The 2nd Day of the MONTH OF JUNE

Commemoration of Our Father among the Saints Nicephorus the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

(for this day we provide also the service in honor of the Great-martyr John the New)

AT VESPERS

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 6 stichera of the holy hierarch: 3 in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “As one valiant among the martyrs…” —

O divinely inspired one, manifest in sanctity, we know thee to be the bedrock of the Truth, the confirmation of the Faith, the expounder of dogmas, the advocate of piety, the abode of purity, the chosen receptacle, the sweet savor of the Spirit, the great treasury of doctrines, the foundation of the Church of Christ.

O all-wise, blessed and holy hierarch, we praise thee, the successor of the apostles, who shared in the ways of the martyrs, the emulator of the fasters, the seal of teachers, the divine model, the initiate of the mysteries of Christ, the divinely flowing river of understanding, drowning the thoughts of the ­iniquitous and blasphemous.

Having increased the talant of wisdom, O thou who art most rich, thou wast vouchsafed the joy of thy Lord. Adorned with the divine radiance of grace, and shining noetically with the effulgence of the Spirit, thou standest now at the right hand of the Bestower of life, ever illumined, O glorious one, with the rays that emanate therefrom.

And 3 stichera, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “O all-glorious wonder…” —

O venerable father, as a priest of the law of God thou didst enter within the divine and impassable tabernacle of the truth, which the Lord erected, not with another’s blood, but with thine own, and emulating Christ in not submitting to the vengeance of the council, thou didst thereby please God utterly, O father.

Adorned with thy words and deeds, with thy priestly vesture and the rightness of thy doctrine, O most wise Nicephorus, who nurturest with wisdom, wasted away by imprisonment thou didst receive them through thy confession, and didst zealously endure all the evils which beset thee with strength of mind, O blessed one.

Thou wast shown to be an instrument of the Spirit, sounded from on high by divinely inspired voices and trumpeting forth the ineffable mystery of the Savior, as a divine clarion truly renowned, proclaiming aloud the incarnation of the Word to us, which is beyond comprehension and transcendeth all minds and thoughts, O thou who art most honorable.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion —

O all-pure Mistress who ineffably gavest birth to Christ the Savior, save me; for thee alone have I acquired as an intercessor, an insuperable rampart, my protection and joy, the divine consolation of my soul. Wherefore, deliver me from the worm which sleepeth not and from everlasting fire, O Mother of Christ God.

Stavrotheotokion —

Beholding Thee nailed to the Cross and accepting suffering of Thine own will, O Jesus, thy Virgin Mother cried aloud, O Master: “Woe is me, O my sweet Child! How is it that Thou dost unjustly endure wounding, O Physician Who hast healed man’s affliction and delivered all from corruption in Thy loving-kindness?”

Troparion, in Tone IV —

The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness and a teacher of abstinence. Wherefore, thou hast acquired exalted things through humility and riches through poverty. O father Nicephorus, entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.

AT MATINS

Both canons from the Octoechos; and that of the holy hierarch, with 4 troparia, the acrostic whereof is: “With songs do I hymn the victorious Nicephorus”, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone IV —

Ode I

Irmos: Having traversed the depths of the Red Sea with dryshod feet, Israel of old vanquished the might of Amalek in the wilderness by Moses’ arms stretched out in the form of the Cross.

Thou didst manifestly show thine active vision to be an ascent, O Nicephorus most rich; for thou didst actively muster thy soul and didst excellently soar aloft to the uttermost vision.

Having mortified earthly thoughts by abstinence and guided thy soul with zeal, O divinely inspired Nicephorus, thou didst reach the havens of undisturbed delight.

The wretched and most mindless Leo, infected with the heresy of Mamon, dashed himself against thee as against a hard stone, O God-pleasing Nicephorus, and hath quickly broken asunder in hell.

Theotokion: O all-immaculate Bride of God, having given birth to the Creator Who hath set aright all of us who have been cast down through the fall of our first parents, mend thou the brokenness of mankind.

Ode III

Irmos: Neither in wisdom, nor in power, nor yet in riches do we boast, but in Thee, O Christ, the hypostatic Wisdom of the Father; for none is holy save Thee, O Thou Who lovest mankind.

