Menaion of the Orthodox Church

The 26th Day of the Month of June

Commemoration of our Venerable Father David of Thessalonica

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried ...,” 3 Stichera, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “O most glorious wonder ...”:

O all-blessed father David,/ having eminently illumined thy mind with abstinence,/ thou didst take wing/ to the First Cause of good things/ and wast shown to be a pillar of light,/ with godly understanding/ ever illumining with thy words and deeds/ all who have recourse to thee.// Wherefore, we honor and bless thee.

Like a right melodious bird/ thou didst establish thy shelter/ in the branches of a tree, O father,/ frozen by the cold/ and burned by the heat;/ whereby thou didst receive golden wings/ of dispassion and perfection,/ and hast made thine abode in the heights of heaven,// ever praying for us who praise thee.

Having utterly consumed the pleasures of the flesh/ with the divine ember of dispassion,/ thou didst remain unconsumed, O venerable one,/ holding burning embers in thy hand/ before the face of the emperor,/ who was amazed at thy radiance./ Wherefore, great favor hath been given thee by God,/ Who through grace hath made thee a great intercessor,// O blessed one.

Glory ..., in Tone VI:

O venerable father, word of thy corrections hath gone forth into all the earth; wherefore, thou hast obtained the reward of thy labors in the heavens, having destroyed legions of the demons, and attained unto the ranks of the angels, whose life thou didst blamelessly emulate. As thou hast boldness before Christ God, beg thou peace for our souls.

Now & ever ..., Theotokion, or this Stavrotheotokion in Tone VI: Spec. Mel.: “On the third day ...”:

“Pondering Thy seedless conception,/ Thine ineffable birth,/ I marvel greatly./ How was it Thy good pleasure to die/ as a malefactor, O my Son?”/ the most pure one exclaimed weeping.

On the Aposticha, Glory ..., in Tone VIII:

We, the multitudes of monks, honor thee as our guide, O David our father; for by thy steps we have truly learned to walk aright. Blessed art thou who, laboring for Christ, denounced the power of the enemy, O converser with the angels and companion of the venerable and the righteous. With them entreat the Lord, that our souls find mercy.

Stavrotheotokion in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “O most glorious wonder ...”:

The unblemished heifer, beholding her Bullock/ willingly nailed upon the Tree,/ cried out aloud, lamenting piteously:/ “Woe is me, O my most beloved Child!/ How hath the ungrateful assembly/ of the Jews rewarded Thee,/ desiring to leave me childless/ and bereft of Thee,// O my most beloved Child?”

Troparion, in Tone VIII

In thee, O father, the image of God was preserved,/ for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow after Christ;/ by activity thou didst learn to disdain the flesh, as something transient,/ but to care for thy soul as something immortal.// Wherefore, with the angels thy spirit doth rejoice, O venerable David.

At Matins

Canon of the venerable one, the acrostic whereof is: “With divine words I hymn thy life, O blessed one”, the composition of Joseph, in Tone V:

Ode I

Irmos: Christ, who with an upraised arm/ bringeth wars to naught,/ hath shaken horse and rider in the Red Sea;/ but Israel hath He saved/ as they chanted a song of victory.

Assembling, with hymns we honor thy radiant and divine memory, O most blessed David, through the divine Spirit recognizing thee as an heir of the light and the day, O venerable one.

Having mortified thy members on the earth, O father, thou didst have Christ our Life dwelling in thy heart, Who destroyed the power of the devil, the one who brought death upon mankind.

Submitting to the laws of the Master, O venerable one, thou didst take thy cross upon thy shoulder and, following after His steps, didst cast down the humble the arrogance of the deceiver.

Theotokion: Thou wast shown to be adorned with the beauty of the virtues, O Ever-virgin, having given birth to the comely Christ Who hath adorned mankind with the comely beauties of the Divinity.

Ode III

Irmos: By Thy command Thou didst establish the earth upon nothing/ and suspended it unsupported;/ do Thou establish Thy Church on the unshakeable rock of Thy commandments, O Christ,/ who alone art good/ and the Lover of mankind.

Having caused the comeliness of thy body to wither away through abstinence, O father, namesake of the prophet, thou didst receive rays of the divine Spirit, and thereby emitted splendid beams of dispassion and the gifts of healing.

Following the life of the saints, O thou who art most noetically rich, thou wast wholly sanctified by divine deeds, mystically sanctifying those who celebrate thy holy festival with faith, O all-blessed and God-bearing father.

Having lulled to sleep the pleasures of the body by prayers, vigils and ascetic struggles, O venerable father thou didst repose, falling asleep truly in peace. Wherefore, those who honor thee with love have acquired thee as an ever-vigilant protector.

