Menaion of the Orthodox Church

The 25th Day of the Month of February

Commemoration of Our Father among the Saints, Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…,” these stichera, in Tone II: “When from the Tree…”

Come, ye who love the divine and honor the spiritual, and let us behold today the banquet of the sweet savor of abstinence, which Tarasius, the divine host, hath prepared in spirit for us by his immaterial virtues; and let us all cry out without hesitation: Pray thou, we entreat thee, that we obtain forgiveness of our offenses!

Truly revealing the Faith to the whole world, O wise and eminent father, thou didst engrave it as in stone, shaking off the defilement of heresy, and didst establish the beauty of the Church, following the teachings of the apostles of Christ. Wherefore, with them we all cry out to thee: O right laudable father, pray that our souls be saved!

All of Christ didst thou receive, and the blessedness of almsgiving, which is love for the poor; for richly pouring forth alms upon them, thou hast received the mercy of the promise; for mercy will call forth praise at the judgment. Wherefore, thou didst depart unto life. Pray thou, we beseech thee, that we may obtain forgiveness of our offenses.

Glory…, Now and ever…, Theotokion

Thou alone didst bear in thy womb, without confining Him, the uncontainable God, Who in His goodness became a man, O all-holy Bride of God. Wherefore, I beseech thee: set me free of the passions which confine me, that, walking the straight and narrow path, I may reach that which leadeth to life, O Virgin.

Troparion, in Tone IV

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

At Matins

Canon of the holy hierarch, 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.

Deliver me from assault, captivity and bondage, and guide me to repentance, O Compassionate One, leading me quickly to Thy love.

Possessing streams of life in thy heart, O wise one, thou wast as a river of God filling the Church with thy teachings and watering its furrows, O father.

When thy precious head was anointed with the oil of the divine Spirit, O Tarasius, it flowed richly down upon thy beard, as upon the beard of Aaron, down to the hem of thy garment, like the dew of Hermon.

Theotokion: Isaiah crieth, O pure Virgin: “Behold, having conceived in thy womb without seed the Angel of Great Counsel, thou gavest birth unto Him, O pure one, yet remainest a virgin even after giving birth!”

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.

Thou wast the strengthening of all hearts through the bread of thy words, O holy hierarch; and anointing our hearts as with oil, thou makest them glad as with wine.

With the fervor of understanding and zeal of faith thou becamest eminent among the fathers, and thou didst break the opposition of the heretics as though they were the gates of Hades.

Lifting up thy venerable hands to God, thou didst ask peace for thy flock. Wherefore, having ascended to thine inheritance on high, thou hast found rest.

Theotokion: Strange the Offspring, strange the generation which is accomplished anew in the womb of the Virgin. He hath raised up from deception the nature which had been dragged down into corruption.

Sessional hymn, in Tone III, Special Melody: “Of the divine Faith…”

Thou didst shine forth with the works of divine knowledge, and hast illumined the Church with radiance; thou hast slain heresies with thy words and, emulating the hospitality of Abraham, hast poured forth love and care for the poor. O father Tarasius, entreat Christ God to grant us great mercy.

Glory…, Now and ever…, Theotokion

Thou wast the divine tabernacle of the Word, O Mother who alone art a virgin all-pure, and hast surpassed the angels in purity. With thy divine waters cleanse me who am defiled with carnal transgressions and am become filthier than all others; and grant me great mercy, O pure one.

Or this Stavrotheotokion

The undefiled ewe-lamb of the Word, the incorrupt Virgin Mother, beholding Him Who sprang forth from her without pain hanging upon the Cross, lamenting maternally, cried out: “Woe is me, O my Child! How is it that Thou sufferest willingly, desiring to deliver man from the indignity of the passions?”

Ode IV

Irmos: I hymn Thee, O Lord, for I heard report of Thee, and I was afraid; for Thou comest to me, seeking me who have strayed. Wherefore, I glorify Thy great condescension toward me, O greatly Merciful One.

With the sweat of piety didst thou sow the word of God in the Church, and thou didst reap the grain of Orthodoxy, O Tarasius. In the land of the meek hast thou made thine abode, and with them thou rejoicest in gladness.

The fear of God of which Isaiah spake, O venerable one, didst thou receive within thee through the Spirit; and thou gavest birth thereunto for the Church. Thereby are the offspring of heresy dashed to pieces on the rock of faith.

