Menaion of the Orthodox Church

4th Day of the Month of March

The Commemoration of Our Venerable Father Gerasimus of the Jordan

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…,” 3 stichera in Tone VIII, Special Melody: “O most glorious wonder….”

O divinely wise father Gerasimus, uniting thyself unto God through prayer, supplication and great abstinence, thou didst remain impervious to the designs of the foe, and didst show thyself a servant of the Almighty. Hence, we honor thee, and faithfully celebrating thy divine memory with great joy, we praise thee.

O venerable father Gerasimus, ever abiding in faith, in deserts, caves and mountains thou didst seek God. And thou didst find Him as thou didst desire. Ever strengthened with steadfast soul and goodly ascents, thou didst lead multitudes of saved monastics unto God.

Submitting to the behest of God Who beholdeth all things, thou didst receive the grace from Him to work miracles and to drive away evil spirits, and to tame wild beasts by the purity of thy mind. Wherefore, we honor thee, and as is meet we celebrate with faith thy divine memory, O divinely blessed one.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion, in the same tone & melody

Troubled and in grief, we beseech thee, O all-pure one, our intercessor: Let not thy servants perish utterly; but haste thou to rescue us from this present wrath and grief, O divinely joyous, all-holy and pure one. For thou art our bulwark and hope unassailed.

Or this Stavrotheotokion, in the same melody

Beholding thee, O Jesus, nailed to the Cross and accepting suffering of Thine own will, O Master, the Virgin Thy Mother cried aloud: “Woe is me, O my sweet Child! How is it that Thou dost endure wounds unjustly inflicted, O Thou Who healest human infirmities and dost deliver all from corruption in Thy loving-kindness?”

At Matins

Canon to the venerable one, the acrostic whereof is: “I praise Gerasimus, as I weave for him a crown,” in Tone VIII

Ode I

Irmos: Let us chant unto the Lord, Who led His people through the Red Sea, for He alone hath gloriously been glorified.

The glory of immortality and a divine crown of incorruption hath Christ given thee who struggled well, O Gerasimus.

Having the Bestower of light attending to thy supplications, O father Gerasimus, thou didst diminish the darkness of the demons.

Through the streams of thy tears, O father, thou didst bring forth the fruits of immortality like an irrigated tree, O divinely wise Gerasimus.

Theotokion: Ease thou the pain of my heart, O all-pure Theotokos who, in manner past understanding and recounting, gave birth unto Christ without pain.

Ode III

Irmos: Thou art the confirmation of those who have recourse to Thee, O Lord; Thou art the light of the benighted; and my spirit doth hymn Thee.

Following Him Who endured crucifixion willingly, O venerable one, thou wast wholly crucified to life and to the passions.

Strengthened by the support of Him Who accomplisheth all things, O wise Gerasimus, thou wast able to trample down all the snares of the mighty one.

Made strong by an humble mind and a humble spirit, O wise one, thou didst utterly lay low the passions which corrupt the soul.

With the splendors of thy wonders thou dost, like the great sun, enlighten the hearts of all who praise thee with faith.

Theotokion: O all-immaculate one, thou gavest birth unto the Son Who is enthroned with the Father and of the same essence, and Who showeth the portals of life unto all.

Sessional hymn, in Tone IV, Special Melody: “Thou hast appeared today….”

Passing over the wiles of the demons through the activity of the Cross, O venerable one, thou didst become a god by adoption. Wherefore, we faithfully honor thee, O Gerasimus.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion

Stretching forth thine all-pure hands, O Virgin Mary, protect those who trust in thee and cry out to thy Son: O Christ, grant Thy mercies unto all!

Or this Stavrotheotokion

Beholding thy Son suspended upon the Tree, O all-pure one, thou didst cry out in grief, thy maternal womb rent with pain: Woe is me! How hast Thou set, O mine everlasting Light?

Ode IV

Irmos: I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of Thy dispensation; I have understood Thy works, and have glorified Thy divinity.

Thine enlightened heart became a temple of the Spirit, O father. Wherefore, it poureth forth gifts, healing afflictions by grace divine.

Submitting to the law of God, thou didst follow the Lord from thy youth, O father, embracing the life of the bodiless ones while yet in the body.

Thy steps were directed to the way of salvation, O venerable one, by the guidance of the divine Spirit Who dwelt within thee, O venerable one.

Theotokion: Jesus, Who loveth mankind, Whom thou didst bear in thy womb, O all-immaculate one, do thou beseech, that He save all who hymn thee.

Ode V

Irmos: Waking at dawn, we cry to Thee: Save us, O Lord! For Thou art our God, and we know none other than Thee.

