holy Martyrs Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Meleusippus, on the 16th day [(50')]

You appeared as an unplowed earth, O most august Mother of God, most chaste; you brought forth for us the provider of all, the Lord Jesus, of whom we partake and are recalled to life. Seeing God incarnate from you, O chaste Virgin Mother of God, we properly confess you, who were clearly the cause of the reformation of all things. That superessential One, who was without flesh, became incarnate from your venerable blood, O most chaste one; and having become flesh without any change, he conversed with men. The laws of nature are truly made new in you, O most pure Virgin: for you remain a Virgin after the birth, just as you were before the birth, having given birth to Christ the Lawgiver. Heal the passions of my miserable soul, O ^B most chaste Mother of God; render my mind, which is tossed like a storm by the invasions of the enemy, tranquil and peaceful, O maiden. ^C Jesus, the planter of all, truly found you to be a rose in the midst of thorns in the valleys of this world, O chaste Virgin, and born from your womb, he poured over us the most sweet fragrance of divine knowledge. We have acknowledged you as the spiritual candelabra, O Virgin Mary, for you received the inaccessible light, and you illuminated the souls of all the faithful and eliminated the darkness of sin. With voices full of thanksgiving we cry out to you: Hail, most pure dwelling-place of immaterial light; hail, cause of the deification of all; hail, dissolution of the curse; hail, recall of the exiled children of earth.

From the Canon to the Holy Martyr Neophytus, on the 21st day

Having given birth to the Creator by nature, you have deified the whole substance of those born of the earth; therefore we rightly confess you to be the Theotokos, O Virgin, Bride of God. The race of mortals ever offers a hymn of thanksgiving to you, Mother of God, having obtained immortality through you.

^A You have brought forth the One who, being super-divine, voluntarily became poor through the riches of His goodness, in order to show compassion for our poverty. The divine mystery, hidden before all ages, O maiden most immaculate, has been made known through you to the ends of the earth: Your Son and the Word of God, who became flesh and deified man, O Virgin. You have shown yourself to be the most radiant throne of the heavenly King, O Virgin, in whom He rested in the flesh of His own will, and took away our great weariness, and established man upon the paternal throne, as He was pleased to do. You appeared higher than the angels, having given birth to the Angel of Great Counsel, O pure Theotokos, to whom we all sing: "Blessed are You, O Lord God, unto the ages." You have given birth to a New Child, the One born of the Father ineffably before all creation, O all-pure One; therefore, entreat Him now to renew me, grown old in sins, and to save me as I cry out: "Children, bless; priests, praise; O people, supremely exalt Christ unto the ages." ^B You, O Bride of God, who like tongs have carried the heavenly coal, burn up the brush-like passions of my heart, and deliver me, I pray, from the fire of Gehenna, that I may glorify you, the hope of the faithful, O most worthy of all praise.

From the Canon to the holy martyr Agathangelus, on the 23rd day.

You have given birth, O Virgin, to the Lord who became incarnate out of ineffable compassion, He whom Agathangelus desired, and so departed from the flesh after a wondrous contest, with whom we hymn you. ^C O marvelous mystery! How has the Virgin been shown to be more spacious than the heavens, conceiving in her womb, without being straitened, Him whom no limit can contain or define? We always bless you, O blessed Mother of God, through whom we have been made worthy of glory, and have received back the ancient Paradise which we had lost. Show yourself, O Virgin unwedded, to be the deliverer of us all from temptations, dangers, and tribulations, as we hymn you with affection. Free me, O pure One, from the death-dealing sleep of negligence, and strengthen me, O Lady, to keep watch in divine hymns and good works, that I may be able to praise you with affection. ^D You have become the word of an inexplicable mystery, O Virgin; for you contained without being straitened God, who is in all things incomprehensible, and you gave birth to Him, and nourished Him at your breasts, when He willed to show mercy to us who confess you to be the Theotokos. Your people, O Virgin, who glorify you, have you as a powerful intercession, and consolation, and a hope that is not confounded, an unassailable wall, and divine protection; and having attained salvation, it cries out with most sweet voices: "Bless, all you works of the Lord, the Lord forever."

^A You illuminate the world, O most pure one, shedding forth light, which before the ages shone from the Father beyond understanding. Therefore I cry out to you: Drive away the darkness of turbulent thoughts from my heart, that I may praise you, O chaste one.

In an unspeakable manner you contained the Word, who became like us for the sake of his supreme goodness; and you truly gave birth to that same one in two wills and one person: therefore we proclaim you, O Virgin, the immaculate and inviolate Mother of God, so that they may attain eternal glory and light, O most immaculate Virgin, who are the help of the faithful.

58 The human race offers to you a hymn of thanksgiving, for it has received immortality as its lot through you. Lady, immune to the marriage bed, you who gave birth to the Word incarnate, illuminate my soul, and free me from Gehenna and punishment. Do not cease to deliver me from captivity, and from the deadly tempest that presses upon me from all sides, and from the most grievous passions that drive me to death, O holiest maiden, refuge of sinners, and prompt help of men. The Lord, having entered your womb like a most beautiful bridegroom, proceeded from it supernaturally, and adorned men with immortality, and saved those who recognize you as the true and chaste Mother of God. The light, having arisen from your womb, illuminated the circle of the earth, O Virgin, and utterly eliminated everywhere the mist of demons and the darkness of ignorance, O Jesus, giver of light.

^B Make me stable, O Virgin, by your intercessions upon the rock 59 of truth; and never allow me to be tripped up by the snares of the deceiver, O most dear to God, that I may faithfully call you blessed.

As though we were enriched by a propitiatory, as though by a fervent patronage before God, we your servants have you, O inviolate one, immune from every stain: free us from eternal torments while we sing your praises. The Lord was incarnate without change from your chaste blood, O Virgin, all-pure, and recall all of us, entangled in the snares of errors, to divine life, while we praise you, O most worthy of all praise. Distill upon me, O most chaste Lady, the showers of divine compunction, that I may mourn and cleanse myself entirely from the filth of my immense sins. Wounded and cast down by the sword of sin, I am dead. You who gave birth to Christ, who by his own death took away death, restore me to life and salvation by your life-giving patronage. The most sacred tongues of the prophets, foretelling, called you the fertile mountain, O most immaculate and chaste maiden; the gate unspeakably bringing forth the Sun of justice, who illuminates our hearts with divine splendors, while we cry out: The Lord, etc.

^C Free me from the most fearful necessity, O chaste Virgin, when the time shall come in which your Son and Lord will come, to examine all things by true judgment, and to render to each according to their merit rewards or punishments, while all the orders of the heavenly host stand round with trembling.

60 MONTH OF FEBRUARY. From the Canon to Saint Simeon the God-receiver, the 3rd day.

He who is full is emptied; he who was before the ages begins to be; the Word becomes thickened; the Creator is created; the incomprehensible is contained, becoming embodied in your womb, O most favored by God. Seeing you, O all-blameless one, as an intelligible pair of tongs bearing the divine coal—the one who became embodied from your blood beyond understanding—Simeon blessed you with joy. He who carries all things by his hand, being carried in the arms of the Ever-Virgin, made her transcend even the cherubim ^D

^A as the Mother who bore Him, whom let us praise, and piously bless.

He who is by nature immutable appeared as man, being born of you, yet did not burn your womb, and delivered all who were held by corruption, O most pure Mother of God.

The most wicked foe seeks to hunt me daily, but do you deliver me from his snares, O Lady, and keep me safe under the divine protection of your wings.

He who was most full, not emptying the immaculate bosom of the Father who begat Him, sits in your bosom, O chaste one, as an infant, preparing for those to whom He wished to be likened, O immaculate one, a holy seat manifestly.

As a lily, as a most fragrant rose, as a divine scent-box, the most divine Word gathered you, O most chaste Bride of God; and He inhabited your womb, filling with sweet odor our nature filled with the stench of sin, O Mary, Mother of God.

When Simeon the elder saw you, O Mother of God, as Mother of God, he said as a prophet: ^B Behold, your Son is set for the resurrection and the fall of many, O Lady, and as an impenetrable sign.

From the Canon to Saint Bucolus, Bishop of Smyrna, Day 6.

The Only-Begotten, co-existing with the Father beyond understanding, being incarnated in your womb, O chaste one, in a manner worthy of God, deified mortal men, on account of the multitude of His mercies, as the most benign One.

Be a harbor to me, and a guard, to me who am always tossed without ceasing by the terrible storms of the passions in the sea of this life, O chaste one, only always-virgin.

^C Manifestly, in the bush, Moses saw you prefigured in a holy manner, as the one who would mystically appear as the bearer of the divine fire, O Mother of God, always-virgin.

The laws of nature, Jesus, the God who is above all substance, renovates, O all-blameless one, being born from your womb, He who alone brought all substance into being by His will.

O gate of grace, who opened to mortals the heavenly gate, open to me, O Lady, the gates of repentance clearly, and deliver me from the gates of death. ^D

Delivered from the ancient condemnation by your childbirth, O all-blameless one, we who have been saved through you hymn you, O Maiden, crying out and saying faithfully: Blessed is the fruit of your womb, O chaste one.

The divine company of the prophets was holily initiated into your mysteries, O Mother of God, having learned from afar and clearly setting forth the divine signs of your divine childbirth.

By the voice of the angel, you conceived the Angel of the great counsel, O chaste one, Christ Emmanuel, who joins those below with the angels, O only blessed one, only ...

cause of our deification.

From the Canon to the holy Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsacus, 7th day

^A O you who have brought forth the good God, O spotless one, make good my humble heart, which is corrupted by many passions, and strengthen me to perform the will of our Redeemer, who wills that all men should be saved. The Lord conversed with men by having taken flesh from you in an inexplicable manner; therefore, O all-holy one, entreat Him to have mercy on me, who am worn down by the attacks of the serpent and am being cast down. O Virgin, heal the wounds of my soul; bring peace to my mind, which is torn by passions and darkened by the transgressions of the commandments of the Savior. ^B From the darkening of passions, O Maiden, from the scandals arising from the snares of the Alien, and from the eternal torments that await me, deliver me, I beseech you, by your intercessions to the Lover of mankind. Do not place me among the condemned on the day of judgment; do not shame me before all as one devoid of feeling, O my God, my Creator, having as my intercessor her who conceived you without seed, the Lady. You were seen, O all-blameless one, as holier than the powers above; for you gave body to God, whom the bodiless ranks

(51) It is a distinguished praise of the Theotokos that she was always kept untainted by any sin with regard to the state of grace, and was positioned far from the curse and subjection to the devil, outside the common defilement of nature. Therefore, by this praise, of which she is most worthy, she ought to be celebrated by all who desire to praise her. Furthermore, that this praise of the Theotokos is everywhere excellent, it ought to be beyond all doubt. It is most a matter of wonder that the Abulensis, although he thinks excellently of the conception of Mary, affirms that she was immune from sin, and pronounces that to be safer and clearly more eligible, at length arrived at saying: "The praise and glory of the Theotokos is not changed or diminished in this, if it is said that she incurred original sin, as those think who do not penetrate the nature of original sin": ^C since it is no small glory to be always like to God, and to have been exempt by the benefit of God from the state of unlikeness to God, which is original sin, and likewise from the stain of sin, which by its nature corrupts and infects, nay even kills the soul: just as, on the contrary, his praise is not diminished, who is supposed to be sullied by that stain. See Velasquez, *De Maria immaculate concepta*, lib. 11, dissertat. 5, annot. 1, where he shows that the most holy Virgin cannot be praised according to her dignity, unless to the common praises of the Theotokos that is added, which is surely that she was immaculately conceived. Moreover, Ambrosius Catharinus in his disputation *Pro immaculata conceptione*, lib. 1, acting against some who said that it did not pertain to the praise of Mary that she was preserved from the stain of original sin, says among other things: "What they add, furthermore, that it pertains little to the praise of the Lady that we ascribe to her the privilege of preservation from original sin, is absolutely unthinkable. Do they, I ask, think the foulness of sin, the wrath and enmity of God, and ^D slavery to the devil to be a small evil, even if one were held by these great evils for a short moment? But those who see the matter with spiritual eyes do not think so. Wherefore they judge it to be a great thing that she was saved from this so miserable condition by a singular gift, just as that woman herself, exulting in spirit, professed (Luke 1): *For He who is mighty has done great things for me.* But if we were to profess this gift, even in itself, to be small, yet surely it would become great, both by the excellence of the Giver, and also by the singularity of it, to whom alone it was given; for, as someone said excellently, even small gifts, when bestowed by great princes, are reckoned great and favorable. Finally, if that man, the diligent examiner and prudent appraiser of spiritual things, Augustine, could not without horror think about the flesh of Mary, once dead, being subject to corruption for any point of time (as he himself testifies), how much less should this certainly be thought concerning that most sacred soul, that it could truly be said to have been corrupted by sin, subject to the power of the devil, and finally, for any moment, even an enemy to God? But why do I delay further? When even in this place they fight diametrically against the opinion of the Blessed Thomas? For what they make of such little account, Thomas himself on the contrary makes so much of, that he therefore denies it is fitting for Mary, because it seemed too exalted, in that by it she seemed to be made equal to Christ. We, however, as we will declare in our own places, confess that it is indeed great, yet not so great that it ascends to the Majesty of Christ. Wherefore it is completely frivolous what they added, that it suffices that she be celebrated as the Mother of God, and that alone in place of all praise; for by this very reasoning they would conclude that she not be praised as Virgin, that she not be honored as sanctified, and that her glorious Assumption, and other titles of prerogatives in which she abounds, should be passed over in silence. Thus Catharinus in the cited place.

^A and the hosts of the incorporeal ones glorify with trembling. Supplicate Him, therefore, always to show mercy to those who glorify you.

Cleanse me, O chaste one, from the stains of passions that cling to me, and, I pray, illuminate my heart, darkened by the obscurity of demons, through your intercession, so that I may bless you, O Lady, most blessed by God.

Illuminate me with your light, as I lie in the darkness of terrible sloth, O you who are full of divine grace, and who do not at all intend to keep the laws of God, so that I may dutifully bless you as my patroness.

^B

From the Canon for the Holy Hieromartyr Blasius, on the 11th.

He who is pure, having found you altogether pure, dwelt in your womb, O chaste Virgin-Mother, and became flesh without sin, that He might deliver us from deceit.

You, who have appeared more eminent than all creatures, as being holier than all, generations of men bless with praise, O you who are blessed by God.

The prophet foresaw you as a new law, holding the Word of God inscribed, O maiden, who tore up the bond of the sin of our first parents.

We praise you, Mary, who deified the human mass by your ineffable birth-giving, and refashioned us, who were corrupted and broken by the deceit of the serpent, O all-pure one.

^C

O most holy one, throne of God, higher than the cherubim, cloud of light, illuminate the eyes of my soul, O all-pure one, and cleanse my heart from the mist of passions.

The sleep of sin, death-bearing, has seized me, kept by the drowsiness of negligence; therefore, raise me up to the life-giving light of repentance, O chaste one, and save me.

Holy voices proclaimed you, O Virgin-Mother, O maiden, as one destined to be the nurse of your Creator, possessing an ineffable birth-giving as well as a strange conception; therefore we praise you unto all ages.

You carry in your arms, O chaste Virgin-Mother, Christ, who holds the entire inhabited world in His hand; Him, as your Son and Creator, supplicate to save the souls of those who sing your praises.

^D

From the Canon for the Holy Apostle Archippus, on the 19th.

The divine-speaking prophets, seeing [it] from afar with prophetic eyes, O all-pure one, the dread [mystery] of your divine birth-giving which is beyond the mind.

They have manifested, O most chaste and inviolate one, that mystery in various ways and figures. ^A You were shown to be clearly a temple of God, O all-pure one, and a pure tabernacle, and a dwelling place worthy of God. As a shady mountain, Habakkuk foresaw you long ago, O all-perfect one, carrying the Word, who overshadows all men from the heat of transgressions and the burning of sins, O Virgin. The Lord chose you alone out of all generations, O Theotokos, and became incarnate from you, deifying human nature. Adam, having put off life, put on death in Paradise, O Virgin; but by your life-bearing birth-giving, O all-holy Bride of God, he was made immortal. The Lord, who clothes the earth in mist and the heaven in clouds, O Virgin, wishing to clothe Himself in mortal flesh from your blood, clothes man in a robe of immortal glory. Adam became dead through one eating, having harvested death from the tree of knowledge. But through you, O immaculate one, he was restored to life, and received back again the food of Paradise, crying out: Bless the Lord, all you works. Bearing Christ in your arms—Him who by a nod supports all things—supplicate Him as your Son, O all-pure one, to release me from the hands of the enemy, and because of the abyss of His mercy, to sustain me and, as it were, carry me in His arms and save me.

From the Canon to the holy Leo, Bishop of Catania, day 20

You have been established as the temple of God, O immaculate Virgin Theotokos, who dwelt within you beyond the mind, and banished the error of the souls of mortals. ^B O tongs of the divine and light-bearing coal, and bush unburned by the fire of the Godhead, burn up all my brush-like passions, and snatch me from the everlasting fire. He who is contained by nothing, O all-pure one, is contained in your womb, saving me by His goodness, since I am swallowed up in sins. Having seen long ago in most inspired fashion, O full of divine grace, the holy prophets [proclaimed] the depth of the mystery—

^D ...that the Deipara is called [such], it must be asserted that every stain of sin, whether actual or original, had been entirely removed from her.

(54) To effect the body of Christ in the Eucharist, an immaculate host is required, and it is offered to God thus: "We offer to Thee, O Lord, an immaculate host": which is understood to persist everywhere clean and as unleavened bread without any leaven. Therefore, in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God had to take flesh from an immaculate and most pure Mother subject to no old leaven, as learned authors observe that in ancient times, on the hosts in which the body of Christ was to be consecrated, images of the Mother of God were carved, so that the immunity of the Deipara from the stain of sin might be explained by the immaculate host of the Eucharist. See Velasquez, *De Maria Concepta*, book II, dissert. 2, annotat. 1, n. 5.

^A of your venerable and chaste delivery; in various ways, just as they were able to grasp it, they foretold it.

Sanctify my soul, O Virgin, you who gave birth to the holy Word, who truly rests, as is fitting, in his saints, our only God; and grant me, O all-immaculate one, the rains of true compunction.

The fire of the Godhead, which illuminates all the ends of the earth with divine splendors, received a body from your womb, yet it did not consume it: therefore, O Virgin Mother, we praise you.

He who accomplishes all things by his will, O all-immaculate one and blessed one, willed it and dwelt in your womb, and was seen as flesh, and deified me who had been previously corrupted by the wicked counsel of the deceiver.

I tremble, O sole King, at your second coming and I am afraid, having committed measureless sins against you, and not improving through repentance; but, as you are good, turn me back and save me, O Jesus, through the most acceptable intercessions of her who gave birth to you.

^B *From the Canon to Saint Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza, on the 26th day.*

You who received the celestial rain in your womb, O Theotokos, Virgin, have dried up the rains of sin.

Deliver me, O undefiled one, by your intercessions from the darts of the enemy, and from the thoughts that ruthlessly invade my heart.

Me who was dead, O all-pure one, you brought back to life again, as you gave birth to the Life that subsists, the Son and Word of the Begetter.

The Creator chose you alone out of all generations, and having dwelt in you, O Theotokos Ever-Virgin, he refashions us.

The first-created man, dead and subjected to corruption, O Virgin Mary, you translated to immortality ^C when you gave birth to the Destroyer of death; and you showed those born of the earth to be heavenly, having gave a body to God.

Have mercy on me and save me, O Virgin, you who gave birth to the merciful God the Word, and illuminate me with the light that is in you, as I cry out: Blessed, O all-pure one, is the fruit of your womb.

As you are higher than all creatures and broader than the heavens, O Virgin Mother, your Son loved you and took flesh from you.

Spare me, Savior, you who were born and preserved her who gave birth to you incorrupt after childbearing, when you sit to judge my works, overlooking my iniquities and my sins, as one who is sinless, compassionate as God, and lover of mankind.

^D *From the Canon to Saint Procopius the Decapolite, on the 27th day.*

Having conceived the Word, who was formerly immune to flesh, in a manner worthy of God and fitting, O all-chaste Virgin, you bore Him to us in a manner surpassing nature, and after birth you remained a virgin.

^A The laws of nature, Jesus, who is God above every essence, renewed, O you who are immune from every stain, when he sprang from your womb; he who alone grants being to all things by his will. O gate of grace, who opened the gate of heaven to mortals; open to me, O Lady, the gates of repentance, and deliver me from the gates of death. Redeemed from the ancient sentence of the curse by your giving birth, O most inviolate Maiden, and saved through you, we extol you with praises, crying out and saying with faith: Blessed are you, who gave birth to the incarnate God. The divine college of the Prophets was initiated into your mysteries, O Mother of God, long before, being instructed and clearly setting forth the divine appellations of your divine childbearing. At the voice of the angel, you brought forth in the flesh Christ Emmanuel, the Angel of the great counsel, who joined men to angels; O Virgin maiden, alone blessed, alone to be celebrated with all praises, alone the cause of our deification.

From the canon for our holy Father Cassian the confessor, 29th day

MONTH OF MARCH

From the canon for the holy martyr Hesychius, 2nd day

^A Death persisted until you, O most holy one; for you gave birth to the fountain of immortality, Christ our only most good God. Having blossomed forth the incorruptible cluster, O maiden, you appeared as one who pours out the sweetness of immortality for all, O immaculate one and mother who knew no wedlock. You alone on earth have given birth to Him who is in heaven, the divine Word, whom all creation praises as Creator and Lord. The Lord, having dwelt in your holy womb, O Theotokos, makes those who now call you blessed with true faith become the delightful dwellings of the Trinity. Us who were all dead through sin, having given birth to Life, you have revived; therefore we cry out to you, O maiden and God-bearer, ever-glorious. The most holy prophet calls you an unpassable gate, O inviolate one, through which none may pass, and the Creator alone passed, as He alone knows, leaving it closed just as it was before birth. Light has risen for us from you, O most immaculate one, the only Lord of all, and He has brightened the hearts of all with divine knowledge and lessened the darkness of ignorance; whence we all call you blessed.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyr Theodotus, on the 6th day

Human nature at one time became slave to seduction through deceit. But when you, O inviolate one, gave birth to Christ, having obtained freedom, it venerates Him with great voices. Heal my mind, O most chaste one, which languishes, struck by the blows of the most wicked Dragon, and serves captive to sins. Most luminous Palace of the Lord, most holy Lady, make us dwellings of the Holy Spirit, while in your holy house we offer praise to the Lord. You conceived God who was made man, O Lady; therefore generations of generations incessantly call you blessed. Together with the heavenly choirs, we all cry out to you; Hail, Mother of God; animated heaven, most glorious palace, and fiery throne, in which Christ rested according to the flesh. Christ our God, who dwelt in your womb, O immaculate one, ^B having cleansed human nature from every defilement, O inviolate one, having given birth to the super-celestial Son made man, you have renewed us, who were worn out by antiquity: and now we cry out, O chaste one: Praise the Lord, all you works. Light, which shone forth ineffably from the Father before the morning star, you have brought forth to us, O Virgin, and dissipating the darkness of ignorance, you have illuminated and gladdened those who sat in the shadow of sin.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Theodore, Constantine, etc., on the 6th day

O most holy Virgin, divine ornament of the athletes, you who gave birth to Christ, beautiful in beauty, beseech Him to adorn my soul. The company of the forty-two holy martyrs, struggling, proclaimed you overtly as the truest Mother of God most high, who emboldened the same by your intercessions in the struggle. The divine martyrs, knowing you to be a chaste mother, O maiden, and celebrating the glory in you, inherited immortal gifts in the highest. Direct the motions of my mind, I pray, O inviolate one, toward God, who is the way of life, and who has made smooth the paths of the triumphant martyrs leading to the heavenly things.

^A The Deipara, a maiden, beyond the laws of nature and above the order of the same nature, brought forth Thee, O Christ, who truly crowned the martyrs who struggled lawfully for the faith.

You are a scroll most new, O inviolate one, who held the Word written within you, who in the book of the living inscribed His own divine athletes, who most exactly fulfilled the things that were written.

The divine archangel, appearing to you as the harbinger of divine nuptials, O chaste and inviolate one, cried out: Hail, O fiery throne of God, the support of the triumphant martyrs who confessed that God was manifested in the flesh.

O receptacle of light, most dear to God, with your illuminating rays enlighten my heart, driving away the clouds of sloth and eliminating the darkness of sin; you who brought forth God, who is free from every stain of sin.

72. From the canon to the holy martyrs Basil, Ephraim, etc., on day 7.

The penalty of the first parents was removed, O chaste and inviolate one, by your ineffable birth-giving; and to them the former entry to Paradise was opened, wherefore they celebrate you with a loud voice.

O Virgin, totally chaste and inviolate, you brought forth that most powerful Lord, who liberated men from the power of the enemy.

You brought the dead men to life, O Virgin, having given birth beyond all grasp of thought to Christ our God, who for His mercy’s sake became man.

Blessed is that people that acknowledges you, O most immaculate one, as the Mother of the Lord of all, and with affection calls you blessed.

The shadows of the Law, and the ænigmas of the prophets, prefigured you, O most pure Virgin, who were to conceive and bring forth through the ineffable Word Him who would bring salvation to the world.

The Word of God, who with His hand formed Eve, desiring to reform the universe, received from your womb, O maiden, the human form, beginning to be, though with the Father and the Holy Spirit He is coeternal and coequal.

^D The supersubstantial God, born of you, O inviolate one, appeared as man, with two natures, operations, and wills; appearing manifestly to those to whom He willingly became similar. Wherefore we cry to Him: All you works, praise the Lord.

The maiden most dear to God, carrying in her arms Christ, who with His hand carries all things, struck with awe, cried out, saying: How do I see You as both my Son and my Creator, O incomprehensible one?

73. From the canon to St. Quadratus and the martyrs with him, on day 10.

From the filth of the passions, from the tempest of thoughts, from the darts of the wicked one, and from every hostile assault, save, O immaculate and totally pure Deipara, the souls of those who praise your ineffable birth-giving.

Not even the celestial mind is able to explain, O

to interpret, O Maiden, is possible; for you conceived in your womb, O chaste one, the Word of the primordial Mind, who established all things by His word. ^A The most holy Theotokos, in whom the consubstantial Word of the Father was pleased to dwell as in a fragrant house, felt no burning of the womb, nor did she experience the pains of childbirth; for she has brought forth Emmanuel, God and man.

He who fashioned Eve from the rib, O immaculate one, was himself fashioned from your womb, O chaste one, wishing to save Adam because of His compassion, as a lover of mankind.

You have made heavenly the nature of men, which had become earthly, O all-blameless one, and you have deified it, corrupted as it was; for this reason, we all glorify you with unceasing voices. ^B

Blessed is the fruit of your blessed womb, whom the hierarchies of heaven and the assemblies of mortals bless, He who redeemed us from the ancient curse; blessed are you.

Redeemed from the curse of the first mother through you, the chaste Mother of God, O blessed Lady, we bless you with faith and psalmody, O all-holy Virgin, Bride of God.

Having appeared as the bearer of the Maker of all things beyond all understanding, O most pure one, you were shown to be higher than the heavens and mistress of all, O Virgin Theotokos, all-praised one; therefore, we all magnify you. ^C

From the Canon to our Holy Father Benedict, 14th day

We who have been enriched with incorruption through you, O most chaste Mother of God, cry out to you: Hail, full of grace, the adornment of all saints and just ones.

He who alone is good entered into your womb, O all-blameless one, where He assumed flesh and became perfect man; whom you entreat, O most pure one, for the salvation of our souls.

As rain upon the fleece, O immaculate one, the Word descended into your venerable womb, assuming flesh, and He clearly stilled the showers of polytheism, O all-blameless one, and dissipated the bitter storm, O most immaculate one. ^D

He who dwells in the heavens dwelt in your all-blameless womb, that He might make us houses of the Trinity, we who proclaim you to be the Theotokos, O immaculate one.

From your holy womb has risen the unsetting Sun of righteousness, and He illuminated the faithful, O Virgin Theotokos, all-praised one.

Heal the passions of my soul, you who conceived the fountain of impassibility, O Virgin, and grant me showers of compunction, O holy Theotokos, that I may acquire future consolation in heaven.

Behold, He has been born of you, as Isaiah clearly proclaimed, O chaste one, the Son of the Most High, and your Son He is seen to be, O Virgin, making those who praise you sons of the heavenly Father.

^A O Virgin, bearer of Light, expel the clouds of my soul, and grant me, O Lady, to be purified and brought to reflect the saving beauty of Him who shone forth ineffably from your all-holy womb into the light of the nations, O all-hymned one.

75 From the canon for the holy martyrs Agapius and his companions, on the 15th day: With the most radiant brightness of Him who rose from you, O Virgin, enlighten the pupils of my soul, that I may glorify you. We recognized the Creator, who appeared in the likeness of flesh from your womb of light due to the bowels of His mercy, O Mother, ever-Virgin, for us who sing to you. You received as perfume in your womb the Word, O spotless and chaste one, who purifies the world from the foulest stench of every sin; wherefore we faithfully call you blessed. Let us believers bless the Theotokos with divine hymns, saying: Rejoice, O gate, through which the Lord alone passed. O all-hymned one, having withered the plants of godlessness with your holy shoot, diminish the malice of the enemy that daily sprouts within me, O bride of God. Loose me, bound by the chains of countless sins, O all-hymned one, granting me showers of tears as I sing to Him who rose from you: Blessed are You, the God of our fathers. Heal the passions of my heart, O Mother of the Savior, you who gave birth to the fountain of dispassion, and guide me toward divine life, that I may glorify you, O Mother of the Savior, unto all ages. Illumine me, O most immaculate one, darkened by negligence

^B (55) No one ought to be ignorant (says Catharinus in his *Disputation on the Truth of the Immaculate Conception*, book III, testimonial 6) that in the Holy Scriptures, among the many adolescent girls and concubines of the king who are mentioned there, one is the primary Spouse of the King Christ Himself, chosen and pre-elected, which is understood beyond doubt to be Mary, just as the Church also sings. For, clearly, to declare her excellence, it is written: There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and of the young maidens there is no number. One is my dove, my perfect one. But to no one, unless he be a man of excessively austere mind, can it seem decent that the supreme and primary king should have wanted to adopt for himself as Spouse such a one as this—namely, the first and primary one—of whom it could somehow be said, even for a moment, that she was under the power of a hostis and an adulterer: and thus subject to her own, and to His Father’s, the greatest and highest King, especially since He Himself could and knew how, if He but willed, to snatch her away and preserve her for Himself, lest she be surrendered into the enemy's hand. I beseech you, let us learn this at least from the prudence of the world; and let us not attribute less kindness and prudence to God. For if a spouse is sought for some son of a great king, who himself is beautiful beyond the sons of men, either the son himself seeks her, or (that the parable may be more fitting) if the power of choosing is given to the son himself—nay, rather, the power of creating and fashioning one according to his choice—will he, I ask, choose or fashion for himself one whom he allows to be seized and violated by an enemy, whom he could have nevertheless protected and managed to save beforehand? Indeed, a man must certainly be austere who would maintain this; for it is most ^C indecent in a primary spouse. For these nuptials would limp most foully, since the spouse would not be suitable for the bridegroom, whom we already declare to be beautiful beyond the sons of men. But as for the fact that after this one primary spouse, who is entirely undefiled, he should have others secondarily—either handmaids or concubines—who are indeed redeemed and snatched from the hand of enemies, and therefore not entirely intact, there is nothing absurd in this; for no one would cast blame if that one first and principal spouse was kept for him such that she remained entirely undefiled, intact, and immaculate. What then? Will the children of the world be more prudent in their generation—I do not say than the children of light (for this often happens because of our own sloth), but than the Light itself? The Light itself, I say, the eternal Light and true Wisdom, whence everyone who is wise derives his wisdom? Far be it. For who can say this without blasphemy? Therefore, will the most beautiful and most wise and most omnipotent King not have adopted for Himself such a Spouse—nay, (to use the words of Jerome) even created and preserved her—such as He foresaw to be universally suitable for Him, namely, perpetually beautiful, unblemished, entirely incorrupt in mind and body, and with whom no discord could ever occur? That he who denies this must be maliciously affected is absolutely necessary. So far Catharinus in the cited place.

^A all-blameless one, enlighten me, so that I may hymn and glorify your greatness.

76 From the Canon to the holy Pope and Martyr, day 16

Existing holier than the angels, most holy one, you conceived the holy God, who incessantly bestows holiness upon all who glorify him and venerate his holy martyrs.

The prophet David, singing of you, Mother of God, most clearly prefigured you by the name of the "fertile mountain," from whom Christ came, who crushed the mountains of malice.

You appeared as a holy temple, O inviolate Virgin, which contained within itself God, who bestows holiness upon all, because of his ineffable mercy and utterly inexpressible piety.

The chorus of the prophets prefigured you, O most dear to God, as the future Mother of the Creator, whom you should beseech without any intermission, that he may have mercy on our souls.

O Christ, the abyss of mercy and compassions, born of the Mother, dry up the abyss of my evils, O most holy Lady, through your intercession, and grant me thoughts of compunction.

Blessed is your fruit, most heavily laden with every blessing, O most blessed Lady, whom you should implore to bless us, who have acknowledged you as the chaste Mother of God.

Cast down by your strength, O inviolate Virgin, the entire strength of the enemy, and strengthen us with virtue, that we may be able to perform the divine will of your Son, O formidable protection of those who call upon you!

O chaste and immaculate Virgin, who appeared as the receptacle of God, cleanse me, stained with many sins, I pray, O Mother of God, by your purificative intercession, and on the day of judgment deliver me from the sentence of condemnation.

77 From the Canon to the holy Alexius, man of God, day 17

The Son of God, coeternal with him, had you, O inviolate Virgin, as the cause by which he was made similar to us, since he had found you alone, above all creation, to be pure: whence all generations praise you and call you blessed.

He who is above in heaven, invisible to the angels, ^C below on earth, having been born of you, O inviolate one, is seen by all as perfect man, about to recover the lost world.

O Virgin, who has suckled the giver of milk, satisfy my heart, now famishing and groaning, I pray, with all divine knowledge and compunction.

He who dwells in light inhabited your holy womb, O chaste one, that he might recover the world perishing in the darkness of ignorance; implore him to illuminate all who praise you.

When the Creator of all creatures had renewed the laws of nature, O inviolate Lady, he was born of you in an ineffable manner, and because of his immense mercy he deified me.

You became a minister of the great mystery, O all-blameless one; for you embodied God, who redeemed us from great evils, we who magnify you, O chaste, blessed, ^D most dear to God.

As we had flowed down into corruption on account of the ancient transgression, the Lover of mankind, in an impassible manner, was incarnate from the Mother.

^A And he delivered all from the corruption of sin, O all-blameless one. To you we cry out, rejoicing, with the voices of Gabriel, saying: Hail, O untilled field; hail, O dissolution of the curse; hail, O fountain of living water; hail, O boast of the saints, Theotokos, ever-Virgin.

From the canon for the holy martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria, day 19.

He who by divine nature is inaccessible, appeared accessible to me, having taken flesh from you, O Virgin; whom Daria, longing for, struggled steadfastly, and was brought to him as a bride.

The Son, who was born of your womb, O inviolate Virgin, according to the flesh, betrothed to himself the chaste martyr bride, Daria.

He, incomprehensible to every intellect, who preserved you a Virgin after the birth, just as you were before the birth, was incarnate from you, O inviolate one, taking to himself the martyr Daria as his bride. ^B

Who is able to explain your mystery, O most chaste one? For you have brought forth the God-Word, beyond thought and word, ^C double in nature.