Theotokion: Thou hast been revealed to be more honorable than the angels, O Virgin, having given birth to their Creator. Wherefore, I entreat thee, O pure one: Sanctify my mind and illumine my heart, dispelling the cloud of the passions.

Sessional Hymn, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “Of the Wisdom ...”:

Subduing the passions of the flesh by abstinence, O wise and blessed father, thou wast revealed to be an angel with a body; and like a melodious bird thou didst establish thy shelter in the branches of a tree, furnishing thy mind with wings. Wherefore, enriched by the activity of miracles, thou didst pass on to the Lord Whom thou didst desire from childhood. O most glorious David, entreat Christ God, that He grant forgiveness of sins unto those who honor thee.

Glory ..., Now & ever ..., Theotokion in Tone VIII:

From the snares of enemies visible and invisible,/ we have been overcome by the storms of our uncountable sins,/ and fleeing unto the safe harbor of thy goodness O pure one,/ we have thee as our rampart and sure protection./ Wherefore we thy servants beseech thee/ to ceaselessly make fervent supplication, O most pure one,/ unto Him who seedlessly became incarnate from thee,/ that those who worthily hymn thee// may be granted the remission of their sins.

Stavrotheotokion: Upon beholding the Lamb, Shepherd and Redeemer/ upon the Cross,/ the ewe-lamb exclaimed weeping, bitterly lamenting, and crying aloud:/ “The world rejoiceth, having received deliverance through Thee,/ but my womb doth burn, beholding Thy crucifixion,/ which Thou hast endured in Thy merciful loving-kindness./ O long-suffering Lord,/ Thou abyss and inexhaustible well-spring of mercy,/ take pity, and grant forgiveness of sins// unto those who hymn Thy divine sufferings with faith!”

Ode IV

Irmos: Habbakuk, prophetically apprehending/ Thy divine self-emptying, O Christ,/ cried out to Thee with trembling:/ Thou hast come for the salvation of Thy people;/ to save Thine anointed Ones.

Heeding the Spirit’s words of life, and forsaking the salty sea of life, with thy teardrops thou didst dry up the torrents of the passions.

Full of understanding and grace, O father David, in stillness thou didst seek the Benefactor of all and didst receive His radiance.

Having shown forth the splendor of thy life by overcoming its essential needs, O venerable one, by the cooperation of the Spirit thou didst deliver mortals from destructive needs.

Theotokion: O all-hymned Sovereign Lady, we hymn thee who ineffably gavest birth to God, incomparably transcending the choirs of the angels in beauty.

Ode V

Irmos: O Thou Who hast clothed Thyself in light as with a garment,/ I rise early unto Thee and cry out to Thee:/ Enlighten my darkened soul, O Christ,/ in that Thou alone art compassionate!

Lifting thine eyes and thoughts to Him Who was lifted up upon the Cross, O father, in the branches of thy tree didst thou persist, burned by the heat of day and frozen by the cold of night.

Thou wast shown to be wholly like lightning in appearance, O all-blessed one, bearing fire in thy hands and censing the sovereign with incense.

O all-blessed and venerable one, thou dost now behold the beauty of God not in indistinct images, nor with illusions, but directly face to face.

Thou wast shown to be a most comely grape of the divine vine, O venerable David, pouring forth the wine of compunction for those made foolish by the drunkenness of the passions.

Theotokion: O Birthgiver of God, direct my life and the movements of my mind to fulfill the will of God, Who hath ineffably come to us through thee.

Ode VI

Irmos: Calm the raging sea of the passions,/ O Master Christ,/ with its soul-destroying tempest,/ and lead me up from corruption/ in that Thou art compassionate.

Thou wast shown to be a temple of the divine Spirit, O venerable David, having confined thyself to a little perch, winning abundant space through confinement.

Thou didst incline thy soul to the laws of the Master, O father, and didst become full of light, and a recipient of the gifts of the Spirit.

Thy life hath been shown to the ends of the earth as truly adorned with miracles, O God-bearing father. Wherefore, we praise thee with faith.

Theotokion: In a manner transcending nature thou didst weave flesh of thy pure blood for Him Who fashioned mankind, O Theotokos. Wherefore as is meet, we hymn thee.

Kontakion, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: “The choir of the angels ...”:

An ever-blossoming garden, bearing the fruits of the virtues,/ thou didst appear in the tree of a grove, like a right melodious harp,/ and receiving the Lord, the Tree of life, in thy heart all the more,/ and cultivating it like a garden, O divinely wise one,/ thou hast thereby nurtured us with grace.// Pray thou ever on our behalf, O all-blessed David.

