MONASTIC PENALTIES
12. He who does not come to the meal with the brethren without a reasonable excuse, let him be ordered to stand, or eat dry food, or, according to the great Basil, let him remain without food until the appointed hour of the following day. A
13. He who leaves the church without a warning more than once, or sits while the individual liturgies are being celebrated outside the doors of the altar without a warning, let him be punished with ten prostrations.
14. Whoever has not attended the three weekly instructions for classes, without an honest cause, let him eat dry food.
15. He who is absent from the evening instruction, let him stand.
16. Whoever, upon hearing the triple signal, does not immediately assemble, let him be punished with twenty prostrations. B
17. Whoever rests beyond the appointed time for relaxation, and wanders about in the monastery, let him be separated for one day.
18. He who goes from one workshop to another without a suitable cause, let him be separated for one day.
19. He who, after the prayers which are said upon rising from the table, does not depart as it is ordered, let him be punished with twenty prostrations.
20. He who engages in conversation after compline, let him be punished with fifty prostrations.
21. Whoever is a craftsman and does not work in silence, but exchanges words with outsiders, let him be separated for two days. C
22. Whoever is found in any theft, let him be separated for one week.
23. Whoever shouts beyond what is becoming, let him be punished with thirty prostrations.
24. If anything is found with anyone in any place, besides those things that were given with a blessing, let these things be taken away, and let him eat dry food.
25. If anyone keeps anything secret, or confesses it to someone other than those appointed, let him be separated for one day.
26. If anyone does not confess to the hegumenos within two weeks, let him be separated for one day. D
27. If anyone tolerates a slanderer and does not himself correct the slanderer, or does not report the unrepentant one to the superior, let him be punished with one hundred prostrations.
28. He who is called by someone and does not answer immediately, though the call is not far off, let him be punished with thirty prostrations.
29. Whoever does not change his garment on Saturday of his own volition, or again does not hand over the exchange on the same day or the next, let him eat dry food.
NOTES. This passage is disturbed or corrupt in the codices. But the interpreter, Saint Basil, is present, cited shortly before, whose penance is of this sort: "He who has been absent from the table, without a probable cause, let him remain without food."
A
30. Whoever conspires against the superior and disturbs the brotherhood shall be separated for one day. 31. If someone who has gone out to an agape/feast, upon his return, relates what occurred in any manner whatsoever, especially at the table, unless he is questioned by the superior, let him be separated for one day. 32. If someone visits other monasteries without the superior's permission to report things, or even if he has no letters, without the superior's knowledge, in any manner whatever, especially regarding feasts or any other business, let him be separated for three days. 33. If someone on the Lord's day, and especially on a feast day, does not wear his major garment—that is, during the two evening services and the morning office—let him perform fifty prostrations before the altar, and then, having returned, let him put it on. 34. If anyone is found having written in his own tablet [notebook] something other than Scriptural or lexical or epistolary correspondence to a brother—except what he may be learning for a sticheron or a cathisma—let him be separated for one day. 35. He who has knowingly permitted a brother's departure from the monastery, or has conversed or traveled with him, and has not reported it beforehand, shall be separated for one week.
Concerning the cellarer
C36. If a spilling of wine occurs, let him perform prostrations according to the quantity of the spillage, five for each measure, and one more. Likewise, if a spilling of vinegar, or an overflow of oil, or an overflow of legumes occurs, it shall be done. 37. If the spoiling of any sort of edible occurs, it shall be punished by the same penalty. 38. If any vessel is found uncovered for a long time, the same prostrations. 39. If he sets more or less on the table than what has been prescribed, let him perform one hundred prostrations. 40. If the breaking of any vessel occurs, even up to a cup, let him perform one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred prostrations; or he may even stand in presence [of the brethren] with the vessel itself.
Concerning the cook
D41. If the cauldron is not full, thirty prostrations; likewise also for the [cucumus/cooking pot]. 42. If any leftover food is wasted, one hundred prostrations; but if it has been thrown away as useless, he shall stand in presence [in repentance] while eating dry food. 43. If he does not put in the oil and salt at the right time so that they are cooked together, twenty prostrations. 44. If he spills oiled broth, thirty prostrations. 45. If someone takes a cup from the refectory and does not return it to its own place, fifty prostrations.
A 46. If a pot, or a trivet, or a pan, or a hearth, or any other culinary vessel is broken through negligence, let him perform one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred prostrations.
On the Librarian
47. If someone receives a book and does not keep it with care, or touches another without the permission of the one in charge, or complains and asks for another than the one he had already received, let him not touch any at all on that day. 48. If the librarian does not show the necessary diligence—shaking, rearranging, and dusting each one—let him eat dry food. 49. Whoever is found hiding [a book] in a cell, and does not return it to the librarian at the time of the signal, without a reasonable excuse, let him stand in the refectory.
On the Shoemaker
50. If someone through negligence breaks an awl, or any other shoemaking tool, let him perform two hundred, [one hundred] fifty, or thirty prostrations. 51. If he abuses the leathers or the soles, and does not cut them with care and place them in the footwear, let him be subject to the same penalties. 52. If he gives to someone with partiality, or unnecessarily, let him eat dry food.
On the Calligrapher
53. If someone, making more glue than is needed, lets it rot through delay, fifty prostrations. 54. If he does not keep the notebook tidy, and [does not keep] the book from which he is writing, and [does not] cover both in due time, and does not pay attention to the corresponding lines, the accents, and the punctuation, let him perform one hundred and thirty prostrations. 55. If someone departs from what is written in the book from which he is copying, let him be separated for three days. B 56. If someone reads more than is written in the book from which he is copying, let him eat dry food. 57. If out of anger he breaks a reed [pen], thirty prostrations. 58. If one takes another’s notebook without the knowledge of the one writing, fifty prostrations. 59. If he does not conform to what was stipulated by the head calligrapher, let him be separated for two days. 60. If the head calligrapher distributes the tasks with partiality, and does not properly protect the parchments and all the other necessary implements, so that nothing useful for such a ministry is spoiled, let him be punished with one hundred and fifty prostrations and separation.