The Virgin bore you as a new child, the pre-eternal Word, whom maidens, longing for him, were brought after her as brides to you, the King of all.

He who in divine substance is uncircumscribed, in your bosom, O Virgin, became circumscribed like us according to the flesh. Blessed are you among women, O Lady, immune from every stain.

When God had found you, the immaculate one, like a rose in the midst of the thorns of this life, O most chaste one, he dwelt in your inviolate womb, and filled the world with mystical sweetness, which calls out: All you works, praise the Lord. ^D

Mind and heart tremble while they contemplate your birth, O Maiden. For you conceived God the Word, whom no thought can comprehend, who through you delivers from every necessity those who honor you.

79 *Ex Canone in S. Cyrillum episcopum Cataniæ, die 11 (58').*

My strength, my praise, and my salvation is Christ, O most chaste one; who was born of you as a man, [surrounding/in the face of] corruption, because of his great mercy, and became what he was not. ^A O the immense depth of the mystery: God is incarnate and born of an incorrupt maiden, and he dissolves corruption through the sufferings which he alone, the Good One and Lover of mankind, undergoes. How did you bring forth the Word? How, after childbirth, did you remain incorrupt, just as you were before, O most immaculate Virgin? How did you nourish the nourisher of all, the infant who appeared voluntarily, gentle and placid? O the novelty of your miracle, O most pure one! Save me, O most clean one, from most grievous dangers: raise me up from the dunghill of my passions; and from the captivity and vexation of the most evil demons deliver me, while I devoutly praise you. ^B Be a helmswoman to me, O Virgin, in the most dangerous sea of this life, and direct me to the harbor of salvation, and save me. Revive my mind, which is destroyed by the disease of many passions, O most immaculate one; and give me strength, that I may be able to accomplish things pleasing to God, that I may magnify you, the fervent patronage and hope of Christians. You cured the contrition of earthly Adam, when you brought forth God the Savior, O most unblemished one. Entreat him for the healing of the wounds of my soul, which labors under an incurable disease. When the venerable maiden carried as a newly born infant the Word who is before the ages, she was struck with awe, and said: My Son, how do I carry you, who contain all things with a nod? How do I nourish with milk the nourisher, the Savior, and God?

*Ex canone in S. Basilium presbyterum et martyrem, die 22.*

The Only-Begotten, who is together with the Father, willed to inhabit your inviolate womb, O chaste one; and he became man that he might save men by his goodness. ^C When Isaiah had known your conception from afar by the Spirit, O maiden, he clearly manifested it crying out: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive God in her womb. I praise you, Lady, who are worthy of all praise; I bless you, O Virgin, through whom all we men have been blessed, and have been truly liberated from the ancient curse. Let us honor the one more exalted than the Cherubim, more lofty than the heavens, superior to all creation, the rampart of the wise martyrs, the sole Theotokos. I praise you, O most praiseworthy one, whom the hosts of the heavenly orders praise; and I beseech you, O inviolate one, that you may heal the affections of my soul, and deliver me from eternal fire. ^D Perceiving that your virginity remained incorrupt after the birth, O Virgin, you cried out to the Savior and God who was born of you beyond thought: Blessed are you, the God of our fathers. The human race has been deemed worthy of salvation through you, O most holy and God-beloved one; for you alone brought forth for us the Savior, whom we exalt above all for all ages. Dreadful is the manner of your delivery; for God, O Virgin, was the one born, having become incarnate; him you must entreat, that he may deliver from the dreadful punishment all who honor you with unwavering faith, O venerable and unwedded Mother.

*Ex canone in S. P. N. Niconem, die 23.*

The gate through which you, O Lord, have descended to us,

has mystically brought forth one born in a supernatural manner, the East, the Sun, and the Light, the God-man endowed with a dual nature. ^B The choir of martyrs imitated your slaughter, O Lord, when they recognized that you had sprung from an unwedded Virgin. ^C As one superior to every creature, the Creator loved you, O Virgin Mother, making you His Mother; you whom the throngs of athletes also beseech with every honor and veneration. You gave birth, O most immaculate one, to that Light without time, which is the splendor of the Father, having become subject to time through the riches of His goodness. ^B Recognizing you as the temple and living palace of God, the choir of triumphant martyrs beseeches you, O Lady, who alone among women took away the reproach. The Word of the Father dwelt in you without any corruption of your virginity, and drew to Himself the most celebrated choir of martyrs, who proclaim you the chaste Theotokos. Break the heavy burden of my evils, O most pure one, you who repaired the fall of Adam by your childbirth, O all-praised one, and illumine me, that I may be able to cry out with a pure mind: Bless the Lord, all you works! You appeared as the dwelling-place of Light, that is, of Him who was born of you for our sake; whom cease not to beseech ^C that He may bathe in His light those who, O most chaste Virgin Mother, praise you and confess you to be the Theotokos.

From the canon for the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel, on the 26th.

As soon as Gabriel saw you, chaste and lacking every stain, he cried out with a brilliant voice: Hail, Lady, who knows naught of the bridal chamber, the salvation of mortals, the glory and beauty of the angels. ^D Recognizing the mystery hidden of old, O maiden, Gabriel once cried out to you: Hail, palace of God, in whom having dwelt, He who is merciful deifies all mortals. Having seen you wholly purified by the Holy Spirit, O most immaculate one, Gabriel cried out to you clearly: Hail, redemption from the curse, and the recall of our first parents. Being a temple of sanctification, O most undefiled one, through the voice of the Archangel Gabriel you conceived Him who rests among the saints, the most holy God, who sanctifies all and delivers them from evils. Obedient to the divine words of Gabriel, O chaste one, you brought forth in the flesh the eternal Word, who delivered the world from irrationality. Gabriel, the prince of the heavenly host, was sent to announce joy to you, O chaste Virgin Mother, through whom sorrow has truly ceased, and the curse has been made barren, and a blessing has blossomed for the faithful unto the ages. ^D As the pleasant throne of the King, as

^A one excelling all creation, as she who alone brought forth the supersubstantial Essence, who through a most excellent union of an ineffable and strange generation deified mortals, let us hymn the blessed Virgin.

The radiance of the lightning of your birth shone forth and brightened the entire world, and destroyed the prince of darkness, O most pure Mother of God, the boast of angels and the salvation of all men, of those who continually glorify you with unceasing voices.

From the canon for our holy Father Hilarion the Younger, day 28.

Break the chains of my transgressions, O most pure one, interceding for me with your Son and God; and cast down the sin that tyrannizes me, O Ever-Virgin, that I may always honor you, O all-blameless one, as I am saved.

Heal the wounds of my soul, I entreat, and guide the movements of my mind ^B toward the will of Him who was incarnate from you, O most pure Maiden.

The Lord made you Lady of all and Queen, O undefiled one, for from your womb He was incarnate, and He liberated His own creature from him who reigned over it.

You have become the strength and the firmament of the faithful and the holy, O intemerate one; for through you, to all, the fount of the most excellent goods has gushed forth, and to those dwelling on earth, the path to heaven has been opened.

The undefiled bridal chamber of God, the fire-formed throne of the Almighty, the Theotokos, let all generations of generations bless.

By symbols, the grace of the Spirit ^C long ago prefigured you through prophetic charisms, calling you a rich and holy mountain, a saving gate, a most new volume, O chaste one, and an ark.

Cleanse me, O you most dear to God, from the filth of passions and the stain of sin, and open to me the doors of repentance, for I slip and continually encounter transgressions, O undefiled one, and provoke God to anger.

We bring to you the voice of Gabriel with rejoicing, saying: Hail, house of the Almighty, hail, glory of the holy and salvation of all the faithful, O Theotokos Ever-Virgin, through whom we have been deified.

From the canon for the holy Mark, bishop of Arethusa, day 29.

The shadowy mountain once illuminated the Prophet Habakkuk when he saw you, O Mother who knew no man, from whom God, having become embodied, appeared, covering with virtue, ^D in truth, the heavenly things.

He who alone inhabits the heavens dwelt in your womb, O Virgin, by an excess of goodness, and was seen as flesh, born of you; but entreat Him, O most holy one, to deliver your servants from every adversity.

You who received without burning the fire of the Divinity, and

^A you who brought forth without seed the fountain of life, the Lord, O full of grace, Theotokos, preserve those who magnify you.

We who possess your protection, O immaculate one, and who are delivered from evils by your intercessions, and guarded in all things by the cross of your Son, all of us rightly and piously magnify you.

That mountain which the prophet Daniel beheld, from which the stone, Christ, was cut without hands, crushing the idols and casting down the pride of the demons, you are, O Virgin; therefore we glorify you.

Marveling at Him who was ineffably born of her, the all-pure one was struck with wonder, and magnified Him, and crying out said: "How do I hold you in my arms, my Son, you who hold all things?"

You have shown yourself to be the palace of God, O Lady, of Him who is King of all; whom you entreat to cleanse me, who have become a lodging-place for evil robbers, and to save me, O immaculate one.

My sloth, O Lady, and the heavy drowsiness that is in me, drive away by your sleepless and venerable petitions to God, O immaculate one, and have mercy on me who sing: "The praised God of our fathers and most glorious."

The nature of mortals, crushed by the ancient transgression, you have reformed above nature, and deified, O pure one, as it sings to your birth: "O all you works, bless the Lord, and supremely exalt Him unto all ages."

Spare your people, O Lord, and this inheritance of yours which you have acquired, being inclined by the prayers offered for us by her who bore you, the child of God, so that we may glorify you as Lord and all-merciful.

Ex canone in SS. martyres Jonam et Barachisium, die 29. (Idem est cum superiori, et ideo omittimus.)

MENSIS APRILIS. Ex canone in SS. martyres Theodulum et Agathopodem, die 4 (58**).

You conceived the Savior, Maker of all, and Lord, whom Agathopus together with the illustrious Theodulus preached as God and man, O Virgin Mother, most full of all blessedness. ^B Ex utero tuo, Deipara coruscans, exortus est, gloriosi mar- thyres salutare martyrii poculum lætantes biberunt. ^C O Mother of God, heal the very worst disease of my soul, you who produced the supreme Word, who makes all people good. Heal the passions of my soul, O most immaculate one, who brought forth the fountain of impassibility, and suppress the tyranny of those who constantly trouble and terrify my heart. When the Word, that Word which adorned the heavens with virtues, found you adorned with the splendor of virtues, O chaste one, He dwelt in you, O most pure one, and converted human nature into the heavenly. Without any change of His own nature, God truly assumed the whole man from you, O Lady, most full of divine grace; whose passion Theodulus and Agathopus representing, they cried out, constant and strong: "All you works, praise the Lord." By the ^D brightness of your intimate piety, flood and illuminate me, who lie in the darkness of ignorance, O you who brought forth the unique Giver of light, and the Redeemer and Lord conceived in your womb, who has crowned the saints.

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Claudius, Diodorus, Victor, Victorinus, Papius, Nicephorus, and Serapion, on the 5th day.

^AIn time, the Lord who is beyond time, having become incarnate from you, O Virgin, abolished the sins of men of many ages; implore Him earnestly that He may have mercy on our souls. You brought forth the Lord of all, O inviolate Virgin, to be celebrated with every praise, who delivered men from spiritual captivity. The prophet foresaw you intellectually, O venerable one, as a shaded mountain, from which the Lord truly shone forth in the likeness of flesh, that He might deliver the human race from corruption. You repaired the ruin of men, O Lady, having brought forth God the Word, who is able to restore to salvation those shattered and cast down. ^B Strengthen the vigor of my soul, O most immaculate one, slackened by constant negligence and sin, that with faith and alacrity I may always sing your praises. We all praise you, O Virgin, as the most exalted throne of the Most High, and a golden lampstand, and an ark of sanctification, crying out: Blessed are you among women, O most inviolate one. Your wondrous birth-giving surpasses the grasp of the mind, O most graceful to God; for God, who is without beginning, accepted a beginning in time, in order to save those who cry out to Him with faith: Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord. ^C You who carried in your arms Christ, who took from you mortal flesh, implore Him, O most immaculate Virgin, that those who faithfully honor you and magnify you as Theotokos may attain immortality.

From the Canon to the holy and admirable Theodora, on the day (58***).

Heal the diseases and immoderate passions of my soul, O Virgin most dear to God, and save me, I pray, you who clothed the Savior and Lord with a body beyond the grasp of reason. We acknowledge you alone as the Mother of the Word, who shone forth from the Father before the ages without corruption, O unblemished spouse of God. Therefore we cry out to you: Hail, O blessed one. And we pray you to fill our souls with joy. Attracted by love of you, the illustrious Theodora is led after you, O Virgin, to the King incarnate from your womb, exulting with joy of soul. I am voluntarily enticed and snared by the fair appearance of evils, and I defile my soul; therefore divert me by your intercession, and save me, most pure one. ^D O Lady, who brought forth the Lord, Light of Light, illuminate my soul laboring under the blindness of negligence and most grievous sins. Gathering and spinning thoughts like threads with joy, you wove a most beautiful garment for the Word from your own blood, O Virgin, which He shall wear forever. Slay our living sin, you who brought forth the truly living Life, O only pure and blessed Virgin, that we may praise you through all ages. With the light of your countenance illuminate me lying in the darkness of passions, O gate of spiritual light. Let not the night of death overtake and envelop me, O chaste Lady, by which the hope of my salvation might be utterly cut off.

From the Canon to the holy martyr Calliopius, on the 7th day.

He who created all things by His nod assumed a body from you ineffably, O Mother of God, He who crowned His martyr, the victor of the contest, with whom we ever faithfully call you blessed.

^A O most holy Virgin, glory of martyrs and ornament of the holy apostles, deliver from every distress by your intercessions those who joyfully celebrate you with praises.

As a fruit-bearing vine, O most immaculate one, you have produced a cluster from which divine must is pressed out for those who faithfully call you blessed.

Being delivered, O Virgin, from the fault of our progenitors through your mediation, together with the archangel Gabriel we cry to you, O all-immaculate one: Hail, the only salvation of all sinners; hail, the firmest strength of all martyrs.

Heal, O chaste one, the immense sins of my soul, and illuminate my mind, which is turned toward the constant darkness of all transgressions, so that I may dutifully call you blessed with praises.

^B The fruit of your venerable womb, O Mother of God, has brought us to life, who were dead and destroyed by fruit; therefore, praising you as is our duty, we cry out: Blessed is the God of our fathers.

You have given birth, O immaculate Virgin, having clothed in a body, and have carried in your arms, the Lord Jesus, who bears all things by His omnipotent nod; therefore, as Mother of God, we praise you, crying out in praise: Priests, bless; people, superexalt the Lord.

By the rays of your mystical light, O Mother of God, dispel the darkness of my mind, and calm the grievous storm of my thoughts, and lead me to tranquil harbors, O unique salvation of all, that I may with faith call you blessed.

From the canon for the holy apostles Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon, and Hermas, on the 8th.

O Mother of God endowed with compassion, glory of the apostles, ornament of the triumphant martyrs, and support of the faithful, confirm my mind, I pray, which is tossed about by the assaults of the seducer and obscured by the darkness of transgressions.

He who is inaccessible according to His divine substance has become accessible to me, O immaculate one; and through the assumption of flesh, He was wholly united to me, on account of His supreme mercy.

^C By a holy word you conceived the Word of the Father, O girl and Mother of God, who delivers men from every defect of rational discourse; hence we always magnificently glorify you with divine words.

You alone on earth had a strange offspring, who alone reconciled us to the Father, who alone is without beginning before every beginning; therefore we alone venerate you as the Mother of God.

The ark of the law ^D prefigured you, who received the fullness of the divine law and gave birth in the flesh, and after the birth remained a perpetual virgin, just as you were before the birth, O Bride of God.

A new Paradise, in which the tree of life is placed, you have become for us, O immaculate Virgin Mother of God; whose food...

restored to new life those who had fallen through food.

Having you as our protectress, O immaculate one, we your servants, and having you after God as an unashamed intercessor before your Son, save us from dangers and temptations, O venerable one, that we may always glorify you with faith and longing.

Like a flame-bearing pair of tongs, you received in your womb the spiritual coal, which burns up our passions, enlightens our souls, and dissolves the darkness of idolatry, O immaculate Virgin, worthy of many hymns. ^A

From the Canon to the holy martyr Eupsychius, the one in Caesarea, day 9.

Born in the likeness of flesh from you, O Lady, the Master renewed our nature grown old, and made those who were mortal heavenly.

The choir of the athletes sings a hymn of thanksgiving to you, O venerable Lady, for under your leadership it achieved victory.

You who are higher than the heavenly powers, O Virgin, make my mind superior to fleshly passions.

Intercede for all those who have placed their hopes in you, O Mistress of all, that we may be delivered from future condemnation.

Raise me up, who have fallen completely, inasmuch as I opened the door to the passions, and by your most benign mediation lead me to the entrances of repentance, and save me, O you who gave birth to the Savior and Lord of all.

The prophet Daniel, inspired by the divine Spirit, called you a mountain, O Virgin, from which the stone, Christ, was cut without hands, and brought about the shattering of the idols of deceit.

O Virgin adorned with compassion, who gave birth to the Word filled with supreme compassion, have compassion on me who am void of compassion, who am desperate due to countless lapses, and who do not think of conversion, but rather spend my life in negligence.

Lighten me with the light of repentance, O Virgin, as I am darkened by the night of sin and covered over by the mist of negligence. ^B

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Terentius, Pomponius, Maximus, etc., day 10.

I praise you, O Virgin, because you alone, worthy of all praise, made God incarnate from your precious blood, O all-holy one, and gave birth in a way beyond reason, dreadfully.

Save me, O you who gave birth to the all-good Lord, O chaste Mother, and calm the storm of my soul that is stirred up in many ways.

I, surrounded by temptations, call upon you, O all-immaculate Mistress, for help; hasten and save me, you who gave birth to the Word, the Savior.

He who delivers appeared, O immaculate one, your Son having become human, so that He might deliver all humans, O all-immaculate one.

Prefiguring you, the prophet Habakkuk foresaw you as a shadowy mountain...

^A covered with virtues, from which the Holy One, the God who is beyond speech, went forth from you, O Theotokos, having become incarnate, and he saved the world, which was being terribly troubled by the storm of grievous sin.

You, O Theotokos, who conceived Christ in your womb without defilement, have recalled to the ancient life those who once had flowed away, the progenitors of the human race, because of the transgression of an improper offense.

Bring to life my dead soul, raise up the fallen, heal my wounded soul, O most immaculate one, with the lance that pierced the divine side of the Savior who was incarnate from your womb, whom the children bless, the priests praise, and the peoples superexalt unto all ages.

Illumine, O gate of light, my soul, darkened and endangered by the grievous shadows of transgressions, and show me to be a participant of the divine day, that I may glorify you, O unfailing protection of the faithful. ^B

*From the canon to the holy hieromartyr Antipas, bishop of Pergamum, day 11.*

With the flashes of your light, irradiate me, O most immaculate maiden, my heart that is detained in the night of passions and calamities; for you ineffably caused the Sun of justice to rise for all.

You have produced the Redeemer, O inviolate one, who liberated men from the captivity of the enemy; whence we religiously glorify you.

You were preserved after birth as you were before birth, O uncorrupted Virgin Mother; for you gave birth to the Creator of all, who willingly took on a human body from you. ^C

That most divine Lord, who was in the form of God, dwelt in your womb, O most pure one, taking and bearing my form.

Holy is that Lord who dwelt in your womb, O Virgin maiden; and he rests in the saints, and glorifies those who, with true faith, O maiden, glorify him.

From your virginal blood the Word, co-eternal with the Father, has been made flesh, restoring our contrition; you are blessed among women, O most immaculate Lady.

As the Mother of the Creator of all, as the divine temple of the Almighty, as untilled earth that germinated the ear of grain without cultivation, save, O Virgin Mother, those who faithfully and always cry out: Bless, all you works, the Lord. ^D

Light has risen for us, O maiden, from your light-bearing womb, the Creator of the sun, and of the stars, and of all creation, whom earnestly entreat to illumine those who hymn you.

*From the canon to the SS. and admirable Didymus and Photinus, day 12.*

The Creator, emptying himself entirely, as it pleased him, proceeded from your womb clothed in a human body.

^A O immaculate Lady, born of flesh, that he might cause the fountain of immortality to flow most abundantly for men. We praise you, most holy Virgin, because you gave birth to Him who is assiduously glorified by all creatures. You were made the throne of God, O most pure one, and a most brilliant palace, and a bed in which the Lord of all reclined, that he might awaken and relieve the first parent. We magnify with perennial hymns the ready and prepared aid, the raising up of those who fall, the Mother of our God. You shone forth from the paternal womb before the daystar, ^B you who entered the most immaculate womb to assume a body.

From the Canon to St. Martin, Pope of Rome, day 13.

He who by his divine nature is invisible, was seen as an infant, having become a man from you, truly manifesting in one hypostasis two wills and operations; pray to him, O most immaculate one, that we all may be saved who lovingly revere you. You gave birth to the Word, equal in honor and throne with the Father, bearing two operations and two wills, O all-holy Maiden. You gave birth to the one of the Trinity ^C known theanthropically in two substances, God and man simultaneously, bearing wills corresponding to your natures, O all-immaculate Virgin. O Virgin who knew no man, who gave birth in the flesh to the uncircumscribable God, mortify the passions of my flesh; and quicken my soul which has been deadened by transgressions. The laws of nature are dissolved in you; for you give birth ineffably to the Creator of all, O Mother of God worthy of all hymns, as God and mortal, possessing two wills and operations, O Mother-Virgin. He who was born of you ineffably with two wills and two operations, O most immaculate one, preserves those who thus maintain the same mind, crying out: Blessed is the God of our fathers. You have become holier than the hosts on high, and higher than the Cherubim, O Mother of God; therefore make me superior to the harmful passions. ^D Obedient to the voices of the Fathers, we faithfully confess the one of the Trinity born of you, O chaste one, in two substances and wills, and we magnify you, O Virgin.

From the Canon to the SS. Aristarchus, Pudens, and Trophimus, from the seventy disciples, day 14.

That he might unite those who were inferior now to those on high, God, because of the excess of his mercy, took flesh from you, O inviolate one, and remained what he was, even after the incarnation. You nourish with milk the nourisher of the whole world, born without seed from your immaculate womb, who restored men crushed by the corruption of sin. Since you are, O inviolate one, my strength and my protection, and an unassailable wall, and an intercessor before God, free me from the eternal flames of Gehenna. [(59*)]

^A Human nature, entirely sorrowful, you have renewed, O Virgin, by your new birth, with the laws of nature innovated by you beyond nature, O grace-filled Mother of the living God.

Free me from the flame of Gehenna, you who brought forth the unbearable light beyond the mind's conception, and kindle my soul with desire and affection for the knowledge of Him who came to cast fire upon the earth, O inviolate maiden, most full of divine grace.

From the Canon to St. Crescent the martyr, day 15.

The Lord is incarnate out of you by an excess of goodness, and for our sake, He who is by nature inaccessible appears as we are; him, O pure and all-blameless one, fervently entreat on our behalf. ^B Let us honor with sacred hymns the only one among women who ineffably brought forth God, the Lady of all. She who supernaturally gave birth to the Creator of all creation, for the benefit of His own creature, the all-holy Lady, is worthily blessed. We praise you, through whom we were delivered from corruption, O all-praised Theotokos, and we cry to you: Hail, exultation of the martyrs. As the fire-formed throne of the Lord of all, we hymn you, O Maiden, and as a pleasant palace, and a lampstand, and a bridal chamber, and an all-holy, God-receiving table. ^C You have appeared holier than the Cherubim, O all-blameless one, having conceived the Word of the Father by the Word; Him we hymn and cry out: Blessed are you among women, O all-blameless Lady. O miracle! How have you brought forth God become man, O grace-favored one? How have you remained unburnt, having contained the fire that cannot be approached? Whence we glorify you with thankful voices and cry: All you works, etc. Light has dawned for us, O Maiden, from your light-bearing womb, the Creator of the sun and the moon, Christ the Lord; Him fervently entreat to illuminate our souls.

From the Canon to the holy women Agape, Irene, and Chionia, day 16.

You bring forth ineffably, O Lady, Him whom the Father begot without seed, and with your breasts you nourish Him who nourishes all things. ^D Tear up the cruel bond of my transgressions, O Lady, you who by your seedless birth dissolved the chains of Hades. You brought forth the incarnate Lord of all creation, O Lady; Him entreat, O all-holy one, to deliver us from the enemy that tyrannizes us. Intercede for me, O Maiden, that a good end may come to me, that I may fear the everlasting punishments that await me, and be saved. Adam, casting off from himself the garments of death made of skin,

^A clothed has been with the robe of divine glory, glorifying thee with joy, as the Mother of God, immaculate in all things.

Mortify, O undefiled one, the sin that lives and kills my soul, and make me worthy to partake of the divine life, thou who didst bring forth joy and didst put to death the serpent.

The furnace of old, bearing the symbols of thy birth, O Virgin-Mother, did not burn the youths, just as the fire of the Godhead did not burn thy womb.

Lover of goodness, O Virgin, make good my soul which has been corrupted by sin, thou who didst bring forth the all-good Word.

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Symeon in Persia and those with him, day 17.

Thou bearest in thine arms, O Virgin, Him who bears all things, and thou nursest as an infant the Giver of milk; Him, therefore, entreat to have mercy on all thy people who faithfully hymn thee.

Thou hast delivered us from the curse of our ancestors with blessings, having given flesh to the Word who crowned all, O pure one always blessed, ornament of the victorious martyrs and forgiveness for those who sin.

From thee, the Sun of righteousness having risen beyond understanding, illumined the inhabited world, O Virgin full of divine grace, and dispelled the winter of error.

May I find thee, O Lady, freeing me in the hour of judgment from condemnation, I who faithfully glorify thy ineffable birth-giving.

From thee has risen, O all-holy one, the Creator, and with the rays of divine knowledge He has illumined those who were in the night of ignorance.

Heal, O all-immaculate one, the passions of my heart, calm the tumult that storms my mind, and save me as I cry: "Blessed art Thou, O God."

In order to signify thy venerable birth-giving, O all-pure one, the bush appeared unconsumed; for having received the divine fire into thy inwards, thou wert not consumed at all; therefore we hymn thee.

With most manifest flashes, O all-holy Mother of God, illumine my mind, ^D [occupied by] the grievous darkness of ignorance;

that having attained divine illumination, I may proclaim thy great deeds, O Ever-Virgin.

From the Canon to Saint Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, day 17

Thou who in an arcane and ineffable manner gavest a body to God, and didst reconcile us, the rejected and cast away, to Him, O chaste one, worthy of all praise: heal, I beseech thee, the passions of my heart by the passion of thy Son, and save me who daily sing: For gloriously hast thou been glorified, etc.

O gate through whom no passage is open, open to me, O chaste one, the gates of repentance, and direct me in the straight paths.

Bring to life, O Lady, me who am dead; and him who has been led into error, quickly convert, thou who art the way, free from all error, and the guide of all.

He who in no way left the bosom of the Father, being superior to all substance, was seen to be contained in thy bosom as an infant, O Virgin, taking upon Himself my poverty, on account of the excess of the riches of His mercy.

Calm the shifts of my mind and the fluctuations of my heart, I pray, O Virgin, by thy mercy; and from the sin by which I am held bound, deliver me, who faithfully call thee blessed.

^B Te, as the cause of our salvation, all thy servants daily praise, O most dear to God, and with faith we call thee blessed, saying: O maiden, who art the fountain of incorruption, make me, corrupted by the inundations of many sins, worthy of thy healing, O Virgin.

Of that Light which illumined all things, thou hast truly appeared as a delightful propitiatory, O Virgin, all-luminous; therefore 101 illumine me, enveloped in the darkness of sins, that I might with faith magnify thee.

From the Canon to Saint Theodore the Martyr, day 19

He who, according to his nature, dwells in light inaccessible, when He had dwelt in thy womb, O most pure one, by His ineffable mercy made us inhabitants of Paradise, from which, on account of the envy of the serpent, we had been sent away and cast out.

He who according to his nature is free from time, born of thee in the likeness of flesh, was made under time, forgiving my temporal sins on account of His ineffable piety, O most immaculate one.

Without the pains of childbirth thou didst bring forth God, who was without a body, O maiden: who delivered Eve the first mother from the pains of childbirth, and redeemed from the pains of hell those who were living a life full of pains and miseries.

O most pure one, who alone art properly and truly the Mother of God, ^C strengthen me, so that I may be able to master the passions of which I have become a slave, that, rejoicing with a free mind, I may call thee blessed, O salvation of the faithful.

Behold the holy mountain: behold the workshop of the aromatics of the spirit: behold the bridge which transports all to God, the maiden Mother of God; whom let us call blessed.

Be a propitiatory for me, O most unblemished one, to Him who was born of thee, obtaining for me the remission of grievous debts, and the divine entrance into the kingdom of God, and the fruition of delights, and fellowship with the light.

O depth of the ineffable mystery! He who once fashioned man with His hand is fashioned, assuming flesh, having entered the womb of the ever-Virgin, and He saves me, crying out with fear.

102 Illumine always the eyes of my soul, O Mother of God, lest the deepest darkness of sin should overtake me; and may the abyss of despair not swallow me: but do thou save me, and govern me, O defense of the faithful that is not confounded.

From the Canon to Saint Theodore, day 20

We, saved through thee, O maiden, name thee blessed in hymns as most immaculate among women and Mother of God, and we call out to thee as Gabriel did, Hail. Hail, O cause of the reformation of our first parents.

The people of the saints, recognizing thee as the most chaste maiden and Mother of God, O most holy one, have been irradiated by the light of thy splendor, and now in the heavens they pray to thee, glorifying with joy the Word risen from thee, O Mary bride of God.

Thy womb has been made the bridal chamber of immortality, O inviolate Virgin; from which, coming forth with splendor, the Bridegroom the Lord has drawn to Himself the peoples of the saints.

In the fearful hour of judgment save me and redeem me, O most holy one, and snatch me from Gehenna; that I may call thee blessed, and render thee honor with worthy praises, O most immaculate one.

Thou alone, O inviolate one, didst bring forth the subsistent Life, the Maker and Lord of all, whom the vast number of the holy Fathers, loving, passed on a pious and holy life.

As beautiful, as comely, the comely Word loved thee, O unblemished one, and inhabited thy womb, for the sake of our redemption, the faithful.

That bush points to thee, O most undefiled one, which, surrounded by fire, was in no part consumed; for indeed

[MARIALE.] you bore the fire of divinity, which kept you, O Virgin, without being consumed, and after the birth shielded you as an incorrupt Virgin; do not cease to intercede for us. 103 Made beautiful by the ornaments of virtues, and encircled by the variety of golden fringes, O Virgin, [you bore] the Word, beautiful above all men.

From the Canon to St. Januarius and his companion martyrs, the 21st

From the Canon to our Holy Father Theodore of Sykeon, the 22nd

brought forth the Governor and Savior Christ, deliver me, I pray, and save me.

The beauty of Jacob, God chose you, O Virgin Mother of God; in you he dwelt, and after birth he preserved you a virgin, as you were before birth. The sacred voices of the prophets proclaim you, O Virgin, symbolically as the gate, the mountain, the tabernacle, and the holy cloud of light, from which the sun, Christ the giver of light, has risen upon those sitting in darkness and shadow. Revered is your birth-giving, O Deiparous Mother of God; therefore we call you blessed always, and faithfully we glorify you unto generations of generations, unto the ages. Amen.

From the Canon to our holy Mother Elizabeth the Wonderworker, on day 24.

^A Following with most ardent love you, O most pure one, who beyond the understanding of the mind brought forth the inseparable Word of God the Father, the celebrated Elizabeth became a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, shining with divine virtues.

Desiring in faith you alone, O most glorious Elizabeth, as the most pure temple of Virginity, O totally immaculate one, she rejoices, having been brought to your Son, following religiously in your footsteps.

You alone carry in your womb God incarnate, who grants existence to all; whom Elizabeth desired and loved from the heart, being spiritually betrothed to Him: O Virgin Mother of God, the miracle of angels and the wound of demons, totally admirable.

^B You have shown yourself superior to the supernal powers, O Virgin, having brought forth the Word that is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father; by whose radiance the God-bearing Elizabeth, being illuminated, dispersed the mists of the passions.

You conceived in your womb Him who is before the ages, O immaculate one; and you brought forth in the flesh Him who by nature is incorporeal; and with milk you nourished Him who feeds the universe, O Mother of God, unwedded and inviolate.

Behold my tribulation, O Virgin, which the multitude of my evils has brought upon me, and snatch me from the fire of Gehenna, as I cry out: Blessed, O most chaste one, is the fruit of your womb.

^C You brought forth clothed in a body, and carried in your arms, O inviolate Virgin, the Lord Jesus, who bears all things by His omnipotent nod; wherefore we praise you as the Mother of God, crying out with proclamations: Priests, bless; O people, superexalt the Lord.

Spare me, Savior, who having been born, preserved your Mother incorrupt after birth, when You shall sit to judge my works; overlooking my iniquities and my sins, as the most benign, compassionate, good, and lover of mankind.

From the Canon to the holy hieromartyr Basil, bishop of Amasea, on day 26.

^D The refuge of the faithful, O Ever-Virgin, the powerful help of those who flee to you, save us from every necessity and hostile harm.

^A You gave birth to the timeless King from yourself, Virgin-Mother, who received a beginning in time; entreat Him therefore, as a lover of mankind, to save your servants from all tribulation and from the conquest of enemies, O all-blameless one.

O all-praised one, ready help of men, calm the wild waves of temptations, saving your servants from the expectation of the enemy.

City of God, concerning which glorious things were spoken, deliver this your city and every region from dangers, from famine, and from the barbarians, O Theotokos Virgin, sole and unashamed protection of the faithful.

Most holy Virgin, Bride of God, who next to God are the protection of your servants, deliver us from barbarian conquest and from dangers.

The sole hope and help of the faithful, Mother of God, make haste, help your suppliants who are submerged in tribulations, and are in need, O Virgin, and exist in pain, and flee to you with confidence of soul.

Refuge of Christians, help of those who are held in distress, most holy Virgin, do not despise us who are always shaken by dangers and by the many incursions of the wicked barbarians.

Bearer of Light, Virgin, with the incorporeal angels, apostles, prophets, hierarchs, victors, and all the saints, entreat the only all-good God to deliver our souls from dangers.

^C From the Canon to the holy hieromartyr Simeon, kinsman of the Lord, on day 27.

As one who is higher than all creation, you held the Creator and God in your womb, O Virgin, and you gave birth for the redemption of mortals.

The whole law of encomiums is now defeated, O all-pure one, in singing your praises, O Bride of God, for you gave birth to the Word of God and have surpassed the angels.

Initiated in the mysteries of your childbearing, the prophet Habakkuk describes you, O maiden, as a shady mountain, from which our God came forth.

^D Intercede for us to Christ, who from your pure blood, O pure Theotokos, was clothed in material flesh and reformed mortals.

Heal the incurable passions of my soul, O Bride of God, you who gave birth to the Physician and Savior, who by His own passions cured the passions of men.

Pure Virgin-Mother, the wound of demons and the salvation of men, the beauty of angels, deliver my humble soul from the deception of the enemy.

That we may praise you with grateful voices, O pure one, who have filled our race with grace, protect and defend us, O Bride of God, from every harm.

Illumine me with divine light, O habitation of light, Virgin, dispelling the darkness of my passions and the truly deepest night by your intercessions, O Mother of God.

