shifting [their position], and firmly grasping [it], and braced in this way, he stood upright and took three steps, and having measured the movement with these three strides, he then fell down, placed where it was ordained for him to fall. And when those who were present at that time—and especially that blessed priestly pair (for blessed indeed is he who bears such a burden as if it were an evangelical load)—felt astonishment, those who happened to be present at the miracle at that time know it. But as for me, I am astonished: how on earth did the bearers not faint from fear, and how did they not lose their minds at the trial of so novel and unheard-of an event? I, for my part, if I had been present, would not have been able to remain silent, unless perhaps I had even cried out. And perhaps they too experienced something of this sort. For what is unlikely about such a thing happening, unless the holy one being carried revived them and restored them to their natural state? I am further astonished that, once translated, he flowed with more abundant myrrh than before, thereby showing to those who love God how much honor God bestows upon His saints, and how, through this [honor], the good things from God are increased for us. For when a saint is honored and rejoices in the honor he has received, the miracle itself also gains in intensity and remains perpetual for the healing of the soul that desires it and the body that is in need. For we know that the grace of God which is manifest in the saints redounds also to us. We are not ignorant of this; rather, we are fully persuaded that the divine benefits accumulated in them pass over to us, since the servants of God have no need of anything of sorts except for our sake. For it is because they have received the faculty of performing miracles that they are honored by us; and in return for honor, they repay us with benefits. For this same reason, they intercede with God for our salvation, and their intercession is heard, and the desired good things are granted, of which may we be partakers both here and in the life to come, through the intercession of the celebrated great Philotheus, and by the assent of God, to whom be hymn and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
INVOCATIONS OF SAINT DEMETRIUS THE MARTYR.
Canon of the same to the holy great martyr Demetrius.
ODE 1. Sonus ambigui quarti. Crucem cum sculpsisset Moyses.
1. He who commits himself to the sea of your labors of wrestling, wonder-worker Demetrius, is proven daring, nay rather, reckless, since you provide a sea teeming with prodigies, from which one scarcely emerges unless... you send him strength from above to cross over to you.
2. The noble body of the athlete is planted like a paradise of delight for those who wish to enjoy it. And
A the lances within him are found to be living trunks, like trees; their fruits are food for the soul, a harvest of all virtues, and rivers at once flowing with blood and flowing with myrrh.
3. God preserves the sacred things of your struggles, B O saint, keeping them as a perpetual treasury for you. There is the shedding of blood, and there is the outpouring of grace flowing like blood; here, as then, the riches of miracles abound. It is better to say that you have now earned more admiration for your miracles.
4. Virgin Mother, who formed from pure blood a flesh to offer as an oblation to the Creator, subject to death, you did well to arrange for the lakes of barbarian blood to be poured out by the hands of the king. For you always have with you, in the blood by which he was martyred, Demetrius who entreats you.
ODE III. A rod for a sign.
5. Just as one abyss is called upon by another, so the shedding of your countless miracles is an abyss of flowings of myrrh-streaming, boundless outpourings, the sea of which has filled the whole earth with the fragrance shed abroad.
6. The lances are seen to be like the reported trunks of the palms, planted in the body of the athlete, while the blood-flowings are as springs, in which Israel has delighted.
7. Myrrh, as the saying of the Gospel goes, was preserved C for your burial, O all-blessed one. For corruption, which clings to others after death, does not hold sway over you; rather, you breathe forth a sweet fragrance as one divinely inspired.
8. You who saw the Giver of Life pierced by a lance, and were pierced through by the sword of sorrow, speaking with the speared Demetrius on behalf of the sovereign, fix his lance in the hearts of the enemies.
ODE IV. I have heard, O Lord.
9. We see your temple, martyr Demetrius, as another paradise, from which a spring of myrrh runs forth and waters the whole face of the earth.
10. The voice of the blood of your martyrdom, O saint, cries out to the Lord. For it has not ceased to flow out into your eternal testimony of life.
11. "Come, ye haters of God, let us cast sticks at the divine bread of God." The lances cried out, D but they were not able to break you, O martyr.
12. O you who were purpled in the flesh for God, protect our purple-born king by the prayers of the martyr, who though dead, is always purpled by blood.
ODE V. O thrice-blessed wood.
13. O thrice-blessed lances, by which the martyr, being wounded, wounded the wicked one; by which, with much blood poured forth, he who lived joyfully in blood was pitifully brought to an end in death; but by that name bearing the name of Christ, he flowered anew into life.
14. By a divine beckoning from above the prophet was once caught up, being made light as air. And you, O excellent one, snatch away myriads of captives from the earth and rescue them from the tribes leading them away, showing your salvation as you ride.
15. Just as the root of the abyss holds the earth firm, being placed beneath [it...], so it holds up this city by the myrrh-
-A-pouring B-profusion. Thus, it finds you to be a foundation of salvation. 16. ...of glory, true tabernacle of the Most High God, which the scarlet tent of God adorns with royal C-pomp above the branch of the flourishing purple; pray along with the martyr, whose scarlet of blood is an ornament for the temples.