On the Tailor
61. If through negligence he breaks a needle or shears, or cuts the thread, C or tears a garment, let him perform thirty, or fifty, or one hundred prostrations.
D O There is no heading here in the codex.
A If he neglects even a casual rag, or does not renew those that are worn out, and if he does not mend and delouse them, and if he does not impartially give the weekly changes to each of the brothers, let him eat dry food, or let him stand in the place of the common meal, or let him be separated for one day.
Of the Doorkeeper
B 63. If the doorkeeper out of negligence leaves the gate, and a secret exit of a brother occurs, let him be separated for one week. 64. If out of contempt he allows worldly replies to be brought in by strangers visiting the monastery, let him perform one hundred prostrations. 65. If he does not with reverence give and receive a message from those who are guests, or does not report matters to the Hegumen fittingly and appropriately, let him perform one hundred prostrations. 66. If through inattention he loses a key, let him eat dry food.
Of the Infirmarian
67. If he does not show care for each of the sick as far as he is able, and if he does not administer what is necessary fittingly, according to what has been prescribed proportionately; and if he exceeds, or falls short, let him perform one hundred and fifty prostrations, or let him eat dry food and be separated for one day. 68. If the assistant infirmarian does not spread the beds of the sick, and keep the oils well, and if he does not have accuracy down to a single pill, let him eat dry food, and be separated for one day. C 69. If any of the infirmarian’s staff lies down in a bed without permission, or changes it for another than the one given to him, let him perform fifty prostrations. 70. If he abuses the coals, or through sloth breaks any of the smithing tools, or loses them, or without an order takes anything from someone, or makes a tool, let him be punished with thirty, or fifty, and one hundred prostrations, or let him also eat dry food.
Of the Lamp-lighter
71. If he does not attend to the lighting of the lamps, and the church furnishings fittingly and proportionately, neither in excess nor in deficit, and furthermore if he does not clear away the soot of the lamps according to the weekly custom, let him perform one hundred prostrations, and eat dry food. D 72. If he breaks a lamp, let the penalty be according to the value of the lamp. 73. If he burns the wicks carelessly, or makes a shedding of lamp oil, or lights them fiercely, or puts them out when it is not appropriate, let him perform thirty prostrations each time. 74. If he does not clean the polycandela or the hanging lamps or the smaller ones, so that they do not become ruined by rust, let him perform one hundred prostrations.
75. If he fails to light the lamps, or lights them more or less than the measure prescribed to him, so that it might signify the time of the solemnity of the Lord, and of the Lord’s day, and of the commemoration of the saints; and if he does not sweep the temple of God twice or thrice in the week, let him perform thirty prostrations. A
Concerning the gardener.
76. If he does not sow the vegetables at the proper time, fifty prostrations. 77. If he does not diligently cultivate the garden committed to him, as though it were the paradise of the Lord, so that it may supply every kind of vegetable to the brotherhood in abundance, one hundred prostrations. 78. If he negligently neglects the irrigation, and does not water according to measure, one hundred prostrations.
Concerning the vine-dresser.
79. If he does not diligently cultivate the vine of the Lord, pruning, cleaning, digging, excavating trenches, and in every way cultivating it beautifully, one hundred prostrations.
Concerning the plowman.
80. If from anger he strike the ox, or utter a disorderly word toward him, ten prostrations. B 81. If he does not guard the vessels and tools useful to him with knowledge and care, let him feed on dry food.
Concerning the host.
82. If he does not receive the guests well with all piety, washing their feet and placing them suitably in the chambers, one hundred prostrations. 83. If he does not make the bed and clean and look after the coverings that are in the cell, let him feed on dry food. 84. Similarly, if he does not tidy the sleeping quarters throughout the week. C
Concerning the baker.
85. If anyone speaks in the bakery while the brothers are baking bread, thirty prostrations. 86. If the baker does not set the burning of the brushwood or logs in moderation, or bakes the bread poorly, three prostrations.
Concerning the woodworker.
87. If he spoils the wood being hewn, or cuts too much, or cuts beyond the given measure, or otherwise makes it useless, let him feed on dry food. 88. If anyone takes a tool without the woodworker knowing, or from another workshop, fifty prostrations. D 89. If he loses any tool from any workshop, let him feed on dry food and undergo the penalty of separation. 90. If a breakage occurs of an adze, an auger, a saw, an axe, or any other iron tool, one hundred prostrations.
Concerning the keeper of the beasts.
91. If he does not provide the proper care for the beasts, whether by giving them water and feed at the right time, or by providing straw, grooming, cleaning, and currying them, thirty prostrations. 92. If he drives them too hard at the mill or on the road, or beats them excessively with a rod, or puts a heavier load upon them than necessary, he shall eat dry food, or even be separated for one day. AConcerning the attendant.
93. If he brings reports, or items from outsiders or from relatives to the brothers, he shall be separated for one day. 94. If he quarrels in the marketplaces or in the sales, or becomes exasperated, or makes an oath, and does not conduct the purchase or sale in one or two words, one hundred and fifty prostrations. B95. If he makes departures from the monastery without proper reverence, so as to walk about with prayer and the chanting of psalms, avoiding the sight of women or other useless things, so that as far as in him lies God may be glorified through the edification of those who see him, he shall eat dry food for one day.
Concerning the teacher of the children.
96. If he does not have the bowels of compassion and a paternal disposition, so as to rear the little ones in the discipline and admonition of the Lord, yearning for them in soul and body, cherishing and attending to all their bodily needs, one hundred prostrations; he shall eat dry food, or be separated for one week. C97. Whoever utters a shameful or reproachful word—except for the superiors, who speak these things for the sake of instruction—within the brotherhood, shall perform fifty prostrations.
Concerning the janitor.