From the Canon to Saint Zosimas, Day 27

^A The Word, having become incarnate on earth without change, restored the dead to life; wherefore we, the faithful, proclaim you blessed with voices of thanksgiving, for through you, O most worthy of praises, we have been saved.

The Word, having become incarnate on earth without change, restored the dead to life; wherefore we, the faithful, proclaim you blessed with voices of thanksgiving, for through you, O most worthy of praises, we have been saved.

O incorrupt Virgin, O chaste one, you remained such after birth-giving, conceiving in an unthinkable manner Him who took away corruption; therefore do we all deservedly call you blessed, O Theotokos.

You have become a most lucid bridal chamber, a golden candelabrum in its entirety, a place of sanctification, the throne of the most high God, and a most spacious palace, O Virgin, overflowing with divine grace.

You were holier than the Cherubim, O most lauded one, when you inexplicably gave birth to God, who willed to save the human race, which had been corrupted and destroyed by the serpent’s guile.

You brought forth Life, O most chaste one, and you conceived and brought forth in an ineffable and unthinkable manner the Destroyer of death and Giver of life, O most chaste one.

Divine Law and the riddles of the prophets foretold you, O totally immaculate one, as one who was to bear Jesus Christ Emmanuel for the reconciliation, salvation, life, and redemption of all men.

Weighted by the slumber of negligence, a most profound sleep of sin has oppressed me; wherefore I cry to you, that by your ever-vigilant prayers you may awaken me to the light of repentance.

With a voice of thanksgiving we cry to you: Hail, pleasant and most holy tabernacle of God: 109 hail, salvation of the whole world: hail, O blessed one: hail, O removed from every stain, through whom we have been delivered from corruption and condemnation. ^B

From the Canon to Saint Jason the Apostle, Day 28

To one who knew not a husband there appeared the Son, clothed in flesh because of His great mercy, He who cannot be comprehended by any reasoning of the mind, that He might manifestly reduce those who had miserably succumbed to the passions of the flesh to passionlessness through the passion of His own flesh, to whom we sing in the customary manner: For gloriously has He been glorified, etc.

Kill, O most pure one, through your life-giving intercession the sin that lives in me, you who gave birth to Life. O Lady, who knew not the bridal chamber, save me, having brought forth the Savior Word, and deliver me from perils and eternal condemnation.

You appeared holier than the Cherubim, when upon earth you clothed the Lord of all in a body, O inviolate Lady, most worthy of all praise.

As rain upon the fleece, the saving Word descended into your womb, and became man from you, that He might save me, O Maiden, through your mediation.

You who carried Christ in your arms, as a throne of fire, beseech Him, O most innocent one, as your Son and Lord, that He might bestow peace upon the world crying: Blessed is the God of our fathers. ^C

The furnace, once symbolizing your birth-giving, O Virgin Mother, did not consume the youths, just as the fire of divinity did not consume your womb.

Having become the Mother of Emmanuel incarnate in your womb, you deified, O most inviolate one, human nature; therefore, O most holy Mother of God, we call you blessed.

From the Canon to Saint Memnon, Day 29

When God, because of His goodness, had assumed manhood from you, O immaculate Virgin, He proceeded with a dual operation and nature; Him, always entreat, that He might illumine those who praise you.

The Word of God dwelt in your unpolluted womb, O inviolate one, and took away all the sins of men.

Confirm my soul, which is plunged into the depth of carnal pleasures, I pray you, through your intercession, O Mother of God, who alone brought forth God, the Giver of all good things.

You brought forth God, and remained a virgin, O Bride of God; therefore all the tongues of men call you blessed with joy. ^D

Mortify, O Virgin, the prudence of my flesh, which ...

Free me from the tempests of measureless sins, O Maiden, who alone are a most strong help for the miserable, and an altar of propitiation for sins, O blessed among women, most pure Lady.

Make my wretched soul, languishing and in danger from most grievous evils, worthy, O Lady, most dear to God, of your visitation, and restore to it entire soundness, while it cries out.

With the voice of the archangel we cry to you rejoicing, O Virgin: Hail, solution of the curse, glory of the holy confessors, exultation of the Fathers, preaching of the prophets, and salvation of men.

MONTH OF MAY

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Timothy and Maura, Day 3

The supersubstantial Word, having become substance from pure blood...

has deified us and delivered us from corruption, O pure One; therefore we faithfully glorify you forever.

^A Your Son, O Virgin, who is by nature impassible, took flesh from your pure blood and, by the passion of the cross, delivered me from the passions, O undefiled One.

Tabernacle of purity, domicile of the Lord of all, resounding echo of all the prophets, temple most acceptable to God, have mercy on those who praise you.

Stil the storm of my thoughts, the uprisings of the passions, and the surging swell of temptations, O Virgin full of divine grace, and save me as I praise your wonders.

All-good Lady, who in the flesh gave birth to the all-good God, make my soul, now corrupted by passions, good, so that with faith and longing I may magnify you.

O super-laudable Virgin, who gave birth to the super-laudable God, make those who praise you participants of the light, and by your intercessions deliver them from Gehenna, from the flame, and from every injury of the enemy.

You were made beautiful, O Virgin, when you gave birth to Christ the Lord, most beautiful in form, who illuminates the faithful with divine splendors, whom we superexalt.

Illumine me with your light, I pray, O Virgin most dear to God among all women, and redeem me from the eternal fire, so that I may magnify you, that I may glorify you, that as is due I may hymn your wonders.

From the Canon for the Holy Apostle Andronicus and Junia, Day 17

Rain down upon me, O Virgin, the redemption of all my transgressions and the amendment of my life, through your mediation and grace.

There is no one undefiled except for you, O Lady, and no ^{B C D} [Note: Note 61 and the accompanying text constitute a scholarly excursus on the Council of Trent and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which interrupts the liturgical text. As indicated in the instructions, the substantive content is:]

61) Concerning the title "Immaculate" added to the Virgin, it seems that it can be argued from the Council of Trent, which in Session V, at the end of the Decree concerning original sin, affixed the epithet "Immaculate" to the Blessed Virgin, so that we might perhaps understand this title to be proper to the mystery of the conception, and recognize that in the appellation of the "Immaculate Virgin" an "immaculate conception" is included. "This holy synod declares," it says, "that it is not its intention to include in this Decree, where the topic is original sin, the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God." Concerning this declaration, the *Armamentarium Seraphicum* says (under the title "Immaculate Conception," page 150): "I do not necessarily include the Blessed Virgin Mary in the common law of sin, but I teach by example that she is piously called 'immaculate' by the faithful as being free from all stain." This intention of the Council is greatly illustrated by Session VI, Canon 23: "If anyone shall say that a man once justified can avoid all sins throughout his whole life, even venial ones, except by a special privilege of God, as the Church holds concerning the Blessed Virgin, let him be anathema." Here, the title "immaculate" is not heard, because purity from all actual sin is not sufficient for a person to be named "immaculate" in the full breadth of the term and by excellence; yet if she is not included under the law of original sin, she may most excellently be distinguished by such a title without any limitation. No one versed in the actions of the Council can suspect that the title "immaculate," expressed there and omitted here, was absent without mature counsel and some singular mystery, since it is known from the writings of the Fathers who attended the Council that the canons and decrees were crafted by the most experienced delegates in congregations and subjected to such a strict examination that, for the placement of a single word, or even one jot, they were often returned to the anvil of the delegates until they deserved to be approved by common judgment. This diligence, if ever elsewhere, must be admitted to have been applied most exquisitely in the article concerning the conception of the Virgin, with the controversy raging and the defenders of both opinions present. If, therefore, the title of "immaculate" is attributed to the Virgin for some great cause, while it was being declared in the general rule that she was not necessarily included in the contraction of original sin, and omitted when she was being established as a certain dogma of the Church that she was free from all venial sins, then either this cause must be assigned, or it must be granted that the cause brought forward by us is true, namely, that by the title of "immaculate" added to the Virgin, there is expressed (as I judge) her immaculate conception.

there is no one blameless besides thee, O all-pure; for thou alone hast been the dwelling-place of the God of all ^A.

Thee always, O Virgin Deipara, do we all the faithful with one voice praise, as a most secure and most fit bulwark for the defense, and the redemption of our souls.

Thee, O most holy Maiden, the choir of the prophets prefigured in holy symbols as she who would be the Mother of God of the Lord.

The divine entrances of the Lord into thee, O innupta, who requested flesh from thee and enriched the faithful, have become known.

O Lord, who didst dwell in the womb of the Virgin, and didst in her refashion Adam, blessed art thou unto the ages.

As with tongs thou bearest the coal in thy hands, O ^B Virgin, which pours forth divine dew upon those who are endangered in the fire of error, while it burns up the passions of those who celebrate his kingdom with praises.

O Virgin immaculate, pure from every stain ^C, who hast brought forth the light, petition for light, and for the remission of sins, and the salvation of souls for those who acknowledge thee to be the true Deipara, O undefiled Virgin all-pure.

From the Canon on the Feast of the holy martyrs Peter, Dionysius, and those with them, day 18.

As a throne of the king, in which he sat, we venerate thee, O Virgin, who hast prepared a heavenly seat for the faithful, and we bless thee with affection.

Thou alone remainest a Virgin while bringing forth, thou alone wast recognized as the true minister of the greatest mystery when thou didst bring forth God, O Deipara Mother Virgin ^D.

O most praised Virgin Mother of God, save those who praise thee, who trust in thee, from every surrounding danger and tribulation.

O Bride of Christ, unwedded, through whom, having been freed from the ancient debt, we have been made sons by grace of the heavenly Father, protect those who praise thee.

As a fruit-bearing field, thou hast sprouted forth the ear of life, O Deipara, by which the faithful are nourished, and the famine of error is truly driven from the earth.

The ark of God, the urn of the divine manna, the golden lampstand and the table, the holy mountain, the Deipara let us all faithfully praise.

You have become a spiritual propitiatory, receiving the prayers of all, and you offer them, O all-pure one, to your Son for the ransom of those who chant: "Bless the Lord, all you works."

Gladly do we faithful offer to you the voice of the angel, O Bride of God. Hail, help of mankind, strength of martyrs and apostles, and echo of all the prophets, O all-blameless Mother of God.

From the Canon for the holy martyr Thallelaeus, day 20.

Virgin Mother of the Lord, boast of the pious, joy of the angels, salvation of Christians, expiation for those who sin, bridge leading the faithful from earth to heaven, save your servants.

Irradiate me, O Virgin, with the light of repentance; for I lie in the darkness of sin due to my own folly; and grant me the remission of my transgressions, that I may glorify you, O devoid of every stain.

The holy prophets once proclaimed your child-bearing, calling you a great and shady mountain, and a gate through which the Lord alone passed, O only pure one.

You have made those darkened by passions to be sons of light, having given birth to Christ the Giver of Light, the radiance of the Father, O all-holy Lady; therefore, with longing we call you blessed.

You have loosed me from the bonds of sin, having brought forth the Lord, who loosed the bonds of Hades, O Theotokos, and who gathers all toward the knowledge of himself.

For our aid, O Maiden full of God’s grace, we beseech you clearly: arise and deliver us from eternal temptations and every threat.

Ask for me, O all-holy and pure one, the propitiation of my transgressions, and stretch out your hand to me, who am severely tossed on the sea of terrors, that I may call you blessed, that I may faithfully proclaim your steadfast protection.

You have become a vessel of light, O Virgin, and a throne of the King of all, O immaculate one; seated upon which, He raised us from our ancient fall, and by His divine session honored those who in faith and longing magnify you.

From the Canon for the holy martyr Basiliscus, day 22.

Gideon foresaw your immaculate womb as a fleece, O Virgin Maiden, receiving the heavenly dew, drying up the sea of ungodliness, O Maiden, and watering minds that were melting [with desire].

May I find you, O all-pure one, always guiding me toward virtues and leading me into the paths of repentance.

Co-essential with the Father, He appeared in all things like unto men, having become incarnate, as He was pleased, from your blood, O all-blameless one.

In the likeness of flesh you brought forth, O Theotokos, the Lord who is incomprehensible and uncircumscribed.

The contrite fractures of my wretched soul, and the lingering

^A passions, O Virgin, heal, for you brought forth the Physician of souls and bodies in an ineffable manner; and save me, O most immaculate one, who have placed all my hopes in you.

Behold the Virgin, whom the great Isaiah foretold in the Spirit; she conceived God in her womb and brought Him forth, to whom we sweetly sing: O Lord God, blessed are You.

You appeared wider than the heavens, O wholly-holy Maiden, containing in your womb God, who delivered those who sing to Him from the wicked straits; praise the Lord, and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages.

By nature You are God; yet You endured to be clothed in human nature, having willingly entered an immaculate womb, O Lover of mankind; wherefore, recognizing in You two natural wills, we magnify You, faithfully calling Your Mother blessed.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy Apostle Carpus, day 26.

Giving birth in an ineffable manner, O Virgin, and renewing the laws of nature, you have become a Mother and ever-Virgin; therefore we call you blessed.

As a new child, you brought forth Him who before the ages shone forth ineffably from the Father, O Theotokos; therefore we glorify you.

Spiritually, O Theotokos, the God-bearing prophet saw you as a great and shaded mountain, O Maiden, from which our God came forth in the flesh.

From the defilements of mind and body, cleanse me now, O blessed one, by your merciful nod and inclination, that I may praise and magnify you as is due, O most worthy of all praise.

You brought forth the Creator without pain, O most immaculate one, for He takes away our pains and labors, and makes the human race worthy of delights devoid of all pain.

As one wider than the heavens, O Virgin, you received in your womb the Word who can be contained by nothing, and who redeems the human race from every distress.

You became a heaven, O Theotokos, from which has dawned upon us the Sun of righteousness, who illuminates us with the light of knowledge, O pure Theotokos.

We offer you the voice of Gabriel, O Virgin, crying out: Hail, light cloud; hail, earth untilled, which brought forth the beautiful ear of grain, the Nourisher of all creation.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyr Eutychius, day 28.

Having appeared in the likeness of flesh, the Lover of mankind, born of you, O most immaculate one, saved the world that was perishing and subjected to error; therefore we honor and call you blessed.

The darkness of my mind, O Theotokos, with the light that is in you, as the gracious one, I implore you to dissipate; and intercede for me, that through ways of repentance I may be improved, so that with faith I may glorify you.

The assembly of the prophets wrote beforehand that you are the scroll, O immaculate Virgin, betrothed to God, in which the Word of the Father was written by His finger, describing the faithful in the book of life, O Bride of God.

^A Having been rendered lifeless by passions and thoughts, O all-immaculate one, I flee to your mercies, I run to your fervent protection and aid, O Lady, solely glorified by God, make me alive, save me.

Become a harbor for me, O all-immaculate one, guiding me to the haven of salvation as I sail the waves of this present life, and deliver me from the scandals of the adversary.

The incomprehensible Son, sitting in the bosom of the Father, sits as an infant in your bosom, O pure one, for our recall, to whom we cry out: O Lord and God of the fathers, blessed are you.

You joined that which was once divided, O God-graced Virgin, by your birth-giving; therefore, as the cause of all good things, we call you blessed, crying out with uprightness of soul: Praise the Lord, you works.

Illumine, O chaste one, the eyes of my soul; calm the storm arising from the disturbance of the demons, and direct toward the way of Christ’s commandments the stress of my mind, O all-pure one, so that in faith I may ever call you blessed. ^B

*From the Canon to the holy martyr Hermylus, day 31.*

O holy Virgin, Mother of Christ, glory of the martyrs and joy of the angels, together with them, as a suppliant, entreat your Son to have mercy and save your servants.

With mouth and tongue I confess you to be the all-holy temple of God, O all-chaste one; therefore deliver me from every punishment.

O all-praised Lady, you gave birth in an ineffable manner to Him who rests in the saints; for this reason we honor you with hymns.

The prophet of old saw you in the Spirit as an intellectual lampstand possessing the lamp, Christ the Lord, who with ineffable light illuminates us all, those who faithfully honor you, O all-immaculate one.

*Ex Canone in SS. Theodulum, ac Therapondem, die 28.*

^C The most sacred choir of prophets foretold from afar that you would be truly the Mother of God, O Virgin, higher than the Cherubim and human creatures.

The secret and inscrutable depth of your birth-giving no human intellect can follow in any way, O Augusta; for God, emptying Himself for the sake of His own mercy in your womb, fashioned me entirely anew.

As a gate leading to the divine entrance, as another Paradise, as an intellectual place of sanctification, as the dream of Jacob, let us call the Virgin blessed.

After the awesome birth-giving, O Virgin, you remained as you were before; for it was God who was being born, who changes all things by His will, O unwedded Mary, most full of divine grace.

The Word within your womb became a body without seed, appearing as perfect man, renewing natures as it befitted God, as He alone knew, O gate most dear to God, immune from every stain.

He who sits in the bosom of the Father in an uncircumscribed manner, now resides in your bosom, O undefiled one, in a circumscribed manner, garbed in your form, for the salvation of Adam made the new Adam.

Redeemed from the ancient curse by your birth-giving, O Maiden filled with every blessing and most full of divine grace, we send up to you the voice of Gabriel: Hail, cause of the salvation of all.

By your light illumine me, I pray, O Virgin most pleasing to God among women, and redeem me from the eternal fire, that I may magnify you, that I may glorify you, that with due praises I may extol your great deeds.

*From the Canon in the feast of the Holy Martyr Hermylus, day 31.*

^D O holy Virgin, Mother of Christ, glory of the martyrs and joy of the angels, together with them, as a suppliant, pray to your Son that He may have mercy and save your servants.

With mouth and tongue I confess you to be the most holy temple of God, O totally chaste one; therefore deliver me from every torture.

O Lady, superior to all praise, you gave birth in an ineffable manner to Him who rests in the saints; therefore we venerate you with praises.

Long ago, O Maiden, the prophet in the Spirit saw you as an intellectual lampstand having the lamp, Christ the Lord, who bathes us all in ineffable light, we who faithfully honor you, O most immaculate one.

^A You nourish in a manner befitting God Him who nourishes all things by His nod, holding and embracing in your arms, O most pure Lady, Him who contains all things: wherefore we faithfully glorify you as is our duty.

You were made beautiful, O Virgin, having given birth to the most beautiful in form, Christ, who became like us, and refashioned all who were crushed unto life: whence we faithfully glorify you always with hymns.

You were seen as wider than the heavens, having contained God in your womb, whom always entreat to deliver me now from the sin which restricts me, O Virgin, so that, being expanded by works of piety, I may faithfully call you blessed.

He who fashioned me, God, proceeded from you; He clothes me in the garment of incorruption, when I had been stripped of the divine robe on account of my wicked thoughts; O Mother of God, Lady, refuge of all men, wall of the crown-bearing martyrs, and fortress by which they are crowned, and exultation of the angels.

120 MENSIS JUNIUS. ^B

From the Canon on the feast of Saint Dorotheus the martyr, bishop of Tyre, on the 5th day.

Rain down upon me, O Virgin, I pray, a drop of compunction, which may wash away the filth clinging to me, so that I may glorify you.

Illumine my whole heart with divine light, O gate of light, driving away the darkness of sin.

Save me from temptations, and from the soul-destroying storm of life, so that with faith I may call you blessed, O most holy Girl, Mother-Virgin.

You became the rising of the Sun that shone forth before the morning star, through whom those who were in the darkness of evils, O immaculate one, beheld the light.

Entreat Him, O Virgin, whom you bore as God become man, that He may deliver me from fire and torment.

O Mother of God, snatch my wretched soul from the bonds of sin; and through the perfect charity of Christ, render it free, so that I, O Mother of God, may faithfully glorify you unto the ages.

You were made most beautiful, O Virgin, conceiving and bearing in your womb the most beautiful Word, to whom we sing: Bless the Lord, all you works.

O pure one, who bore in your hands Christ, who bears all things by His divine nod; assiduously entreat the same, that He may direct the lifting up of our hands as incense in His sight.

121

From the Canon on the feast of Saint Theodotus of Ancyra, the martyr, on the 7th day.

By an excess of mercy, the Son of God inclined the heavens, and descended, and was incarnate of you, O chaste one, that He might save men from the seduction of the serpent.

The choir of divinely-speaking prophets, having beheld from afar the depth of your mystery, with multiform voices preached you as the chaste Mother of God, O most chaste Spouse of God.

Since the Creator had preserved you after the birth as a virgin incorrupt, just as you were before the birth, He dwelt in your womb, ^{C D}

and as one full of mercy, He restored and renewed those who had been corrupted by the deceit of the devil. ^A

The true Word of the Father, having been embodied from your venerable blood, O chaste Virgin, you brought forth in two perfect natures, but in one hypostasis, O most dear to God.

He who is truly beyond all creation that can be understood or seen, truly entered your womb and became flesh, in order to reform mankind, O perpetual Virgin.

You gave birth to the Word, who bears one hypostasis, O Mother-Virgin, while He possesses in a manifest way two wills and His natural properties; for He who was incarnate for our sake is both God and man.

An eloquent and learned tongue cannot ^B express the ineffable depth of your mystery; for you brought forth the Word of God, who is beyond words, O most chaste Virgin, for the salvation of all.

Through the voice of the angel, you brought forth the Word without beginning, who took on flesh endowed with mind and soul, O most holy Virgin, from your pure blood, and He defeated the bodiless enemies and saved us all who confess you to be the true Theotokos.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina, day 10

He who created as God the invisible powers by His decree, had you as the cause of our reformation, O Virgin. Therefore, entreat Him, O most immaculate one, for the salvation of the world.

Having brought forth God, you appeared as a Virgin after the birth, O undefiled one; and now choirs of virgins entreat your divine countenance, with whom you should ask for us propitiation and mercy, and total liberation from terrible things.

Because she had you, O all-praiseworthy one, as her strength and support, Antonina endured harsh and severe ^D tortures; she cast down the tyrant and trampled him with her beautiful feet, by the grace of that Word who shone forth from your womb.

Cast down the demons who are always warring against me, and make their counsel of no effect, O undefiled one, saving me, O Maiden, from their expectation, so that I may always call you blessed.

I have an- soul deadened by transgressions; visit and vivify me, you who brought forth Life, Christ, whom the illustrious and great martyrs confessed to be the God of all, O Virgin Mother.

Just as the Chaldean furnace did not burn the three youths, so, O inviolate one, the fire of the Godhead kept your womb unburned. But I cry out to you: Burn up the bitter forest of my passions, O chaste one, that I may glorify you.

Without the experience of man you brought forth God, who became like us, O Virgin, whom you should supplicate assiduously, O one free from every stain, that He may save those who cry out: Bless the Lord, all you works.

^A Make light to arise for me now, most pure one, as I lie in the darkness of sloth, dissolving the clouds that blind my mind, and granting ever-deepening peace to my soul, O all-blameless one, that I may glorify you.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyr Acylina, on the 13th day.

He who is understood together with the Father, who is without beginning, entered your womb and became man, O Maria, betrothed to God, and saved us who had succumbed to malice and had been enslaved by the deception of the enemy; therefore, we glorify you with faith and longing.

We know you, O chaste one, to be an unwedded bride and the pure tabernacle of the Creator, and more holy than the Cherubim.

The sleep of sin has weighed me down in the drowsiness of negligence; by your wakeful intercession, raise me up to repentance.

Redeemed, all of us, from the condemnation of our first parents through your offspring, we cry out to you: Hail, full of grace, most worthy of all praise.

That God might become man, God was seen by men, O Virgin, having been born inexplicably from your womb, remaining what He was without any change.

You have brought forth Him who redeemed us from all corruption; therefore, we all glorify you, O Virgin.

We cry out to you with the voice of the angel, O most chaste one: Hail, salvation of all men, and divine crown of the most glorious martyrs.

From the Canon for the Holy and Wonderworking Tychon, on the 16th day.

You raised us up, O chaste one, who had fallen into the depths of perdition, by bearing Christ, O pure one, from your immaculate womb. ^B

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Meletius, Stephen, and John, on the 10th day.

O most immaculate one, you who brought forth Life, transform the tempest of the passions into tranquility, and be my helper, rescuing me from the dangers of this life.

Lift me up now, as I am stuck in the mire of sin, O Bride of God, sole Theotokos, and direct me toward dispassion as I fervently cry out, etc.

That bush which was once shown to Moses as it burned and was not consumed prefigured you; for truly, O most chaste one, you bore the fire of the divinity, which consumed you in no part; to Him we cry with faith: Bless the Lord, you children, etc.

O Virgin, lover of all that is good, who brought forth the good Lord and Master, make my soul, now corrupted by a multitude of evils, good, just as you are good, and free it from the hardness by which it is now held, by your prayers, that it may magnify you without ceasing. ^C

As God became man, God was seen by men, O Virgin, born of your womb by an inexplicable reason, and He remained what He was without any change.

You brought forth, O Virgin, Him who redeemed us from all corruption; therefore, we all glorify you.

With the voice of the angel, O most chaste one, we cry to you: Hail, salvation of all men, and divine crown of the most glorious martyrs. ^D

^A Since you possess such confidence, entreat Him whom you brought forth from your womb, that He may free your servants from perils.

You brought forth the One of the Trinity, O most pure one, who restored us who had been previously crushed by the malice of the warring serpent. Me, caught in sloth and totally darkened by the blackness of passions, and serving sin—do you, who gave birth to the sinless Word, enlighten and guide to life.

Appear as a deliverer of your servants, O immaculate one, from the invasion of enemies and the incursion of the Barbarians, for they possess you as a mighty defense and an unashamed intercession.

O holy Virgin, make my soul healthy, which the enemy has craftily stained with sin, as you are good, I beseech you; and illuminate it with your light. ^B You have appeared superior to all incorporeal spirits, as you are truly the Mother of God, whom, O Virgin, I beseech to make my mind superior to carnal pleasures.

Priests and people celebrate you, O all-blessed and most pure maiden, who have crowned all with blessings, singing with faith: Bless and praise the Lord.

Your most holy womb has become the dwelling place of light, O most pure one, by which being enlightened, we are redeemed from the darkness of error, singing your praises and with true longing calling you blessed, the only restoration of men.

From the Canon for the Holy Apostle Jude, day 19.

Let faith alone, and not demonstration, be the guide to your miracles which are beyond the mind, O Mother of God, all-pure one, ^D the incomprehensible...

126

From the Canon for Saint Fortunatus the martyr, day 19.

You were the sunrise, O most immaculate one, at the sunset of our nature, because of the kindness of the Sun of righteousness, who appeared. Begetting, O Virgin, Him who is coeternal with the Father, you also brought forth the One who became like men, the ornament of the apostles and the crown of the martyrs. Through you, the unsetting Sun shone upon us, O Maiden Mother of God, who were sitting in the shadow of death. Clothed in a body, He appeared from you, O inviolate one, God who was immune to flesh, so that by His passion He might free all from carnal passions, who with faith assiduously call you blessed. Break, O maiden Virgin, the chains of my sins, and by your illumination brighten my dark mind, O salvation of the faithful.

When Adam had died because of the transgression of the precept imposed by the Creator, he was most truly recalled to life by your life-giving birth, and received back the dwelling of paradise, singing: Blessed are you, who brought forth God in the flesh. You truly brought forth for us on earth a new Child, O pure one, who before all ages was born ineffably from the eternal Father, O inviolate one; and He recalled us, aged by corruption, to newness. You carry Him who carries all by His divine power; and you nourish from your breasts, O most chaste one, Him who nourishes everything in which is the spirit of life. Your miracle, superior to all thought, strikes angels and men with amazement, who celebrate you with perpetual praises and with affection call you blessed.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy Apostle Jude, day 19.

Let faith alone, and not demonstration, be the guide to your miracles which are beyond all mind, O...

most holy Mother of God: you have brought forth the Word of God, who is incomprehensible, clothed in human flesh. ^A

Behold, you, O chaste one, have been filled with grace above all; you have surpassed all in holiness, you have transcended all; you have appeared clearly as more exalted than all the heavenly powers, having become the Mother of God.

Having ineffably conceived your Maker and your God, O most tender one, entreat him to keep us unharmed from dangers, and to grant the salvation of their souls to those who praise you, O Lady.

Mortify my passions, O Mother of God; and raise up my soul, which has been destroyed by the bite of sin, O Mother of the true Resurrection.

Most holy Lady Theotokos, deliver me from corruption, and quiet the tumult of the passions, you who have brought forth the source of dispassion. ^B

With mouth and mind we all proclaim you Theotokos, O all-chaste one; for you have given birth to God, to whom we all sing: Blessed are you, O God.

Come, let us honor the beauty of Jacob, Mary the immaculate, crying out in unison: All you works, praise and superexalt the Lord.

As having brought forth the Maker of all creatures, O most chaste one, you bear the rule over everything created, possessing an incomparable and preeminent excellence; wherefore, adoring your offspring, we glorify you.

From the Canon for the holy hieromartyr Eusebius, bishop of Samosata, day 22.

O blessed one, who gave birth to God, bless now, O immaculate one, those who bless you, and fill them with divine virtues, and grant strength to sing to those who chant to the Lord, saying: For he has been gloriously glorified, etc.

By the will of the Father, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, you brought forth the Word, O most holy Mother-Virgin, the glory of priests; wherefore we celebrate you with hymns. ^C

With mouth, and tongue, and heart, I confess you, O chaste one, as Mother of the Creator, and I beseech you, enlighten my soul, which is covered in the darkness of transgressions.

You are known as the enlightening candelabra, O Mother of God, bearing the divine lamp which illuminates all the ends of the earth.

Perceiving the infinite depth of your mystery, O maiden, the god-speaking prophets clearly foreshowed this, by riddles and divine predictions. For you, O chaste one, gave bodily form to the Word of the Father, who is beyond words.

You renew the laws of nature, O Virgin, by your birth-giving in a paradoxical manner, and you refashion us who were corrupted by the most evil transgression; wherefore we praise you as is our duty. ^D

As one higher than the divine heights, you brought forth the Most High Word, O most laudable one; who exalted from the earth the substance of men which had fallen.

O Virgin who loves what is good, make my soul good.

^A

Ex Canone in festo S. Michaelis archangeli, die 22 (64*)

O Virgin, to be celebrated with every praise, adornment of angels, help of men, assist me who am tossed on a surging sea and constantly shaken and endangered by the tempest of sins. He who created immaterial minds by His own will, voluntarily dwelt in your material womb, O most pure from every stain; when He who was invisible was seen in the flesh. The paradox of your birth-giving, O Virgin, the master of sacred mysteries once signified intellectually, seeing in the spirit the shadowy mountain most manifest, from which came the holy God incarnate. God showed you to be more sublime than the intellectual angels, entering into your womb, O inviolate one, and immune from every spot: whom intercede with assiduous prayers for the salvation of our souls. Blessed is the people who always blesses you, O blessed one, who brought forth the blessed God, who because of His mercy deified men by an ineffable union. Seeing the eternal Word of the great Mind inhabiting you truly, O maiden, the archangel Gabriel ineffably and stupendously cried out: Hail, throne of the Most High, O blessed one. The divine archangel, the mediator of nuptials, standing, cried out to you: Hail, O unblemished Bride of God, glory of angels, salvation of men, and bulwark. At the voice of the angel Gabriel, you conceived, O all-sinless one, God the Word, who by a word created the heavenly hosts, and provides the word by which we can praise His holy humiliation and condescension, which is above every word and thought.

Ex Canone in Festo S. Patris David Thessalonicensis, die 26

You have appeared adorned with the beauty of virtues, and you brought forth, O Virgin, the beautiful Christ, who has adorned men with the beautiful splendors of divinity, O ever-virgin. You have appeared more honorable than the angels, having brought forth, O Virgin, Him who created them; wherefore I beseech you, O pure one, sanctify my mind and enlighten ^B my heart, driving away the clouds of passions. We praise you, O most laudable Lady, who ineffably brought forth the supremely laudable God, you who have surpassed the choirs of angels in beauty incomparably. Direct my life and the movements of my mind, O pure Virgin, toward the divine counsel of Him who in an inexplicable manner proceeded from you to us. From your most pure blood was woven flesh, in a manner above nature, for Him who created man, O Theotokos; wherefore we worthily praise you. By your birth-giving the human race is freed from the curse, O only all-blessed one; therefore we glorify you as full of grace, O Theotokos, unto the ages. We honor you as the beauty of Jacob, whom God loved, whom He chose, altogether as the only pure and blessed one do we hymn you unto all the ages. Ezekiel foresaw you as a light-bearing gate, through which passed the true light, Christ our God, whom earnestly entreat, O pure one, that I pray He may open to me the gates of repentance.

Ex Canone in festo S. P. Sampsonis Xenodochi, die 27

Thee, the ineffable Genitrix of God, as a most powerful defense for all who through labor are ^C

moved, we glorify unceasingly, and we call blessed, O most pure one.

Dispel the shadows of my soul and mind, O pure one, and grant that I may walk and live honestly as in the day, and follow Thy saving commandments. Thee, O all-pure Lady, the luminous palace of the Word, we sing with hymns and call blessed. Thee, O most holy, chaste one, the beauty of Jacob, we praise with the divine voices of faith, for Thou didst bear for us God clothed in flesh, before whom all things tremble. Thou hast become a high heaven of the all-king God, O all-blameless one, and a pure palace, and a bridal chamber glistening with divine grace. ^B The fleece once foreshadowed Thy most chaste womb, O venerable one, which received in itself the divine dew sprinkling all who labor with the thirst of sin, O worthy of all praise and blessed one, who didst bear God in the flesh. Still now the grave tempest of my passions, O chaste and blessed maiden; and fight against all the bodiless enemies who savagely insult my poverty, so that I may faithfully praise Thee. By the most luminous lamps of Him who was incarnate of Thee, O most holy Virgin, above the reach of the mind, may we who faithfully acknowledge Thee as Theotokos be enlightened, and may we be delivered from the darkness of passions, and from dangers, and from all the tribulations of life.

From the Canon for the feast of the reception of the relics of the saints Cyrus and John, on the 28th day.

As one who, out of excess of goodness, makes us familiar to Thee, O most chaste and most pleasing to God, deliver all from every darkness, tempest, and danger. Virgin most undefiled, who didst bear Him who takes away the diseases of men, apply Thy healing hand to the contritions of my soul and the infirmities of my flesh. Sprinkle Thy opulent mercies upon us, O Virgin, according to Thy custom, curing the various diseases of the souls of those who approach Thee in faith, for Thou art the cause of good things, O most praised. ^C Calm, I beseech Thee, the waves of my wretched soul; and settle the pains of my flesh, Thou who alone didst bear God made body without pains. Make me superior to the intellectual powers, and superior to all the malice of the seducer, by Thy intercessions, while I glorify Thee always with thanksgiving. From hostile men, from evil demons, and from every other adversity, mishap, and all injury, deliver me, O holy Virgin, and guard me as I sing: Blessed art Thou, O God of our Fathers. ^D In the likeness of flesh, He who is above divinity appeared from Thee, O chaste Virgin, whom unceasingly entreat to have mercy on us who, with malice...

living together and trembling at the eternal ^A punishment, O Virgin.

Thou art become as a cloud of light, holding in thine arms, O pure One, the Sun of righteousness that sets not; therefore I cry to thee: Illumine me, who am darkened by many evils, while I unceasingly honor thee.

133 From the Canon for St. Hypatius, on the 28th

Thou didst give thy body, O inviolate Virgin, to the Savior and God out of thy chaste bloods, who gave to us his wise Hierarch, a saving and fervent defender, the truly admirable Hypatius.

Be propitious to me on the formidable and terrible day of Christ, O Mother of God, Virgin Mother Mary, who art more sublime than all the creatures of thy Son, seeing that thou alone didst suckle Him supernaturally.

