THE 4TH DAY OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST

COMMEMORATION OF THE SEVEN HOLY YOUTHS OF EPHESUS

AT VESPERS

On “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “Joy of the ranks of heaven…”—

Come, let us ever hymn the memory of the seven honored youths, the luminous seven-branched candlestand, and let us cry out to Christ Who hath crowned them: By their supplications, O Lord our Deliverer, bring peace to our life.

Having died according to nature, the seven godly youths rose up straightway as though from sleep, in manner truly transcending nature. For they had slept in the cave as ones dead for three hundred and seventy-two years.

Let us now honor Martinian and John, Anthony and Dionysius, with the godly Iamblicus and Maximilian, for they pray in our behalf; and with them let us piously praise the wise Exacustodian.

But if Alleluia be chanted at Matins instead of “God is the Lord…”, the following stichera to the Theotokos are chanted at Vespers on “Lord, I have cried…”, before the above stichera of the martyrs, in the same tone & melody—

All-glorious art thou among generations of generations, O Theotokos Mary, Virgin Maiden and Mother, thou intercessor for the world, who gavest birth in the flesh to the Son of the unoriginate Father, Who is also truly equally everlasting with the Spirit. Him do thou beseech, that He save us.

Held fast by hopeless transgression, O pure Virgin, we cry out to thee in thanksgiving, having thee as our sole intercessor: Cleanse us, O all-holy Bride of God, for thou art the refuge of the world and the help of our race.

Tempest-tossed by the deep of offenses, O Theotokos, fleeing to the calm harbor of thy pure supplication I cry unto thee: Save me, stretching forth thy mighty right hand unto thy servant, O all-immaculate one!

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

With the staff of thy prayer, O pure Theotokos, do thou quickly drive the bestial passions away from my wretched soul, peacefully guiding my life; and number me upon the holy flock of thy chosen ones.

Stavrotheotokion—

Standing before the Cross of thy Son and God, and beholding His long-suffering, thou didst say, weeping, O pure Mother: “Woe is me, my Child most sweet! How is it that thou sufferest unjustly, O Word of God, that Thou mightest save mankind?”

Troparion, in Tone IV—

In their sufferings, O Lord, Thy martyrs received imperishable crowns from Thee, our God; for, possessed of Thy might, they set at nought the tormenters and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. Through their supplications save Thou our souls.

Or this troparion, in the same tone—

Great is the wonder of faith! The seven holy youths abode in the cave as in a royal chamber, and died without falling into corruption; and after much time they arose as from sleep, as an assurance of the resurrection of all men. Through their supplications, O Christ God, have mercy on us.

AT MATINS

Both canons from the Octoechos, and that of the saints, with 4 troparia, in Tone II—

Ode I

Irmos: Come, ye people, let us chant a hymn to Christ God, Who divided the sea and guided the people whom He had led forth from the bondage of Egypt, for He hath been glorified.

Come ye, and with faith let us honor the youths who have shone forth, seven in number; for they shed greater light upon the Church of Christ than the seven lamps did upon the temple of the law.

While alive of old, the seven youths were clothed in Christ’s mortality of flesh, and, most gloriously receiving death as a dream, they confirm the doctrine of the resurrection.

Jericho fell at the seventh sounding of the trumpets, and the uprising of falsehood hath now fallen down to hades and been destroyed through the sevenfold proclamation of the athletes’ faith.

Theotokion: Thou makest birthgiving new again, O thou who knewest not wedlock; for the everlasting Word, Who with the Father and the divine Spirit is equally without beginning, became incarnate of thee, without forsaking His union with Them.

Ode III

Irmos: Establish us in thee, O Lord Who hast slain sin by the Tree, and plant the fear of Thee in the hearts of us who hymn Thee.

Ye were shown to be seven fixed stars shining with faith, O athletes; and ye have guided to the haven of salvation those who are sinking in the abyss of falsehood.

Standing undaunted before the tribunal, O holy ones, as the Maccabees once did, having enrolled in the army of Christ, ye resigned from the army of corruptible life.

As is meet, O holy youths, ye showed yourselves to be a sacrifice of prayer pleasing unto God, firmly dispelling the foul stench of falsehood with a savor of sweet fragrance.

Theotokion: The bush on Sinai prefigured thine all-glorious birthgiving, O Virgin; for thou wast not consumed by the fire of the Godhead when thou didst receive it into thy womb with faith.

Sessional hymn, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Go thou quickly before…”—

As pillars of the Church of Christ, ye firmly overturned the ramparts of unbelief, O ye seven martyred brethren. Wherefore, having dispelled the wrath of the Greeks before your death, and the tempest of heresy again after your death, holding fast to your faith in the resurrection, pray ye that we be made steadfast in the Faith.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion—

O most immaculate Virgin who gavest birth to the transcendent God, unceasingly entreat Him with the incorporeal ones, that, before the end, He grant remission of transgressions and correction of life to us who with faith and love hymn thee as is meet, O thou who alone art most hymned.

Stavrotheotokion—

As she beheld Thee, O Word of God, suspended upon the Cross, Thine all-pure Mother exclaimed, lamenting maternally: “What is this new and strange mystery, O my Son? How is it that Thou, the Life of all, dost taste of death, desiring to bring life to the dead, in that Thou art full of loving-kindness?”

Ode IV

Irmos: I have heard, O Lord, of Thy glorious dispensation, and I have glorified Thine unapproachable power, O Thou Who lovest mankind.

We hymn the seven honored youths, the sacred company manifestly honorable in their number.