98. If he does not keep the whole monastery clean twice a week, fifty prostrations, or let him eat dry food.Concerning the canonarch.
99. If, outside of the appointed hour—that is, the midnight office daily, and the pre-midnight office on Sunday—he is late or early, thereby slighting the spiritual trumpet, thirty, fifty, and one hundred prostrations. D 100. If he does not signal every liturgical hour in good time, calling the brotherhood, one hundred prostrations. 101. If he is caught favoring or being partial to a brother, whether for the purpose of passing judgment, or defrauding, or overreaching, he shall eat dry food. 102. If he does not show the proper care and cleanliness regarding the protologia, the kontakia, and every book in his custody, to ensure that none be lost or...damaged by the tossing of the precentors, or by a hanging lamp, or by the spilling of wax, or by the defilement of sweat from his hands, he shall stand before the door of the dining hall. 103. If he does not give prior notice to the one who is to read or chant, so that he is prepared and practiced for either task, he shall receive twenty metanoiai. 104. If a canon remains unchanted on its appointed day, one hundred metanoiai.
Concerning the Taxiarch
105. If he does not maintain complete order—first by his own example, and then by the authority of his own office, keeping watch over the entire brotherhood to ensure that they are arranged in the choir appropriately, and especially in a manner suitable to their age, their knowledge, and the harmony of their voices—he shall receive thirty, fifty, or one hundred metanoiai. 106. If he does not diligently keep the register, so as to know the rank of each individual and the number of the whole brotherhood, in order to record the names of the departed for the protodeacon to place in the diptychs; and if he does not hold by inquiry those who have foolishly run away, or if anything else of this kind should occur, he shall receive one hundred metanoiai. 107. If he does not handle the sacred and divine offerings with fear and trembling, such as by vesting the venerable table and the other spiritual liturgical vessels at the proper time, and if he does not fold and place the coverings upon them, he shall receive thirty and fifty metanoiai.Concerning the Weaver
108. If the overseer does not distribute the work to each one in the morning, and see to it that no abuse occurs in the wools and the wool-spun warps, he shall receive fifty metanoiai. 109. If through carelessness he breaks the warp, or if through anger he is moved to break the loom's comb, fifty metanoiai. 110. If the tunics are not woven becomingly, maintaining in the weaving the density of the body [of the fabric], the equality of the thread, and the cleanliness of the hands, he shall receive fifty metanoiai.II. The daily penances of the monks, prescribed by our most holy Father Theodore.
1.
Concerning a monk eating meat secretly, outside of infirmity.
He who has eaten meat in secret without necessity and without the blessing of the Father, shall not eat side-dishes, eggs, or cheese for forty days; for it is written: "Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Rom. XIII, 14).DAILY MONASTIC PENALTIES
A 2. On the monk who has not made confession during the whole week. He who has not confessed his deeds and thoughts to the Abbot during the seven days of the week, thereafter shall not eat until he has made confession.
3. On one who tastes fruit in secret before being blessed by the priest. He who tastes any fruit whatever before receiving a blessing from the Father, shall not eat of such fruit that year.
4. That a monk ought not to work without his mantle. He who performs any work whatsoever without his mantle or cowl, shall be punished as a contemner.
5. That water is not to be drunk after compline. He who drinks water after compline, or holds conversation with anyone, shall perform one hundred metanoias.
6. On one who has not communicated out of negligence. He who for more than forty days (unless he is undergoing a penalty) has refrained from approaching Holy Communion, shall declare the cause of the matter; and if he is found to have acted thus out of negligence, he shall undergo a penalty of forty days.
7. That a monk cannot reclaim an offering brought to the monastery. B If any monk comes to a monastery and brings an estate of up to a hundred pounds, or even a single solidus, he has no power to reclaim anything from it, not even a hair.
8. A worldly person who is sick, renouncing the world and entering the monastic life, his clothing and bed coverings shall remain with the Church.
9. A monk who speaks of worldly matters, or who says, "I have some kin somewhere," shall be separated for three days, eating dry food, and performing fifty metanoias. For from the day he took the habit, having renounced his worldly relatives, he has cleaved to Christ. C
10. If someone turns from sin, one is not to reject him, but rather grieve with him—he has grieved Christ—for He said: "There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke XV, 7).
11. If a monk kisses any woman, he shall be excluded from communion for forty days; indeed, not even on the very day of the Resurrection of the Lord shall he be permitted to kiss his own mother. D
12. He who abandons the holy habit shall be excluded from communion for three years.
NOTE. (9) What this excommunication for lighter faults might be, one may understand from the chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict: "If any brother is found in lighter faults, let him be deprived of participation at the table. But the manner of this deprivation of the table's fellowship shall be that in the oratory he shall not lead the psalm or the antiphon, etc. Regarding the taking of food, let him take it alone after the brothers' repast. So that, for example, if the brothers dine at the sixth hour, that brother shall dine at the ninth; if the brothers at the ninth, he at vespers." So shall you understand many of the excommunications written in the penances of the Studite. (10) This refers to the custom of the Greeks of kissing one another in the joy of the day of Pascha, about which custom Allatius treats in his work, *De Dominicis Græcorum*, after his work *De consensu*, in the following column.
15. A If anyone, having fasted through holy Lent, breaks the fast on Great Thursday for the sake of discernment, he dishonors the whole of holy Lent.
14. If an antimension be washed through ignorance, it is not polluted; for the sanctification remains in it; for that which is sacred does not become profane.
15. If a priest, having celebrated the liturgy, has vomited, if he has suffered this from gluttony, he shall complete sixty days remaining uncommunicated, fasting and performing one thousand prostrations each day; but if it happened from weakness, he shall have a penance of seven days, performing also twenty-five prostrations.
16. If anyone neglects the canon, he shall perform one day of dry-diet, and one hundred prostrations.
17. If anyone absents himself from the office of Vespers or Apodeipnon, he shall not drink wine for one day and shall perform fifty prostrations.