Having adorned thy life with thy virtues, thou didst manifestly become a beacon of the word of life and a guardian tending the most sacred flock of Christ.

Thy divinely eloquent tongue of fire hath burned up the thorns of heresy with the fire of understanding, O divinely wise and glorious father.

Having plumbed the depths with thy love of wisdom, O right wondrous one, with the cords of thy doctrines thou hast manifestly strangled those who reject the image of Christ.

Theotokion: Confessing the Son Who was born of thy womb in latter times as equally beginningless with the preëternal Father, O all-pure one, we truly glorify thee as the Mother of God.

Sessional hymn, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “Of the Wisdom…” —

The grace of thy wise discourses and the sublimity of thy mystic teachings have become a ladder of divine ascent for us; for thou didst acquire a spiritual trumpet, O father, wherewith thou didst proclaim divine doctrines. Wherefore, thou hast made thine abode in a place of verdure and hast driven the wild beast away with the sling of thy words, O blessed Nicephorus. Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of sins unto those who honor thy most precious memory.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion —

All of us, the generations of men, bless thee as the Virgin who, alone among women, gavest birth without seed to God in the flesh; for the fire of the Godhead made His abode within thee, and thou didst nurture the Creator and Lord with milk as a babe. Wherefore, we, the race of angels and men, cry out to thee together: Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of offenses unto those who with faith worship thine all-holy birthgiving.

Stavrotheotokion —

The ewe-lamb, beholding the Lamb, Shepherd and Deliverer upon the Cross, exclaimed, weeping, and, bitterly lamenting, cried out: “The world rejoiceth, receiving deliverance through Thee, but my womb doth burn, beholding Thy crucifixion, which Thou endurest in the loving-kindness of Thy mercy. O long-suffering Lord, abyss and inexhaustible wellspring of mercy, take pity and grant remission of offenses unto those who with faith hymn Thy divine sufferings!”

Ode IV

Irmos: Beholding Thee lifted up upon the Cross, O Sun of righteousness, the Church stood rooted in place, crying out as is meet: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!

With divine power, O thou who art manifest in sanctity, thou didst break the jaws of the impious, vanquishing them with thy steadfast discourse; and thou hast taught all to venerate the divine image of the Savior.

Thou didst splendidly adorn the divine priesthood by thy confession, subduing the savagery of Leo, O father Nicephorus, thou God-pleasing initiate of ineffable mysteries.

Fighting like a youth with the pious teachings of the honorable Church, O Nicephorus, with wounds inflicted by thy words thou didst drive away the wolves who betrayed the right Faith.

Theotokion: In giving birth to God, the Word incarnate, Who before was incorporeal, O most immaculate one, thou didst restore the world. Wherefore, O Bride of God, we honor thee with Orthodox faith.

Ode V

Irmos: Thou hast come, O my Lord, as a light into the world: a holy light turning from the darkness of ignorance those who hymn Thee with faith.

Possessed of a pure mind ascending to heaven, O most blessed one, thou didst lay hold of the never-fading flower of understanding and wisdom.

Thou didst let fall the healing of thy words upon the souls of the Orthodox, O divinely revealed one, and by thy teachings didst overturn the ground of the ignorant.

Shining like the sun, thy discourse active and thy life inviolate, thou dost illumine the foundation of the honored Church.

Theotokion: O all-immaculate one, thou wast the annulment of the curse of our first mother, having conceived Him Who hath crowned us with divine blessings.

Ode VI

Irmos: I will sacrifice to Thee with a voice of praise, O Lord, the Church crieth unto Thee, cleansed of the blood of demons by the blood which, for mercy’s sake, flowed from Thy side.

Shining radiantly with spiritual rays, O divinely wise one, thou hast appeared to the Churches as an upright pillar and cloud guiding them to a heavenly inheritance.

Thou didst dedicate thy whole life to God, and, remaining a leader for the whole world, thou wast glorified, O blessed father manifest in sanctity.

Thy divinely inspired discourse cut apart the bonds of ungodly heresies with the two-edged sword of the Comforter, and hath shown the light of truth unto all.