With the shedding of tears didst thou wash away defilement, O venerable one, and thou didst reach the wellspring wherein the undiluted drink of everlasting sweetness gusheth forth; and thou didst attain unto thine ultimate desires.

Theotokion: God the Word, having been conceived without seed in thy womb, O all-immaculate one, issueth forth unaltered in nature unto the human race; Him do thou ever entreat in behalf of thy servants, that our souls be saved from misfortunes.

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.

With the power of thy words didst thou denounce the disease of the ungodly, and with the bonds of divine love didst thou bind thy flock; and thou preservest it unharmed through hope and faith.

Going without food, with abstinence thou didst nourish thy soul, possessing the bread of pure prayer, divine doctrine and exalted humility.

As a father thou didst weave the robe of the Church, O wise one, and therein Christ arrayed thee with honor for the sake of thy faith; and thou didst shine forth in the splendor of Orthodox teaching.

Theotokion: O pure one, we all have thee as an intercessor, a mighty foundation of hope, support, shelter and rampart, and a bridge leading to the kingdom of heaven.

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!

As sacrifice and victim thou didst submit thyself to God with faith, and thou didst continue to serve His unbloody sacrifice.

Having now passed from earth to immaterial glory, O venerable one, by thine earnest supplication heal thou my soul which hath been defiled by material passions.

Thou didst cut away the thickness of the Scriptures with the profound paring-knife of thine intellect, O Tarasius, and wast the scribal pen of the Church.

Theotokion: Thy birthgiving is cause for perplexity, for thou givest suck unto the Nourisher in strange manner, and nurturest with milk the immaterial Creator Whom thou holdest in thine arms.

Kontakion, in Tone III, Special Melody: “Today the Virgin…”

Having illumined the Church with Orthodox dogmas and taught all to honor and bow down before the precious icon of Christ, O blessed one, thou didst denounce the godless decree of the iconoclasts. Wherefore, we cry out to thee: Rejoice, O wise father Tarasius!

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!

Thou hast been shown to be a cup of wisdom, full of the virtues; and having called the flock together by the preaching of thine exalted life, thou didst delight them, O divinely wise father; and thou criest out with them: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Thou hast gone before us to the mansions of heaven and precious delights, and thou rejoicest with thy God and art glad. Wherefore, honoring thee, O all-blessed one, we cry aloud with boldness: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Thy loins girded about with the manliness of understanding, and thyself arrayed in the life which leadeth to faith, O Tarasius, thou didst go up in haste to the banquet of the King most high, chanting: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Theotokion: He Who was begotten without mother of the Father, cometh forth from thee without father; and, preserving the seal of thy purity inviolate, He hath shown thy birthgiving to be all-pure and thy virginity to be undefiled; for in thee is the law of birthgiving restored.

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.

Thou hast been shown to be like a morning cloud which letteth fall drops of rain and dew, O wise one; a wealth of benefaction hast thou amassed on earth; and thou hast anointed the hearts of the starving and lighted a bright spiritual lamp.

Illumined with the light of thy works and the vesture of thy high priesthood, thou wast shown to be the key of chastity, the sustenance of abstinence, the teacher of true prayer, the way of repentance and the law of life.

O my soul, bring forth a time of repentance and the fruit of conversion, and fear thou the curse inflicted upon the barren fig tree and the threat of being hewn down. Mollify Christ with the fruitfulness of the virtues.

Theotokion: Forget not the cries of thy servants, O dread intercessor, but by thy supplications rescue us from all tribulations and every threat; for thy maternal entreaty moveth God to relent.

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.

With the fire of abstinence thou didst put down the cunning and darts of the enemy, and thou didst truly burn up the material wrath of the flesh with the burning coals of thy purity, O Tarasius, having been vouchsafed the radiance thereof.

Making thine abode with the choirs of the patriarchs, with them thou chantest the angelic hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy is God the Begetter, the begotten Son, and the Spirit Who proceedeth without becoming separate! O holy Trinity, glory to Thee!

We cry out to thee as to one who with Paul hath entered into the heights of heaven: O all-blessed Tarasius, blessed of God, confirmation of the Church, victory of the Orthodox. And we pray thee: Grant cleansing unto us that honor thee with love.

Theotokion: The Son Who before all ages was like the Father without beginning, and Who became ineffably incarnate of thy pure blood, O all-pure Mother, who knewest not wedlock, hath revealed Himself to us as the Sun, and, driving away the darkness, hath enlightened all things.