18. Whoever, at the hour of the bestowal of the blessing, is absent out of negligence, shall fast until evening and perform fifty prostrations.
19. If anyone leaves the monastery without the superior's permission, he shall remain uncommunicated for B one week, performing forty prostrations.
20. If anyone acquires any item without the superior's knowledge, he shall remain uncommunicated for fifteen days, eating dry-diet at the ninth hour, and performing fifty prostrations.
21. If anyone conspires with another, or leaves the monastery secretly, he shall remain uncommunicated for thirty days, using dry-diet, and performing one hundred prostrations.
22. If anyone, having received a penance from the superior, does not observe it, he shall be excommunicated from the brotherhood for one week, using dry-diet, and performing one hundred prostrations each day.
23. If anyone wears a brother’s garment or any other thing against his will, he shall eat dry-diet for three days, performing one hundred prostrations.
24. If anyone is found at night privately with someone, or changing the place of his bed, or staying out without the superior’s consent, he shall be excommunicated for a week, using dry-diet, performing C two hundred prostrations.
25. The superior not having permitted it, if a brother changes his manual work, he shall eat dry-diet for forty days, performing eighty prostrations.
26. If anyone exchanges any property of his own with someone else without the superior's knowledge, or acquires it on his own, or receives it from someone, he shall be excommunicated for twelve days, performing eighty prostrations.
27. If anyone eats outside the refectory without the superior's blessing, or apart from cases of illness, he shall eat dry-diet for three days, performing two hundred prostrations.
28. If anyone is found eating after Apodeipnon, he shall eat dry-diet for a week; but if he is found laughing, he shall perform two hundred prostrations. D
NOTE. (10*) Canon is a part of the Greek office.
A 29. If anyone speaks at the table, or laughs, let him rise at once and perform one hundred prostrations.
30. If anyone grieves his brother, and, having been scornful, does not reconcile, but remains in his ill feeling, let him be separated for two weeks, eating dry-diet and performing fifty prostrations.
31. If anyone does not receive the Eucharist on the day of the liturgy, let him state the cause; if he does not state it, let him fast until evening, performing fifty prostrations.
32. Whoever whispers with one of the brothers out of partiality, let both be separated, until they desist from their mutual company, and let them perform one hundred prostrations each.
33. Whoever arrives late for the beginning of any psalmody, without a ministry or a necessary excuse, let him perform one hundred prostrations. B
34. Whoever, out of sloth, misses the canon, or the evening office, or other psalmody, let him eat dry-diet for one day, and perform one hundred prostrations.
35. Whoever, through negligence, does not sit with the brothers at the table, let him fast thereafter until evening.
36. Whoever, without necessity, rises before others from the table, let him not drink wine for three days, and let him perform one hundred prostrations.
37. Whoever speaks idly, or utters jests, let him not drink wine that day, and let him perform forty prostrations.
38. If anyone defends one of those being disciplined for a fault, let him eat dry-diet for one week, performing one hundred prostrations each day. C
39. If anyone is tempted to fornication, let him eat dry-diet for forty days; but if the temptation does not cease, let him eat dry-diet until he finds rest, performing three hundred prostrations day and night.
40. If anyone gives away his old garment to anyone without the permission of the Hegumen, let him eat dry-diet for one week, performing sixty prostrations.
41. If anyone has a dream regarding fornication, let him be excluded from communion that day, performing forty prostrations, and reciting the fiftieth psalm, and "Lord, have mercy" one hundred times.
42. Let the soft person be excluded from communion for forty days.
43. Let the liar be excluded from communion for forty days.
44. Let the slanderer likewise for forty days.
45. The blasphemer, in whatever way and however he blasphemes, let him be silent for forty days, performing fifty prostrations each day. D
46. If anyone, wishing to do so, eats forbidden food, let him be excluded from communion for five years; but if he suffers this through force, for forty days.
47. If a monk of the Great Habit falls into passion, let him be excluded from communion for five years; but if he is of the Small Habit, for [three] years.
NOTE.
(11) Saint Benedict, Rule, chap. 6: "Scurrilities or idle words and those that move to laughter, we condemn them to eternal silence in all places; and we do not permit a disciple to open his mouth for such speech." Let the Commentary of Martène be read there. The same sentiment, furthermore, is in the Constitutions of St. Basil, chap. 12.
A of the small habit, for two years. Let the same rule hold true also for nuns.
48. If a monk becomes drunk, he has committed fornication, and let him be excluded from communion for two years. 49. If he laughs in a public place, let him be excluded from communion for forty days. 50. If he vomits from gluttony, let him likewise be excluded from communion for forty days. 51. If a monk of the great habit walks about without his cowl, let him be excluded from communion for forty days; for such a one has no authority to work, sleep, or walk about anywhere without the symbols of the holy habit. 52. If any monk contradicts his superior B or any one of his brethren, let him be excluded from communion for forty days. 53. If a monk sits at a banquet with laymen, let him be excluded from communion for forty days. 54. If a monk or a nun runs away from their monastery, they incur the penalty of twelve years of excommunication. If, however, a soul has been corrupted and they have slipped away secretly from the monasteries, it is necessary that they find a proven monk, and reveal to him a few things from among the many, which may contribute to the amendment of the matter; so that through the prudence of a priest they may be able to be reconciled with their superiors, and return to their own monasteries, having corrected the sins of the soul. 55. If a monk has eaten or drunk before the dismissal of the synaxis, let him perform fifty prostrations C in the refectory. 56. If a monk stays for the synaxis of the church, and is not found there until the end, without the order of the superior or without great necessity, let him perform forty prostrations, and let him say "Lord, have mercy" forty times. 57. If any monk forms a conspiracy with other monks for any affair whatsoever, let him perform one hundred prostrations, and eat dry food in the evening for two days. 58. If any monk sleeps in his bed ungirded, let him perform fifty prostrations. 59. If any monk shall use ointment in a bath, let him perform three hundred prostrations, and a layman one hundred; and let both be excommunicated for one week. 60. If a monk sleeps for one evening in the D country or in a coenobium without the blessing of the abbot, let him stand for an entire night, performing one hundred and fifty prostrations. 61. If a monk laughs during the synaxis, let him perform forty prostrations. 62. If a monk or a layman who is not under canonical censure neglects taking communion for forty days, let him be separated from the church for one year. 63. If a monk has relations with a nun, after they have ceased from the sin, let them have a penalty of three years of excommunication. 64. If a secular priest has performed the sacred rites, and from gluttony—
crapula die eadem vomuerit, hac pena multetur ut quadraginta diebus sacrificando sit interdictus.