Theotokion: Most gloriously have the laws of nature been set aside; for a Virgin giveth birth and a maiden who knew not wedlock, having conceived the Creator and Lord of all, nourisheth Him.

Kontakion, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel.: “Thou hast appeared today…” —

As thou hast received a crown of victory from God in heaven, O Nicephorus, save those who honor thee with faith as a hierarch of Christ and teacher.

Ikos: The great hierarch stood, set like an unassailable city of God upon a mountain, protecting the world with his prayers, and conquering hordes of the ungodly; and he remained unharmed, untouched by the bolts of the enemy, bearing the King and Lord of all in his heart. Wherefore, he illumineth those who venerate Christ in His icons and, from the heights of the virtues and the tower of good works, with his sling he raineth down stones upon the hordes of the enemy, yet mercifully openeth its gates for those who with faith hymn him as a hierarch of Christ and teacher.

Ode VII

Irmos: The children of Abraham in the Persian furnace, afire with love of piety more than with the flame, cried out: Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord!

We know thee to be a living temple of the living God, having the understanding of the Trinity within thee as a lampstand. Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord!

Thou didst set at nought the blasphemies of the heretics, O Nicephorus, convincing to venerate the icon of Christ those who cry out: Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord!

Possessing a wealth of wisdom and a godly life, thou didst noetically transform all thy senses, and dost now converse with Christ, saying: Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord!

Theotokion: Without dividing or confusing that which is united, we glorify the one Christ, the Word Who was incarnate of Thee, crying out: Blessed art Thou in the temple of Thy glory, O Lord!

Ode VIII

Irmos: The birthgiving of the Theotokos saved the pious children in the furnace — then in figure, but now in deed — and it moveth all the world to chant to Thee: Hymn ye the Lord and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Delivered by the blood of Christ, thou didst undergo death in mind for His sake; for thou didst endure torment of conscience, shining with the grace of confession, crying: Hymn the Lord, ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Purified body and soul, in word thou didst sacrifice to the Word Who seeth all things, showing Him forth as having first been incorporeal and without beginning, but later becoming man in His mercy; and crying out: Hymn the Lord, ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

That thou mightest receive a heavenly inheritance and immutable glory, O glorious and wise father, thou didst forsake the glory which fadeth away, valiantly enduring exile and affliction, crying aloud: Hymn the Lord, ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Theotokion: O most immaculate one, the noetic Bridegroom found thee alone to be a pure turtle-dove, a most fragrant lily, an all-comely flower and a splendid bridal-chamber; and He led thee forth as His Bride. Wherefore, we hymn and exalt thee supremely as Virgin for all ages.

Ode IX

Irmos: Christ, the Chief Cornerstone uncut by human hands, Who united the two disparate natures, was cut from thee, the unquarried mountain, O Virgin. Wherefore, in gladness we magnify thee, O Theotokos.

When shadowy reflections passed away and the truth was made manifest, thou didst find a blessed end through the vision of incorrupt beauty; and delighting now therein, remember us in thy supplications.

Surrounding the divine shrine of the God-bearing Nicephorus, come, O ye Christians, let us earnestly hymn him as victor, and with gladness let us celebrate his festival.

Having laid hold of every virtue, O hieromartyr, at the end of thy struggles thou wast shown to be adorned with the crown of confession, and crowned thou standest now before thy Master.

Theotokion: Knowing thee to be the root, wellspring and cause of incorruption, O Virgin, we, the faithful, honor thee with praises; for thou hast poured forth upon us the hypostatic Immortality.

Exapostilarion: Spec. Mel.: “When the disciples beheld…” —

As an excellent victor over the passions, O Nicephorus, thou hast received a twofold crown from Christ the Savior; for, casting down the God-opposing heresy of those who reject the divine icons, O all-wise hierarch, thou wast a champion of athletes of piety. O blessed father, pray for us who honor thee.

Glory…, Now & ever…: Theotokion —

Without leaving the bosom of the Father, Thou wast incarnate of the Virgin, O Lord; for, bowing down the heavens, thou didst descend to save me who am fallen, desiring to rescue from the mouth of the noetic beast me who am stuck fast in his clutches. Wherefore, delivered, I glorify Thy power.