THE 21st DAY OF THE MONTH OF MARCH

THE COMMEMORATION OF OUR VENERABLE FATHER

JAMES THE CONFESSOR, BISHOP OF CATANIA

AT VESPERS

At “Lord, I have cried...,” these stichera, in Tone IV: Spec. Mel: “Thou hast given a sign...”—

Desiring godly glory which is eternal and in no wise passeth away, thou didst spurn fame which is transitory and perishable; and, taking up thy cross, thou didst follow after the Crucified and didst subdue thy flesh by feats of fasting. Wherefore, we celebrate thy memory, O James.

Crucified to the world and the passions, O father James, thou didst preserve thy soul undefiled and pure, untainted by base traits, taking wing to the heavens in mystic visions. Therein, as a true friend of Christ, as a most faithful favorite, thou didst set forth thy life, O venerable one.

Innocent, guileless, merciful and full of brotherly love, humble-minded and meek, full of love, adorned with almsgiving, gifted with patience, clothed in faith and hope, ornamented with prayer, and shining sacredly with divine splendors, wast thou shown to be, O ever all-memorable one.

Glory..., Now and ever...: Theotokion—

Take away the defilement of my passionate heart, O most hymned Theotokos; cleanse thou all the wounds and putrefaction thereof which cometh from sin, O pure one, and steady the wavering of my mind; that I, thy wretched and unprofitable servant, may magnify thy power and thy great assistance.

Stavrotheotokion—

The pure one, beholding Christ, Who loveth mankind, crucified, His side pierced by a spear, cried aloud, weeping: “What is this, O my Son? How have the people bereft of grace rewarded Thee for the good things Thou hast done for them? And dost Thou make haste to leave me childless? I marvel, O Compassionate One, at Thy voluntary crucifixion!”

AT MATINS

The Canon, the composition of Ignatius, 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.

Receiving the effulgence of the Trinity in thy soul, O James, thou didst forsake the dark deception of the world and didst receive transcendent glory.

Shouldering thy cross, O venerable one, thou didst follow after Him Who was crucified; and having struggled in monasticism most wisely, thou didst cause the passions to dry up through abstinence, O father.

From thine infancy thou wast a vessel containing the gifts of the Spirit, and a citizen and heir of the heavenly Sion, O blessed James.

Theotokion: O Maiden, thou gavest birth unto the one infinite God of all, Who in His goodness became finite within thee. Him do thou entreat, that He save those who hymn thee.

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.

Thy life was beautiful, thy discourse seasoned with the salt of love, and thy heart right compunctionate, O divinely wise one; wherefore, with faith we call thee blessed.

In honoring the divine image of Christ Who revealed Himself in the flesh for our sake, O father, thou didst endure persecution, tribulation and sorrows, O most blessed one.

Mortifying sin, thou didst offer thyself to the Lord as a pure sacrifice; and as a lawful hierarch thou didst offer Him unbloody sacrifices.

Theotokion: Thee, O Virgin, do we truly call the golden censer, the jar of manna, the divine mountain and the all-beauteous palace of God.

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

Having forsaken the world and manifestly reduced the flesh to submission by abstinence, O all-blessed James, whence thou didst receive the holy anointing of the priesthood; and now thou hast passed on to the immaterial choirs, praying for all of us who praise thee.

Glory... Now and ever...: Theotokion—

O Bride of God who alone gavest birth unto the Creator of all, who alone hast adorned mankind with thy birthgiving, deliver me from the snare of the lying enemy, and set me upon the rock of Christ’s will, earnestly entreating Him to Whom thou gavest flesh.

Or this stavrotheotokion—

As she beheld Thee uplifted upon the Cross, O Word of God, Thine all-pure Mother exclaimed, lamenting maternally: “What new and strange wonder is this, O my Son? How canst Thou, the Life of all, taste death, desiring to give life to the dead, in that Thou art compassionate?”

Ode IV

Irmos: I have heard report of Thy dispensation, O Lord, and have glorified Thee Who alone lovest mankind.

In mortifying the pleasures of the body with night-long entreaties, thou didst show thyself to be a perpetually burning lamp of dispassion, O venerable one.

Ever laving thyself with streams of tears, O all-blessed one, thou didst show thyself to be a pure receptacle for the Holy Spirit.

A holy hierarch humble and meek, sympathetic, guileless and chaste, wast thou, O venerable one.