65. If anyone, being fought by the devil, shall break away, but afterwards repents, let him be punished with one year of penance. But if he should repent at the very moment of his death, God receives him. For Christ has granted him pardon with these words: "There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents."
OF THE HOLY FATHER THEODORE THE STUDITE, CANON FOR THE ADORATION OF THE CROSS.
(GRETSER. De Cruce, t. III, p. 321.)A ODA I. It is a day of festivity. By the resurrection of Christ, death has vanished, the splendor of life has shone forth; Adam, rising again, leads the dance with joy; therefore let us shout, singing a song of victory. The day of the adoration of the precious cross has arrived; come, all of you. For putting forth the shining rays of the resurrection of Christ, it is now set before us; therefore let us embrace it and kiss it, filled with spiritual joy. Appear, O great cross of the Lord. Show me now the divine countenance of your beauty, and deem [worthy] the worshipper of your praises. For as though you were a living being, I speak to you and I embrace you. Let heaven and earth sing praises in concert, because the most blessed cross is set before all, on which Christ, having been fixed in his body, was sacrificed; let us kiss it with joyful hearts.
Triadic. O Trinity in persons, O unity in form, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One power, equal in counsel, and will, and the beginning of authority, guard your world, bestowing peace.
Theotokion. Altogether without experience of a man, you bring forth a babe without seed, you bear an immaculate birth, Christ the God, the creator of all; entreat him to grant peace to all things.
Catabasia. The most divine Moses of old prefigured your cross, when he led Israel across the Red Sea; dividing the waters with his rod, he sang a song of departure to you, O Christ God. B C D
ODE II
Come, let us sing a new song, celebrating the destruction of Hades. For Christ has risen from the tomb, having overcome death and saved all. Come, let us draw, O faithful, not from a spring gushing forth corruptible water, but [let us draw] the fountain of illumination, by the adoration of the cross of Christ, in which we also glory. The cross which Moses formerly prefigured with his hands, we now embrace; [thereby] we put to flight the intelligible Amalek, O Master Lord, by whom we also have been saved. With pure eyes and lips, modulating a melody of exultation, let us, the faithful, adore the cross of the Lord with joy, clapping in songs. A Triadicum. I worship the one God in three hypostases, without beginning, not divided in the form of essence: Father, Son, and living Spirit, in whose name we have been baptized. Theotokion. In the bush, Moses formerly saw your mystery typically, O venerable one. For as the flame did not burn that [bush], so the fire of Divinity did not burn your womb. Katabasia. Confirm me, O Master Lord, by your cross upon the rock of faith, that my mind may not be shaken by the assaults of the hostile enemy. For you alone are holy.ODE III
Lo, Christ has risen, the angel says to the myrrh-bearing women who were bringing ointments: Do not weep. Going, say to the apostles: Rejoice, today salvation has come to the world, and the tyranny of the hostile death has been dissolved. Celebrating today the festival of your life-giving cross, O Christ, we undertake a certain prelude to your all-holy passion, which you, as Almighty, have wrought for the salvation of the world. Today joy exists in heaven and on earth, because the sign of the cross shines forth to the world, the thrice-blessed cross; which, being set forth, gushes forth eternal grace. What shall we render to you, O Christ, because you have given us the venerable cross to adore, on which your most holy blood was poured out, and to which your flesh was fixed with nails? Embracing it, we now give you thanks. B Triadicum. I proclaim and acknowledge three hypostases of your one, simple divinity; the Father without beginning, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, co-enthroned, one lordship, one co-regnant, eternal power. Theotokion. You alone have appeared as a most wondrous thing among women, O chaste one, a fearful thing. For you have innovated upon nature, conceiving without seed, and remaining, after birth, a virgin as before. For the One born of you is truly God. Katabasia. When the sun, the great luminary, beheld you upon the cross, it Ctrembled and withdrew its rays, and every creature heralded your long-suffering with fear. For the earth was filled with your praise.
ODE IV
A Existed you from the sepulcher, O light that never sets; shedding immortality upon the world, and, as one merciful, you banished the sorrow of death from the ends of the earth. Let us draw near, purified by self-restraint, and fervently embrace the most holy wood with praise, on which Christ, being crucified, saved the world, as one merciful. Today the ranks of angels lead dances in gladness for the adoration of thy cross; for therein you wounded the throngs of demons, O Christ, having saved the human race. Another paradise is the Church known to be, possessing, as before, the life-bearing wood, namely thy cross, O Lord. From whose touch we become partakers of immortality.Triadic
I glorify three Persons having no beginning, of one essence: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one light most radiant, of the same power and kingdom in unconfused unity or identity.Theotokion
B You bore a child by the law of nature, yet above the law. For your birth-giving alone is without seed; mysterious and conceptualized and spoken of is your child-birth, O most immaculate one.Katabasia
At dawn we celebrate you, Savior of the world, having found peace through your cross, by which you renewed the human race, leading us to the light that knows no setting.ODE V
You rose having shattered death, O Christ, like a great King, having recalled us C from the storehouses of Hades to the enjoyment of the kingdom of heaven, to the land of immortality. Let us faithful, clapping in divine songs, shout to God, kissing the cross of the Lord. For the splendor of holiness gushes forth as a fountain for all who are in the world. Let the psalmic voice be fulfilled. For behold, we worship the footstool of your immaculate feet, most precious, your venerable cross, the thrice-desired wood. The wood which was cast into your bread, as the lamenter of the prophets saw, your cross, O merciful one, we kiss, and we hymn your bonds and burial, the spear and the nails. D Upon your shoulders, which you deigned, O Christ, to bear the holy cross, and thereon to be lifted up and crucified for our sake, by embracing it, we receive strength against invisible enemies.Triadicum.