O Virgin Mother, who didst bring forth the incarnate God, cleansing the grave and innumerable lapses of my soul, save me by thy intercession.

The rivers of thy graces, and the fountains of healings, and the distributions of divine riches are divided, O Bride of God, from that hand whence life, of the Omnipotent who was born from thy womb, had its beginning.

Thou didst bring forth the subsistent Wisdom of God, O inviolate Virgin Mother of God, who made the saints most wise, by whom the pride of the architect of malice fell, and his worst stratagems.

O miracle of all miracles! The greatest, that a Virgin conceiving without male operation did not straiten in her womb Him who embraces all things.

O Virgin Bride of God, who without the experience of a bridal chamber, and without the corruption of seed, didst conceive the Only-begotten of the Father and bring Him forth in the flesh from thy immaculate bloods, cease not to pour forth prayers for the salvation of the world.

Me, surrounded by many perils and most dangerously tossed by the tempest of sins, guide now, O Lady Mother of God, by the breath of the Holy Spirit to the most peaceful harbor; for thou art the haven of Christians; wherefore we praise thee unto all ages.

Most lucid Mother of the Creator, consolation of those who mourn, protection of those in danger, and aid of those who labor, and swift visitation of the sick, guard me so long as I shall live.

MONTH OF JULY

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian, on the 1st

Thee, the seat and possession of God, the spiritual table, the beauty of Jacob, the bridge most happy and easy for crossing, and the stable and immovable ladder, O immaculate one, all the generations of men call blessed with affection.

He who is formidable to the celestial armies dwelt in thee in an ineffable manner, O chaste Virgin, having found thee purer than every nature, visible and intelligible; therefore we call thee blessed.

The lamp of divine light, superior to all creatures, which deified man, inasmuch as it brought forth God, is glorified as Mother of God.

Make to arise upon me, O Lady, a ray of divine knowledge, since I am severely oppressed by the darkness of ignorance; and lead me to the light of repentance, O immaculate one, as thou art the gate of light.

Save me, thou who brought forth the Savior; for the depth of sins disturbs me, and the tempest of desires tosses me, and the storm of the spirits of wickedness afflicts me.

Christ shall descend, as rain upon the fleece, into thy womb, O most dear to God; and He shall cause the torrents of iniquity to cease, as God; and He shall pour forth immortality and life as a fountain to those who sing: Blessed is the God of our Fathers.

^A From your sacred blood the Creator of all has been incarnate, and has come forth from your womb, guarding you as a virgin. O miracle of miracles! O manifestation of new mysteries, accomplished in you for all ages! Having appeared, O Virgin, higher than the Cherubim, make my mind higher than carnal pleasures and the temptations of life, and grant me to walk steadily in the paths of salvation, which lead, O Immaculate One, to the city on high.

From the Canon to the holy Thomas in the Palaion, and to the holy martyr Kyriake, day 7.

From another Canon to the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian.

^B The most pure Word made you a clean temple, O Lady, and He ever magnifies the divine Church of the Unmercenaries with signs and wonders. O Maria, rod that sprouted from the root of Jesse, you brought forth, O inviolate one, the flower, Christ, who adorns His servants, the Unmercenaries, as with flowers, with miracles. Death is destroyed in you; for you gave birth to the substantial Life, Christ the Lord, O inviolate one, protector of our life, who gave the Unmercenaries as doctors to those who cry: Bless all things. You have become, O Virgin, the dwelling-place of that Light which has illuminated all things, and has now granted the light-bearing saints, who eliminate the darkness of deadly passions in the spirit, O only ever-inviolate Virgin.

From another Canon to the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian.

From the Canon in the feast of St. Thomas of the Palaion and St. Cyriaca the martyr, day 7.

(64****) This canon, with the following one, is missing in the printed Menaia.

^A You have dissolved, O undefiled one, the curse of the first parents, having brought forth without the will of the flesh, O venerable one, Him who by His own divine will clearly produced all things.

Having brought forth Christ the King, as a queen, O God-graced one, make those who run to you worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

The only God found your womb alone to be pure, and is embodied and is recognized as man, saving man; whence, acknowledging you as the cause of good things, we sing: Blessed are you, who brought forth God in the flesh.

The supersubstantial God was made substantial according to us from you, O Virgin, and was seen as an infant, He who is from before the ages with the Father and the divine Spirit; whence we glorify you as His mother.

By the most radiant lamps of Him who was incarnate from you, O all-holy Virgin, we who know you above human thought to be the Theotokos are illuminated by faith, and are set free from the darkness of passions, and from all dangers and every tribulation.

*From the Canon to the holy martyrs Patermuthius and Copres, day 9 (64****)*

Put to death the affections of my heart, you who ineffably brought forth for us Christ our life, O Virgin who knows not the nuptial chamber, hope of those who run to you.

O salutary gate, open to me the gates of repentance, as a benign protectress, and deliver me from the gates of sin, keeping me by your divine power.

The Word of God received a body from your womb, O maiden Mother of God, and was seen as an infant, exhibiting to all an admirable generation full of wonder.

He who was most perfect, having been made man from you, O unwedded Virgin, deified the corrupted essence of men.

With unceasing voice we cry to you: Rejoice, O ^C most undefiled one; for you brought forth Christ, the joy of all, and have driven away all the sorrow of the first mother, Eve.

Behold that legal Ark prefigured your womb, containing Christ, our Manna, our food, O Mother of God, alone chaste, blessed.

You appeared higher than the heavens, when you brought forth the Word of God, who raised us to the heights, whom every spirit greatly exalts as our God, unto the ages.

Illumine with the rays of your light, O Bride of God, my soul, lying in the deep of sloth; arise, and disturb and cast down the enemies, who always vex my heart and drive me to pursue my lusts.

*From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Proclus and Hilarion, day 12*

The poison which the first mother Eve had drunk in by hearing, Gabriel, by hailing you "Rejoice" (Ave), truly cast out, O Lady: for you alone brought forth beyond all thought and speech the destroyer of the malice of the serpent.

Dissolve, O Virgin, the chain of my evils, binding me with the love of the Word who was born from you, O all-pure one; and save me, Lady, by your prayers.

Having compassion on the work of Your hands, broken by the transgression, O Word, You dwelt in a womb that knew no marriage, and You proceeded in two substances, renewing the paths of immortality for those who know You.

Who is able to explain your mystery, O Lady?

^A O Mother of God, for you ineffably clothed the Creator of all with flesh.

Behold, the Virgin shall conceive, Isaiah once cried out, the angel of the great counsel, Emmanuel, the God and Lord and Savior of our souls.

As holier than all creatures, O chaste Virgin, you gave birth to the Creator and Lord, O undefiled Virgin, blessed Mother, ever-glorified.

God, who made and fashioned me, having become incarnate from your undefiled blood, O Lady, Mother of God, has reclaimed the world, which cries out thus: Bless and praise the Lord.

You have become the dwelling-place of Light, O chaste and most holy Virgin-Mother, in the visible matter of a body, by whom all who draw life in shadows are illuminated: wherefore we faithfully call you blessed.

^B

From the Canon for the Synaxis, or assembly, of the Archangel Gabriel, day 13

Where Gabriel, etc. (The same is as the Canon for the day of 26 March.)

From the Canon for the feast of St. Golinduch the martyr, day 13

The Creator, wishing to cleanse our nature from the filth of malice, became incarnate from your pure womb, O Mother of God; therefore we all glorify you.

We have clearly seen God incarnate from your chaste blood, O Virgin, and having assumed our form through mercy; wherefore we faithfully glorify you.

You have dissolved the bond of transgression, having given birth to the Giver of good things with an excess of kindness, O Virgin-Mother. Wherefore we the faithful glorify you.

Since my mind is stained and rendered useless by many transgressions, O Mother of God, only undefiled one, I beseech you to pity me and save me by your mediation.

The Most High, having woven for Himself a garment from your pure blood, O undefiled one, adorned those who had been stripped of divine raiment; wherefore we longingly call you blessed.

^{C D} Having you always as a propitiation before God, O most immaculate one, deliver us from the terrible torments of the life to come, and free us from all threats and the attempts of enemies, both visible and invisible.

You who by your birth-giving rendered the whole malice of the seducer barren, O chaste one, make my heart, which is barren of all good works, fruitful, by rendering God propitious to me.

At the voice of the angel, O chaste one, you conceived the Word of the Father, whom He had prepared as a dwelling-place for Himself; God, the infuser of grace. Consider the birth of the Mother of God, and you will not marvel at a conception without stain. Great are the things that are spoken, but they are true, they are holy, and they are fitting for the Mother of God, whose conception grace preceded, and hence the world marvels. Thus he.

^A who willed to become like unto us, whom do thou entreat that we might find mercy and the remission of sins, O most immaculate one; whence we ever glorify thee with grateful voices.

From the Canon for the Holy Apostle Aquila, day 14.

By the Word, O venerable one, thou didst conceive in thy womb the Word who through the Word created all things; therefore do we hymn thee with divine words, O thou full of the grace of God.

The only pure one, the only Lord, as He knew thee alone to be purer than all creation, O most immaculate one, was incarnate from thy chaste blood.

We address thee, O Theotokos and Lady, as a spiritual palace and the most high throne of the King.

Thou art become both Mother and handmaid of Christ, who was incarnate for our sake, whom do thou ever earnestly entreat to save us who call thee the chaste Theotokos.

O immaculate maiden, whose name echoes lordship, who hast brought forth God the giver of good things, save those who hymn thee from manifold temptations at all times.

Adam died of old through the corruption-producing food, O most pure Virgin, but thou, who didst bring forth our Life, hast quickened him; whence, as the cause of good things, we hymn thee and cry out: Blessed art thou, who didst bring forth God in the flesh.

Since truly, O chaste one, thou didst conceive in thy womb God the cause of all causes, who is above every cause, and didst bring forth for our sake Him who appeared as we are, O most immaculate one, do thou entreat Him for those who hymn thee.

The prophet foresaw thee as an illuminating lamp, O Virgin-Mother, bearing the Light sprung from Light, which richly illuminated what was before darkened by the rays of His ineffable divinity, O most immaculate one.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Cyricus and Julitta, day 15.

Death is brought to naught through thee, and the sting of Hades is wiped away, O chaste Mother; for thou didst bring forth the immortal Master who died in the flesh.

Without emptying the Father’s bosom, O undefiled one, the Word who gave essence to all things dwelt in thy most immaculate womb, and appeared as flesh without change, and deified mortals, He who is supersubstantial. ^C

The laws of nature, O all-chaste one, are changed in thy birth-giving which was above nature; for thou didst bring forth the Creator in a way beyond mind and reason. ^D

God, the Word of God, took from thee flesh endowed with mind and soul, O all-holy one, and through compassion became man, and deified me who had been cast away through transgression; Him do thou entreat to save all things.

^A With the sharp scythe of your intercession, cut away, O Maiden, the wicked thoughts from the roots of my soul, and make me fruitful, I pray; for you have given birth to God the Sower of all, and Savior.

Clinging to your words, all generations call you blessed, O Maiden, having been shown to be the Mother of the blessed God, who makes those who believe in Him blessed.

The Word, incarnate from your most immaculate blood, O immaculate Maiden, deified those who had previously inclined toward the most irrational passions of the flesh, through divine knowledge; therefore we exalt Him above all forever.

^B Illumine, O gate of light, my soul blinded by affections and darkened and endangered by wicked thoughts; and deliver me from temptations, dangers, and tribulations, that I may glorify you, the hope and fortress of the faithful.

*From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyr Athenogenes, day 16.*

You gave birth to the eternal Word, O unwedded one, having become flesh from your blood, beyond the comprehension of mind or word.

You appeared higher than the heavens, O chaste one, and ever holier than the Seraphim, since you supernaturally gave birth to the King and Lord of all.

You rendered the super-substantial One, equal in power and throne to the Begetter, incarnate, O most immaculate one, He who for compassion dwelt among men.

Recognizing you as Mother and Virgin, we unanimously venerate you as all-holy, and devoutly call you blessed.

As an intelligible ark, you carried the Lawgiver; as a radiant lamp, you brought forth the Light; as an unwatered root, O Theotokos, you sprouted the cluster of life.

The Word, whom you brought forth beyond word, O Mother of God Mary, entreat for us who faithfully praise you and call you blessed, O immaculate one.

^C Having been delivered through you, O most undefiled one, from the ancient fall of our first parents, we cry to you, "Hail," and with faith glorify Him who through you delivered us from corruption.

You carry in your arms the God who carries all things; you nourish the Nourisher, O chaste one, who became like us; entreat Him to deliver your people from all hardships and adversities.

*From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyr Marina, day 17.*

You have become a capacious vessel of divine grace, O immaculate Mother of God; therefore, Marina, pursuing and desiring you with virginal affection, was led after you to your Son.

Truly and properly, we the faithful venerate you as Theotokos, O most immaculate one; for you have given birth to God, who has become flesh. The most immaculate and only holy...

one, who appeared holier than the Cherubim, save our souls from every surrounding adversity, ^A as we praise you with faith, O immaculate Virgin, Bride of God.

The Creator, who surrounds the sea with cloud as if with a swaddling cloth, by His own will is born as an infant from the virgin maiden who has not known man, and is wrapped in swaddling clothes in an ineffable manner.

O unique Virgin, because the pure Word loved you as pure and incorrupt, He became incarnate from you and refashioned man, He who glorified Marina with miracles. ^B

You appeared higher than the heavens, having given birth to the heavenly God, O most chaste one, who has made the whole mass of earth-born creatures heavenly, and has brightened the revered memory of Marina; to whom we cry out: "All you works, praise the Lord."

You have caused light to rise for us from your inviolate womb, O Virgin, who, being illuminated by divine splendors, became light, O Mother of God, Virgin Mother, whose name resonates with joy.

From the Canon for the feast of Saint Emilian the martyr, on the 18th.

My strength, and my praise, and the illumination of my heart is Christ the Lord, ^C whom you gave birth to, O most immaculate one, who is understood in two substances, but in one hypostasis.

Ignoring the laws of nature in your childbirth, which was above nature, O Virgin Mother, you remained a Virgin after birth; for you gave birth to the Creator of all creation, O inviolate one.

We glorify you, O all-holy maiden, as the only one found to be the place of the Sanctification that sanctifies us, through whom those inhabiting the earth were made heavenly, and were rendered worthy of true life.

Heal me, who am wounded by the sword of sin, with your most effective medicine, you who gave birth to the Savior Christ, who was wounded by a lance for my sake, ^D and himself wounded the heart of the serpent.

Eve indeed plucked the fruit of the death-bearing tree; but you, O most chaste one, brought forth the tree of life, the taste of which brought to life all who were dead.

O Bride of God, adorned with a name of lordship, to you we cry out "Rejoice" with faith; for you gave birth to Christ the Lord, the ineffable joy, to whom we cry out: "Blessed are You, the God of our fathers."

Rain down upon me a drop of mercy, you who gave birth to the fountain of mercy, and dry up the showers of my sin, and calm the wild waves of my soul, O Virgin Theotokos Mary, that I may glorify you unto all ages.

Illuminate me with your light, O most worthy of all praise, as I walk in darkness; reach out your hand of help to me; the

clouds of my soul dispel; the tempest of my passions calm, O refuge of those in despair. ^A

From the Canon for the feast of our holy Father Dius, on the 19th.

You have become a tabernacle of the spiritual Sun, O most pure one, who has illuminated us with the divine splendors of piety and dispersed the mist of ignorance, O ever-Virgin. ^B

He who dwells in the heavens has dwelt within you, O immaculate one; whom earnestly entreat to save the souls of those who praise you.

We have known you to be a light-bearing lampstand, carrying the divine radiance in your womb, O Virgin: wherefore we suppliants pray you, that with your light you may illuminate the souls of all who praise you.

Mortify the passions of my soul, O most praiseworthy one, you who brought forth the Life of all by an ineffable Word; and calm my troubled mind, O Maiden.

God the holy one has manifestly made you holier than the Cherubim, O Maiden, sanctifying those who cry out: Blessed are you among women, O most immaculate Lady.

You have appeared more spacious than the heavens, having contained God, O Mary most chaste; whom entreat to deliver me from the passions that hold me fast, and to rescue me from the future fearful judgment, as I cry aloud: All you works, praise the Lord.

Spare me, O Christ, when you come to judge the world with glory, having to entreat you, O Word, the Theotokos ever-Virgin, the orders of angels, and the assembly of the saints. ^C

From the Canon for the feast of the holy Prophet Elias, on the 20th.

The supersubstantial God, O most clean one, has become incarnate from you, and for our sake appeared as man like unto us: whom earnestly entreat, O most chaste one, that I, who have sinned above all men, may be saved and delivered from torment. ^D

O impervious gate, through whom one passes to God, open to me the gates of repentance, I pray, washing away the filth of my sins with the showers of your mercy, O maiden most dear to God.

With all the heavenly hosts, with all the prophets and martyrs, with the apostles and confessors, pour forth your prayers, O most clean Lady, that I, who have sinned much, may attain salvation and be snatched from future punishments.

Upon you, as rain, the supersubstantial Word has descended; whom entreat, O most innocent maiden, that He may now rain down upon me pure drops of compunction, by which all the filth of my measureless evils may be washed away.

O gate of God, show divine entrances to my miserable soul, by which I may enter with confession, and receive the absolution of my evils, O Theotokos.

I praise you, O most praiseworthy one, and I magnify you, O maid beloved of God,

^A your pure childbearing; assist me, who am tossed about by the waves of life, and grant compunction to my humble soul, as a cleanser of its defilements.

The Legislator of piety and Master of repentance, Emmanuel, appeared having been born of you, whom now entreat, O all-holy Lady, to open for me the gates of righteousness from above, and to save me as I cry out: "Priests, bless the Lord."

Do not disregard the voices of your servants, as you are good, O most blameless Lady, but earnestly ask the Creator of all for the king to grant him victories, and for strength of soul, O Virgin, and for the participation and splendor of the divine kingdom.

149 Ex Canone in S. Focam martyrem, die 23 (65).

The punishment of our first parents was dissolved: for you brought forth God, who is before the ages, O undefiled one; who, having become a new infant, hath completely renewed the whole of human substance.

God, having been incarnate of you, because of the bowels of His mercy, was united to men, and took away the curse, O Lady alone heaped with every blessing.

Virgin immune from nuptials, Virgin blessed, glory of bishops, crown of all martyrs, free those who sing your praises from perils and tribulations.

The Wisdom of God built for Himself a house, as it was pleasing to Him, from your pure and holy blood, O Lady.

As a saving rain, the Word was poured forth ^B in your incorrupt womb, O most holy girl, and by His divine power dried up the torrents of malice.

Restore the shattered and ruined house of my soul, you, as most benign, by acts of repentance, O most chaste girl, who didst reform the whole nature of men by your childbirth.

The Ark of the Law, and the urn that contained the manna, prefigured you, O most chaste one; the divine table, and the lamp shining with gold, which brought forth that Light for the revelation of the Gentiles, which illuminated the whole world with divine knowledge.

Illumine, O pure one, my soul, wrapped in the darkness of sin, and free me from the flames and eternal darkness by your mediation, that with exultation of soul I may celebrate your greatness.

150 Ex Canone in festo S. Christine martyris, die 24.

You conceived the Word of the Father united to flesh according to the hypostasis that was from you; which, as she ardently loved, Christina obtained the glory of martyrdom.

Calm, O chaste Lady, the tumult of my thoughts, take away all consternation of soul, you who gave birth to Christ.

The most glorious of the prophets, Isaiah, once named you a rod, bringing forth the flower, the Lord, O Theotokos, mother and ever-virgin.

Enliven me who have become dead through sin, O chaste Virgin, having given birth to the immortal life.

The divine-speaking prophets, ^C perceiving the depth of your mystery, O Virgin, prophetically foretold it when illuminated from afar by the divine Spirit, that you would truly be the mother of the Lord of all.

Having transcended ^D the laws of nature, O Virgin, by your divine conception, you gave birth to God above the order of nature, crying: "Blessed are You, Lord God, unto the ages."

O perpetual Virgin, most powerful help of the faithful, deliver me from the seduction of the deceitful dragon, who grievously wars against me and hastens to humble me; for you...

are the unerring guide of those who trust in you and cry out unceasingly: "People, exalt the Lord above all."

O Virgin who loves the good, make my soul, corrupted by sins, good, and deliver me from the eternal flame by your intercessions.

From the Canon to the holy martyr Hermolaus and his companions, on the 27th day.

^B O most pure one, who brought forth the divine and immaculate light into the world, dispel the darkness that is in me, dissipate the clouds of my heart; illuminate me, O gate of light, who with faith magnify you and glorify God; for He has been gloriously glorified.

He who is understood as possessing a twofold nature, God and man, while in no way abandoning the Paternal bosom, sat in your bosom, O inviolate Virgin, circumscribed, while being uncircumscribed by His own nature.

The celestial God dwelt within your womb, O Maiden, and deified man, and constituted you the protection and safeguard of the universe.

Legal types prefigured the mystery of your conception, the outcome of which we behold and glorify you, O Virgin, who have become the cause of all good things and have filled our race with grace.

Look upon me, O Queen most pleasing to God, and make Christ propitious to me, O all-undefiled one, on the day of judgment, ^C removing the fearful sentence of condemnation.

Deliver me, O most immaculate one, from the grievous tempest of sins and of thoughts which cruelly invade my heart.

Like a fire-bearing throne, you carry the Master, O one most filled with divine grace; whom you should entreat to keep us safe when we are in danger in the sea of sin.

Having you, O Virgin, as a protection, a refuge, and a firm defense, may we through you be delivered from every tribulation.

The tempest of my boundless transgressions disturbs me and continually casts me into the abyss of despair, O Maiden; but anticipating this, reach out your hand to me and grant that I may enter secure into the calm harbors of repentance.

O all-holy Virgin, who gave birth to God in the flesh, save your people who cry out to you from every sin and tribulation: "Blessed are You, O God of our fathers."

^D O most pure one, who brought forth the divine and immaculate light, dispel the darkness that is in me, and dissipate the clouds of my heart. Illuminate me, O gate of light, for I praise you with faith, and glorify God; for He has been gloriously glorified.

Those who are troubled by the most wicked demons, who disturb me with vexation, deliver me from the fire of Gehenna, O you whom I praise with faith.

Just as the fire of the furnace did not once burn the most prudent youths, so the fire of Divinity did not now burn your womb, O Virgin Mother of God, which renewed the bounds of nature within you.

The Lord Almighty, having inhabited your womb, saved those who were afflicted with disease, bowed down to the earth, and openly serving sin; whence they now cry out to Him with firm faith: "O children, etc."

You have restored the corrupted substance of earth-born men by your incorruptible birth-giving. Wherefore I cry aloud: Restore me, who am entirely corrupted by wicked desires, as you are the most benign, and show me the paths that lead to life; for you are the guide of all who have recourse to you, O most pure one.

^A We praise you, O most holy Lady, as the delightful palace and bright dwelling-place of the King of all, beseeching you to show us to be temples of your Son, cleansed of all opposing wickedness, and crying out unceasingly: "O peoples, exalt Christ unto the ages."

Spare me, O Savior, who were born and kept your Mother uncorrupt after the birth, when you shall sit to judge the universe; do not look upon my iniquities and my sins, as you are sinless and merciful, as God and lover of mankind.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy apostles Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas, day 28.

^B The ways of God made manifest in you have become known, O most immaculate one, through your wondrous birth-giving and incomparable union; whence we glorify you as the Lady of all creation.

You have brought forth the good Lord, who distills sweetness and redemption from evils, O inviolate Virgin, lacking every stain.

Without the union of a man you gave birth to God the Word, made flesh, O most chaste one, beyond mind and word; whence we duly glorify you, O Virgin, and as is our duty, we call you blessed.

We praise you, through whom we were redeemed from corruption, O most immaculate one, from the abyss, and from the wickedness of the avenging foe that formerly tyrannized us.

^C The ranks of the bodiless angels venerate you, O Theotokos, together with the choir of the apostles and the multitudes of the martyrs; for you have ineffably brought forth the King of all.

By the Word you gave birth to the Word of the Father, O maiden, who by a word created heaven and earth; and you glorify him, O most immaculate one, as he provides the word to those who now purely believe in him.

Behold, the voices of the God-speakers have received their end, by your bearing the supersubstantial Lord, declared and demonstrated by them for the salvation of the faithful, who cry out, O most graceful one: "All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord."

We cry out to you, O Virgin, with the voice of the archangel: "Rejoice, the joy of the angels, the honor of the apostles, the proclamation of the prophets, and the crown of the martyrs."

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Silas, Silvanus, and their companions, day 30.

^D You have ineffably brought forth God, who is above all praise, having taken flesh from you for the sake of his goodness, O most praised and chaste one; whence with voices of thanksgiving we praise you and call you blessed, as you yourself once prophesied.

The One who inhabits inaccessible light, having found you, O Theotokos, holier than the angels, entered into your holy womb and became man, taking flesh from you, known in two natures.

^A The miracle that took place in you is the most eminent of all miracles; for beyond the accustomed laws of nature, you brought forth Christ the Lawgiver, who blotted out the transgression of our first parents, O most immaculate one. David previously described you as a coagulated mountain, the mountain of our God, a fertile mountain. For in you, O maiden, were made known the paths of Him who requested flesh from you, and who led us back to our pristine dignity.

When the Creator found you adorned with beauty, He placed His tabernacle within you, and, becoming incarnate, He appeared more beautiful than all the sons of earth, O most holy Virgin, worthy of all praise. Dissolve the bonds of my sins through your intercession, O chaste one, and bind me perfectly with the love of your good Son; for day by day I depart farther from Him through deformed desires. Spare me, O You who are to come again with the glory of divinity to judge the world, O omnipotent Lord, through the intercession of her who bore You without knowing man, and do not cast me into the fire, having been condemned for my sins.

From the Canon for the Feast of the Holy and Just Eudocimus, Day 31.

As a living bridal chamber of God and a censer of the spiritual and life-giving coal, let us hymn the ever-blessed Theotokos, crying out: Hail, cause of our salutary restoration. Being more honorable than the angels, you carried in your womb the Creator of the angels, and you brought Him forth, O Mother of God, for the redemption of those who sing to you: there is no one holy, O immaculate one, besides you, O Lady. O Virgin ever-praised, you gave birth to God, who is hymned by the orders above, having truly become man; do not cease to entreat Him on behalf of your servants, O ever-virgin. ^B Always entreat, O Virgin Mother, on behalf of us who hymn you, the One who became incarnate from you, that we may be delivered from passions and deadly dangers, from soul-destroying evils and tribulations, and from the eternal flame and punishment.

You were chosen by God, for you were most beautiful, O Virgin, and you became a spacious dwelling place for Him, and a bridal chamber, and a lamp, and a table. Always entreat Him whom you bore, O Lady, to deliver me from the slavery of passions of damnation, from the heavy hardness that holds me, and from the rule of those who always trouble me, O most dear to God. The Former of Adam is fashioned from your blood, O chaste one, and He who nourishes every living thing is nourished by your milk, O Theotokos Virgin; whence we glorify you as the Mother of God. You are seen as the dwelling place and tabernacle of the Light that illuminates all, and a bridge and ladder to the heights of the earth ^C

^A leading the earth-born on high, O Maiden, wherefore we revere you and faithfully call you blessed.

MONTH OF AUGUST

The all-pure one was saying as she wept: "When I gave birth to you, O Son, ineffably, I escaped labor pains, and how am I now all filled with pain? For I see you hanging as a malefactor on the wood, you who hung the earth without support."

Beholding Life dead upon the cross, and not bearing the pain of her heart, the venerable Virgin was shaken, crying out: "Woe is me, my Son, what has the assembly of the lawless done to you?"

"From a virgin womb I gave you birth, O Son, and seeing you now hanging on the wood, I am at a loss and do not understand ^B the height of the mystery and the depth of your many judgments," the all-pure one cried out, whom we bless with unresting voices as the Mother of God.

Beholding on the cross Him who, for His goodness, was born of you, O all-immaculate one, beyond the comprehension of the mind, your heart was shaken and you were saying: "Woe is me, divine Son! How are You in pain for all? I worship Your tender mercy, O Lord."

Strengthen us, O Pure one, to fast from all malice, and ever empower us to abstain from vile and wicked deeds, as you are the protector of all mankind.

Expand the narrowness of my mind by your intercession, O Lady, who brought under ^C and confined all the stratagems of the enemy, and guide me along the narrow path to walk toward the expansion of life, O Mother of God.

"Now, as I behold You hanging like an innocent lamb, and fastened to the cross by lawless men, O my Son, who are without beginning and before all, I am cut to the heart, and I am encircled by maternal pains," the all-pure one cried out, whom we hymn divinely with unresting voices unto all ages.

"Without corruption I bore You from my womb, whom the Father begat before the ages; and how do corrupt men now rend You, O Son, and pierce Your side with a lance, and ^D inhumanly nail Your hands and feet?" The all-pure one cried out, whom we worthily magnify.

From the Canon for the Holy Seven Youths, day 2

He who is by His own nature pure, when He had found you, O all-pure one, more pure than all creation, dwelt within you, desiring, as the lover of mankind, to eliminate the guilt that had dwelt in Adam.

When Christ had taken me from your divine blood as a garment, O inviolate one, He clothed me, who was once naked, with the garments of grace.

You gave birth to a new infant, O Virgin, who has renewed the world, long since worn out by age, with divine knowledge; therefore we glorify you.

Dissolve, O Virgin, the hardness of my soul: and grant me to promptly and easily obey and cleave to the divine decrees of your Son.

Mortify the pride and ferocity of my flesh, O pu-

rissima, you who gave birth to that Life which took away death by death, and miraculously brought the children back to life. ^A You have appeared more excellent than the angels, O Mother of God; you have appeared truly as the strength of athletes, you have appeared as the salvation of all those who truly acknowledge you as the Mother of the Lord. Apply a healing hand to my ailing soul, O Virgin, and wash away the filth of the passions clinging to me, and set me before the tribunal of Almighty God with perfect salvation, so that I may sing: All you works, etc. ^B Bear within your arms Him who holds all the universe with His divine hand, O Virgin, and supplicate Him, so that He may embrace me, who am more condemned than all others, through the bowels of His immense mercy, and make me whole.

From the Canon for the Feast of the Holy Fathers Isaac, Dalmatus, and Faustus, on the 3rd

O glorious one, who gave birth to God, deliver me from the disgrace of the passions, and grant me, O Virgin, a mind of compunction, and illuminate my mind, O chaste one, with the light of repentance, so that I may magnify you, who have magnified all. We have known you as a spiritual lamp and a luminous vessel, receiving within yourself, O Virgin, an intolerable fire; a divine palace and a most high throne, in which the heavenly and supersubstantial One rested. Sleep—the slumber of sin—has cast me down into drowsiness and sloth; but do you, O chaste one, rouse me with your wakeful intercession to repentance. All generations glorify you as the true Mother of God, O immaculate one, you who were clearly shown to be holier than the angels, O all-holy Maiden. Wherefore I cry out to you: Sanctify my soul, which has been defiled by the passions. Visit my soul, ailing with sins and the various vexations of the enemy, O all-holy Virgin, with your saving visitation, and heal me quickly, as you are good, O Mother of God, my hope, and all-praised one. ^C You have checked and restrained the onslaught of death, having brought forth the immortal God, O only chaste Mother of God, whom we believingly praise, saying: Blessed are you, O Lord God. The Lord, having dwelt in your undefiled womb, made you entirely pure and luminous. Wherefore, cleanse me, O Virgin, who have been defiled by venomous bites and the harmful attacks of enemies, and make me worthy to sing: O ye people, superexalt the Lord throughout all ages. ^D O gate of light, illuminate my heart, which has been blinded by malice; and do not allow me now to fall asleep in death, I who am always enveloped in the darkness of impure thoughts, so that I may glorify you with thanksgiving, O Mother of God, all-immaculate one.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyr Eusignius, on the 5th

The curse is abolished, and sorrow has ceased through your birth-giving, O all-blessed Maiden, the joy of the faithful, immune to any stain. I direct all my desires toward you, O chaste Queen. Deliver me most speedily from carnal desires. O all-holy Maiden, perpetual Virgin, you have brought forth the Word, co-equal and co-throned with the Father.

whom I entreat to save me.

The Word in your womb, O immaculate one, takes on a body, delivering the world from the irrational passions of the flesh. ^A Having dried up the plants of malice by the sprouting of the Word within you, O chaste Mother, cut away from the roots of my soul my wicked thoughts, and plant there, O Virgin, the beautiful blossoms of the virtues. You have brought forth a new child, whom the Father begat before the aeons, O chaste Theotokos, to whom we all sing: Blessed are you, O Lord. O compassionate Virgin, who have brought forth the most compassionate God, make all who sing to you worthy of divine compassion. Bless the Lord, all you works. ^B

Illumine, O gateway of light, the eyes of my heart, I beseech you, which are blinded by the shadows of sin, and show them to be receptive to divine illuminations, that I may honor you with angelic voices, O all-blameless one.

From the Canon for the holy martyr Euplus, day 11.

When Christ, O chaste one, had illumined your light-bearing womb with His awesome descent, He arose to those in the world as the sun, dissolving the mist of polytheism that brought on the evening of evils, and illumining the ends of the earth. ^C God having dwelt in your midst, did in no way disturb the barriers of your virginity, O chaste one; entreat Him earnestly to strengthen all who praise you. The rich of your people beseech you, O maiden, who gave birth to Christ our God, who has enriched all with divine knowledge. You have appeared truly higher than the angels, having given birth beyond understanding to the Maker of the angels, who glorified the holy martyrs, O all-holy Mother-Virgin. O miracle full of awe! How do you give birth without having known the experience of a man? How, O Virgin Mother, do you nurse with milk Him who is truly the author of milk and the nourisher of all creation? ^D That your divine womb might be prefigured by that Persian furnace, it preserved the youths without burning, as they cried out: O Lord God, blessed are You. You have been made beautiful, O chaste and all-blameless one, above all the beauty of the angels, having given birth to the Maker of mortals and angels, to whom we sing: Bless the Lord, all you works. With the splendors of the light that is in you, O Bride of God, illumine my soul. Raise me up while I lie in the pit of destruction, putting to shame my enemies who always afflict my heart and incite me to pursue the passions.

From the Canon for the holy martyrs Photius and Anicetus, day 12.

Virgin both before childbirth, O immaculate one, and after

^A you have been shown to be the one who truly brought forth; for you gave birth beyond word to God, who crowned the holy martyrs who competed in the struggle. ^B The Lord who dwells in the heavens dwelt in you, and He banished from us every deception, O Theotokos. As one beautiful, you brought forth the Beautiful One, O Mother-Virgin immaculate, who showed the most beautiful martyrs to have struggled stoutly and to have diminished impiety. Who is able to explain your mystery, O Lady Theotokos? For beyond mind and word you have ineffably given birth to God. Beyond the laws of nature you gave birth, O most immaculate one, to the true Lawgiver; entreat Him to have pity on my soul, which is enslaved to the laws of sin, and to save me. As one wider than the heavens, O chaste one, you received the Word, who is contained by nothing, beyond what can be conceived by the mind, ^C and you lead those who walk the very narrow road, O most immaculate one, toward the breadth of divine life. O holy Virgin, who brought forth God, the One beyond all holiness, who by grace crowned His holy martyrs, save and sanctify us who readily sing: Bless the Lord, all you works. Shine upon us, O you who brought forth the Light inaccessible, O Virgin; fill us with gladness, and cheerfulness, and divine knowledge, as we piously and prudently call you blessed with a pure heart. From the Canon for the holy martyr Myron, day 17. ^D You alone, without marital union, brought forth God, whom the victor-martyrs, confessing that He became like us, rendered the wiles of the deceiver void, O Lady untouched. You brought forth for the whole creation, laboring under the disease of impiety and faithlessness, God the Healer, O Virgin, and wonderfully healed it; therefore, giving thanks to you, we cry out: There is no one without stain except you, O Lady. The great and awesome mystery of your childbearing, O chaste one, strikes every mind with wonder, because God was pleased to become man from you for His own goodness, for the salvation and restoration of the world. Entreat Him who was incarnate from you by an ineffable word, O blessed one, so that we may be delivered from all enemies, both visible and invisible, O most immaculate one, we who proclaim you the chaste Theotokos.