Ikos: The everlasting flame kindleth the furnace of my pleasures, O venerable David; but by thy prayers extinguish it, as if by thy copiously flowing tears, and light within me the ember of love for my Creator, O blessed one, as once thou didst bear a sacrificial ember in thy hand, astonishing the emperor, that I may hymn thee, O lightbearing and all-blessed David.

Ode VII

Irmos: The supremely exalted Lord of our fathers/ quenched the flame,/ and bedewed the Youths/ as they chanted in harmony:/ O God, blessed art Thou!

Thou didst fix thyself firmly in the branches of the tree, O venerable one, ever watering it with the outpourings of thy tears, and chanting continually: O God, Blessed art Thou!

Thou didst extend all thy desire to God, O God-bearer, and didst make thy whole heart a receptacle of divine gifts, chanting: O God, Blessed art Thou!

When the emperor beheld thee shining with light and holding a burning ember in thy hand, he marveled and fell at thy feet.

Theotokion: The curse of mankind was abolished by thy birthgiving, O thou who alone art all-blessed; wherefore, we glorify thee throughout the ages as full of grace, O Theotokos.

Ode VIII

Irmos: Unto Thee the Fashioner of all,/ the children in the furnace chanted a hymn:/ All ye works of the Lord,/ supremely exalt Him throughout all ages.

Thou wast shown to be the dawning of understanding for those amid the darkness of life, O blessed one, shining forth the light of knowledge upon all who honor thee with love and supremely exalt Christ throughout all ages.

Thou wast upright, humble and meek, faithfully emulating David thy namesake; wherefore, with him O father, thou hast inherited the land of the meek throughout all ages.

Thou wast shown to be a divinely radiant pillar of monastics, O blessed David, and another prophet of God, foretelling the coming divine manifestations of the Spirit of God.

Theotokion: Thee, the beauty of Jacob, whom God loved and whom He chose, O Virgin, do we all hymn as the only blessed one, throughout all ages.

Ode IX

Irmos: O Isaiah, rejoice and be glad!/ The Virgin hath conceived in her womb,/ and hath borne a Son, Emmanuel,/ who is both God and man;/ and Orient is His name;/ Him we magnify, and the Virgin we call blessed.

Assembling today, O ye faithful, let us all celebrate the sacred festival of the sanctified father, who shone forth in abstinence and wholly dedicating himself to God through a life of perfection.

Like a tree thou wast planted by waters, O venerable one, bearing fruit, through streams of spiritual virtues; and establishing thy nest amid the branches of a tree like an eagle, O father, furnishing thy mind with wings to fly up to the heavens.

Prophetically knowing the time of thy departure, O David, thou didst foretell it to the people when thou wast sent to avert the sovereign’s great displeasure against them, O wise one.

Today thy holy memory doth sanctify us who keep it faithfully, O venerable David; for thou didst lead a holy life, ever rejoicing with the saints, O holy one.

Theotokion: Ezekiel foresaw thee as a splendid portal through which Christ our true God passed. Him do thou earnestly entreat, O pure one, that He open unto me the portal of repentance, I pray.

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

Thou didst avoid the gladness of the world as though it were filth, and, causing thy flesh to wither away through fasting, thou didst renew the strength of thy soul, O venerable and glorious one, and enriched now with heavenly glory, cease thou never to entreat the Lord on our behalf.

Theotokion: O Sovereign Lady, saved by thee we confess thee to be the true Theotokos; for thou didst ineffably give birth unto the Lord, Who by His Cross hath destroyed death and drawn to Himself the assemblies of the venerable, with whom we praise thee, O Virgin.

Aposticha Stichera from the Oktoechos, and Glory ..., in Tone V:

O venerable father, thou gavest neither sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eyelids, until thou didst free thy soul and body from the passions and prepare thyself as a habitation for the Spirit; for Christ, coming with His Father, made His abode within thee, revealing thee to be a favorite of the consubstantial Trinity. O David our father, thou great herald: pray that our souls be saved.

Now & ever ..., Theotokion, or this Stavrotheotokion in Tone V: Spec. Mel.: “Rejoice ...”:

When thou didst behold hanging upon the Tree,/ the planted Cluster of grapes/ Whom, like a vine, thou didst bring forth,/ with His divine side pierced by a spear,/ thou didst exclaim crying aloud O most pure one:/ “What is this, O my Son and God?/ How is it that Thou Who dost heal all infirmities and sufferings,/ hath undergone suffering,/ though Thou art dispassionate according to Thy divine nature?/ How have the thankless people thus rewarded Thee for Thy benefactions, O Benefactor?”./ By His sufferings pray thou/ that I may ever be free from sufferings,// that I may glorify thee.