I celebrate the Unity distinguished by three persons and the Trinity worshipped in one nature, the three who are together the triple-sunned light: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. ATheotocium.
The greatest miracle of all miracles appeared in you, O intact Virgin. For you bore in your womb the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world: entreat Him unceasingly on behalf of us who sing your praises.Catabasia.
Jonah prefigured the type of the divine Cross in the belly of the sea-creature, with hands outstretched, and he sprang forth uninjured from the beast by your power, O Word. BIdiomelum.
The flaming sword no longer guards the gate of Eden; for a strange dispensation has come upon it, namely the wood of the cross. The sting of death and the victory of Hades have been driven away. You stood forth, my Savior, crying to those in Hades: "Enter again into paradise."Oikos.
Pilate fixed three crosses on Golgotha: two for the thieves, and one for the Giver of Life. When Hades saw Him, he said to those *below*: "My companions and my powers, who is it that has driven a spike through my heart? A wooden lance has suddenly pierced me, and I am torn apart. I suffer within, I ache in my belly. My senses and my spirit are troubled, and I am forced to cast out Adam and those from Adam given to me through the wood; for the wood leads them into *paradise* again." COde VI.
You rose from the tomb on the third day, as one sleeping, O Lord, having struck down the gatekeepers of Hades by your divine power, and having raised up the forefathers of old, O only blessed God of our fathers, and supremely glorious.Dancing with the lyre of songs, let us rejoice today, O peoples, in the adoration of the Cross, glorifying Christ who was fixed thereon, the only blessed God of our fathers, and supremely glorious.
You who made your cross, the instrument of mortality, to become a workshop of life, desirable to the whole world, sanctify all who adore it, O only God of our fathers, blessed and supremely glorious. D
You who alone are merciful and compassionate, enlighten and sanctify, O only Jesus, those who faithfully adore your cross and your divine sufferings, O only blessed God of our fathers, and supremely glorious.
Triadicum.
I worship the Godhead, one in three hypostases. For the Father is light, the Son is light, the Spirit is light; this light, remaining indivisible in a single nature, shines with the three rays of the persons.CANON IN ADORATIONEM S. CRUCIS
A
Theotokion
You are the most hymned proclamation of all the prophets. For you are the gate of God, the golden urn, the holy land, O Virgin Bride of God, who conceived in the flesh Jesus Christ, the God of our fathers, and who are supremely glorious.Catabasia
He who rescued the children from the furnace of fire came having assumed flesh, and having been nailed to a cross, bestowed upon us salvation, the only blessed God of our fathers, and supremely glorious.ODE VII
Why do you carry ointments in your hands? Whom do you seek? The angel who appeared to the young women in the tomb cried out: Christ our God has risen, having raised up the nature of mortals from the caverns of Hades.Hail, O thrice-blessed and divine wood, O Cross, light to those in darkness, you who throughout the four corners of the world, by your constant illumination, showed in advance the rays of the resurrection of Christ. Grant that all the faithful may reach Pascha.
On this day the ointments of the divine apothecary breathe forth scent, the life-anointed wood, the Cross of Christ. Let us smell the heavenly aura that it breathes, and let us, the faithful, adore it unto the ages.
Come, O prophet Elisha, say openly, what was that wood which you cast into the water? The Cross of Christ, through which we were drawn up from the deep of corruption: we, the faithful, adore it unto the ages.
Jacob of old, prefiguring your Cross, O Christ, was adoring the tip of the divine rod, foreseeing it as the tremendous scepter of your kingdom, which we, the faithful, now adore unto the ages.
B
Triadic
I glorify the one essence in three distinct persons, without confusion, the three in three hypostases. I do not divide the Form—the Father, and the Son, with the Spirit—into three natures. For there is one God over all unto the ages.Theotokion
You alone were shown to be among mothers, O Virgin Bride of God, Mary, who without a man bore the Savior Christ, keeping the seal of your purity. We, the faithful, call you blessed unto the ages.Catabasia
Having been cast once into the pit of lions, the great one among the prophets, Daniel, having spread out his hands in the form of a cross, was saved unhurt from the devouring of them, blessing Christ God unto the ages. CODE VIII
You descended into the tomb, O Giver of Life and God, and you shattered all things, the bolts and the bars, and you raised the dead; glory to your resurrection, O Christ Savior almighty.Your tomb, O Christ, caused life to well up for me. For the Lord of life, having stood by those dwelling in the tombs, cried out with a loud voice: Be loosened, you who are in bonds. For I have come as the salvation of the world. D
In hymns let all the trees of the wood exult, beholding the wood of the Cross, named after them, being honored today with kisses and embraces, whose head Christ exalted, as the divine David prophesies. A Having been dead on the wood, I have found thee, O Cross that bearest Christ, to be the tree of life. My unassailable protection, strong power against the demons, adoring thee today I cry: Sanctify me with thy glory. Rejoice, exult, O Church of God, thou who today adorest the thrice-blessed wood of the all-holy Cross of Christ, to which the orders of angels stand by in fear as its ministers.
Triadicum. I adore thee, holy Deity, Trinity in persons and unity in nature, the Father and the Son, with the holy Spirit, one dominion, one kingdom, which hath power over all things.
Theotocium. Thou, O Virgin, art that great mountain in which Christ dwelt, as the divine David sings, through whom we have been raised to heaven, having been made children of God by adoption in the Spirit, O entirely blessed one.