ODE VI. The midday beast.
17. By the shedding of your blood, [you have washed] him who was spiritually imprisoned, O martyr. The pieces of wood, the lances, vehemently inflamed your ardent desire in God. The darkness and straits of the prison are illuminated by light, and they provide D guidance into the spaces of life which, God-given and illuminating the world, flows forth.
18. Appearing in the form of a scorpion, the raging evil one, the worst of dragons, displayed an example of abjection. For the greatest beast, while panting, put on the form of a very small animal, rendering itself weak A by God. Therefore, having been trampled by you, it falls by the sign of the cross.
19. As Mount Sion is the martyr, for as one trusting in God, he was, in the manner of the psalms, heavenly, bearing as soul-nourishing plants the virtues, but as if pouring forth springs of waters, the effusion of blood and myrrh, for the suffocation of demons, B but for every Christian C people, health and the fullness of souls.
20. You ought, Mother of the Lord, to render a recompense of graces to your herald, who laid down his soul for your Son and God. Therefore, while he serves as an ambassador for the supreme prince, assist him in the destructive battle-line against the Barbarians, directing his spear against the enemies, so that peaceful D days may shine upon us.
ODE VII. Insipiens mandatum.
21. Nestoris, the great and celebrated one, underwent the deserved wound of mocking laughter, but fell slaughtered in his martyrdom, pleasing to God; and it was an increase of wrath for the tyrant. For he perceived that the death of these men destroys the tormentors, but gives life to those who cry out faithfully: O God, blessed are you.
22. As a ripe grape of a spiritual vine, confined by force in the winepress of imprisonment, and squeezed by the lance-bearers, you pour forth the must pleasing to God, with holy blood always gushing forth unceasingly for the pleasant sweetness of hearts to those chanting: O supremely hymns-worthy One.
23. The narrow prison became a symbol, see, which you rubbed away, constraining yourself by labors unto virtue. The bath of blood inscribed you yourself, O martyr, as the bath that contains it. Furthermore, [the symbol became] the chambers of the heavens, into which you ascended, chanting there: O supremely hymns-worthy One.
24. O Savior-Mother, intercede with God—who through you did not disdain to become a participant in our human nature by flesh and blood—to save the reigning prince of the Romans, who is being tossed about on our account, and burdened with blood-shedding wounds. And you, great martyr, intercede, you who served God with the wounds of your blood and flesh.
ODE VIII. Praise the Lord, O ye children.
A 25. To such a degree, O martyr, have you been glorified by miracles, that even the Barbarians, who are not within the Lord's fold, proclaim your miraculous power and, as suppliants, obtain peace through you. Thus have you been made wonderful in the whole world.
26. Whatever sufferings you endured, you have been able to provide aid against in all temptations. For within the prison you save the miserable, and the structures of chains feel your wonderful power, and you dry up the flowing streams of blood mixed with dust, and you break the spears of the Barbarians.
27. Of old, the shadows of the Apostles used to heal. But even now the same things are accomplished here. For you, O martyr, perform countless signs, and appearing in the shadows of dreams, you loosen the deadly sleep of terrible necessity for those in danger. B
28. Good are the two who are gathered together, in whose midst stands the King, God, of those who ask for Him. The Mother of God asks for victories, and you, Demetrius, for him who rules the earth. For many such victories shall be granted to him from above.
ODE IX. Who through the eating of the wood.
29. The death born from countless wounds, O blessed one, has presented you to God as a kind of many-eyed Seraph. For the wounds from the spears opened up for you many bright orbits of eyes, in which God is beheld.
30. Your all-pure life, being far removed from stains and defilements, united you to God, and consecrated you to Him like an incense composed of many spices, as a pleasing ornament of good fragrance. Therefore, it was granted to you after death to distill unguents. C
31. You are stored away in the tomb, but nevertheless, you pour forth blood-flowing streams of myrrh. And it is possible to consider what is happening as both a resurrection in a new manner and a fall. For while you are dead by nature, you have fallen, yet by the shedding of blood you reveal the resurrection.
32. O Virgin, always provide trophies of victory to the Emperor, turning away the Barbarian phalanxes, rendering the Lord of lords and His Son placable by your prayers, your fellow-intercessor being the martyr, who showed a mind ruling over his passions. D
TONE of the fourth plagal: The wisdom of the Word.
The outpourings of your blood, O martyr, and the flow of myrrh, gladden the earth, Demetrius, and sanctify souls and bodies, O blessed one, of those who always run with faith and longing toward your holy temple, in order that they may always obtain unguents from the abyss, O holy one, for the healing of diseases each time. Therefore we cry out to you, be our legate before God, that He may grant the forgiveness of transgressions to those who with longing celebrate your holy memory.