The youths of Ephesus showed the ungodly emperor to be foolish, whose mind was filled with the vainglory of falsehood.

O holy youths, through your faith ye were truly shown to be all-immaculate offerings and sacrifices for the Lord.

Theotokion: O pure and ever blessed one, cease thou never to pray for us, that we may be delivered from all tribulation.

Ode V

Irmos: O Lord, Bestower of light and Creator of the ages: guide us in the light of Thy commandments, for we know none other God than Thee.

Dying first a common death on earth without feeling it, O youths of Ephesus, ye straightway arose in manner transcending nature, manifestly assuring all of the resurrection of the dead.

Consecrating yourselves to God through the confession of the true Faith, as lawful athletes of the Lord ye were delivered from prison and wounds, O wise ones, and have received crowns.

Having firmly vanquished the falsehood of idolatry and the teachings of impious heresies, O glorious martyrs, ever preserve those who confess the resurrection of the dead.

Theotokion: The Transcendent One, Who, without confusion, is perfect man and perfect God and was born of the holy Mother, existeth in two natures but one hypostasis.

Ode VI

Irmos: Whirled about in the abyss of sin, I call upon the unfathomable abyss of Thy loving-kindness: Lead me up from corruption, O God!

Let the seven holy youths, equal in number to the pillars of the wisdom of God, be praised, for with their words they crushed the ungodly command of the tyrants as with stones.

Preserved by the law of divine providence, ye received ready burial in the cave, O saints, wherein ye were revealed as both dead and incorrupt.

Ye arose as witnesses to incorruption, driving away a corrupt and moribund religion, and pray to God in behalf of those who set their hope on the resurrection.

Theotokion: Now hath women’s nature rejoiced! Now hath grief come to an end and joy blossomed forth! For Mary hath given birth to Joy: Christ, our Savior and God.

Kontakion, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Having been lifted up…”—

Spurning the corrupt things of this world and accepting gifts of incorruption, though they died yet did they remain untouched by corruption. Wherefore, they arose after many years, burying all the unbelief of the wicked. O ye faithful, praising them today in laudation, let us hymn Christ!

Ode VII

Irmos: The all-wise children did not worship the golden body, but entered into the flame themselves and mocked the gods of the heathen. They cried aloud in the midst of the flame, and the Angel bedewed them, saying: The prayer of your mouths hath already been heard.

The youths have been shown to be pure and chosen vessels of God. Through them the doctrines of heresy are driven from the Church and Orthodoxy shineth forth, for He is the resurrection of every soul and all flesh, in that He hath been born.

Truly the holy youths were shown to be steadfast in their suffering immediately before death; and after death they were shown to be alive through divine glory, in themselves piously assuring the true resurrection.

“The resurrection will be for both souls and material bodies; for as it is not possible to come into the world without a body, so can the body not exist without a soul!” the all-praised ones said; “The soul is either glorified or put to shame.”

Theotokion: O Mary who gavest birth to God, the Savior of all, thou art the setting aright of the despairing, the restoration of sinners, the hope of the hopeless and the help of those who chant: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Ode VIII

Irmos: Thou didst once prefigure Thy Mother in the furnace of the children, O Lord; for her image drew from the fire those who entered it, without being consumed. We hymn and exalt her supremely for all ages, who through Thee hath been made manifest today to the ends of the earth.

O divine youths, having severed the root of ungodly bitterness and the falsehood of heresy which grew malignantly, ye bring forth the fruit of faith; and, buried alive for your faith, ye rose from the dead.

O ye seven holy youths and athletes, foremost among the Ephesians, ye have been shown to be the divine confirmation of the Church of Christ and the kingdom of the faithful, which we exalt supremely for all ages.

Showing themselves to be steadfast on the earth and equal in number to the stars making an unwavering transit of the divine faith, the youths cried out: We exalt Thee supremely, O Christ, forever!

Theotokion: No one hath perished, O pure Mother of God, who, in Orthodox manner, placeth his hope and faith in thee, but only they who out of envy refuse to venerate the image of thy countenance.

Ode IX

Irmos: Thee do we magnify, O blessed and most pure Theotokos, who through thy virginal womb ineffably didst make God incarnate, the Luminary Who shone forth before the sun and hath come to us in the flesh.

The resurrection of the saints hath now been revealed as a wealth of wonders and a revelation of the mysteries of God; for though they once died a natural death, they have now risen devoid of corruption, arrayed as though they had never died.

A treasury of strength and a firm bulwark of faith hath the cave of the children been shown to be, proclaiming the coming resurrection of all; for it hath resurrected not Lazarus four days dead, but those dead for centuries.

O ye seven youths, pillars of the wisdom of God, having suffered lawfully, ye have been invested with the crown of martyrdom; and by your Orthodox teaching ye have revealed the resurrection, as champions of the Church who pray for those who hymn you.

Theotokion: Thou didst preserve thy soul and body undefiled, O pure one, and Christ the King desired thy beauty and showed thee forth as the Mother of His incarnation, O all-glorious Mary, ever bestowing salvation upon me.

Exapostilarion: Spec. Mel.: “Hearken, ye women…”—

Having armed themselves with the sword of thy precious Cross, O Word, the athletes firmly vanquished the hosts of the adversary; and they reign with Thee, O my Christ, Thou King of all.

Theotokion—

Saved for thy sake, O Mistress, we truly confess thee to be the Theotokos; for thou didst ineffably give birth to God, Who hath destroyed death by the Cross and drawn multitudes to Him; and with them we praise thee, O Virgin.