Catabasia. O Mother Virgin, and true Theotokos, thou who didst bring forth without seed Christ our God, who on the Cross was exalted in the flesh, all we the faithful worthily proclaim thee blessed with thy Son.
End of the canon.
CANON EPINICIUS, OR VICTORIAL, ON THE ERECTION OF THE HOLY IMAGES
BARONIUS, *Annales Ecclesiastici*, vol. IX, p. 1059.Another confessor (though it could not have been Theodore the Studite, who had already departed from this life before these times) composed at that time, under divine inspiration, a hymn with which he might delight the Church and prick the perfidious Iconoclasts with a goad: which the Church of Constantinople adopted to be sung during the solemn B procession, when the holy images were being carried as if in triumph; and which, so that nothing might be lacking to your full joy over the prostration of impiety and the exaltation of the Catholic faith, we have placed here for you to sing, which is marked with this inscription: *Canon epinicius, or victorial, composed by Theodore the Studite, confessor, and divided into its Odes; received by custom to be sung while the wood of the holy Lord's Cross and the venerable images are carried in procession at Constantinople on the first Sunday of Lent.*
ANOTHER CANON
Which is sung at the erection of the holy images: that is to say, the work of the holy Father Theodore the Studite.ODE I. Tone 6, like that of: *Helper and protector*, etc.
Let us sing, O faithful, a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the benefactor of all, because He hath raised up a horn of salvation, a powerful kingdom, to protect the true faith.
A Divine grace hath truly appeared to the world; honor and glory have been manifested. Therefore, the Church of Christ exulteth, having received the robe of which she had formerly been stripped. The holy Fathers, having clearly rewoven the garment of Christ, which had been torn asunder by the deceiver and poison-mixer John, have restored it to the Church. Having recovered the figure of the Lord, the Church rejoiceth and exulteth together with her children, as she hath received from Him the trophy of victory, the symbols of the orthodox faith. Let those madmen, therefore, be put to shame and confounded: Lezius the savage, and Antony, together with John, and Theodore—both of them deserters of the faith. Jannes and Jambres, who withstood the lawgiver Moses, were confounded by him; but now the deceiver John, truly, is shown to be such, together with Antony. Thou hast scattered, O Christ, the pair of God-fighters, and hast restored its adornment to Thy Church, for which, as a good shepherd, Thou didst shed Thy blood. Glory be to the Father. I acknowledge and confess Thee, O Trinity, the one God, and I adore Thy divine power; deliver me, I beseech Thee, from all temptations. For I believe in Thee, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. B God, having worn the royal robe from Thee, O Virgin, appeared to mortals in the form of man, being dual in essence; the image of whose figure we possess in veneration.
ODE III
Rejoice, all ye choirs of Fathers and apostles, beholding the veneration of the icons, which ye yourselves have openly handed down to us. "I have received my beauty, and I have put on my robe," let the all-immaculate Church cry aloud, which John had stripped away. Be ashamed, ye lawless ones, who bark against the Lord; for He was incarnate and appeared in an icon, which we venerate in a relative sense. Who could declare the profane dogmas and unlawful teachings of the senseless John, who sets forth Delphic tropes? Anathema to Lezius, and to John together with Antony, to Theodore the godless and blasphemous, and to Theodotus the insane. The blood crieth out, which was shed by John against the divine icon of the likeness of the Master, which John poured forth. C D
A The Lord has cast out the troop of aliens, and restored his own to his own; glory to his goodness. Glory to the Father. Let us worship with right faith the will, and power, and kingdom of the Trinity, which is without beginning, ever railing against Arius, as is proper. 9. Truly we confess you, O Lady, to have given birth to God, not heeding the nonsense of Nestorius, but adhering to the dogmas of the Fathers.
ODE IV
Rejoice, O Church, and every city and region; let the temples now open with exultation; and let the dwellings of virgins, and the sacred relics be venerated; and let the icons of the martyrs be adorned with worthy honors. B Christ calls you: assemble now with eager spirit, divine Fathers; and according to the apostolic manner, recount the miracles of his divine incarnation and his sufferings, as the divine Gospel teaches us. Assemble, O rejoicing multitudes of monastics, with boldness; for if the enemies of the faith have prevailed wickedly, these wretches shall be defeated again. And whatever counsel such men may take, the Lord will dissipate it. The stripes of the Fathers and the blood of their wounds have truly ceased; frequent exiles have come to an end; and peace is established for all. The craft of magic shall no longer prevail, for God is with us. The vine of iniquity has extended the sprigs of impiety, and brought forth a bitter grape; and the wine of them is the wrath of dragons, with which they have truly intoxicated the people of the Lord, in their perverse and darkened mind. C They have defiled your temple with profane impositions of hands through wealth; and canonically these have been cast out. And they have fallen from the divine glory—Simon the Magus, and with him John and the dreadful Antonius. These beasts and enemies of God—the profane Antonius and the transgressor John, who has acquired a Satanic mind, and the disturbers of the Church—as savage wolves, let us believers assemble and cry out, let them be anathema. 9. The uncreated monarchy, Father, Son, and Spirit, we worship you, whom the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim praise, crying out: Holy, holy, holy are you, O Almighty Most High. 9. Holier than the holy, and higher than all creatures, you alone have been shown forth, Mother and Virgin, who gave birth to your own Creator; wherefore we hold your holy image, O Theotokos, in veneration.
ODE V
Christ has conquered; let the earth leap for joy; the turmoil has ceased; the weeping of the servants of the Lord has ceased; for the faith has been spread everywhere throughout the world.
A Beholding the crucifixion in an image, we venerate it, adoring Christ and his signs; yet we do not venerate them as the gods of the gentiles.
That loquacious and blasphemous spirit, Lezius, has now fallen silent, he who would chatter constantly, day by day, against the divine image of Christ and of the saints.
For what reason, O most wretched manikin, have you pursued with hatred the immaculate image of the incarnation of Christ the Lord and of all the saints? Do we faithful worship deaf idols?