The laws of nature are made new in you, O Virgin; for you have miraculously brought forth above nature God Emmanuel, who cannot be comprehended by nature, for the regeneration of us the faithful. ^A

You have appeared as a region and possession of God, and a delightful palace and divine throne, in which He who sits prepared a heavenly seat for all, O most holy Virgin; therefore we cry out to you: Blessed are you, who gave birth to God in the flesh.

Struck in my soul by the dart of the enemy, I am wounded all over and suffer incurable pains; do you, O most pure one, who ineffably gave birth to the Savior Christ, heal and save me, O hope of the hopeless.

With angelic voices we all cry out to you, O Virgin, the palace and throne of God: Rejoice, you through whom we have been made worthy of the kingdom of heaven, we who of old were thrust away by corruption and foolishly lost our first beauty.

From the Canon for the Feast of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus, Day 18

From a virginal womb you brought forth, O root never watered, the planter of all, made man and prone to suffer the passions, for whose love the divine martyrs, allured, fought faithfully, O undefiled Virgin, to be celebrated with every praise.

O maiden who knows not the nuptial chamber, through whom the Word, who is understood as being beyond all beginning, shone upon us, save your city and every other city and region from every surrounding ^C adversity, O most beloved of God.

The Creator of all and God chose you, O Theotokos, as pure out of all generations, always a Virgin; and the only King of the ages made your womb an immaculate palace, and from you He appeared to men. ^D

A great mystery, hidden before all ages, which was by no means known to preceding generations, has been made manifest through you, O most inculpable one: the Word of the Father, who was before the ages, incarnate and made man.

Heal my soul, which is sick with sin, with your medical hand, O most chaste one, you who gave birth to the physician of souls, whom the divine martyrs confessing became physicians of the passions.

As a rose of the valleys, O maiden, God chose you out of this life; and having dwelt within you, He went forth according to the flesh, breathing upon us with the most sweet breath of divine knowledge, O most pure one, us who always confess you as Theotokos.

You have become holier than the angels, having given birth, O most holy maiden, to the Holy of Holies, who out of compassion became a man such as we are, without confusion, to save those who cry out to Him unceasingly: O children, bless; O priests, exalt the Lord above all.

Your childbirth is terrible, O chaste Mother; for the Word of God, whom the hosts of heaven tremble before, having become man on earth, you bore beyond the order of nature, remaining

^A a virgin just as you were before. Therefore, both with tongue and heart, confessing you as Theotokos, we magnify you.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Andrew the General and his two thousand five hundred and ninety-three companions, the 19th day.

He who, out of the superabundance of His goodness, truly clothed Himself in flesh from you, O most immaculate one, for the salvation of all the faithful, is known as God and man at once, twofold in natures.

You have given birth to the Lord of all, O Lady, Virgin Bride of God, who delivers mortals from the tyranny of the enemy.

All tongues of men celebrate you, the glory of martyrs and the preservation of the faithful, O cleansed of every stain; for you gave birth to God, while remaining an undefiled Virgin.

The swords of the enemy have now failed even to the end, since you, O Theotokos, gave birth to Him who was wounded by the spear and recreated the world.

You have given birth ineffably to Him who is co-eternal with the Father, who became like unto men beyond reason and speech; entreat Him, O Mother of God, that He may deliver your servants from dangers. ^B

You, O Maiden, who clearly deified men by your supernatural and divine childbirth, inasmuch as you ineffably gave a body to God, are blessed among women, O most immaculate Lady.

O holy Virgin, who ineffably gave birth to the supersanct holy God, whom the most holy martyrs confessed in the stadium, send down sanctification and illumination to the peoples who cry out: All works, bless the Lord.

Carrying in your arms Christ, who by His nod bears all things, beseech Him, O Lady, to deliver me from the hand of the alien, I who unceasingly magnify you with orthodox faith.

From the Canon for the Holy Prophet Samuel, the 20th day.

He who was with the Father as Son before the ages, having been incarnate in the last times, truly became your Son, O most pure one, making all those who were oppressed by the service of the cruel adversary the sons of God through faith. ^C

From you proceeded Jesus Christ, having become embodied, and ^D was incarnate. It also retains the same proportion to its parts as a successive whole, such as life is, compared to all the successes and steps of its course, which a permanent whole has to its parts. Moreover, if a positive and limited name, once applied to a part, extends itself to denominate the whole; how much more will a negative name, such as "Immaculate," being more universal and as it were not knowing how to be restricted, when attributed to one whole, spread out to denominate the part? Therefore, the rationale of "immaculate," which is attributed to the Virgin and the entire course of her life, will be able to denominate the conception as immaculate, as being the principal part initiating such a successive whole of this kind. So Nierembergius.

^A And deified us by the assumption of our flesh; wherefore, O all-immaculate one, we venerate thee as the Mother of Him.

Not emptying the bosom of the Father, He was pleased to be reclined in thy bosom as a new infant, for the recall, O Virgin, of our souls, to whom we cry out: Glory, O Christ, to Thy power.

Having become with us through compassion, the Savior was incorporated from thy sacred blood beyond the reach of the mind, O all-immaculate one; and the lover of mankind is recognized as both God and man.

Eva has been liberated from the pangs of labor, O all-immaculate one, as thou, without labor, didst bear Christ our God, who clearly healed the sufferings and pains of all.

Thou didst appear unburnt, O most pure one, having truly borne the fire of the Godhead; wherefore, O Mother of God, burn up my material passions, as thou art compassionate and a lover of good.

Make me worthy of thy compassion, O compassionate and good-loving Lady, and deliver me from Gehenna and from that outer darkness, that I may venerate thee with faith and affection.

Not having known the corruption of a man, thou didst receive in thy womb the incorruptible Word, who delivers us who are corrupted by many transgressions, by the passion of His incorruptible flesh, O incorruptible one, alone all-immaculate.

^B 167 From the Canon to the holy Apostle Thaddaeus, ^C and the holy martyr Bassa, on the 21st day.

Thou hast appeared as Lady of all created things, having ineffably borne Him who rules over all, O Theotokos Virgin, all-hymned.

Thou didst conceive the Word of the Father without maternal pains, O most holy one, and ineffably, beyond speech, didst bring Him forth for our salvation.

The prefigurements of the Law and the voices of the prophets, O Lady, clearly declared thy fearful birth, O Mother of God.

Thou didst save me who had died through the tasting of disobedience, thou alone having brought forth the subsistent Life, O maiden all-immaculate.

(70) Gabriel Biel, in his *Scholastic Doctrine* and antiquities, in sermon 2 on the Conception, writing of the Blessed Virgin as a "virtuous woman," represents her innocence to his readers with these words: "Her price is from the furthest ends" (Prov. ult.). "Innocence took its beginning. For in innocence was Adam created, and to innocence shall he be reduced again, when all the predestined are taken up to that place, into which nothing defiled enters. From these terms, therefore—that is, the ends, from whom and to whom, which is innocence—which are far from the rest of men, the price of this most virtuous woman is lifted up above the sin of other men, not because *all have sinned* (Rom. 3), and lack the glory of God, but by justification after the fall. The price of her alone is rightly lifted up from the 'furthest ends,' that is, from innocence, which no fault—neither original nor actual—ever stained. For which reason even the angel sent by God to this Theotokos began his praises from her innocence: *Ave*, which is interpreted 'without Eve,' that is, without the stain of fault." Thus Biel. Who in Sermon 3 adds: "Eve is opposed to Mary as regards personal qualities and as regards the principles of propagation. As regards personal qualities, that is, the properties of the persons or personal acts, Mary is opposed to Eve, as much in their production as in their conversation, since Eve was [formed] from the mass of innocence, namely the rib..."

^A of an innocent man, Adam, and lost her innocence, finding for us original sin: but Mary, from the mass of perdition, being conceived without perdition, lost original sin, first found innocence, and brought forth immaculate Him who washes away the sins of all, [having been rendered] immaculate. He says this. Sanctius also, of the Order of Preachers, in his 13th Marian sermon, speaking of this innocence of the Virgin, said: "Eve had two names: the first, in the state of innocence, 'virago' (woman); the second, in the state of fallen nature, 'Eva'. But from the word 'virago', remove 'A', namely Adam, who lost that state, and there remains 'virgo' (virgin), to signify that the state of innocence, lost through Adam, is recovered and brought back through a Virgin." Hence, Father Hortensius Pallavicinus of the Society of Jesus ^B, in his *Elogia*, part 1, elogium 4, speaking of the immaculate conception of Mary, says among other things: "It would be a monster if the progenitor of the Blessed Virgin were not innocent, she who alone is conceived under the horoscope of innocence. Eve, the guilty one, first conceived sin: Eve, the innocent one, is first conceived without sin." But concerning this same innocence of the Virgin, Peter Pázmány, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, speaks most excellently in his sermon on the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin, when he says: "It can be said with all the greater assertion that the most blessed Mother of God was not only innocent of every original stain, by which original sin is worse and more destructive than all the venial sins of the whole world ^C (that itself is the fountain and root of actual sins), but—arguing from this point also, Augustine against Julian, ch. 9, near the end, proves that Christ never sinned, because He was not infected with the original stain, and adds: 'Assuredly, He would have committed a greater sin, had He possessed one as an infant.'—so he says. Who also adds below: 'It is a great axiom of the tribunal that if a question arises concerning anyone, whether he be guilty or innocent, he ought to be considered innocent, until it can be demonstrated by undoubted proofs and light clearer than the day that he is guilty.' See Aristotle, *Probl.* 29, p. 13: 'We would rather free a guilty man than condemn an innocent one.' Therefore, since it cannot be shown by certain and light-clear proofs that the most blessed Virgin is guilty ^D of the original blight, nay rather, it is lawful by the Church to defend her without any error, we are bound not to deny it to her. Moreover, on the day of judgment it would not seem less unbecoming to complete in this the divine omnipotence and mercy, nor glorious to Judge Christ, who will then take an account from men of the divine precepts, if He had not so honored His Mother that the least of the angels of heaven would appear more innocent than she on that day, whereas they will appear throughout their whole eternity most innocent without any fault, yet their Queen, and the Mother of the most holy and omnipotent, had at one time been with a stain. Clearly, it does not seem less becoming that Christ should have cared less about the honor of His Mother and the manifestation of His own all-encompassing purity and mercy, both by withholding from His Mother a lesser prerogative, which the angels could say, upon the proclamation of that day, that they were more innocent than their own Queen, as well as by exalting His mercy, which was not lacking in the most excellent mode of redemption even preserving her from original sin. For, as Antonius Navarrus of the Dominican family says in a sermon on the conception of the Blessed Virgin: 'If God made the angels most pure spirits, why would He not make their Queen purer? [end of page 1175] beginning of column 1176〗 A vessel pure, ^A Eliseus chose, in which salt would be placed to heal the waters of Jericho; so also the most pure vessel, and adorned with every precious stone, was the Blessed Virgin, in whom was to be stored Christ, the true salvation of peoples, who are signified in the waters, according to that of John: 'Many waters, many peoples.' Into a malicious soul wisdom will not enter, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins, otherwise, the devil would have mocked and derided in a voice of exultation that he had possessed it before God later chose her for a Mother. God did not allow the demon to assume a dove to deceive Eve (for under the aspect of a dove, just as under the clothing of sheep, a feigned fraud would be better concealed than under a serpent's skin), because the Holy Spirit was about to assume a dove at the baptism of Christ; so neither was it fitting that she, from whom the Son of God was to be born, should ever have been the lot of Satan." So he says. Therefore, that on the day of judgment the celestial spirits might not appear more innocent than their Queen, she was conceived without any stain of sin, and perhaps for this reason she is called by Saint Joseph by the title of "the most innocent." [(71)] Because she is as alien to every contamination in body as in soul. Saint Anastasius Sinaita favors this when, in Book 1 of his *Hexaemeron*, he calls the Mother of God: "The full moon, which never waned nor failed, nor was deprived of essential light, namely her virginity." For the essential light explaining virginity does not speak of the virginity of the body alone, for this cannot be called the essential light of grace and sanctity, for its lack can be combined with exceeding sanctity from the light of grace, as happened to Saint Anne; but it speaks of integral virginity or the purity of the virgin, namely of body and soul, whose purity the Fathers also called integrity and virginity. Therefore, the most sacred Virgin did not suffer a waning or defect in her integrity, either of body or of soul, which, although created in sanctity, was never bereft of the essential light of grace in the soul, nor of the superadded splendor of incorruption in the body, namely, all-encompassing virginity and purity. Saint Augustine and other Fathers said that the Virgin conceived the Word in her mind before her flesh, denoting her faith and will required for the assumption of humanity into her womb. And so the virtue of the soul was required for the divine conception. Wherefore it was fitting that the soul of Mary should have been no less pure, and integral, and a virgin from every contamination of fault, than her flesh pure and incorrupt. And lest anyone should understand Saint Anastasius himself to speak only of the perpetual virginity of the body, Saint Anastasius himself explains this, adding: "Mary remains a virgin as regards the soul": but perpetual virginity as regards the soul is perpetual integrity as regards sin, whether actual or original. See Nieremberg in *Exceptionibus*, ch. 13. Blessed Albert the Great, ch. 181, on the *Missus est*, defining the most proper essence of virginity, says thus: "Virginity is a withdrawal from every evil, comprising as much the evil of the soul as of the body." And indeed, a greater account was taken by God of spiritual purity than of corporal integrity, because, as Augustine taught, Book x, *De mendacio ad Consent.*, ch. 20: "Whatever can be violated in the body is less than whatever can be violated in the soul."

^A Abacuc once foresaw you in the Spirit as a mountain untouched by the hand of a stone-cutter, from which God was manifested and brought salvation to us, O Virgin. You have brought forth the Word made flesh, bearing a twofold power of operation, O maiden who knew not wedlock, and you remained an undefiled Virgin. You have now undone the defeat of the first mother Eve, having given birth to the Redeemer of all, and Savior and Creator and Lord, O Mother of God alone, blessed among women. Therefore, we glorify you with faith. You have brought forth for us a new infant, consubstantial with the Father, O pure one, restoring again to its ancient beauty the human nature that had been corrupted.

^B The seas of sins and the waves of despair toss my mind; have mercy, O Lady, and stretch out your hand to me and save me, you who gave birth to the Savior. Slipping of my own will, and encompassed by shameful deeds, I flee to you; help me, O Lady, providing ways of repentance to my humble soul, that I may glorify you. Break the manifold chains of my offenses, O Bride of God, who gave birth, beyond words, to the God who takes away the sin of the world, blessed, pure, eternally glorified.

^C The shadow of the Law ceased, when you, O Lady, gave birth to the Giver of the Law, who illuminates the world with grace; him you always entreat, that he may quickly take pity on me, who am subject to the law of sin. The Word of the Father, who created the heavens by his nod and the earth by his will, and fashioned man, O immaculate one, did not disdain, as you plainly know, to build a body of flesh for himself from you, wishing to restore our nature, which had been crushed by the deceit of the serpent, O Virgin, only merciful one.

^D O Virgin, lover of goodness, make good my soul, which has been corrupted by sins, O you who brought forth the all-good Word. Having given birth to the Lover of mankind and Redeemer, O admirable and goodness-loving Lady, grant me release from my sins by your prayers, and make good my soul, O all-pure one, which has been perverted by evil thoughts, and show it redeemed from deadly passions, O all-blameless one.

From the Double Canon on the feast of the holy martyrs Agathonicus and Lupus, day 22

The great miracle, surpassing wonders, is seen in your delivery; for you gave birth to Christ, who came in the likeness of flesh, without change or confusion. Like a beautiful dawn you bring forth from your womb, O Lady who knew not wedlock, Jesus, the illumination of all and God of all; he who diminishes the night of idolatry with undying rays, and illuminates the world.

^A He who is by nature uncircumscribed, having received our form from you, O Lady, accepted circumscription according to the flesh, being known in two substances and wills. God having dwelt in the midst of you as He knows, He did not disturb the barriers of virginity, O chaste one, but established all upon the immovable rock of faith.

He who rides upon the shoulders of the Cherubim, having become incarnate in a manner befitting God as a man from you, O chaste one, is set in your arms like an infant, and acts as an infant, saving the first-formed man who once acted with childish folly.

^B Upon you, the abyss of wisdom, Jesus, descended like rain, finding you alone pure, O Mother of God and Virgin, and He flooded the grievous torrents of impiety with divine grace.

Foreseeing your wonders in the divine Spirit, Isaiah cried out: Behold, you shall have in your womb Him who is incomprehensible, becoming incarnate, O immaculate one.

Let us venerate the chaste one with a chaste mind; let us adorn the beauty of Jacob with divine deeds, and piously praise her as the Mother of our God.

You remain a Virgin after you have brought forth Christ, as you were before; you nourish with milk, O chaste and adorable one, Him who grants food to all. O mystery full of wonder and incomprehensible!

You have brought forth Him whom the Father generated from eternity before the ages, and you have suckled at your breasts the Nourisher. O miracle exceeding all mind! O mystery surpassing all speech, O chaste one!

God became man from you; He deified the mass of men, O inviolate one, and made those who call you blessed partakers of the divine nature, O truly blessed among women, O chaste one.

The Only One who dwells in the heavens chose you alone as the beauty of Jacob; and having dwelt in your midst, O untouched and blessed one, He in no way disturbed the barriers of your virginity, O blessed one.

We name you the Tabernacle, and the table, and the divine ark, and the vessel holding the manna of life, and the holy mountain, O Virgin Mary, ever blessed. ^D

(72) By the title “immaculate,” original sin is excluded even more than venial sin, by the force and signification of the epithet: for a venial stain is not so notorious that it strives to demolish the spiritual beauty of the soul, and thus it does not have as great a repugnance with the word of praise, “immaculate.” Moreover, original sin, since it utterly expels every ornament of grace, can in no way consist with the beauty of “immaculate.” Therefore, the signification of this word “immaculate” is more verified by the expulsion of original sin than by the expulsion of venial sin, according to the opinion of the Angelic Doctor, 1. 2, q. 8, a. 1, saying: “Properly speaking, venial sin does not cause a stain in the soul.”

(73) When the Blessed Virgin was blessed, she was such also in her creation, and consequently she avoided the curse of original sin at that time. The Church favors this in the Responsorium of the feast of the Circumcision, when it says: “And blessed forever, she brought forth to us God and man.” As if the Church were to say: Because the Blessed Virgin brought forth to us God and man, she was blessed forever. But what is “blessed forever,” if not always blessed, that is, from the beginning of her creation and thereafter? For eternity looks to every difference of time, and excludes no moment of time, but comprehends every part entirely and totally. Therefore, Mary was always blessed, and in every difference of time; she could not, therefore, incur original sin, the grace of blessing, which went before her, standing in the way.

^A All creation blesses your birth-giving, which has crowned us with blessings and removed the curse. O blessed alone, O glorious One, who have filled our race with grace!

I, the prodigal, having a mind given to sin, a corrupt life, a soul laden with offenses, and a defiled heart, prostrate myself before you, Lady. Help me and grant me correction before the cutting sickle of death overtakes me.

With the rays of the Light that dwells in you, O Bride of God, illuminate my soul; raise me up as I lie in the pit of perdition, terrifying the enemies who always afflict my heart and compel me to pursue the passions.

^B *From the Canon for the Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches, the 24th day.*

In you, O Virgin, I place the hope of my salvation; wash me entirely clean from the filth of sins and make me pure, perfectly pleasing to your Son, and doing His most holy will.

Rejoice, you who alone gave birth to Joy inexpressibly! Rejoice, chariot and cloud of the Word; rejoice, throne of God, Virgin who knowest no man; rejoice, glory of the holy ones; rejoice, crown of martyrs.

Alone among women, you remained a virgin both before and after childbirth; for it was God who, beyond the reach of speech, was innovating the natures, becoming incarnate of you ineffably; He who is above before the ages, and was born on earth at the end of the ages, O wholly immaculate one.

^C O Mother-Virgin Maiden, who gave birth to the incomprehensible Word; O Bride of God, glory of the angels and wound of the demons; make my heart, wounded by sins, worthy of divine healing.

My mind’s wanderings and the troublesome and terrible movements of my soul, O Virgin, correct, and save me; guard me from those who cruelly attack me day by day.

Venerable prophets, looking from afar with the eye of the mind into the depth of your ineffable mystery, manifested your childbirth to all in various figures and ways, O Virgin, crying out: Blessed is the God of the Fathers.

^D My soul is dead from the serpent’s bite; you, who alone clearly gave birth to Life, O most immaculate one, bring it to life! And guide me happily along the way so that I may perform the wills of Him who was born of you for our sake, O Virgin, crying: Priests, bless the Lord.

We cry out to you with the voice of Gabriel: Rejoice, chosen earth; rejoice, golden table; rejoice, refuge of men; rejoice, boast of martyrs; rejoice, delight of the angels, holy Theotokos, bulwark of those who call you blessed with sincere faith.

*MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.*

*From the Canon for the Holy Martyr Anthimus, the 3rd day.*

The Lord, who arose from you as He knows how, [guides] the choirs

^A of athletes, O chaste one, those who represent within themselves all His life-giving passions and the unjust death that justified us sinners.

You have become beautiful, O most chaste one, having brought forth the Son and Word of the Father, who is more beautiful than all those born of earth, whom the noble martyrs, loving, were shone upon by glory.

The Word, not leaving empty the Paternal bosom, was reclined in your bosom, O maiden, as an infant, wishing to restore me who am subject to corruption.

The shadows of the Law declared that radiance which arose from you, O most immaculate maiden, and illumined the choirs of athletes who praise you.

O unwedded one, you who dried up the plants of malice with your sprout, root out the thorns of my passions, and cause divine thoughts to sprout from my soul.

Because of the excess of His love for mankind and kindness toward men, the Word appeared from you incarnate, O Virgin, saving those who sing: Blessed be the God of our fathers.

With sacred voices let us bless the undefiled tabernacle of God, the ensouled ark, the glory of the martyrs, higher than the Cherubim and all created things.

The flaming sword, which of old prohibited the entry to Paradise, now retreats ^B and turns its back to those who voluntarily represent in themselves the venerable passions of Christ, wounded by the lance, and who honor you, O Virgin, who are superior to all honor.

*From the double Canon in memory of the miracle wrought at Colossae, or Chonae, by the holy Archangel Michael, day 6.*

O Virgin, totally pure, the adornment of angels and help of men; help me who am tossed in the sea and always falling and perishing in the storm of sin.

O unintelligible miracle, how the incomprehensible God has been united to mortals, born of you in flesh according to hypostasis, O unwedded one, that He might save me who am subject to corruption through the deceit of the serpent.

He who created immaterial minds by the nod of His will, voluntarily dwelt in your material womb, O most pure one, becoming visible in flesh, He who was invisible.

Daniel describes you as a great mountain, O inviolate one, ^C but Habbakuk as a mountain overshadowed by virtues, and David as a curdled mountain: for from you God was incarnate to redeem the world.

That master of sacred things formerly understood intellectually in the Spirit the miracle of your birth-giving, seeing you most manifestedly as a mountain overshadowed, from which the holy God came incarnate.

Gabriel came from the highest, bringing you "Hail," O most chaste one: with him, therefore, we cry out: Hail, ^D

gate, through which alone Christ God passed, saving the human race. ^A God made you higher than the intellectual angels, when He descended and entered into your most pure womb, O inviolate one. Therefore, pray always to Him that He may have mercy on those who praise you. O Virgin, who surpass the angelic Powers and have given birth to the God and King of all, together with them pour forth prayers, O most holy Lady, for our salvation. ^B Blessed is the people that always calls you blessed, O blessed one, who gave birth to the blessed God, who for His mercy’s sake deified men through an ineffable union. The prophet foresaw you as a scroll, O Virgin, in which the Word is written by the finger of the Father: entreat Him, as a suppliant, to inscribe in the book of life us who piously glorify you. ^C Gabriel the archangel, seeing the eternal Word of the great Mind truly dwelling in you, O maiden, ineffably and formidably, cried out: "Hail, throne of the Most High, O blessed one." Since you have given birth in the flesh to the Savior and God, the Redeemer and Master, O most chaste Lady, pray to Him always, O immaculate one, that we may receive from Him the removal of most grievous evils, and the remission of many sins, singing the praises of His mercies which surpass all thought. ^D The divine archangel, the nuptial announcer, standing near, addressed to you the "Hail," O unwedded Bride of God, the glory of the angels, and the salvation and rampart of men. You conceived Fire, yet it did not consume your womb, O Virgin; you gave birth to the Word of the Father, who delivers from irrationality those who obeyed the words of the seducer, and were disobedient to God their maker, the lover of mankind. By the voice of the angel Gabriel, O most clean one, you conceived God the Word, who created the heavenly hosts by a word, and provides the word by which we may praise His holy descent and emptying, which surpasses all word and thought. O Virgin, you appeared more spacious than the heavens, containing within yourself ineffably God, whom the choirs of the incorporeal ones mystically praise. Him, therefore, pray, O chaste one, for the salvation of us all, who with unceasing voices call you blessed.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, Day 10

As a living bridal chamber, as an incorrupt tabernacle, as a heavenly gate, as a divine table, as a palace and throne of the Master, let us honor the immaculate Mary with hymns.

(74) He [is] considered by us to be free from original and actual sin, and to be immaculate. For although men conceived in sin are called "immaculate," as it is said in the psalm, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way," it matters little, since I am not speaking of any common calling of the name "immaculate," but of the absolute and antonomastic, and special, and of a particular person, and in the New Testament.

^A Appear, O chaste Virgin, and dispel the darkness of my soul; break the bonds of my sin; save me, you who have brought forth the All-Merciful, endowed with all mercy.

Vivify me, who have been destroyed by the malice of the deceitful one, O most immaculate one, who brought forth Life itself; for I have fled to you; and as you are compassionate, O all-immaculate one, raise me up when I have fallen into the depths of transgressions.

When the most divine Word found you alone to be elect, and beautiful, and lacking spot, He became incarnate from you, O recipient of divine grace.

Holy is God who dwelt in your womb, finding you holier and purer than every creature, Mother of God, immaculate Lady whose name signifies dominion. ^B

Beyond the order of nature, O maiden, you were deemed worthy to carry in your womb the Creator, who reformed us, as we sing with faith: Blessed are you, O Christ.

As an unstained temple of God, O maiden, you received Him who was being bodied forth, and who is known in two natures, to whom we sing: Bless the Lord, all you works.

Spare me, O Christ, when You come to judge the world with glory: dissolve the mists of my passions by the prayers of Her who gave You birth, and of Your venerable martyrs, as You are good and full of much mercy.

*From the Canon for the feast of St. Cornelius the Centurion and martyr, day 13.* ^C

You entice the hearts of the faithful ever to glorify you with insatiable desire, O Mother of God and Lady; for you are accounted the glory of men, having brought forth the Lord of glory, O immaculate one.

For in the Old Testament, Christ and the most blessed Virgin did not exist, who are truly, and properly, and entirely, and antonomastically immaculate. But indeed, since such persons did not exist in the Old Testament, it is no wonder if the name "immaculate" were attributed to the holier ones, especially since it is not attributed to them absolutely. Thus, when it is said: "Blessed are the immaculate," it is added, "in the way," that is, in the mode of operating, not absolutely and entirely. David also said, "I will be immaculate," [which] indicates that at some time he was not such. Job also, who had acknowledged and supposed himself to have been conceived in sin, afterwards called himself immaculate regarding the present, not the past, just as others are signified as immaculate regarding the future in Scripture. However, the mode by which Josephus and other Fathers call the Virgin immaculate, absolutely and antonomastically, is not found elsewhere among other saints; and it indicates something most special and greater than all the sons of Adam, as Nierembergius observes in his *Epistolary Dissertations*, epistle 8.

(75) Josephus joins with St. Ildefonsus, Archbishop of Toledo, in the golden treatise *On the Crown of the Blessed Virgin*, which work, as Petrus de Alva testifies in his *Bibliotheca Virginalis*, is believed to be the offspring of this most holy prelate, wherein at chapter 13, it holds: "You, O Lady, have always been clear and serene, sincere, most clean, and delightful. For you are always entirely beautiful, entirely fair, entirely immaculate, and entirely lovely. You are stained by no spot, defiled by no filth, [and] are illuminated by all grace." ^D Thus he.

(76) The term "purer," applied to the Virgin in comparison with all creatures, entirely excludes original sin. For (as the most learned and pious man, Fr. Joan Eusebius Nierembergius, notes in his *Epistolary Dissertations*, epist. 6), these names "holier" and "purer" are commonly understood in different ways. Holiness is usually taken for the positive dignity of grace and merits to which a creature arrives, whence it is not referred to past things, but to the present state and the height to which grace has attained. Purity, however, is taken for the negative proximity to sin and filth, whence it also looks to the past, from which filth could have been possessed, and yet it was not. Hence it is that Magdalene, or St. Mary of Egypt, could be called holier than St. Agnes or Cecilia, and yet could not be called purer: because although Magdalene could have acquired greater holiness, she nonetheless did not so lack the uncleanliness of sins. So also St. Augustine could be called holier than St. Louis the Bishop, or St. Casimir, yet he could not be called purer, because he did not lack the filth of a past life, which St. Casimir lacked. So also King David can be called holier than the Emperor St. Henry, and yet he will not be called purer. Hence it is evident that when the Blessed Virgin is called purer than all creatures, it is necessarily denoted that she lacked in the past the stain of origin, which the angels and protoplasts lacked.

^A You have become a luminous tabernacle of purity, and you bear the Giver of Light, made flesh as a man, who for the sake of his love for mankind appeared as one of us, and abolished corruption; O incorrupt recovery of mortals.

You have become a pure dwelling-place of the wisdom of the Father, beyond reason, O chaste Virgin, through whom we have now been delivered from the malice of the sophist.

Rain down upon me, O all-pure one, the forgiveness of transgressions; visit me, who am sick and tossed by the storms of life and the passions of the body.

The Lord of glory was incarnate from your virginal blood in the manner which He alone knows, O all-praised one, saving us by His goodness.

You appeared, having deified the human mold by your divine ^B birth-giving, O Virgin all-immaculate; wherefore we the faithful rightfully glorify you.

Distill upon us your mercies, O maiden, according to your custom, and beseech, O chaste one, the forgiveness of all transgressions, whether committed in knowledge or in ignorance through negligence.

Beseech for me illumination, you who gave birth to the Light that shone forth from Light, driving far away from me the darkness of temptations and pleasures, O undefiled Lady, protection that is not put to shame.

From the Canon for our Holy Father Eumenius, Bishop of Gortyna, Day 18.

The prophecies concerning you are now fulfilled, O Lady Theotokos; for Him whom the prophets announced in sublime speech, you held in your womb in two perfect natures.

O Mary, golden censer, drive away the foul odor of my passions, and strengthen me, who am shaken by the assaults of the deceitful enemy.

(77) It is said that the Blessed Virgin is the immaculate Queen, since it did not befit her, who was to be the Queen of angels, to be conceived with original stain. Hence St. Anselm in his sermon *On the Conception* says: "Did He preserve the angels from sin when others were sinning, and could He not preserve the Virgin Mary, who was to be his mother, from the sins of others? In the eternity of His counsel, did He decree that she should be the mistress and queen of the angels, and then did we believe that she was conceived in the fellowship of the sins of men, receiving a lower grace than the angels?" Let him who will, think this; let him prove it who will with his arguments; let him oppose what we say who will: I, until God shows me that something worthier of the excellence of my Lady can be said, what I have said, I say; what I have written, I do not change. Hence also William of Paris the Younger, or the Bitontine, in his *Greater Postils on the Feast of the Conception*, q. 3, says: "The Virgin Mary, elected to be the Mother of God, was exalted above the angels: but all the angels were preserved from all sin. Therefore, by a stronger reason, she also, who was superior." Furthermore, Albertus Magnus in the *Biblia Mariae* on the book of Job, speaking of Mary, said: "She is the singular eagle, of whose praise and proclamation the Lord speaks in Job 39: 'Shall it be at thy commandment, as at mine, that whatever I command, I inspire, she shall be elevated in nature, grace, and also glory, and in every prerogative,' an eagle, that is, Mary, above all choirs of angels." So he. Citing his words in his *Epistolary Dissertations*, epist. 6, P. Juan Eusebius Nieremberg writes in this manner: "To surpass the angels in nature is [to be] in a condition, or from a condition of nature, in which she would not be above all angels if she were created more impure than them."

In the apostolic liturgy of the Ethiopians, also, since it is said to have proceeded from the apostles, it is said thus in the prayer to the Virgin Mother of God: "Rejoice, Immaculate, truly Queen. Rejoice, glory of our parents." As if it said (as Nieremberg says in his *Exceptions*, cap. 13): "You, who, as a true queen and august one, did not lie under the severe law of the servants' penalty concerning the contraction of a stain, and thus restored the lost beauty of the human race, rejoice, Lady. Truly queen, because you were immaculate in such a way that you never had to serve anyone except the One God, to whom to serve is truly to reign. Therefore she did not have any sin, when that is of a certain most miserable servitude. Rejoice therefore in such a good, in such glory, which our parents can call their own, since with this their disgrace was compensated. Thus you restored with great honor the ruined state of justice and the beauty of the original glory of our parents."

^A Sacred voices long ago announced the depth of your birth, the fulfillment of which we now behold, O immaculate one. As a new infant you have brought forth for us the Pre-eternal Son, who is before all ages, O most immaculate one; who is twofold in two voluntary operations, being at once man and God, O all-blameless one. When the heavenly rain had descended upon you, O perpetual Virgin, it irrigated the desolate earth with the streams of divine knowledge and showed it to be fecund. Your womb has become a dwelling place for the immaterial light, which by the dread splendors of divine knowledge diminished atheism, O immaculate Virgin-Bride, whom we praising cry out: Blessed are you, O God of our fathers.

^B The most sacred chorus of the prophets truly described you beforehand, O venerable Virgin, calling you a mountain untouched by the hand of a stonemason; a rod and a gate through which the Most High passed, in the manner He Himself knows, and left you closed once again. You carry Him who carries all things by divine power, and you nourish with your breasts Him who nourishes every living thing, O all-pure one; your miracle surpasses all the cogitation of the mind and strikes with stupor both angels and men, who unceasingly praise you and with affection call you blessed.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon, day 19.

Generously illuminated by the enlightening fount of your graces, O most dear to God and only gate of light, the noble martyrs, praising you, passed through the deepest darkness of intolerable torments. ^C Obeying the laws of the Lord who was incarnate from you, O all-blameless Virgin, the noble athletes routed the lawless, having you as a helper, who save our souls. As the pure palace of the King, the threefold assembly of martyrs invoking you as a helper, O immaculate Virgin, cast down the temples of demons, and were transferred to the temple of supernal glory, always honoring you with praise.