Having received rays of the Holy Spirit with a purified mind, thou didst become a light to monastics.

Thy life, shining forth through the constraint of nature, showed thee to be an earthly angel in the flesh.

Filled with the life-imparting waters of the Spirit, thou didst pour forth rivers of wonders, O father Gerasimus.

Theotokion: O Theotokos, the incarnate Word descended upon thee like a shower, unto the enlightenment of our souls.

Ode VI

Irmos: Cleanse me, O Savior, for many are my transgressions; and lead me up from the abyss of evils, I pray, for to Thee have I cried, and Thou hast hearkened to me, O God of my salvation.

The weakness of thy flesh, strengthened by the power of Him Who hath shone forth upon us from the pure Virgin, O venerable father, hath brought low the power of the incorporeal foe.

Having crushed the jaws of the noetic lions by grace, thou didst put down the assaults of the senses, O venerable one. Wherefore, a lion submitted to thee, like a sheep to a shepherd, ministering to thee right dutifully.

Acquiring an angelic life and a mind humble in Christ, O father, thou wast meek. And now, thou hast made thine abode in the land of the meek, filled with divine joy.

Theotokion: The Effulgence of the Father dwelt within thee, O pure one, and, born in the flesh, He hath enlightened the world and delivered all from the darkness of polytheism. Wherefore, we hymn thee.

Kontakion, in Tone IV, Special Melody: “Having been lifted up….”

Burning with heavenly love, thou didst prefer the harshness of the desert of Jordan more than all the delights of the world; hence, a wild beast submitted to thee even until the time of thy death, O father, dying in obedience and grief on thy grave. Thus did God glorify thee. And when thou dost pray to Him, O father Gerasimus, be thou mindful of us.

Ode VII

Irmos: In the furnace the Hebrew children boldly trod the flame underfoot and transformed the fire into dew, crying out: Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, forever!

Light and gladness, its spouse, shone forth upon thee, O father, who dost ever abide in the mansions of heaven and dost chant: Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, forever!

Having watered thy heart with showers of tears, O God-bearer, thou bringest forth fruits of virtue, through which, with all the venerable, thou hast received the delight of heaven forever.

Keeping hymnody unceasingly upon thy lips, in emulation of the angels, O Gerasimus, thou didst cry out with watchful mind: Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, forever!

Theotokion: In no wise did the fire of the Godhead burn thee, O Virgin; for the bush on the mountain, which once burned without being consumed, prefigured thee, O pure one.

Ode VIII

Irmos: Trampling down the fire and flame in the furnace, the divinely eloquent youths did chant: Bless the Lord, O ye works of the Lord!

Thou didst stand before the Master, illumined with the splendors of fasting, O wondrous Gerasimus; and wast numbered among the choirs of the incorporeal ones.

Living a life of innocence, thou didst in all ways despise the tribunal of the wicked one, O divinely wise Gerasimus, adornment of fasters.

By putting off the passions thou didst array thyself in the vesture of incorruption, O divinely wise father Gerasimus; and thou didst worthily receive a divine bridal chamber.

Theotokion: O all-pure one, He Who transcendeth nature found thee in the valleys of life as a fragrant lily, and through thee hath He breathed sweet fragrance upon the world.

Ode IX

Irmos: Every ear trembleth to hear of the ineffable condescension of God, for the Most High willingly came down even to the flesh, becoming man through the Virgin’s womb. Wherefore we, the faithful, magnify the all-pure Theotokos.

Following the steps of all who walked well upon the earth, O father Gerasimus, thou didst acquire love, faith, hope, temperance, wisdom, abundant prayer and ineffable abstinence, delighting in pure ascents.

O, the wonder! How hast thou subjected a wild beast to thy command, as though he were a rational creature, O venerable Gerasimus who servest God Who doth glorify thine angelic life with signs, countless wonders and miracles.

Thou hast been shown to be the confirmation of monastics and the instruction of those who keep silence, O God-bearer; for thou didst travel the most narrow path of abstinence, ever expanding thy soul with divine hope. Wherefore, thou hast found a spacious habitation among the mansions of the elect.

Thou didst flourish in the courts of our God like a stately palm tree, and like a cypress wast thou exalted by the high praises of God, O father. Wherefore, we all faithfully celebrate thy memory, wherein we pray: Save us from all temptations!

Theotokion: Bearing Emmanuel on thine arms as a babe, O pure and divinely joyous one, thou didst cry out: O my sweetest Child, how can I nourish Thee at my breast Who nourishest all things? How can I wrap in swaddling clothes Thee Who wrappest the sea in mist?