Theotokion: O Mistress who knewest not wedlock, who conceived God in thy womb, deliver all from temptations and grief.

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.

Desires for glory, which are truly rife among men, didst thou abominate most openly, O venerable father; and thou wast a beacon, shining with the radiance of humility of mind.

With much abstinence and in diligent vigil, prayer and the endurance of evils, didst thou seek God, Who hath translated thee to the mansions on high.

Thou didst stand, O holy father, divinely wise James, exercising thyself in night-long prayers, receiving divine rays through the eye of thy soul.

Theotokion: In that thou art sympathetic, O all-pure one, who gavest birth ineffably unto Him Who was wounded in the flesh on the Cross, heal thou my heart which hath been wounded by the assaults of the evil one.

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!

The streams of thy tears dried up a sea of grievous sufferings, O venerable one, and brought heavenly consolation for thy precious soul.

Guileless, meek, harmless, venerable, sweet, humble-minded, serene and full of enlightenment, wast thou, O all-glorious father.

Thy memory, O father, hath been glorified with that of the divine pastors, as that of a good shepherd, O wise pastor James, in that thou didst tend thy flock in holiness.

Theotokion: He Who by His will created all, in His good pleasure made His abode within the womb of her who knew not wedlock, honoring with incorruption those who have been sick with corruption, in that He is full of loving-kindness.

Ode VII

Irmos: When the golden image was worshipped on the plain of Dura, Thy three youths spurned the ungodly command, and, cast into the midst of the fire, bedewed, they sang: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Much persecution and lengthy interrogations didst thou endure, vanquishing the iconoclasts, shining forth in Orthodoxy, illumining all who watched, and crying out, O James: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Pondering the awesome coming of Christ, thou didst spend thy whole life in compunction, O blessed one, until thou didst find complete cleansing of transgressions, eternal consolation, true enlightenment and ineffable glory.

In meekness of soul thou wast shown to be a lamb of Christ the Shepherd, and, guided by Him, thou becamest known as a shepherd of the reason-endowed sheep in the Spirit, O father, chanting ever with them: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Theotokion: O glorious Virgin, pure one who hast not tasted wedlock, O blessed one, restoration of the fallen and deliverance of sinners, save me, a prodigal! Save me who cry out to thy Son: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Ode VIII

Irmos: God, Who descended into the fiery furnace for the Hebrew children and transformed the flame into dew, hymn ye as Lord, O ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Thy most pure mind, illumined with divine purity, didst thou consciously turn away from the darkness of the demons and the gloom of the passions, O venerable one, crying out: Hymn the Lord, all ye works, and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

With a rain of incessant tears didst thou quench the fiery darts of the enemy, O wise one, and, kindled with the love of Christ, thou didst utterly consume the rife thorns of the pleasures, O most blessed one.

By thy supplications, O all-wise one, from temptations and tribulations preserve thou this flock, which thou hast gathered together by thy teachings, and who with faith celebrate thy sacred and honored divine memory which is full of light.

Theotokion: O Virgin Theotokos who, being a fountain of life, gavest birth unto the Water of life: Water my soul which is wasting away in the flame of sin, that I may glorify thee for all ages.

Ode IX

Irmos: O ye faithful, with hymns let us magnify in oneness of mind the Word of God, Who from God came in His ineffable wisdom to renew Adam who had grievously fallen into corruption, and Who became ineffably incarnate of the holy Virgin for our sake.

After manifold labors and countless pangs, after fasting and sorrows, thou didst truly come to rest in a harbor, freighted with the celestial riches of divine virtues, O most sacred father, adornment of the venerable.

A lamp of discernment, a throne of prudence, guileless, meek, merciful and right compassionate wast thou; and having lamented and watered thy couch, as David said, with him be thou mindful of all that honor thee with faith.

O James, we honor thee as a wise hierarch, as a star of the day, as a temple of the Spirit, as a rose redolent with mystic fragrance, as a tree of lofty branches, as one who sharest in eternal glory.

Torrents of tears sent down upon the soil of thy heart in abundance truly caused ripe grain to grow which nurtureth the souls of those who ever honor thee with faith, O divinely wise hierarch, James our father.

Theotokion: Have pity, have pity on me when Thou wilt judge me, and condemn me not to the fire, neither disdain me in thy wrath! The Virgin who gave birth to Thee, O Christ, entreateth Thee, together with the multitudes of angels, the venerable and the martyrs.