The strongest soldiers, invoking in aid the holy Virgin, most pleasing to God and most immaculate, passed through the swelling of torments and the storm of terrible things with unshakable prudence of mind. ^D Strengthened by the virtues sent from you, your athletes,

O Christ, have contended lawfully, celebrating with praises your immaculate Mother, who ineffably gave birth to you. ^A

Being, O Lady, purer than all creation, you received the Word, ineffably born of you, whom the noble martyrs, desiring with affection, endured the trial of torments with patience and constancy.

You have brought forth as a new infant Him who is understood to be co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, O undefiled Virgin, Christ our God, whom the noble martyrs confessing, undergo a sacred struggle; with whom the peoples, tribes, and tongues, O most holy one, with faith bless you through all ages.

He who, having guarded you as a virgin, sprang from your womb, truly an unsetting sun, O Virgin, has gloriously illumined His athletes, who contended with endurance; together with whom entreat Him to have mercy on us, who religiously and piously proclaim you blessed. ^B

*From the Canon to Saint Susanna, on the 19th of September.*

You have truly become the dawning of that Sun, O Lady, who was born above the setting of human nature, and through whom those who walked in darkness and in the shadow have seen the light; entreat, O most chaste one, for your servants, that they may be delivered from all adversity and destruction, while they praise you as Virgin Mother.

The urn prefigured you, O chaste Virgin, which bore the intelligible manna, Christ, of course, the sweetness of the world: to whom, Mother of God, supplicate, that those who assiduously glorify you may be delivered from the servitude of evil affections.

My strength and my praise is Christ, who from you, Mother of God, has sprung, clothed in servile flesh, and has delivered us from the servitude of the devil on account of His goodness.

Recognizing you as the most holy temple of God, alone immaculate, and superior to all creatures, with sacred voices we deservedly call you blessed.

Entreating the Lord of the universe, who is born of you, [O Lady], I have been loosed from the bonds of damnation, and from the curse through your parturition, O most chaste blessed one; for you alone on earth gave to God a body from your pure blood, O most immaculate one. ^C

With your most bright splendors you have illumined my darkened heart, O Virgin, who on earth brought forth Christ, the Sun, to whom we sing always: Blessed is the God of our fathers.

When the most divine Word had preserved you chaste even after birth, He proceeded from you, O undefiled one, with dual nature and operation; wherefore we glorify you as His Mother.

With your light illumine me, O chaste one, who suffer from blindness in the night of this life and am tossed by the waves of sins, O holy Lady, gate of intelligible light. ^D

From the Canon for the Holy Hieromartyr Phocas and the Holy Apostle Codratus, on the 22nd day.

^A The Creator of all things, born in the flesh from a maiden who knew not a man, preserved her a virgin after the birth, just as she was before the birth, in the manner that pleased Him.

The penalty of our first parents has been abolished, O immaculate one. For you have brought forth God, who is before the ages yet born as a new infant, He who truly restored all human nature to a new state.

The intolerable fire dwelt within you, O Theotokos, and did not burn your womb; yet it burned our passions and reduced the forest of error to ashes.

From you, God having become incarnate out of the tenderness of His mercy, has been united with mortals and has abolished the curse, O Lady alone filled with every blessing.

From your chaste blood the Creator was incarnate, O Theotokos, and has renewed all who were corrupted.

Without male union you conceived, O Virgin, and after the birth you were seen to be a virgin still; wherefore with ceaseless voices we cry out to you, O Lady, with unwavering faith: Hail.

You have brought forth for us the Son incarnate in two natures, He who was born of the Father before all ages without corruption or the laws of time, as He alone knows.

^B Wisdom of God has built for herself a house from your chaste blood, O Lady Theotokos, in the manner that pleased Him.

He who by His will stretched out the heaven revealed you as another heaven upon the earth, O Mother of God and Lady; and from you He rose upon those who were in darkness.

Like a saving rain, the Word has been poured out in your ineffable womb, O most holy Maiden, and by divine power has dried up the torrents of wickedness.

Delivered by you from the ancestral curse, O woman filled with the grace of God, we recognize you as the cause of good things, inasmuch as you gave birth beyond mind and word to the cause of all things, namely the Word; wherefore we cry to you, O inviolate one: Blessed are you, who gave birth to God in the flesh.

^C Restore the shaken and collapsed house of my soul through acts of repentance, O purest and most benign Maiden, who have restored all of humanity by your birth-giving.

The most sacred prophets of God, by their most sacred voices, clearly foretold that you would be the Mother of the Lord of all, O chaste and inviolate one. Wherefore we praise you unto all ages.

The ark of the law prefigured you, O most chaste one, and the urn which ^D housed the manna, O all-pure one, and the divine table; for you once again contained the Bread of life, Christ.

the manna, and the divine table, and the lamp flashing with gold; for you brought forth the light for the revelation of the nations, the light which illuminates the ends of the earth with the knowledge of God.

Spare me, Lord, spare me when you come to judge me, and do not condemn me to the fire, nor rebuke me in your wrath. The Virgin who carried you in her womb, O Christ, makes supplication for you, together with the choir of the apostles and the martyrs with the prophets.

Illuminate, O chaste one, my soul darkened by sins, and deliver me from the eternal flame and from darkness through your intercession, that I may rejoice and celebrate your majesty.

From the Canon for the Feast of our Holy Mother Euphrosyne, Day 25

He who has risen from you is all desire, all sweetness and life, because of the excess of his kindness, O most immaculate Virgin; him do you entreat to save me who incessantly calls you blessed.

The grievous tempest of passions disturbs me; a deep gulf of evil spirits holds me fast; the storm of sin shakes my heart, O Mother of God; do you establish me who sincerely glorifies you.

Have mercy, O most merciful one, upon the most wretched...

^{A B C D} Dei Genitricem, or Mother of God, they add almost always the title "immaculate." Thus the sixth general synod held at Constantinople under Pope Agatho, in action 5: "We confess our Lord Jesus Christ to be incarnate of the Holy Spirit, from our immaculate Lady, the Mother of God." Thus the Council of Trent, sess. vi, Can. 4: "The holy synod declares that it is not its intention to include in this decree, where it treats of original sin, the immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God." St. James in his Liturgy, which is found in the *Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum*: "Commemorating our most holy immaculate Lady, the Mother of God." Thus Origen, homil. 1: "Mother of God, immaculate." And the Fathers, both Greek and Latin, everywhere call the Mother of God not only immaculate, but often plainly, fully, entirely, and altogether immaculate, or most immaculate. Whence I conclude the privilege of immunity from original sin in the Blessed Virgin from her divine maternity, as follows: "The word 'immaculate' (as an anonymous author says in a certain suppliant booklet offered to the sacred Congregation of the Inquisition) expresses holiness through a negative term, that is, through the negation of any stain whatsoever; therefore it seems to exclude a stain for any instant. Therefore this word 'immaculate,' without any other restrictive addition, attributed to the Mother of God, signifies entirely that she was, absolutely and simply, and thus throughout her whole life, and consequently in the first instant of her conception, devoid of every stain. For just as a woman would in no way be called a 'virgin' absolutely who, although she might be chaste for a time, had nevertheless at some point fallen from the flower of virginity; so the Mother of God, or theotokos, could not be called immaculate absolutely and by antonomasia, however much she might have shone thereafter, if at any time she had been subject to an original stain, since the word 'immaculate' denotes the negation of any contracted stain whatsoever, specifically. But if you object that the argument is weak which is drawn from this word 'immaculate' for the Mother of God's immunity from original sin, since in Scripture those are often called 'immaculate' who are subject to an original stain (see Psalm 36: 'The Lord knows the days of the immaculate'; and Psalm 18: 'Then I shall be immaculate, and I shall be cleansed from the greatest transgression'; and Psalm 17: 'And I shall be immaculate with him,' and elsewhere; answer with Velasquez, *De Maria concepta*, book iv, Dissert. 3, single annotation: 'Names and epithets are to be understood according to the persons to whom they are given, and Christ is called "immaculate" in one way, as in Heb. ix: "He offered himself immaculate to the living God"; and 1 Pet. i: 'With the precious blood as of an immaculate Lamb, Christ"; but the Blessed Virgin is called "immaculate" in another way, and other humans are called "immaculate"]. For as Christ the Lord, subsisting in a divine person, is immaculate by his nature, so it is fitting for the Blessed Virgin to be immaculate in that way which becomes the Mother of God, and consequently to be immaculate in every respect, according to the proper signification of the word, through the negation of any stain whatsoever for any instant. Which indeed, as it does not befit other men when we call them 'immaculate,' we do not mean to signify that, but that they possess such purity as is possible for human nature (subject to original sin). From which it seems to me I can infer that in the view of the councils and the Fathers, the Mother of God is called 'immaculate' in the sense that she is entirely beautiful and without any actual or original stain, and that nothing else rings in the ears of all the faithful than that it is the Mother of God who was immaculate, just as her very conception was immaculate. For from the fact that we can—as we ought—say with "full cheeks" that the Mother of God is immaculate, it is clearly deduced, according to the doctrine of the anonymous doctor, that the conception of the Mother of God herself is to be honored with the same title. For, with the anonymous author being the assertor in the cited suppliant booklet, the word 'immaculate' expresses holiness through a negative term, that is, through the negation of any stain whatsoever, and therefore excludes a stain for any instant. Therefore, if the Mother of God is immaculate, any stain whatever is to be denied to her, for any instant whatever. Therefore, original stain, even for the first instant of life. Otherwise, if at that instant she is not called 'immaculate'... this word (in the judgment of the anonymous author) excludes both any stain whatsoever and for any instant whatsoever. Whence by contradiction, as I think,

^A be merciful, have mercy on my most unhappy soul, which, on account of the passions of sin, has been gravely darkened and weakened.

You brought forth a new infant as a babe, O inviolate One, He who is before the ages and shone forth without time from the Father who lacks beginning. Him, as a suppliant, entreat for the world, O Bride of God.

Beyond mind, you have brought forth Him who lacks time; beyond the reach of speech, you have brought forth the Creator, O most holy One, who redeems from all corruption those who praise you as the Mother of God.

You have brought forth the incorporeal God clothed in a body, O most pure One, who redeems us who chant with fear: Blessed art Thou, O God.

Altogether elect, altogether beautiful you have appeared, O Virgin ever-glorious, whom God has sanctified and chosen; therefore we praise you unto all ages.

By the light of your countenance, O intellectual gate of light, illuminate me who lie in the darkness of passions, that the night of death may not overtake me, O chaste and immaculate One, cutting short the hopes of my salvation.

From the Canon for the Translation of Saint John the Evangelist, the 26th day.

You who conceived God, who for our sake became man, entreat Him, O chaste One, that in the day of judgment He may have mercy on us, who have committed many sins against Him.

When the Word, incarnate from you ineffably, O Mother of God, hung uplifted upon the wood of the cross, He commended you, a maiden, to the virgin disciple as a virgin.

Let us praise the divine temple of God; let us all with clear voices bless the holy Virgin, we who through her have been deified and delivered from the gravest evils.

When you stood by the cross of your Son together with the beloved disciple, O most immaculate One, you were groaning, shedding tears, and marveling at His great compassion toward men.

In the likeness of flesh, God was made known to mortals from you, O most pure One; whom do you ever entreat, O most holy One, that He may bring to death the ruinous carnal reasonings of our flesh.

We bless you, O most immaculate One, who brought forth the blessed Lord, who with divine blessings crowned human nature that was cursed, and renewed us who had been reduced to the oldness of corruption.

Jesus the Savior, whom you clothed with a body from your own chaste blood, O most glorious of God, entreat ^{B C D} that He may have mercy on your servants, and raise them from eternal punishment. [Let us bring a voice of thanksgiving...]

care, that He may have mercy upon us, who are Your servants, and deliver us from eternal punishment. ^A Let us raise up clear and manifest voices in thanksgiving to the Mother of God, and let us exclaim: Hail, most high throne of God; hail, cloud of light; hail, paradise, ^B through whom we have been made worthy of the paradise of delights.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyr Callistratus, on the 27th day.

Alone among women, O most immaculate one, without the knowledge of man, you bear in your womb, beyond the order of nature, One of the Trinity; therefore we glorify you, and Him who was born from you above all cause and reason.

Make urgent supplication to your Son, O Virgin, to save us from the dangers we fear, and from eternal punishment.

My heart, defiled by passions, O Maiden, cleanse, and make it a pure vessel of divine illuminations.

You were shown to be the Rising of the Sun of justice, O most immaculate one; Him, beseech for the salvation of those who sincerely glorify you.

Sanctify my mind and enlighten my heart, O holy Mother of God, and deliver me from the straits that overwhelm me, that I may glorify you, O Theotokos, ever-Virgin.

Him who was incarnate of you, beyond mind and speech, O full of divine grace, beseech for the salvation of those who honor you with affection, and who shout in unison: Blessed are You, O God of our fathers.

As you are higher than all creatures, O Maiden most pleasing to God, and immune from every stain, make my mind ^C higher than the scandals of the deceiver, O most immaculate one.

With the voice of Gabriel, we cry out to you with rejoicing mind: Hail, joy of the faithful; hail, golden lampstand and table; mountain and intellectual gate; hail, divine ^D

^A vehicle of Christ the King; hail, dissolution of the curse, O you who are blessed in all things.

From the Canon for Saint Epicaris, the 27th day

Behold, the laws of nature are renewed in you, O you who are immune from all stain; for you gave birth to God and man above the laws of nature and reason, whom the young girls have fervently loved with desire.

You remained supernaturally a virgin after birth, O most dear to God; and wounded by love for you, this virgin and martyr struggled eagerly, and after you, O chaste one, she was led to her Spouse, leading the dance together with the faithful virgins.

The substantial Word of the Father, without any change in Himself, was incarnate from you, O Virgin, with whose love the soul of Epicharis was kindled and made worthy of the celestial bridal chambers.

You embrace, O Mother of God, filled with divine grace alone, within your maternal arms, Him who embraces and contains all things.

Perceiving the most sweet fragrance of the Son incarnate from you, the most illustrious maiden, after you, O inviolate one, was led to Him with exultation of soul.

You have imparted new laws to nature, O Virgin, when you gave birth above the order of nature; for He who was incarnate from you in an ineffable manner was God and man.

O chaste Virgin, you remained after childbirth a matter of venerable wonder, O inviolate one: for you gave birth to the Word of God, whom the virgin Epicharis, confessing in the midst of wicked tyrants, proclaimed: Blessed is God, etc.

With the most sacred voices, the most sacred prophets manifestly foretold you as the Mother of God, O chaste and inviolate one: whom we superexalt above all, as the ruler of all, through all ages.

Light-bearing cloud, you who gave birth to the divine light, dispel the clouds of my miserable soul, O Mother of God, and illumine me with the light of salvation, you who alone are good; that I may unceasingly magnify you with faith and affection.

From the Canon for the feast of Saint Gregory of Great Armenia, and the Holy Martyrs Ripsimia, Gaiana, and their companions, the 30th day

Women, strengthened by the cross of Him who was incarnate from you, O chaste one, struggled steadfastly, and were led to Him after you, O Virgin: and they shine with the splendors of virginity and the blood of martyrs.

Ripsimia the martyr, knowing you alone to be the Virgin Mother, was charmed by your beauty, and was led after you to Christ, gleaming with her contests.

As one beautiful, as one chosen, as one fair, the young maidens loved you, who struggled with Ripsimia, O Virgin-Mother Mary, and after you they were led to your Son, rejoicing.

Sensing the fragrance of the ointment of the Word that shone forth from you, O chaste Virgin, they were pleasing to Him through athletic contests, rejoicing.

As soon as Ripsimia learned that He who was incarnate from you, O Mother of God, had been crucified, she was at the same time crucified with Him, as a lamb with the shepherd, as an immaculate victim of God.

Adorned with the crowns of martyrdom, the maidens were led to God, who blossomed from a Virgin, melodiously crying out: Blessed are You, O God, etc. ^C

Not fearing the multitude of torments, and not yielding to the pleasures of the flesh, Ripsimia confessed the Lord born of a Virgin, crying out: Bless and praise the Lord.

Illumined by the light of the countenance that shone forth from you, O perpetual Virgin, Ripsimia with affection endured His sufferings, and expressed His death in her own flesh; whence she now exults with Him.

MONTH OF OCTOBER

From the Canon for the feast of Saint Charitina the Martyr, the 5th day

You have become a vessel capable of the divine nature, O Mother of God,

^A undefiled; wherefore Charitina, having longed with virginal love to follow you, has been brought to your Son.

Thee alone, blessed among women, O chaste one, the martyr Charitina, loving, has been glorified by your good graces.

You gave birth to the Word of God made flesh, O undefiled Mother of God, whom Charitina, loving most fervently, overcame by her struggle against fire and multiform tortures.

Human thought is unable to conceive your conception, which is beyond understanding, O Mother and Virgin; for you gave birth to God.

Finding you to be her strength and support, O Virgin, Charitina endured scourging with constancy, and joyfully she is led behind you to the Lord of all. ^B

O unique Virgin, the pure Word loved you, pure and incorrupt, and in you He fashioned the whole man in becoming incarnate, having glorified Charitina through your miracles.

You appeared higher than the heavens, having given birth to the heavenly God, O most pure one, who made heavenly the whole lump of earth-born men, and who adorned the venerable memory of Charitina, to whom we cry: All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord.

A light has risen for us from your womb that knew no man, O Virgin, by whose rays the one named for joy was immediately illuminated, O Mother of God who knew not marriage.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia, the 10th day ^C

We, redeemed from the condemnation of our first parents by your birth, O undefiled Virgin, clearly and with voices of songs, we the faithful always call you blessed as the Mother of God.

Entreat, O most chaste Mother of God, that those who always honor you may be delivered from every evil invasion of enemies, from soul-destroying passions, and from grievous and troublesome dangers.

Habakkuk, having perceived you from afar most expressively, O chaste one, called you a mountain overshadowed by virtues, from which appeared to us He who illuminates our souls.

All the swords of the enemy have truly failed in the end, O ^D undefiled, all-pure, chaste one; for you gave birth to the God of all, who by His cross cast down the pride of that enemy.

As rain, God has been poured out into your womb, because of His ineffable compassion, and He has watered all with a torrent of delights, O Lady, and has renewed the corrupted creation.

The furnace did not burn the three youths, prefiguring your birth; for the divine fire, not burning you, dwelt within you, and illuminated all who cry out: Blessed are You, the God of our fathers.

O Maid who knew not marriage, hail, all-pure, the harbor of those in a storm; hail, Bride of God, the [refuge/aid] of sinners.

^A Hail, propitiatory for sinners; hail, you who bore God incarnate. O receptacle of light, which from you, O Pure One, worthily shone forth, enlighten the eyes of my soul, O most immaculate one, and banish the darkness of ignorance, and cast down and utterly destroy the mists of sin.

*From the Canon for the feast of the holy Apostle Philip, one of the seven Deacons, day 11.*

He who created all things from that which was not, had you, O inviolate Mother of God, as the cause of His incarnation; therefore the faithful, as is due, call you blessed. You became a mystical candlestick, O Maiden, truly carrying that lamp which, by its supreme goodness, illuminated those previously held in the night of ignorance. Your Son, O most immaculate one, made those who were sons of men to be sons of God, being incarnate from your pure blood and born of you; therefore we glorify you. We who truly confess you as Theotokos are delivered from temptations and most difficult affairs by your intercessions before the God and Lord of all, O Virgin, most full of divine grace.

^B Beyond the laws of nature, your holy Mother bore you, Christ, the Creator of nature, and beyond nature she truly remained a virgin inviolate, O One superior to all goodness. We name you a Virgin-Mother, O Mary, Bride of God, we who through you, day and night, are delivered from the harmful violence of enemies, from all kinds of temptations, and from the defilements of the soul. Make my soul, shaken by the wickedness of the enemy, firm and stable, O chaste Virgin, you who received without disturbance Him who by His divine gaze shakes the universe. Every living thing sends forth towards you a grateful voice, crying out with joy and saying: Hail, fire-formed throne of the Most High; hail, most spacious region of God; hail, O chaste and most beautiful crown of the apostles.

*From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus, day 12.*

^D The Word, co-eternal with the Father and the holy Spirit, willingly inhabited a virginal womb and became flesh without change; and having suffered voluntarily, He prepared the divine hosts of martyrs to contend with faith. As beautiful, as fair, as elect, having chosen you, O inviolate one, the Word who gave existence to all things, desiring your undefiled and God-containing womb, dwelt within it, He who is above all substance. You alone bear in the womb God incarnate, who gave being to all things, whom confessionally and unshakably the divine martyrs contended [to proclaim] in the stadium, O Virgin Theotokos, the wonder of angels and the wound of demons, most worthy of all praise. You have become superior to the powers above, O Virgin, [as] the Word

^A brought forth from the Father, O Virgin, co-eternal with the same Father and likewise without beginning; by whose splendors the athletes, being illuminated, fled beyond the night of godlessness.

You conceived in your womb Him who is before the ages, O immaculate one; and you brought forth in the flesh Him who is by nature inaccessible; and you fed with milk Him who nourishes all things, O Mother of God, who have known not a man.

The most complete Word is emptied in your womb, not departing from the Father’s bosom, and flesh is seen, and an infant is born, to whom we sing joyfully, O Virgin: Blessed be the God of our fathers.

With the ranks of the incorporeal ones, with the armies of martyrs, with the apostles and ^B prophets, let us all religiously and piously praise the Lady of all created things, as being holier than the Cherubim, and the only most chaste Mother of God, exalting Christ unto all ages.

Spare me, Savior, who were born and kept the one who bore you incorrupt after childbirth, when you sit to judge my works, overlooking my iniquities and my sins, as the sinless One, merciful God and lover of mankind.

From the Canon to the holy martyrs Carpus and Papylus, on the 13th day.

O gate of light, which from your incorruptible entrails shone forth, shed upon me the illuminating rays of repentance, and dissipate the darkness of my sins, O most divine and full of grace.

We have known, O Lord, that while you were God without beginning, you sustained having a beginning, and to proceed from the Virgin without mutation, whom you also preserved incorrupt and pure after childbirth.

The incontaminate bridal chamber of God, the mountain untouched by the hands of the stone-cutter, the holy ark and the table, and the censer ^C of the immaterial coal, we all the faithful proclaim you to be, O chaste Virgin, totally immaculate.

Having you as a saving harbor, O Virgin, we who are constantly tossed on the sea of the direst evils, flee to you, and hoping in you, we do not fear the evil counsels of our enemies.

You conceived without experience of marital union, and brought forth beyond the manner of nature the incomprehensible God, the Creator of nature. O great mystery! O unintelligible miracle, O Virgin alone without any stain.

Draw me out of the mire of the passions, out of the abyss of sins, and rule me, your servant, who always confess you as the Mother of God. For you are always the raising up of those who fall.

You manifestly loosed the curse of our first mother, Eve, O Virgin.

The sacred chorus of the divine prophets proclaims you, O most pure one, to be the future Mother of God, to whom we all cry: Bless the Lord, all things, etc.

You carry in your arms, ^D O most chaste one, like a Cherubic throne, Him who carries all, who for our sake was clothed in our flesh, and though He was simple, he appeared dual; whom do you always entreat for us who praise you.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius, and Celsus, on the 14th day.

Let us praise the most immaculate maiden, who alone in her womb comprehended the Lord who is before the ages: for she was made wider than the heavens, clothing God with a body for the sake of His own goodness.

The legal tabernacle prefigured you as being the future holy tabernacle of God, O chaste one, in which our propitiation would come, which grants sanctification to us all.

Not leaving empty the Paternal bosom, He

sat down in your most pure bosom, ^A preparing a divine throne for all by His goodness, and glory that abides forever.

The sword which formerly guarded Eden is turned away from the faithful who are signed with the precious blood, which was once poured out from the side wounded by the lance, of Him who rose from you, O chaste one.

You innovated the laws of nature, O maiden Virgin, having brought forth God immortal, clothed in mortal flesh, that He might deify mortals by His goodness.

God, finding your womb a most luminous palace, dwelt within it, O most immaculate one, making those who cry out "Blessed are you, O God and Lord of our fathers," to be sons of light.

United to you in flesh according to substance, He who grants existence to all things reformed me entirely, and entirely renewed me who had grown old through transgressions; therefore we, the Virgin, praise you, O most chaste one, and superexalt you unto all ages.

The voice of the divine Gabriel we bring to you, O most chaste Maiden, rejoicing: Hail, full of grace, boast of martyrs and apostles, and salvation of all the faithful, Virgin Mother who knew not wedlock.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion, on the 16th day.

The Word of God was conceived in your womb by the Word, ^C wishing by His goodness to free mortals from irrationality, O Virgin Mother, immaculate, blessed, all-blameless.

Heal my soul, laboring with the malady of the passions that assail it, O Mother of God, most chaste, and guide it toward salvation.

You brought forth beyond speech the Word, united according to hypostasis in your womb, and having become man, O immaculate one, showing Him to be twofold in wills and in energies.

Let us praise the Theotokos, who alone conceived God without the work of a man, we who have been saved through her, and let us bless her with affection.

Dry up and root out, O most immaculate one, the thorny follies of my heart, and show it to be fruitful through your mediation, O most immaculate Maiden.

As in a pure vessel the pure Word dwelt within you, O Maiden, willing through you to cleanse the pollutions of men. ^D

For blessed is the fruit of your womb.

With mouth, and tongue, and soul I proclaim you, O God-bearer, and I entreat you, O immaculate one, enlighten my heart with your illumination, and deliver me from terrible darkness, while I cry out: All you works of the Lord, praise the Lord. ^A You have appeared as the dwelling-place of the unsetting light, O Theotokos, through whom those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death have seen the light: therefore illuminate the senses of my heart.

From the Canon for the feast of Saint Andrew of Crete the martyr, on the 17th day.

Always burdened by the sleep of negligence, I run to your protection, O immaculate Virgin Mother; rouse me to the vigilance of repentance, delivering me from the everlasting punishment that follows.

In the likeness of flesh you gave birth to the God-Word who is consubstantial with the Father, O all-blameless one, in a way surpassing reason, remaining a virgin after childbirth; therefore we call you blessed in faith. ^B

You have cultivated, as a most fertile ear of grace, the one nourishing all who honor you in an orthodox manner, O all-praiseworthy Lady, the Lord who was incarnate from your womb.

You carry, O immaculate one, in your arms the one in an ineffable conception embracing those cast down by malice, and miserably enslaved to the deceiver, O all-praiseworthy Maiden; hence we glorify you as Theotokos. ^C

(90) Immaculate does not mean lacking the stain of original sin if she had contracted it. So, that this eulogy of the Blessed Virgin might be true, we must, following the mind of Joseph, free the Blessed Virgin herself from the stain of original sin.

(91) The comparison of Mary with Agrippina, Nero’s mother, is detestable, and the piety which asserts sin in the Virgin, from which follows the comparison of Christ with Nero, is detestable; yet since Hyacinthus Arpalegus, an unknown author in his *Memoriale apologeticum* against the Immaculate Conception, used this comparison, while he philosophized thus: "Nor is it alien to the humility of Mary, who called herself the handmaid of the Lord while being chosen as Mother, as Ambrose noted, to presume that she would most willingly yield to this honor, provided that being conceived without sin is the prerogative of the Son alone." For thus the divine Bonaventure noted with these words: "He wishes the Son to be honored and exalted rather than Himself." But if Cornelius Tacitus narrates in book iv that Agrippina, Nero’s mother, exercised such love toward her son that when she consulted the Chaldeans concerning Nero, they replied that it would come to pass that he would rule and kill his mother, she said: "Let him kill, provided he rules;" what is there to wonder at, then, if a more fervent love, a more excellent reverence, a more observant worship toward the Son drove Mary, if an option were given, to willingly undergo the happy fault, which deserved to have such a Redeemer? What is there to wonder at if she might seek the death of sin, not which the Son might bring, but which He might crush with His own blood? For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Let Christ obtain the empire of purity, and Mary will willingly undergo the stain and death of original sin. Thus far Arpalegus. To this comparison that is too horrid, responding along with the most excellent and most reverend lord, lord Ludovico Crespi, formerly Bishop of Oriolano, now of Piacenza, ^D and extraordinary orator of Philip IV, the Catholic King, to His Holiness our Lord Alexander VII, in his *Propugnaculum theologicum* pages 286 and 287, I deduce the prerogative of conception without sin from the divine maternity in this manner: "Although there should be no doubt concerning the Virgin’s humility, that she wishes the Son to be honored more than herself, and that she would most willingly yield to this honor, if it could not stand with the prerogative of the Son, and would not yield to the greater honor of the Son to preserve her; nevertheless, neither is Mary decently compared to Agrippina, nor Christ to Nero, who wishes the Mother to be honored more than himself. And indeed, was Nero not cruel in killing his mother, although she said: 'Let him kill, provided he rules,' when she was living? Therefore, since Christ can obtain the empire of purity, indeed much more possesses the empire of the Redeemer by preserving His Mother, He ought to have preserved her, lest she be compared by any Arpalegus to Nero, since He cared much more for the honor of His Mother than for His own, as Ambrose says regarding that passage of Luke 1, to the Virgin betrothed to a man, through these words: 'And scripture well placed both, that she might be both betrothed and a virgin. Virgin, so that she might seem free from male consort: betrothed, lest the infamy of violated virginity be attached to her, to whom a heavy womb might seem to show a sign of corruption.' The Lord preferred that some should doubt about His birth, rather than about His Mother’s modesty. For He knew the virginal and slippery reputation of modesty to be tender, nor did He think the fidelity of His birth should be established by the injuries of His Mother. Thus Ambrose. How, therefore, would Christ think the primacy of His empire, and the title of redemption, should be established by the stain and death of His Mother?"

^A The prophet of old foresaw thee as an intellectual lampstand, O chaste one, bearing the divine torch, Christ, by whom we all have been illuminated. Thou didst become a temple of the living God, in whom He who inhabits the heavens—having deigned in His great goodness to become man—ineffably made His dwelling, O Virgin worthy of all praise. Thou didst appear, O Virgin, to be wider than the heavens, containing in thy womb the God whom nothing can contain; entreat Him, O inviolate Lady, to deliver from lethal distress those who religiously praise and hymn thee. Thy womb became a dwelling-place of Light, which illuminated the world with the splendors of divinity and utterly banished the darkness of ignorance from the world; wherefore we glorify thee, O Maiden, who art free from all stain.

From the Canon for the feast of St. Varus the martyr, Day 19.

The supersubstantial Word dwelt in thy womb beyond the capacity of words, O immaculate one; and being born in a manner befitting God, He drew to Himself choirs of martyrs, with whom we sing hymns to thee. O Virgin Mother of God, I beseech thee, dispel the deepest darkness of my sloth and the clouds of my passions by the illumination of thy grace. Bring me up, O Lady, from the mud of passions and from the misery of thoughts that alienate me from God, who alone is pure, so that in faith I may call thee blessed. Having appeared truly holier than the Cherubim and Seraphim, O most immaculate one, sanctify all who now faithfully call thee blessed, and save those who celebrate thee with praises. Guide, O Lady, my miserable soul, which is always tossed about in the sea of most grievous evils, and bring it to a serene and tranquil harbor, while with a firm mind it calls thee blessed. Restore me, O Virgin, broken and contrite as I am from immeasurable transgressions, through thy mediation, applying a remedy to my soul and granting me speech to cry out: Blessed art thou, who gave birth in the flesh to God. I join sins to sins, and I do not tremble at the future formidable mystery; take away, O chaste one, the hardness of my soul, and by thy intercession convert me and save me. When the Lord had appeared from thee like a shining cloud, O Virgin, He utterly abolished the idols of Egypt; and He deemed worthy to bear the palm a multitude of those who strove, who imitated Him in enduring His venerable sufferings.

From the Canon for the feast of St. Artemius the martyr, Day 20.

The incorporeal Word, having been incarnate from thee in the manner that befitted God, O most chaste one, through an excess of love for mankind, joined Himself to sufferings

and brought about impassibility for men; for the glorious Lord has been gloriously glorified.

He has been incarnate by His own will from thy blood, O Lady, O spotless one, the Lord, saving humanity; and He drew to Himself the throngs of martyrs.

God, O unpolluted and incorrupt one, preserved thee a virgin after childbirth, He who was well-pleased in thy womb to take upon Himself my whole humanity through extreme goodness.

He who was born of thee by His own will for our sake, O Lady, having for us endured the cross and burial, as a mighty one made Artemius a most steadfast witness of His sufferings.

^B O Theotokos and Virgin, save thy servants who are tossed by the surge of afflictions and beaten by the uprisings of the billows.

Thou didst give birth in a manner befitting God, O all-blameless Virgin, to Him who caused the spring of immortality to gush forth for the dead; therefore, entreat Him, O pure one, to put to death the passions of our body and to make us worthy of eternal life.

Thou didst recreate us, O all-holy one, who had flowed away by the bitter tasting of the tree and had fallen by sliding, having given birth to the Creator and the subsistent Word, O undefiled one, to whom we cry: "All the works of the Lord, bless the Lord."

Illumine me with the light of thy countenance, O Lord, as I am covered by the darkness of negligence, having to intercede for me, O Word, thy true, most chaste Mother, ^C together with the splendors of the angels and the glorious Artemius.

From the Canon for the feast of St. Abercius, Bishop of Hierapolis, and the seven holy youths in Ephesus, on the 22nd day.

Eloquent and expert tongues are not able to declare thy conception, which surpasses speech; for thou didst give birth in the flesh to God, O all-holy one, who became like us through goodness.

Having found thee purer, O all-holy one, than all creation, the Pure One dwelt within thee, wishing to dwell… ^D

^A in the one who had inhabited Adam, to eliminate the iniquity that had dwelt in Adam, as a lover of mankind.

He who was before God invisible, was seen, O Virgin, out of compassion, becoming incarnate from thy womb; for this reason we bless thee with faith.

Christ, having taken me from thy divine blood as a garment, O undefiled one, clothed me—the same one who had once been stripped—with the stole of grace.

Thou hast healed the contrition and ancient misery of the earth-born, bringing the remedy, O all-immaculate Bride of God, having given birth to Him who, for the sake of His ineffable mercy, bore our infirmities.

Thou hast brought forth a new infant, O Virgin, who refashioned the world, worn out by old age, with divine knowledge; therefore we glorify thee.

The laws are miraculously innovated in thee, O Virgin: for thou bringest forth without seed God the Saviour, and thou remainest a virgin as thou wast before. O strange wonder! For this reason we religiously and piously proclaim thee the Mother of Emmanuel.

Dissolve, O chaste one, the very hard callous of my soul; and grant me, with easy and ready sense, to attend to the divine commandments of thy Son.

Through thee, O most holy Bride of God, we who were dead have been accounted worthy of life; and being slaves of corruption, we have clearly obtained the riches of incorruption.

Mortify the wisdom of my flesh, O Virgin, who brought forth Life, who took away death by death, and glorified the young children by a wondrous rising.

He was born of thee, O Maiden, whom the Father begat before the ages, who is known in two substances and wills (God, that is, and man) ^B by all who cry out with faith: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers.

Thou hast appeared, O Theotokos, higher than the angels; thou hast appeared truly the strength of athletes; thou hast appeared, O most chaste one, the salvation of those who recognize thee as the truest bearer of the Word.

Behold the couch of Solomon, which the mighty ones now surround, namely the prophecies of divinely inspired Scripture, in which Christ God rested through divine incarnation, O blessed and full of grace.

Heal my sick soul, O Virgin, ^C with a healing hand, and wipe away the filth of the passions clinging to me, and set me, made whole, before the tribunal of the Almighty God, that I may sing: All ye works, praise the Lord.

The prophet of old foresaw thee as an enlightening lampstand, O most chaste Virgin, truly bearing within thyself the divine lamp: that is, the only supersubstantial God, who for the sake of the depths of His mercy became man from thee.