When the instruments of impiety had gathered, they convened a council of impious priests against God most high, just as the Jews, Annas and Caiphas, did of old.
On that day of judgment, O most miserable man, those who will accuse your impious soul shall be present: the chorus of the holy Fathers, whose bodies you laid bare and afflicted with unmerciful stripes.
All the churches shall cry out, all shall shout, having been deprived by you of the image of Christ the Lord and of the sacred figures of his saints. Glory to the Father.
Glory to you, and again let glory be to you, O trinitarian Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who hold the whole world by your power: we beseech you, deign to deliver from every evil those who trust in you.
As a lampstand adorned with gold, we venerate you, O Lady, for you gave birth to the intellectual light for the world and dissipated the dark mist, O Virgin.
ODE VI
The sleepless guardians of the Church of Christ cried out to him, asking that peace be granted to them, and he heard and gave heed to their prayer.
The snares of that deceiver were exposed by the teachings of the holy Fathers; and God, clothed in flesh, is celebrated by all, he who exists uncircumscribed in his divinity.
Let the associates in seduction be confounded with shame and perish together with Anthony, Theodotus, and Lezius, and Theodorus, that abyss of perdition.
You have opened your mouth, O miserable one, not in spiritual songs but in blasphemies against your Master, by persecuting the venerable images.
You have perverted the dogmas of the Fathers, writing things contrary to the doctrines of the apostles, according to your own lawless religion, O John, enemy of Christ. D
Your smoke has filled the eyes of the pious with tears; but it has been dissipated by the wind of the holy teachers, O senseless John.
You have rent the divine stole, just as Arius once did the garment of Christ; wherefore you have been cast far from the Church, expelled like a dog. Glory to the Father.
I glorify one principle of the divinity, in three persons glori-
- A fied in characteristics and persons. [θ] O most pure Virgin, glorified by God, you are the city of God rightfully foretold by the prophets, from whom your own Creator was born, who preserved you a Virgin after birth, as you were before.
ODE VII
The furnace of heresy, which prevailed for four weeks [(4)] of years, divine grace has now extinguished, burning the perceived Chaldeans, and refreshing the worshippers of the Trinity, after it had held it for four times seven years. B The Church has been adorned, clothed, and beautified, bearing the likeness of the Master of all, of the incarnation, and of his passions and symbols, according to the divine laws in the end. Exult, rejoice, O Christ-named people of the Lord, seeing the Church again illuminated by the beauty of the divine image, which, being God, he bore as man, that he might save us as men. God the Word suffered poverty, and hunger, and thirst in the flesh; these are the properties of human nature, by which he is circumscribed. But He remains simple and uncircumscribed in his divinity. The portents and vain predictions of that John who was hostile to Christ have been dissipated; for he showed himself to be a boaster like the pagans, through their writings, which the voices of the just have justly winnowed. C What tongue shall be able to recount your hidden, utterly profane, and soul-destroying doctrines? Or the prediction of your ventriloquist pythoness, O John—falsely so named, and precursor of the Antichrist Satan? It did not befit you, O most lawless of all, to be called by such a name, but rather Pythagoras, and Saturn, and Apollo, or some other of those profane gods, whose life you have imitated, taking delight in their wantonness. D Glory to the Father. Let us all, the faithful, worship the eternal, omnipotent, incomprehensible Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, and let us theologize without confusion, crying out: Holy, holy, holy are you, O God. [θ] O all-hymned, all-glorious Mother-Virgin, Theotokos, deliver those who honor your immaculate birth-giving from grievous transgressions; for we have no other help besides you, O Bride of God.ODE VIII
Let us exult and rejoice together with the prophet.[NOTE.] (4) In the time of Leo the Armenian, who reigned after the Empress Irene, it is clear that these years are calculated; for twenty-eight years intervene between the first year of Leo and the death of Theophilus, when the holy images were restored.
A all men: for this is the day on which Christ the Word restored to His Church her own garment. Just as enemies drew up their battle lines against the image of Christ, so Lezius and John, that pair of Belial, with the axe of wickedness cut away at the Church. Who would not weep at their great daring, beholding the divine image which is at the bronze gate of the palace, struck by stones by lawless men, at the teaching of John? How did you not understand, O blind and most miserable one, darkened in your mind, seeing the whole world adorned with the character of Christ, while you alone adopted the mindset of the Jews? You thought to remove altogether from the churches of God the image of the Lord, resplendent in the flesh, and those of all the saints; but divine grace destroyed your tyranny. That fierce Lezius, together with John, impiously asserted that the sacred relics of the saints and their images were not at all to be venerated, like deserters from piety. B Glory to the Father. All who piously venerate the majesty of God, the author of all, let us glorify in three persons, the Father, specifically, lacking a beginning, and the co-eternal Word, and the Holy Spirit, shining forth together, unto the ages. O Lady, Mother of God, you alone exist as the secure bridge of Christians, and the glory and refuge of the faithful, helping and delivering all from dangers.
ODE IX
Let all the nations clap their hands; choirs of the Fathers, hasten; and you monastics and those who dwell in the mountains, come together; arrive, you who were formerly persecuted by the deceiver and impious John, to denounce those magic arts and divinations. Rejoice, O wilderness and the whole world, all you mountains, distill sweetness, and you valleys, exult, for Christ, the Word, has given peace to those on earth, and to the holy Churches the unity of the faith. The God of vengeances has now acted boldly; Christ has stood by, strengthening the holy teachers this day, that they might speak freely of His condescension, and that His incarnation may be firmly depicted in an image. C Long-suffering Lord, how marvelous are Your works! Who can enumerate Your philanthropy; how, seeing your priests and monastics being killed for the sake of Your image, did You not consume those deceivers, but did You endure being insulted? O Lord, who established Your Church unshaken, so that the gates of Hades can never prevail against it, grant Your peace to Your people, so that all may...