Thou bearest in thine arms Him who holds all things by His divine palm; whom supplicate, O Virgin, ^D that I, who am alone

^A condemned, may be received into His arms on account of His ineffable piety, and be saved.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Marcianus and Martyrius, on the 25th day.

Thou who didst conceive the timeless Son of God didst clothe Him with a body, O pure one, He having become man for the sake of His ineffable mercy; wherefore, worshipping Him, we piously glorify thee, the cause of the deification of all.

Thou art adorned with fringes of gold, as a Queen, and now standest at the right hand of the Master and God, O Lady, interceding for thy servants.

^B The holy prophet of old called thee a divine mountain of virtue, O all-pure Virgin, shaded on all sides, from which the saving Word has been made manifest for the restoration and illumination of our souls.

Truly, O pure one, thou didst bring forth the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father and the divine Spirit, O Mother of God; whom cease not to entreat, that He may have mercy upon our souls.

With mouth and tongue we confess thee in truth to be the Mother of our God, O Virgin; earnestly entreat Him, O pure one, for the salvation of our souls.

Having been redeemed by thy birth-giving, O Mother of God, from eternal condemnation, we cry out to thee always, "Hail, O blessed and full of grace."

Thou didst revive us who were dead, having brought forth the Life of all, O Mother of God and Lady, the glory of martyrs and the salvation and rampart of men.

Thou art the dwelling-place of light, O pure one; illuminate the pupils of my soul, darkened by carelessness, ^C and wrapped forever in the deepest darkness of sloth, O all-undefiled one, so that I may in faith call thee blessed.

From the Canon for the memorial of the earthquake, on the 26th day.

Suppliantly we cry to thee, Mother of God, showing your accustomed compassion toward this city and people; deliver us from a most severe earthquake and destruction.

We pray thee, O unblemished Mother of God, who alone art good, earnestly entreat the all-good Word to deliver us from the distress of the earthquake and from every wrath.

Acknowledging thee, O Lady, to be the temple of God, we lift up our wretched hands in thy holy temple in prayer; look upon our affliction and grant us thy help.

Now is the time for help come, now is the need for reconciliation, O pure one, with thy Son and Lord, so that He may have mercy upon us who have offended, and deliver us from the impending wrath.

Holy Bride of God, ^D have mercy now upon thy people who are in despair, and by thy motherly intercessions...

^A avert the indignation of God against us, we entreat thee.

Assent, O inviolate one, to the salvation of thy servants who are near to destruction because of the anger of God, and the heavy and horrible fury of the threats now hanging over us, on account of the multitude of our many sins.

Domina endowed with compassion, who gavest birth to the Savior who is supremely compassionate; look upon the affliction and the groaning of thy people, and hasten to intercede, that He may have mercy upon us.

Thou who didst not suffer corruption in childbearing, deliver us all, O Virgin, from all corruption and from the most heavy earthquake and tribulation, appeasing the indignation of the Lord with thy motherly reconciliations, O thou who art most dear to God.

From the Canon to Saint Demetrios, day 26

Pour forth constant prayers to God, O Maiden, that He may have mercy on me, who am ensnared by the many deceptions of this life and am wrapped in the blind night of sin.

Domina, most pleasing to God, thou who didst bring forth the Sun, dissipate and dispel from every side the dark clouds of2 my soul.

Mother and Virgin, who didst give the Word of God a body, deliver me from bodily passions, and heal all the contritions of my soul.

Thou hast been made beautiful, O Virgin, ^B inasmuch as thou didst give birth to the most beautiful Word; entreat Him with constant prayers, that He may have mercy on the sinful people, and that He may keep safe from every demonic deception the world which hopeth in thee, O Mother of God.

Do not despise the supplication of my miserable soul, O Virgin Mother of God: but by thy kindly intervention make me one who is domestic to God, and save me from the punishments of the future age prepared for me, O most immaculate one.

Having thee, O inviolate Virgin, as a bulwark and a wall, and a harbor, may we be snatched away from harmful temptations and various tribulations by thy prayers, while we praise thee as is thy due.

Perform thy embassy for those who acknowledge thee as Virgin Mother, O blessed one, that they may be liberated from the pressing temptations, from the darts of the serpent, and from everlasting torments, O Virgin.

O Virgin, friend of good things, who didst give birth to God the Word, who is good in every way, make my soul, which is badly affected by the very heavy weight of sins, good through thy prayers, so that it may be able to accomplish those things which lead to life, and to flee those which bring one to the death of malice; and I, with faith, shall call thee blessed.

From the double Canon for the feast of the holy great martyr Anastasia the Roman, and of our holy father Abraham, day 29

We venerate thee as that ladder which reached unto heaven, and on which God rested, making men heavenly, O Maiden.

The Word of the Father of God was incarnate ^C beyond the way of nature from the holy blood of thy flesh, O Virgin Mary: pray to Him that He may mortify the impulses of my flesh.

Burn up the forest of my sins with the fire of thy intercessions, O Mother of God, bringing to me the divine dew of forgiveness.

In thee, O most holy one, the Author of the universe, because of the excess of His compassion, willingly dwelt, and sanctified the substance of men, which had previously slipped into ruin because of the transgression.

After the birth thou didst remain inviolate, O Virgin, just as thou hadst been before the birth; for thou didst bring forth as a new infant Him who is known to have existed before the ages.

Me, who am oppressed by sloth and sunken in sin, ^D

^A redeem by thy intercession, O Theotokos, Mother ever-virgin.

We praise thee, O all-praiseworthy Lady Theotokos, who in the flesh didst give birth without seed to God, who is to be praised above all.

Mother-virgin maiden, enlightened by the divine Spirit, O all-pure one, the holy prophets, illuminated by the light of the divine Spirit, proclaimed thee with holy voices—thou from whom God the Word was incarnate beyond cause and beyond speech, out of measureless compassion.

Thou who didst give birth to God who is a lover of mankind, O Lady who lovest the good, entreat Him to deliver me from the fire of Gehenna.

Awaken me, burdened by the slumber of negligence, by thy mediation, O Mother of God, and do not permit me to fall asleep ^B in the death of sin, O Virgin; for I hail thee as the protectress and guide of my life.

He who is above God, wearing the whole man without sin, came forth from thy womb, O chaste one, bearing flesh; entreat Him to save those who in faith honor thee.

Thou alone didst bring forth the one of the Trinity, visible in two essences in one hypostasis, O Virgin, to whom we sing sweetly, O all-pure one, without ceasing unto the ages.

Pursuing thee, the chaste and immaculate one, the virgin (Anastasia) kept both body and soul without stain, having reduced the burning passions to ash by patience, and having endured the trial ^C of many torments; and now she dances in the heavenly bridal chambers, rejoicing with thee unto all ages.

Thou wast made the most holy tabernacle of the living stream, from which we who were dead, having drunk, inherit life, crying out: Bless the Lord, all ye works.

As soon as thy martyr (Anastasia) recognized thee, O Lord, as having worn flesh taken from a woman, she—adorned with virginal rays and garlanded with the blood of martyrdom—was brought gloriously to thee, O Christ, as to the King of creation, following thy Mother.

O Virgin who lovest the good, make my soul, which has been corrupted by the evils of sin, good, and make it partaker of eternal ^D goods.

From the Canon for the Holy Martyrs Zenobius and his sister Zenobia, day 30

Hail, O most holy temple; O fleece bedewed with divine dew, O fountain sealed of the immortal stream: guard thy flock, O Lady, so that it may be besieged by no enemies.

Thou didst bring forth the one of the Trinity, having put on human nature, O all-holy Mother-virgin, whom entreat for the salvation of those who praise thee.

By thy strange birth, thou hast made those who had become strangers to God domestic to Him, O all-praiseworthy one, whence we glorify thee with great-minded faith, and cry out: Hail, salvation of all earth-born men.

^A I am always oppressed by the heavy burden of my sins, O Immaculate one, and I cry out to you: by your mediation, deign to relieve me of them; for you are the glorious patroness of sinners, having given birth to the Redeemer and Savior.

Make my soul beautiful, O Virgin, which is deformed by the foulness of the passions, and fortify my wretched heart with thoughts of true repentance, and save me, O Chaste one, who take refuge in you steadfastly and unshakeably.

You have been shown to be a place of sanctification, O Virgin, from whom God appeared, sanctifying us who sing with faith: Blessed, O most pure one, is the fruit of your womb.

Having conceived the uncultivated cluster, from which the wine of forgiveness has flowed forth, O Virgin Mother, deliver me, I pray, from the drunkenness of the passions.

Illumine, I beseech you, O gate of light, the eyes of my heart, driving far away the deepest darkness of sin from my wretched soul; that I may magnify you, and with affection praise you, who are worthy of all praise.

^B *From the Double Canon for the feast of the Holy Apostles Stachys, Amplias, Urban, Aristobulus, and Narcissus, and the holy martyr Epimachus, on the 31st day.*

Let us call blessed the most luminous mountain of God, the holy ark, and the table, the entirely golden urn, the pure palace of God, the blessed among women.

I will sing to you, O Lord my God, because without seed you were born from the womb of a Virgin, through whom also you save all men, as you alone are full of mercy.

You have been shown to be a light-bearing bridal chamber of Christ, and a most high throne, Mother of God, O all-blameless one; for He who alone rested in you took away our labors, and prepared the future rest for those who are worthy.

Hail, Mother who knew not man, who contained God the Word in your womb, and gave birth to Him incarnate, as God and man at once.

^C You appeared more exalted than the angels, O Lady; for you were deemed worthy to contain in your womb in an ineffable manner Him who is terrible to them, and to carry in your hands as an infant Him who precedes all days and times.

Hail, O Deipara who has not known marriage, who were more sublime than the Cherubic orders, and carried God incarnate, borne in your arms.

Beyond the conception of the word, you conceived and brought forth the Word, O you who are to be celebrated with all praises, whom the Father brought forth from His womb before the ages. Whence we, O inviolate one, as His Mother, fittingly call you blessed.

^D Who shall be able to explain, O Chaste one, the miracle of your birth-giving?

For you gave birth in a manner surpassing reason, ^A even to God Himself, who is by nature God, incarnate beyond the reach of words.

We praise you, through whom we who were formerly condemned have been justified, and bound to the immaterial ministers, and made worthy of paradise, O blessed among women, full of divine grace. Supplicate, O Bride of God, Theotokos, the One who was incarnate of you, our God, on behalf of your servants, for we faithful ones know you as our only protection. Deliver us, O Lady, most worthy of all praise, from temptations, and tribulations, and calamities of every kind, and from the incursion of Barbarians, so that we may glorify you, and Him who was born of you, O Bride of God, the praiseworthy and super-glorious God of our fathers. ^B

In the unconsumed bush and the dew-filled furnace you were prefigured, O Mother-Virgin, having ineffably brought forth God incarnate, O chaste and blessed one. Knowing you as a wall, and a refuge, and a ladder leading the human race to the heights, O all-blameless and chaste one, we cry out: Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise Him... Save me, O chaste one, you who brought forth the Savior Christ, who became like us, so that we may always call you blessed with praises, O blessed one. You carry Him who carries all things, and you nourish with milk Him who gives food to all; great and terrifying is the mystery of you that transcends all mind, O Ark of the venerable sanctification, ^C Virgin Theotokos, whence we faithfully call you blessed. You have become the dwelling-place of light, O chaste one; therefore I beseech you, enlighten, I pray, the pupils of my wretched heart, heavily darkened by the grievous passions, so that in faith I may call you blessed.

NOVEMBER. From the Canon for the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, on the 1st day.

You gave flesh, O chaste one, from your pure blood to the Savior and God, who showed us in spirit the venerable Unmercenaries, the holy healers of our passions and our fervent defenders. ^D God chose you as the most beautiful among women, O chaste one, and He who rests in His saints was pleased to be born of you bodily. Make me worthy, O Virgin, of the compassion that is in you, you who brought forth the Word who alone is truly full of supreme compassion—He who showed the holy ones to be healers and wonder-workers in signs, and made them partakers of His compassion toward us. You brought forth the subsistent Wisdom of God, O inviolate Virgin Theotokos, who rendered the holy ones all-wise, through whom the arrogance of the malignant sophist and his hostile craftiness have fallen. He made you a pure temple, O Lady, a most pure...

^A Word, Who ever magnifies the divine house of the Anargyroi with signs and wonders.

You sprouted as a rod from the root of Jesse, O Mary, having blossomed forth the flower, Christ, Who adorned His servants, the Anargyroi, with miracles as with flowers.

Death is put to death in you; for you have brought forth the Life-subsistent, Christ the Lord, O inviolate one, Who appointed the Anargyroi as physicians who protect our life, crying out: Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.

You have become a dwelling-place of Light, O chaste one, which has illuminated all things and shown forth the holy ones as light-bearers, now dispelling the spiritual darkness of death-dealing passions in the Spirit, O inviolate, alone most worthy of all praise.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Acepsimas, Aethalas, and Joseph, on the 4th day.

You who gave birth to the incomprehensible God, circumscribed in body, Who became flesh by the excess of His goodness, entreat Him, O Virgin, to rescue your servants from perils. ^B

From you has risen for us the unsetting Sun, O most immaculate one, Who with the light of His rays illuminates the world, which was occupied by darkness and perishing through the guile of the enemy, O most holy Virgin, Bride of God.

You have truly become the sacred ornament of the holy martyrs, O Virgin, and the refuge of the faithful, a wall, and a support, and a perfect redemption; therefore we glorify you with a loud voice.

He who kept you a pure virgin as you were before birth, O most pure one, having dwelt without seed in your womb, came forth as two-fold, God and man, deifying that which He assumed because of His goodness.

The enemy is slain by your life-giving birth, O inviolate Virgin, and Adam, who had long since been slain through disobedience by tasting of the fruit, has been recalled to life; wherefore he praises and blesses you, O most immaculate one.

You have truly become the divine ornament of hierarchs and the crown of glorious athletes, O most immaculate one, the strength of all who ever chant: The praiseworthy and super-glorious God of our fathers. ^C

Jacob once saw you as a ladder, O Virgin, through which the supersubstantial One descended to earth, and led us up to the heights; Him we ceaselessly praise, O Theotokos, and superexalt unto all ages.

The tongue is in no way able to express the fearful mystery of your giving birth; for you embodied the Lord of heaven and of all creatures, He Who begged for flesh from you, O chaste Virgin-Mother; wherefore we glorify you with a concordant voice.

From the double Canon for the feast of Saint Joannicius the Great, and the holy hieromartyrs Nicander the bishop, and Hermaeus the presbyter, on the 4th day.

The recall of those who have fallen, and the stability of those who stand...

is. You are the confirmation of all, O immaculate one; wherefore I supplicate you, Lady, raise up my mind which has collapsed into sin, that I may glorify you. ^A The Incircumscriptible is circumscribed in the flesh within the bosom of the Mother, within the bosom of the Father, He who after this birth preserved her as a true virgin beyond the reach of the mind, to whom we cry out with a loud voice: Let us sing unto our God, for He has been glorified.

With the drops of your mercy, O Virgin most chaste, extinguish the coals of my sins, O all-pure one, and kindle the extinguished lamp of my heart, O golden lampstand, most immaculate one. ^B No heavenly mind can interpret your birth-giving, which is beyond the mind, O maiden; for you conceived in your womb the Word of the primordial Mind, O chaste one, who established all things by the Word.

You, the propitiatory for all mortals, I supplicate and beseech with faith, O blessed one: render your Son, the Judge, propitious to me, that I may glorify you as is due.

He who sits terribly upon an exalted throne, sits in maternal arms having made Himself an infant, raising up the collapsed image, and granting deification to the children of Adam.

Cure the wanderings of my mind, O all-pure one; heal the passions of my soul; expel the darkness of sloth, that I may always celebrate you with praises, O Theotokos worthy of all praise.

O Virgin maiden, immaculate and venerable, who gave birth in the flesh to the Lamb and Lord, O divine ark, O venerable lampstand, illuminate my soul. ^C

O maiden, most heaped with divine grace, who alone are the help of all, aid us who are in danger, and stretching out your hand, lead us to the harbors of salvation, O maiden full of grace.

You have obliterated the disgrace of the first mother, O maiden, by giving birth to Him who crowns us with blessings, and you have changed her sorrow into joy, O most gracious one.

Having given birth alone to the immutable Lord, O maiden full of grace, supplicate Him, O chaste one, that His right hand may change my mind toward better things, as it is sorely tossed about by the occupations of life.

You gave birth to the Word, who became incarnate in a way beyond explanation, O chaste Virgin, redeeming from death those who cry out: Blessed are You, O God of our fathers. ^D

You appeared higher than the angels, having ineffably given bodily form to God; therefore, O Lady pure from all stain, supplicate Him to render me superior to carnal passions, celebrating your greatest grace with hymns in high humility of mind.

Dry up the sea of my evils, O Virgin, you who gave birth to the ocean of mercy, the Redeemer and Lord, to whom we cry out, O Virgin: All you works, bless, praise the Lord.

Illuminate, O chaste one, the eyes of my mind, you who gave birth to the Light; let not the deepest darkness of sin overtake me, nor let the abyss cover me with despair,

^A but you, 213 save me, and act as the pilot to the port of the divine will for me.

Irradiate me with your light, O you who are cleansed of every stain, who brought forth the inaccessible Light; disperse the clouds of my soul, and rescue me from the darkness, I implore you, and make me worthy of divine salvation, that I may praise you, who are worthy of all praise.

From the Canon to the Holy Martyrs Galation and Episteme (92*), day 5.

Guardian of the troubled, salvation and hope of the despairing, Mother of God to be celebrated with all praise, pray for us with earnest entreaties, that we may be delivered from dangers.

Dissolve the cloud that surrounds my heart, O most chaste one; strike into me a ray of true repentance, ^B O blessed gate of light, adorned with every kind of purity, and grant that, as in the day, I may walk honestly in the commandments of God.

Bring to life me who am destroyed and deadened by harmful affections, O maiden, who gave birth to that Life by whom all the force and power of death has been dissolved.

The tongue of earth-born men is in no way sufficient to praise you, who have become the Mother of God, O Mistress, and most immaculate Virgin, and refuge of Christians.

214

From the Canon to the Holy Martyrs Taurion and Thessalonica, day 7.

The height of your trembling mystery, and the incomprehensible depth of it, who could avail, O Virgin, to explain in words? For you brought forth God made man without any cause or reason.

I always take refuge in you, O Mistress, surrounded every day by a multitude of temptations. Have mercy on me and save me, O you alone worthy of all praise, who gave birth to the Savior and Lord of all.

Caught in the storm of sins, and placed in danger, steer me, O Mother of God, as a pilot, and direct me to the tranquil port of compunction.

I am oppressed on every side by the most heavy burden of sins; and I cry to you, O most chaste one, that you may deign to lift this from me, and impose upon me the light yoke of the Son, which I may bear without obstacle, by your divine intercession, O you alone most pure from every stain.

The Word, the beautiful bridegroom, as if from the bridal chamber ^C of the Father, proceeded from your womb, and when He had rendered human nature beautiful, He illuminated it with divine knowledge, and took away the deformity of malice, O Virgin, Bride of God.

Have mercy on my soul, wounded by the most evil arrows of sin: illuminate my mind, heavily darkened by transgressions, Mistress Mother of God, who gave birth to Christ, the giver of light.

Restore to life my soul, destroyed by passions and very many sins, O inviolate Virgin, who brought forth the Life, who by His death and passion dissolved all the forces of death; and grant me, that with a grateful heart I may sing: O people, superexalt Him, etc.

215 Illuminate, O gate of light, my soul, which the enemy has darkened with the shadows of sins: and from all the perturbations of this life, and from perpetual darkness, and from the fire and the worm, deliver me, ^D that I may glorify you, O Mother of God, the restoration of men.

From the Canon to the Holy Archangel Michael, day 8.

Virgin crowned with all praise, beauty of angels, help of men, bring aid to me tossed by the waves, and always agitated by the storm of sin and almost submerged, and standing in the greatest danger.

He who by His own will created immaterial minds, voluntarily dwelt in your material womb, O most immaculate one, and appeared in the flesh as a visible man, who was invisible.

The wondrous mystery of your birth was taught long ago by the holy Prophet, seeing you in the Spirit as the shady mountain, from which God, most holy, came forth incarnate most openly.

God showed you to be higher than the intellectual angels, entering into your womb; whom implore, O totally pure and inviolate one, always for the salvation of our souls.

Blessed is the people who always bless you, O blessed one, who gave birth to the blessed God, who by an ineffable union mercifully deified men.

When the eternal Word of the great Mind in you, O maiden, in a truly ineffable and stupendous manner dwelt—

when the archangel Gabriel saw this, he exclaimed: “Hail, O blessed one, throne of the Most High.” The divine, attendant archangel cried out to you: “Hail, O unwedded bride of God, glory of the angels, and salvation and bulwark of men.”

At the voice of the angel Gabriel you conceived the Word of God, O most pure One, who by a word created the hosts above us, and who grants the word by which we can praise His holy condescension, which is beyond every word and thought.

From the Double Canon for the Feast of the Holy Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius, and the Holy Matrons Matrona and Theoctiste, on the 9th day.

You have put an end to the tyranny of death, having brought forth Life and immortality to the world, Christ our Redeemer, O Virgin who have not known wedlock.

You who brought forth divine salvation and restoration to the world, save by your intercessions those who faithfully flee to you, O Immaculate one.

Incline your ear, O all-holy one, to save me; for you embodied the God-Word who moves all things by His divine nod, in a way surpassing word and mind.

The Creator is united in your womb to flesh, O all-holy one, remaining what He was, that He might bestow happiness upon men.

You gave birth to the God-Word made flesh, O girl and most immaculate Lady, who was pleased to be made like unto all through the bowels of His mercy.

Without leaving the heavens, O immaculate one, God is emptied in your womb, and the Immeasurable is measured, dissolving my immeasurable transgressions.

The Incomprehensible dwelt in you, receiving containment, and He showed you to be broader than the heavens, O Virgin; therefore we call you blessed.

Having given birth to the Lord of the dead and the living, O all-immaculate one, put to death the passions of my flesh.

Contrary to the laws of nature, O Virgin, you give birth to the Lawgiver, who refashions our broken nature; entreat Him to grant salvation to me who am broken by sins.

The nature of men had been enslaved to sin, but you, O Theotokos, redeemed it from that cruel slavery by giving birth to the Lord of all, who showed us all the entrances to life, O all-immaculate one.

You give birth to the Word become flesh from your blood, O Virgin, who was pleased to deify men who sing: “Blessed art Thou, the God of our fathers.”

Loosing the curse of Eve, O most immaculate one, you gave birth, O Virgin, to the God of all, having conceived Him in an ineffable manner, and having brought Him forth beyond understanding for the salvation of men.

When the Word of God found you, O maiden, as a chosen rose in the valleys of life, He was captivated by the love of your beauty, and being incarnate, He filled the world with His fragrance.

“Behold the Virgin,” as Isaiah says in the Spirit, “had in her womb” Him who redeemed us from the womb of Hades, for whom we piously cry aloud: “Praise the Lord and exalt Him above all.”

Bearing me entirely from your divine blood,

^A O most immaculate one, the Lord has come forth like a bridegroom; and He who nourishes all creation by His will is nourished by your milk, O blessed ever-virgin. ^B O maiden, who carried in your hands Him who bears all things with a nod, deliver me from the hand of the alien by your intercession, and illumine my mind with your light, and make me a stranger to the passions that impudently assail me.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy apostles Olympas, Rhodion, Sosipater, etc., day 10

You reformed the human race by your childbirth, O Virgin: for you gave birth to the Word of the Father, who wore mortal flesh and showed us the paths of immortality. ^B The only-begotten Son of the Father, who formerly was without mother, now that we acknowledge Him born of you without a father, we confess you to be the Mother of God, who gave birth without pain and remained a virgin in an ineffable manner, O Maria, bride of God. ^C That new miracle which was clearly manifested in you, O most pure one, surpassed all miracles: for you gave birth corporally to God, who for pity was united to mortals in an unmixed union, O bride of God. You conceived the Word through a word, O most immaculate Mother of God, and you gave birth to Him who became man beyond all words; wherefore we bless you evermore with divinely inspired words. ^D As another heaven, more sublime than the former, we glorify you, O Lady, who brought forth the Sun of justice for us and dispelled the deep darkness of ignorance. The coeternal Word of the Father, having appeared to mortals, you placed in flesh; and in the flesh, O maiden, you gave birth to Him becoming man, to save mankind. Praiseworthy is the God of our fathers and super-glorious. The urn which once carried manna, O chaste one, prefigured you: for you carried Christ, our sweetness, O venerable one, and in the flesh you gave birth to Him who delivers those who exalt Him unto the ages from every bitterness of most foul sins. Spare your people, O Lord, delivering us from the incursion of barbarians, and from sins, and temptations, and eternal punishment, by the prayers of the Virgin Mother of God who gave birth to You, and of Your glorious apostles.

From the Canon for the Holy Orestes, Menas, Victor, Vincent, Stephanides, and Theodore the Studite, day 10

O most praiseworthy one, who alone, above the order of nature, gave birth to the Creator and Maker of the universe, who in you renewed natures, redeem me from sins and snatch me from torments. Heal my mind, corrupted by depraved affections, O inviolate one, and bedew my soul with the joyful light of divine grace. Agitated by a whirlwind of malice and tossed on the stormy sea of passions, save your servant who flees to you, O inviolate one. From the violent waves of sin, from the ignominy of the passions, and from every evil that surrounds us, make your servants safe, O chaste one. Mortify the prudence of my flesh, O inviolate Virgin, you who conceived Christ, who by divine power vivified the dead nature of men.

The Word of God, the laws of nature having been renovated, though He was without beginning, was incarnate from your pure blood, O Virgin, beyond the grasp of reason, and having become an infant, He restored corrupted man. The Lord most high, though He was true God, took human form from you, O most chaste Virgin, and deified man, and delivered him from corruption, to whom we all sing, O spouse of God, Mary.

The orders of angels shudder, O immaculate one, considering the mystery of your childbearing, which is above nature: for you have brought forth God, and as a son you have suckled Him who nourishes the universe.

From the Canon for the feast of St. John the Almsgiver, day 12.

^A That He might join the things below with the things above, God alone of all entered a womb untouched by marriage, and appearing in the likeness of flesh, having destroyed the middle wall of enmity, He mediated peace, and bestowed life and divine redemption.

In you, O most holy one, the author of the universe, because of the excess of His mercy, voluntarily dwelt and sanctified the substance of men, which had fallen because of the first transgression.

Heal the wounds of my heart, O maiden Virgin, and direct the movements of my soul toward the fulfillment of God’s will along a happy path.

My soul, darkened by the pleasures of life, O chaste and all-blameless one, illuminate with your light, for you have brought forth Christ, the Light who dissolves the darkness of ignorance.

^B The God-speaking prophets, having reached the depth of your mystery, O Virgin, prophetically proclaimed it, enlightened by the light of the divine Spirit. And now we, seeing the outcomes of their prophecy manifest, believe.

You alone, O Virgin, brought forth the one of the Trinity recognized in two substances and one hypostasis, to whom we sing: Blessed are You, Lord God, etc.

You have appeared as the tabernacle of the living river, O most holy one, from which we who were dead, having drunk, inherit life, shouting: Bless, all you works, the Lord, and exalt Him throughout all ages.

Having appeared as more spacious than the heavens, O Virgin, broaden my narrowed mind, showing it to be capable of divine gifts.

From the Canon for St. Philip the Apostle, day 14.

O most holy and most pleasing to God, be for me an assistant and patroness before Christ, that He may deliver me from eternal judgment and from every kind of harm from the serpent.

^C Heal the wanderings of my mind, the passions of my body, and the diseases of my soul, O Virgin, and direct me to good paths, that by doing the will of God, I may find eternal life.

As the living palace of the Lord, and the asylum of the faithful, and the aid of those who are in tribulations, and an infallible guide full of grace, we praise you.

You, who brought forth the supreme Lord, entreat Him, O most benign Mother of God, to snatch your people from every evil.

The prophet saw you as a spiritual candelabra, O inviolate one, truly having a lamp, the illumination and propitiation of our souls.

With tongue and heart I proclaim you the Mother of God, O most inviolate one; for you brought forth the immortal God, to whom we all singing in harmony say: Blessed art You, God, etc.

Him who is before the ages, a new infant on earth you brought forth, O Virgin, renewing us, who formerly... ^D

through malice were gravely inveterate; therefore, break the audacity and pride of all our enemies, ^A that we may acknowledge you with faith, O Mother of God, as blessed, we praise you, O chaste one, forever. Guard your servants, O most holy Virgin, inviolate from the wounding of all the enemy’s darts; and ^B

From the Canon for the Feast of the Holy Martyrs Samonas, Gurias, and Abibos, on the 15th day.

(95) The Blessed Virgin was like a most pure lily, because she was conceived without any stain of origin, whereas the rest of the sons of Adam were, on account of original sin, not lilies but thorns. Federicus Nausea, Bishop of Vienna, supports this in his Homily 81, while explaining those words from Canticles chap. 2: *As a lily among thorns, so is my friend among the daughters*, he says: "Although by the law of nature all daughters of men are thorny—that is, conceived in sin—yet the most holy Virgin Mary remained immaculate through the law of grace, not otherwise than a lily among thorns, which, however horrid, rough, rigid, and swollen they may be, the lily itself grows beneath them most beautifully without a stain, losing nothing of its virtue." And St. Anselm, ^C in *De conceptu virginali* cap. 4, says: "A lily can be born among thorns and not be stung by them; so the Mother of Christ could be conceived among sinners and not be touched by sin." Hence, Adam of St. Victor in his Rhythms greets the holy Virgin with these words: Hail, sacred Parent of the Word, Flower from thorn, of thorns devoid, Flower, the thicket’s glory. We are a thicket, we by the thorn Of sin are stained, But you are ignorant of the thorn. He called the Virgin a flower from a thorn because she was descended from ancestors conceived in sin, but he does not say she was a flower made out of a thorn, because the Virgin was always a flower or lily, whence he also says she is "ignorant of the thorn," as if the Virgin knew nothing else of herself, nor could know, except that she was always a lily, never a thorn. See Bustus in his *Mariale*, sermon 5 on the Conception, part 2, where, proving the Blessed Virgin is signified in the lily of Canticles, ^D *As a lily among thorns, so is my friend among the daughters*, he says among other things: "Although a lily may be born among thorns, yet it exists without thorns and is entirely white and fragrant; so too the Blessed Virgin Mary, although she was propagated from our first parents through thorny sin, yet she was without stain, and through cleanliness and purity remained entirely white and fragrant." So he. Furthermore, St. Sabas in the Greek Menaea, January 29, ode 6—which St. Joseph also asserts here—testifies that the Blessed Virgin alone was found by Christ the Bridegroom as the purest lily in the midst of thorns, in these words: From you alone, found as a most pure lily in the midst of thorns, Inhabiting your womb, that Bridegroom of yours proceeded. So he. Indeed (as Fr. Simon Wagnerek says in the *Mariana Pietas Græcorum*), in the mind of St. Sabas, Christ found Mary among men conceived in sin, not as one similar to them—that is, as a thorn among thorns, for thus He would have had to first make a lily out of a thorn, when in truth He had not found Mary a lily, but a thorn. But what craftsmen do, this is said to be finding, not imagining. Thus St. Sabas and St. Joseph assert that Christ, in the midst of thorns—that is, all men who are conceived in sin—found Mary not a thorn, but a lily, because He chose her to exist from the beginning as a lily, not a thorn, nor a lily from a thorn—that is, without any stain of origin. (94) If it was fitting that the slightest stain of venial sin be kept far away from the Marian mirror, so that it could truly be called most polished and most lucid, it was certainly far more worthy and decent that the blemish of original fault be kept away from it as far as possible. For venial sin is indeed a stain, but a most slight one, inasmuch as it does not destroy the beauty of the soul,

but diminishes it, though it does not destroy it; by which the fervor of charity is indeed cooled, but not extinguished; which diminishes the health of the soul, but does not secure death; which perhaps also causes the fervent love of God towards us to cool, but by no means provokes or incites hatred. On the contrary, the stain of original sin corrupts the beauty of the soul, excludes charity, brings death, and draws upon man the hatred of God the Most High and Almighty. Legal uncleanness—that, namely, which women were wont to contract on account of the filth with which they were imbued from childbirth—God wished to be absent from the most shining mirror of His Mother, as Cyprian teaches in his *Sermon on the Nativity*, Augustine in *On Heresies*, Epiphanius in *Compendium of Doctrine*, Nazianzen in his *Oration*, and others.

If, therefore, God thought that the cleanness and candor of this mirror could be not a little harmed or violated by the shadowy stain of legal uncleanness, and on that account prohibited that uncleanness from it, in what way did He permit the most terrible filth and squalor of original sin to be sprinkled upon it and to adhere to it? See what I have said concerning this mirror in my *Vindication of the Holy Dominican Order*, book 1, part 1, argument 8, upon those words of St. Thomas: *The Supreme Architect made one mirror*, etc.

(95) That Father Ildephonsus Giron, famous for both piety and learning, of the Order of Preachers, in his *Promptuarium of Sermons*, sermon 2, on the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, says: "The Son of God also guarded His own paradise," ^A You have brought forth Christ, manifested clearly as possessing two natures and one composite person, with the divinity truly joining the humanity in a natural union; wherefore we all bless you, Mary, bride of God. ^B Desiring to dwell in the flesh, the Word who adorned all things made His tabernacle in you, having found you alone holier than all, and He showed you in truth to be the Theotokos, O Mother and Virgin.

From the Canon to the holy Gregory the Decapolite, day 20.

The celestial ladder reaching from earth to heaven, through which the Word of God conversed with mortals, O blessed and all-pure one, inexplicable wonder, incomprehensible vision, save those who take refuge in you. ^C Rejoice, you who alone brought forth the Lord of all; rejoice, you who procured life for men; rejoice, shady and unhewn mountain, the bulwark of the faithful; rejoice, all-blameless one. Mother of God, blessed and all-blameless, heal the wounds of my soul, extinguish the pleasures of the flesh, enlighten my darkened heart, grant peace to my mind, and deliver me from every harm and the assault of enemies. Preservation of the world, Mother and ever-virgin, guide me and lead me on a straight path, and direct my mind toward righteousness, strengthening my right paths and guiding the courses of my soul. ^D Mary, pure palace of the King, cleanse me, who have become an unclean cave of robbers, by your prayers, and show me to be a holy temple of the One born of you. O all-pure Virgin, who brought forth Life, bring to life and save me, who have been called dead through sin and am perishing, and snatch me from Gehenna as I sing: Blessed is God, the God of our fathers. You who ineffably brought forth the Judge and Lord, entreat Him, O all-holy one, as your Son, at the hour of judgment, to deliver those who with faith and piety sing to Him—namely, the peoples—from condemnation, fire, lightless darkness, and the gnashing of teeth; He who is superexalted unto the ages... With the voice of Gabriel, we the faithful joyfully salute you: Rejoice, paradise, who have caused the tree of life to spring forth; rejoice, the undoing of the curse, of the martyrs...

^A dissolution, the crown of confessors, and the firmament of pious men.

From the Canon for the Feast of the Holy Apostle Philemon and his companions, day 22.

The divine catalog of prophets long ago in many forms, O Immaculate One, truly and from afar proclaimed you as the only one destined to give birth to the Lord. Having appeared pure and altogether spotless, you received in your womb God the Word, who purified our nature, defiled, O Virgin, by transgressions. I truly praise you, most praiseworthy one, who gave birth in a way beyond nature to God the Word, who is beyond all praise; and I entreat you, as you are good, O Bride of God, ^B to heal the diseases of my humble soul.

O Lady, save us, tossed by the grievous tempest of temptations, and afflicted by the incursions of most savage Barbarians and the cruel attacks of demons. The Word is embodied in your womb, and out of compassion He is known as man, so that He might make man God, O maiden entirely without blemish (96). You have become the strength of the humble, a shining lamp, a divine table, a mountain and an unpassable gate, the throne of God and a palace, the rod of Aaron and a golden-shining urn, O Virgin, bearing Christ, the manna of life.

Your womb has truly appeared to us as a new paradise, O chaste Mother of God, in which the tree of life has sprouted, through which those who were dead from tasting the fruit of the tree ^C are again brought back to life and led into paradise, O Theotokos. You bear Him who sustains all things, and you nourish Him who nourishes all, in no way knowing the manner of childbirth, O most pure one; your miracle surpasses every mind, striking with wonder both angels and mortals who see you alone as the Virgin Mother of God.

From the Canon for the Feast of our Holy Father Gregory of Agrigento, day 23.

I confess you truly and properly as the Mother of God; for you gave birth to the Lord in an unsearchable manner, O inviolate Theotokos, who is understood in two substances and wills.

The words of the divinely speaking heralds have been fulfilled: for behold, while He kept the virginal house of His ^D delights from every fault. Nor could the cunning serpent find an entrance into this paradise; for it was a closed garden, nay, the Virgin herself crushed the head of the serpent. Thus he. And Father J. Eusebius Nieremberg, in his Exceptions, ch. 13, when he had related from Saint Athanasius, in a homily on the Encounter of the Lord, that the Blessed Virgin had been called a paradise planted by the divine hand, adds: "The Blessed Virgin is called a paradise planted by the hand of the Lord, because in the planting of her creation, only the hand of God and His grace had a place, and not the footprint of the devil and his servitude."

For what would it be to affirm that the Mother of God was immune from every stain, if not to drive away from her every stain of sin at all, whether actual or original? Saint Sabbas agrees in the Greek Menæa, day [3] of January, Ode 3, when, addressing the Mother of God, he says: "No one, as you, O Lady, is equally blameless, nor is there any beside you undefiled, O subject to no stain." And in the same place, day [1] of January, Ode 9: "You, who are intact from every stain." See Velasquez, De Maria immaculata concepta, book IV, dissert. 5, annot. 1.

The Virgin brought forth a new infant, older than Adam, and sitting upon a throne with the Begetter. ^A

The race of mortals has been saved by your childbearing, which surpasses understanding; and those who were in the darkness of corruption, O all-holy Lady, have seen the light that shone from your womb, the cause of our restoration, O Maiden.

He who did not empty the bosom of the Father in becoming incarnate, O all-undefiled one, is seen in your bosom, held as an infant; Him, O Virgin Bride of God, render propitious to those who honor you piously.

The mind is at a loss to contemplate the great mystery of your childbirth; for you gave birth to God become man, O Ever-Virgin, Him who is incomprehensible. ^B

In a manner befitting a mother, you gave birth to the Creator of all, and held Him in your arms, as a cherubic throne, Him who holds the universe, O you who have not known man.

Your wondrous childbirth strikes our minds with astonishment, O alone blessed one. For God took flesh from you, remaining what He was, O Theotokos, immutable in nature, whom we extol unto all ages.

O Maiden who gave birth to the timeless Light, which shone forth from the Father, enlighten my soul and my mind, O Virgin, driving far from me the darkness of the passions, that I may call you blessed, the ever-blessed hope of the faithful.

From the Canon for Saint Clement of Rome, day 24.

Sanctify, O Lady, my humble mind, you who gave birth to the supersubstantial Word, and are holier than all the supernal powers, O you who are graced by God. ^C

Mother of the Lord, who ineffably gave birth to God, the Savior of all, entreat Him to save me, who am ever overwhelmed by passions.

You have restored the human nature which had been crushed and was subject to corruption, O undefiled one, by giving bodily form to God, and giving birth beyond nature, O you who have not known man; to whom we cry: Glory, Christ, to your power.

Let us honor the chaste one with a chaste mind; let us, decorating the beauty of Jacob with divine actions, piously sing her praises as the Mother of our God. ^D

Isaiah was initiated into the depths of your childbirth, and proclaimed that you, a virgin, would have in your womb Him who, for the sake of mercy, became incarnate from you, O you who have not known man.

He who provides existence to all by His will, O all-chaste one, receives a temporal beginning from you and is born, dissolving the temporal failings of the human nature that had fallen and was subject to flux, O undefiled one.

O fearful and ineffable spectacle! In the womb dwells He whom nothing can contain, and He becomes flesh without change, and deifies me through mercy; and He preserves His Mother undefiled after childbirth.

^A You bear in your arms God, O most holy one, as a fiery throne, inviolate, who assumed human nature and was united to it in an ineffable union through boundless compassion; therefore we all magnify you.

From the Canon for the feast of St. Mercurius, the martyr, on the 25th

He was seen incarnate from a virgin maiden, He who for our sake became man similar to us, and He shows Mercurius, who became his athlete, as a faithful witness of His own passions, singing to Him with zeal: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been gloriously glorified.

That the bush might prefigure your conception, which surpasses every mind, O chaste one, it appeared burning in the fire, and yet it was not consumed.

Upon you the life-bearing Word has descended, O Ever-Virgin, like rain, and dried up the downpours of polytheism.

Mortify, O Virgin, my living sin, you who brought forth Life, who delivered death to death.

You conceived, O maiden, through the voice of the angel, the Angel of the great counsel, and you brought forth, O purest one, incarnate from your most holy blood, Him who showed the entrances of life to all because of His ineffable mercy.

The orders of angels are struck with awe at the depth of your mystery, O Theotokos; for God was seen incarnate from you, to whom we sing in concert: Blessed are You, O Lord God. ^C We all, the faithful, praise you, O inviolate one, as the cause of our restoration; for you brought forth God, the Cause of all things, above cause, who restored His own image, which had been crushed by malice, by His own mercy, O you alone super-blessed and full of grace.

Illumine, O gate of light, my soul, blinded by the darkness of the passions and obscured by evil thoughts, and placed in danger; and deliver me from temptations, perils, and tribulations, that I may glorify you, the hope and strength of the faithful.

From the Canon for the feast of our holy Father Alypius the Stylite, on the 26th

The words of the venerable prophet have reached their end; for behold, the Virgin has brought forth God in the flesh, who restores men previously crushed by transgressions and sins. ^D O Virgin, pure palace of the Word, make my soul a house of the Holy Spirit; give me to drink from the fountain of the living water, which is the beginning of life, I who am inflamed by the heat of sin, that I may worthily glorify you.

Heal, O Lady, the passions of my soul, and illumine my mind and my heart, you who brought forth the Giver of light, Christ, the Lord, superior in all goodness.

O holy maiden, you brought forth the holy God, made man through His mercy, who sanctifies all who with faith and fear sanctify Him.

We, who are caught in tribulation, have a strong consolation, O chaste one,

^A and a firm defense, I say; deliver, O Mother of God, thy servants from dangers.

He who is uncircumscribed took upon Himself flesh, endowed with mind and soul, from thee, O Ever-Virgin, to save those who cry out: Blessed art Thou, O God, etc.

Thy birth-giving has now rendered sterile the harm that was born from the malice of the serpent, O Virgin, the unique extermination of the curse; wherefore we honor thee unto all ages.

Bestow illumination upon me, who dwell in the darkness of the passions, and deliver me from wicked works and from the flame that is reserved for me, wretched and sinful as I am, O inviolate Lady, the protection of those who praise thee.

From the Canon for the feast of St. Stephen the Younger, the 28th day.

The impassable gate, the pure temple of chastity, the most beautiful among women, the holy Lady, let the holy people glorify with sacred voices.

From thee alone, the pure one, the super-divine Word was incarnate, in the way which He alone knows, and He saved us, who adore His divine descent made for the sake of His mercy.

In thee, O most immaculate one, I have placed the hopes of my salvation; I have taken refuge under thy protection; be my helper, O damsel, and snatch me away from grievous things.

O supersanct one, who alone on earth didst truly give birth to the supersanct God, sanctify and save by thy mediation those who ever proclaim thee to be the Theotokos. ^C

Her alone, worthy of all praise, the most beautiful among women, the Mother of God, the inexpugnable wall of Christians, the inviolate Lady, let us bless with an unmoved and undoubting heart.

Most sacred prophets most clearly declared beforehand the mystery of thy venerable parturition, O chaste one; and now we, clearly recognizing the fulfillment of the prophecy, devoutly call thee blessed.

By the sprinkling of the divine laver, which was poured forth from the side of thy Son and God, wash away, I beseech thee, O Virgin, the filth of wicked sin that clings to me. ^D

O beloved of God, receptacle of light, the true strength of the holy martyrs and the pride of all the confessors, save us from dangers and surrounding calamities and from the incursions of enemies, while we celebrate thee with praises.

From the Canon for the feast of the holy martyrs Paramon and Philumenus, the 29th day.

In time thou didst bring forth Him who is outside of time, having become man; Him do thou earnestly entreat, O chaste and wholly immaculate one, as thy Son and Lord, that He may heal the temporal passions of my soul.

Establish and make stable my mind, which is turned about by many

^A passions, O Mother of God, most chaste, that I may glorify thee as is due.

Thou didst resuscitate all men, who were dead through transgression, by thy life-giving birth, O Virgin Mary: wherefore we glorify thee, and with divine praises call thee blessed.

The Lord, who hath honor equal to the Father and the Spirit, was incarnate of thy chaste blood, O Virgin, becoming man.

Deliver me from the scandals of life, O most immaculate one, for I am always occupied by the malice of the enemy, and held fast by the darkness of shameful thoughts in the night of blindness.

Rejoice, thou who alone didst bring forth joy to men; rejoice, O heaven, and Cherubic throne, and most glorious palace of the King of the ages, O Lady free from every stain.

The shadows of the Law and the venerable proclamations of the prophets prefigured thee, who wouldst ineffably be the Genitrix of our God, O chaste one, most filled with divine grace, to whom we all sing: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord ^B.

Illuminate the pupils of my eye, darkened by the blindness of soul-destroying sin, O Genitrix of God, most chaste Lady; for thou art the help and illumination of the faithful, O inviolate one.

MENSIS DECEMBER

Thou didst bring forth Life, and dost direct the paths of my most unhappy soul into the way of peace, leading me to perform the divine will of God.

From the canon for the holy prophet Zephaniah, on the 3rd.

Through thee did the human race receive a share in redemption; for thou alone didst bring forth the Redeemer of all; therefore we call thee blessed, O Virgin, Mother of God, help of sinners, and raising up of those who have fallen.

The paths of the Desired One of all are seen in thee. For He who sits in the bosom of the Father, resides in thy bosom, O chaste one, in the manner of an infant, and voluntarily sucks milk, He who nourishes all things.

Thou didst bring forth to us, like a young child, the One older than all ages, O unique and most beautiful maiden, bringer forth ineffably of the Creator, O most holy Virgin, miracle of the angels and salvation of faithful men.

Heal the long-standing passions of my soul, O inviolate one, I beseech thee: and rend asunder the handwriting of all my sins with the spear of thy Son, and do not suffer me to perish, who hope in thee, O most pure one.

Mortify the appetites of my flesh, O Mother of God, who ^C art the friend of good things, O Virgin, who didst bring forth the good Word and Lord; make my soul, which continually inclines to evil because of the serpent's assaults and stings, good, hastening to do what is good, O good one, as the unique refuge of the weary, and salvation of those who praise thee.

Behold now the prophecy of the divine herald is fulfilled: for the Virgin hath brought forth Him who produced the ages; to whom we sing unceasingly, saying: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers.

Thee, the Mother of the Lord of all, all generations of generations always call blessed, O most pure one, and glorify in sacred ways: for thou art become the asylum of all the faithful, who with faith sing: Priests, bless; O ye people, exalt Him above all forever.

From the canon for the feast of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, on the 7th.

Without seed, by the decree of the Father, of the divine Spirit thou didst conceive, and in the flesh didst bring forth the Son of God, who is from the Father without a mother, and for our sake is from thee without a father.

Thou didst renew the race of men, having alone brought forth the Creator and Lord of our nature; wherefore we glorify thee, O most gracious to God.

He who fashioned all things by His will, ^D acts...

^A with wisdom; wishing to refashion mankind, O Virgin, He inhabited thy womb. Heal thou the wounds of my soul, O Virgin, by thy divine visitation, and illumine my mind, darkened by the negligence and malice of the warring enemy. Behold, O Virgin, in thy womb thou didst conceive the Word, co-eternal with the Father, and didst bring Him forth in the flesh, bestowing restoration upon all who have fallen in Adam, O all-immaculate one. Thou wast seen to be higher than the heavens, having brought forth the heavenly God, O all-pure one, who united earthly things with heavenly things, and granted the knowledge of Himself to all who cry out: All ye works, praise the Lord. With the voice of the archangel we cry to thee with joy, O Virgin: Hail, the undoing of the curse; hail, the redemption of all evils, thou who didst deify mortals by thy ^B ineffable birth-giving.

From the canon for the holy martyrs Mennas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus, day 10.

That thy servants may be liberated from the tyranny of the passions, O most pure Maiden, earnestly entreat thy Lord and Master, whom thou didst clothe in a body from thy chaste blood, O all-chaste one, and who conversed with us. Finding thee alone among women fair in beauty, O Maiden, Christ proceeded from thy womb, having become incarnate, adorning our race with divine beauties; wherefore we reverence thee. A rod from the root of Jesse, thou didst blossom forth the Sower of all creation, who withered the plants of fruitless knowledge, but planted in us the most true faith with devotion, O inviolate Virgin, all-laudable. Thou didst appear more exalted than the holy angels, O chaste Virgin, having brought forth ^C the Angel of Great Counsel, God Emmanuel, who, by His descent and humiliation, made men heavenly, O Maiden, because of His ineffable mercy. Death continued even up to thee, O Virgin; for thou didst bring forth Christ, the Life, who bestowed immortal and divine redemption upon those who purely believe in Him; entreat Him, O all-holy one, that thy servants might be delivered from their transgressions. Without burning thy womb, without shaking the seals of virginity, the Word incarnate proceeded from thee, ^D granting us incorruption and life, as we sing: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers. We have known thee, O Maiden, as the urn containing the manna of Divinity, the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the throne of God, and the palace, and the bridge leading those who sing to divine life: Let the whole creation bless the Lord, and exalt Him above all forever.

^A Our nature, which had been cast down, O most pure one, beheld the flash of the lightning of your birth, and has been redeemed from the night of ignorance and the dark confusion of the passions; therefore, we revere you as the cause of our salvation.

From the canon for the feast of Saint Daniel the Stylite, confessor, on the 11th day

He appeared as complete man, remaining what He was even after the incarnation, the immutable Lord who was born of you, O Theotokos. Deliver me, O Lady, from the violence of the passions, and now rout the enemies that assail me; establish me firmly on the rock of God’s will; enlighten my soul, O gate of divine light. The laws of nature were made new in you; for you gave birth, O most chaste one, to the Lawgiver—the Word—truly beyond cause and reason, who has liberated the race of men from irrationality, those who faithfully sing in unison: Glory to your power, O lover of mankind.

^B Having given birth to the Lord, you were shown to be higher than the powers above, and you have deified the nature of mortals, you alone most worthy of all praise. Whence we, the faithful, with heart and tongue glorify you truly as the Theotokos, O Virgin. We, the faithful, all possess you as our protection and rampart, we who are always in peril in the depth of evils and the swell of tribulations, O Theotokos, the only refuge of mortals. Be gracious to me, O Virgin, and heal me, wounded by the sword of sin, with the poultice of your intercession, while I cry: Blessed is the fruit of your womb.

^C Those who believe you to be the Theotokos, O most holy Lady worthy of all praise, adhering to your words, now call you blessed, since you gave birth to the blessed God for us, whom we praise in two natures and one person, crying out: O children, bless; priests, praise; people, exalt Him above all forever. Spare me, O Savior, who were born and preserved your Mother incorrupt after the birth, when You sit to judge my works; overlook my iniquities and my sins, as the sinless one, as the compassionate God and lover of mankind.

From the canon for the Sunday of the Commemoration of the Holy Forefathers, Adam and Eve

^D Let us lend an ear to the divine oracles, which proclaim the manifestation of Christ; for behold, He is born in a cave, from an unwed maiden, whose birth, full of dread, the star appearing to the astrologers foretells. Now the expectation of the nations comes forth from the Virgin, and Bethlehem opportunely opens up Eden, which was closed, receiving the Word made flesh and laid in a manger according to the flesh. Now our redemption is laid in a manger, and He is swaddled as an infant; and Magi, kings from the East, have arrived to see Him as God and King born upon the earth, and to worship Him with gifts faithfully.

^A He who is full is emptied in the flesh for our sake, and He who is without beginning receives a beginning; the Rich One becomes a beggar, and the Word of God, existing as God, is reclined in a manger for irrational beasts, as an infant, working the restoration of all things from the ages. ^B A new child is recognized upon the earth, He who is always with the Father and the Spirit; and He who swaddled the earth with mist is clearly swaddled in bands, and is reclined in a manger of irrational beasts. Let us now, rejoicing, celebrate the pre-feast of His seedless birth. Behold, as the prophet foretold, the unwedded one has conceived God in her womb, and she hastens to bring Him forth clearly in the cave of Bethlehem, to whom we all sing: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers.

^B Thou hast appeared from virginal blood, O Christ, becoming incarnate by an ineffable word; and as a perfect infant, through an excess of compassion, Jesus, Thou art born in a cave. A star from afar manifested Thee to the astrologers; praise, they cry out with faith, and superexalt Christ unto the ages. ^C Wearing me [as a garment], He proceeds from the Virgin, and the Word of the Father is born in a cave without commingling; dance, O creation, with grateful voices magnifying His all-holy condescension for the sake of mercy.

From the canon for the holy martyr Eleutherius, day 15.

^C As a fire-formed throne, thou bearest the Creator; as a living bridal chamber and delightful palace, thou containest the King who became like unto us, O God-graced one. The rod of power hath sprouted Christ, in whom we are established; for the rod of Aaron, having once blossomed, foreshadowed thee, O uncultivated and pure one, O ever-virgin dove.

^D (97) Concerning this dove, Bernardinus de Busto speaks in his *Mariale*, sermon 6, on the Conception, part II, saying among other things: “The glorious Virgin, immaculate from every stain, was foreshadowed by the white and most pure dove, which, going forth from the ark of Noah and touching nothing foul, returned with a branch of green olive, as is found in Genesis chapter VIII, which was a sign of victory. Therefore, the crow ought not to croak against her, even if it has been defiled by the rot of dead bodies, while she, the most pure dove, was in no way stained.” So he. St. Andrew of Crete favors this in his canon on the Conception of the B. Virgin, ode 6, when he says: *Anna, conceiving the immaculate dove in her womb, was filled with very true spiritual joy.* By which words, since he called the Virgin from her very first beginning an immaculate dove, he denied that she had been from the start, because of original sin, a crow. The Holy Spirit appeared in the likeness of a dove when Christ the Lord was washing away the image of the sinner in the waters of the Jordan. After the flowing of the lustral wave, the dove vanished, having been formed only as a sign, and yet, bound to pass away so quickly, it is chosen with careful selection among the birds as the whitest, the most sincere, and without gall. The Lord therefore chose a Mother who was always to remain a vessel of nine months, who might sometimes—under bile, under stain—have been a companion of the fallen race? Why? The cunning enemy comes to man in the serpent (says Hugo Victorinus in his *Allegories* as cited by Tilmann), who perhaps, if he had been permitted, would have preferred to come in the form of a dove, but the Holy Spirit reserved this vessel for Himself, because He surely had known it to be unworthy that the malignant spirit should take a form odious to man, in which form the same Holy Spirit was later to appear. So he. And the Master of the Sentences, book II, dist. 21: *The demon indeed would have wished to come in the form of a dove; this, namely, would have been for the devil a most suitable instrument for deceiving the woman as an innocuous and simple animal; but it was not consonant and fitting that the dove should be rendered invidious and hateful to man through an unclean and malignant spirit, in whose form the Holy Spirit was later to appear to men.* Thus the Master. Therefore it was not fitting that the dove, in which the Spirit was to appear so many ages later, should be first invaded by the cunning enemy, lest it thus become odious to men and be rendered unsuited for bearing the Holy Spirit. And it will be fitting that our dove, the Virgin Mother of God, destined from eternity to bear the Son of God, from the first origin of her

existence, was in reality the bearer of the demon, and will you think that it would not be a horror to Christ to be borne by her? Would the species of the dove be hateful to you from the first age, and would the truth, corrupted a little while before, come to Christ? And yet the dove contracted nothing in reality from the demon, it handed nothing over to God; but what Mary contracted from that, and what she gave to God, all know. Why, therefore, would the Holy Spirit not prepare in her inmost parts a guest-chamber and a singular throne for the divine Word in the most pure dove, the Spirit who thoroughly avoided for himself even the corrupted shadow of a dove?

OF JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER

^A The hosts of the angels were amazed, seeing in what manner the Invisible, in the form of our nature assumed from you, O Virgin Mother of God, became visible: whom do you suppliantly entreat, that he may render all who faithfully glorify you worthy of salvation.

Your miracle, O Pure One, seizes every mind with wonder; for you give birth to God with a body, and you nourish with milk the One who provides nourishment, without the experience of a husband, as He alone knows who has seen it Himself.

Mary, you who have been manifested as the tabernacle of sanctification, sanctify my wretched soul, defiled by the filth of pleasures, and make it a partaker of divine glory.

Finding you alone to be most pure, O All-Immaculate One, the most pure Word of God, brought forth from your womb, cleanses us, the faithful, from the filth of the passions arising in us from intemperance, O Bride of God.

As rain, Christ descended into your womb, O Virgin, and truly irrigated all creation, drying up, O Virgin, the muddy rivers of idolatry, He who alone is the benefactor.

Spare us who hymn you, O Lord, the ineffable birth from the Virgin, delivering your servants from temptations, passions, and afflictions by her intercessions: for you are indeed beneficent and the only lover of mankind.

From the canon for Saint Marinus [(97*)], on the 16th.

^C Hail, multi-named maiden: holy Mary, Mother of Christ, and Virgin: boast of the faithful, redemption of the curse, recall of Eve, unintelligible miracle, unburnt bush, unplowed earth.

The voices of the God-speaking prophets predicted you, O Virgin, as the future Mother of God, who for His ineffable mercy assumed human form.

The barrier of the ancient curse is broken by your birth-giving: for you bring forth God, Emmanuel, O most chaste One, who enlightened and gladdened all the ends of the earth with blessings: whom, praising, we faithfully glorify you.

You brought forth a new infant for us, O chaste One, who was born from the Father without time before the ages: therefore, O Maiden, we rightly call you blessed.

Ezekiel saw you as a gate, O Mother of God, through which the Sun of glory passed, who snatched man from corruption: whom entreat for the redemption of your servants.

Mother of God Mary, with constant prayers, supplicate your Lord and Son, that those may be delivered from fire who, with affection, sing and modulate: Blessed are You, O God of our fathers.

Jacob saw you as a ladder, O most pure One, on which God was leaning, raising those from earth to heaven who with orthodox faith cry out constantly: Bless the Lord, O works of the Lord.

Having been made the Mother of God far from every corruption and filth, now a seat more eminent than all the heavenly orders; and all generations praise you and call you blessed with affection, just as you predicted, O chaste One: therefore free the world from every necessity by your prayers.

From the canon for the feast of Saint Sebastian and his companions, on the 18th.

You gave birth to a new son, He who with the Father before...

and having renewed the laws of nature, O chaste Virgin Mother, inviolate in your divine and venerable childbirth, which was above all nature.

^A You have become the spiritual sanctification of Him who sanctifies all things, and a pure tabernacle for the world, O most immaculate Bride of God; for from you appeared God incarnate, who is made known to the world in dual nature and yet in a single hypostasis.

God, who is above all substance, chose you alone out of all generations, and He, the Molder of human existence, became substantial man for our sake, O Mother of God, most immaculate Lady.

O most immaculate, most radiant cloud of the sun, dispel the clouds of my soul through your intercessions, and enlighten my mind, obscured by the darkness of negligence, that I may praise you, O worthy of all praise.

You have renewed our substance, corrupted by transgression, by bringing forth Him who alone renews all things by His divine will, O blessed among women, most full of divine grace.

We name you, O chaste one, a golden urn, a most holy table of the bread of life from God, a place of sanctification, a most high throne in which rested the God of our fathers, who is worthy of all praise.

You were made beautiful by giving birth to the beautiful God and Lord, who illuminates mortals with His divine rays, to whom we cry out: "Bless the Lord, all you works."

^C The spiritual hosts tremble, seeing the divine splendor of the Father held in your arms in an inexplicable manner, and possessing your likeness, so that He might deify mortals, O Virgin Mother, not united to a man.

*From the canon for the holy martyr Boniface, on the 19th day.*

Let us praise with songs the holy Virgin, the mountain of God which Daniel foresaw, the spiritual tabernacle, the venerable tablet, the sanctification of glory, the table that contained the divine bread.

The God who is above all substance emptied Himself into your womb, without emptying the Father’s bosom, and became your Son, O most immaculate one, to save the human race.

^D Understanding, O Maiden, that your virginity remained sealed after childbirth, you faithfully magnified the Word who was ineffably born from your womb.

(98) P. Joan. Euseb. Nierembergius in his *Exceptions*, chap. 13, when he called the Mother of God the Virgin a tablet written by God, from an anonymous ancient Greek author, adds: "Indeed, through the Holy Spirit, who adorned Her with His own characters from the very conception by which She was formed; for the devil had not written anything in Her beforehand." He alludes to the tablets of the law written by the finger of God, the perfection of which, on account of which the law of God is called immaculate, represented the type of the most holy Mary. This is further declared from the Greek Menaia for June 9, regarding S. Methodius, where it is said:

*We call you the ark of the new law,* *And the tablet of the new law,* *Sculpted by the Deity Himself,* *On which God inscribed His own Word.*

Beautifully, [she is called] the tablet of the new law, alien to the old law of sin and the common fellowship of the ancient transgression; more beautifully: sculpted by the Deity Himself, so that God alone might be the artificer of Mary’s conception.

^A I cry to you, O Virgin! Cleanse my soul from every defilement, and save me, O chaste one, you who gave body on earth to the true God, the Savior. The bush prefigured you, O most praiseworthy and most chaste one, while it burned yet was not consumed; for you, in similar fashion, were not consumed although God was incarnate from you. In order that I may praise you with joyous voices, O Maiden, deliver me by your intercessions from dangers, tribulations, and the wicked thoughts that strive to vex me. Upon you, the chaste one, the One above divinity descended; He was incarnate in the way He Himself knows, and deified men, who sing together: “Bless all works and praise the Lord.” Illumine me with your light, O most pure Theotokos, for I am occupied by the darkness of sin, and grant me, O Bride of God, to walk in the daylight of the divine commandments, so that I may praise you, the all-praiseworthy one.

From the canon for the vigil or preparation for the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, day 20.

Eden is opened, as long as you are born, O Lord, from the God-child maiden in the city of Bethlehem in the flesh; we glorify your fearful economy. A star has already risen from the tribe of Judah, which, when the kings recognized it, they made their way from the East and hastened so that they might see Christ born in the flesh in Bethlehem. How, O Word, will ^B the most narrow and most humble cave receive you, born in the flesh? How will you be wrapped in swaddling clothes, you who clothe the heavens with clouds? How will you be reclined as an infant in the stable of brute beasts? O Eden, once closed to me, open henceforward, seeing Christ the infant incarnate, and born in the city of Bethlehem, as it pleased Him, from the Maiden Virgin. In the cave of Bethlehem, the Maiden clearly brings forth God, the Maker of the universe, and having wrapped Him as a human in swaddling clothes, she now reclines Him in the manger. Let us attend to the holy words; the Lord is born a child for us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and he is called the Angel of the great counsel of the Father, Christ, the Prince of peace. As the Lord swore, behold, He has fulfilled the oath, giving us from the seed of David his own Mother, the Virgin, from whom the infant was born in the flesh in the city of Bethlehem, beyond all conception of words. The Virgin, a spiritual alabaster jar, carries Christ, the inexhaustible ointment, which goes forth in the cave of Bethlehem to be clearly poured out in spirit, so that He may fill our souls with his sweet fragrance.

From the canon for the feast of St. Juliana the martyr of Nicomedia, day 21.

The Virgin hastens to bring forth the Creator of nature in ^C

^A the cave; he who from her, according to an ineffable hypostasis, took on flesh like a garment in a manner above nature, so as to deify the human race.

The compassionate One, in order to set mortals free, is born from the holy Virgin in Bethlehem, receiving swaddling clothes like an infant.

Beholding her virginity sealed after childbirth, the Theotokos was struck with wonder and cried out: "O Son, how shall I now swaddle Thee, who surround the sea with sand as with swaddling clothes?"

A wondrous miracle! The immaculate Virgin hastens in the cave of Bethlehem to bring forth God made man.

He who by the nod of his will surrounds the sea with mist as with a swaddling band, being the Creator, is born of the Virgin maiden, and receives swaddling clothes as an infant, in order to redeem the world.

Hail, container of the Uncontainable, Mother-Virgin; for you are about to bring forth in the cave, O immaculate one, Him who is clothed in flesh for our sake, who restores the workmanship of his own hands.

The Lord, who makes the cloud his chariot, comes to us through the cloud of the Virgin to be born, so that he may disperse the dark clouds of the sins of our souls, while we cry out to him: "Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, the Lord."

Bearing Him who bears all things, you come to Bethlehem, O Virgin, there to bring him forth and to lay him, as an infant, in a manger, accomplishing in a wondrous way the restoration of mortals.

^C From the double canon for the feast of the holy great martyr Anastasia, day 22.

He who is rich becomes poor, born of the Virgin because of his compassion. The Magi, kings from the East, prepare their departure to behold Him incarnate and to worship him in the flesh.

God, who was invisible, appeared, born in a manner above human nature from you, O Mother-Virgin, because of his great compassion, having become poor, though he was rich, so that he might enrich the human race with immortality.

This is our only God, who, truly clothed ineffably in flesh from you, O Virgin, hastens to be born in a cave, so that he may make me, who have become a den of thieves, a temple of the divine Spirit.

O maiden who has not known man, you carry in your womb Him who is incarnate, who holds the entire creation; whom, even when born from you, you lay in a manger as an infant, though He is seen as the One before the ages.

The words of those who prophesied in the holy Spirit are now fulfilled: for the Virgin hastens to bring forth in the cave the most perfect God.

The heavenly King, O immaculate one, comes forth from your light-bearing womb, and is laid in a manger as on a throne.

Now the Word of the Father has come to his own, born in a new birth from the Virgin, and is seen as an infant in the cave because of his supreme compassion.

^A

Christ hastens to be born from the Virgin in an underground cave. Let all creation exult.

O living city of God, you bring forth Christ in the city of Bethlehem, O Theotokos, for he has become perfect man beyond understanding, through his compassion.

Healing the human nature that was corrupted by the ancient transgression, without corruption he is born a new infant, and he sits in your bosom as on a throne, O unwedded one, not departing from the fellowship of the Father’s divinity.

The incarnate Word proceeds from your womb in an ineffable manner, O inviolate one, and he who is before the ages begins to be, and lies in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, dissolving the chains of our offenses.

O miracle that strikes the mind with awe! You are about to give birth, O Virgin Mother, to perfect God; and you are to lay in a manger him who is inaccessible to the very Cherubim and who is immortal by nature. ^B

Now the Lord, who is present everywhere, has come, born of the Virgin in the city of Bethlehem. Exult, O creation, meeting him and chanting hymns of glory unto all ages.

O maiden most pleasing to God, you will bring forth the infant Creator of the ages, who is altogether immutable, in the city of Bethlehem, because of his ineffable mercy.

Bringing forth human nature, O holy Virgin Mother, you give birth in the city of Bethlehem to the transcendent Word, ^C and you nourish with milk, as is the duty of a mother, him who nourishes all creation; and as a fiery throne you carry him, O most holy one, higher than the Cherubim.

Let all creation now joyfully exult, for the Theotokos now hastens to give birth to the Word of God, who is God, having become man.

From the canon for the vigil or preparations for the Nativity of the Lord, on the 23rd day.

When the kings of the Persians knew you, O Word of God, to be the King born on earth of the Virgin, they came with gifts, hastening to worship you.

Christ, delivering us from the darkness of malice, comes forth in the flesh to be born as a man.

The Lord, coming to redeem the human race from the ancient curse, is born of you in the flesh, O most inviolate and blessed one; therefore we glorify you with praises, for you are our glory and pride. ^D

Now Christ comes into his own in a foreign body: let us all be pilgrims from dishonest passions, and let us receive him born in the flesh.

How, O King, shall a most narrow cave receive you, who became poor in spirit yet enrich all things? How shall the nature of mortals behold you clothed in a body? We worship your humiliation.

We praise you, O uniquely chaste one, the cause of all good things; for you gave birth to the incarnate Word because of the excess of his own goodness; a star in the city of Bethlehem heralded his birth.

^A The Lord, beautiful and the giver of good things, proceeds from your womb to be born, O Virgin, in an ineffable manner, wishing to adorn the human race with incorruption. To him we now sing: Let all creation praise the Lord and exalt him above all for all ages.

"You carry, my Son, the whole idea of the Spirit, and how do I carry you, who have become like me in all respects?" the Virgin asked, struck with wonder; let us, the faithful, all honor her as the Mother of God, and in praise let us glorify her with one voice.

From the canon for the Sunday after the Nativity of Christ, on which we celebrate the memory of Saint Joseph, the betrothed of the most holy Theotokos.

You gave birth in the flesh to Christ in Bethlehem, O unwed Virgin, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes; struck with fear at his coming, Joseph magnifies him and adores his power.

When Joseph the Just saw that God had taken flesh from your chaste womb, O pure Virgin, and had been born in a cave and placed in a manger, he magnified him with hymns, he who appeared as one of us.

To remove every doubt from your mind, the invisible one appeared to you clearly, saying, "Do not fear, Joseph, to take Mary now, the immaculate one; for she bears in her womb him who holds all things by his divine power."

She was found, as the prophet David said, to be a Virgin in the womb, containing God, the Emmanuel, who is by nature boundless. When the divine Joseph did not understand this, he was taught by an angel in the night while he slept.

You saw a new child on earth, O most noble Joseph, born of a chaste Virgin, he who was born of the Father before all ages; and you heard the angels praising him inside the cave, lying in a manger, O all-laudable Joseph.

The righteous Joseph, O Virgin most dear to God, having acknowledged you prefigured by sacred symbols, received your venerable betrothal by the lot of the rod, calling to mind the holy rod of Aaron that once had blossomed.

You saw the shadows of the Law bathed in the abundance of the light of grace; and from the Virgin, the luminous cloud, you gazed upon the intelligible Sun rising in the flesh; and like a star, O wise Joseph, you illuminated all who cry out ceaselessly: Let all creation bless the Lord.

You guarded, O God-bearing Joseph, the Virgin who preserved her virginity incorrupt; from whom God the Word was incarnate, preserving her a virgin after the ineffable birth. You, O Joseph, together with her, be mindful of us.

From the canon for the holy twenty thousand martyrs who were consumed by fire in the city of Nicomedia, on the 28th day.

I sing your praises, O most laudable and blessed one, over God...