Menaion of the Orthodox Church

The 2nd Day of the Month of May

Commemoration of Our Father among the Saints, Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…”, 6 stichera, in Tone IV, Special Melody: “Called from on high…”

O thou who wast vouchsafed life immortal when thou didst preach Christ the Life-giver, the Son and Word Who is consubstantial and equally everlasting with the unoriginate Father Who begat Him, then didst thou burn up the tinder of heresies with thy fiery tongue, O glorious one, expelling Arius from the Church of Christ; and with thy divine discourses thou didst enlighten the hearts of the pious, O wise one, that they may worship the Trinity in one essence.

Like a divine river aflood with the waters of the Spirit wast thou shown to be, O all-wondrous one, overflowing with divine doctrines, setting all the fullness of the Church afire, and overwhelming the assembly of the heretics in the depths of thy divine words and the abyss of thine understandings, O father. For thou, O all-wise one, divine Athanasius who art most rich, didst preach Christ the Master Who is consubstantial with the Father Who begat Him.

As a recounter of the mysteries of God and a divine hierarch, thou didst patiently endure tribulations and persecutions, attacks and lengthy exiles, O blessed one, for the sake of the faith of Christ, clearly proclaiming Christ to be consubstantial, equally everlasting, equal in His activity and equally without beginning with the primal and equally unoriginate Father. Wherefore, He Himself hath manifestly adorned thee with all-radiant teachings and shown thee to the whole world as all-splendid.

And these stichera, in Tone V, Special Melody: “O venerable father…”

O venerable father, divinely revealed Athanasius, thou wast known from thine infancy to be a beacon for the Church, shining with all-radiant visions and enriched by all manner of virtues, burning up heresies with the spiritual fire of thy discourses and guiding all the faithful with the all-divine effulgence of the Trinity, Who is understood in one Godhead, sharing equally everlasting glory. Entreat and ever make supplication unto the Trinity, that oneness of mind, peace and great mercy be given to all the world.

O venerable father, divinely eloquent Athanasius, having magnificently been called the namesake of immortality, thou didst tread the path which leadeth thereto; and, manifestly enriched by the splendor of life, O divinely wise one, and having acquired a pure mind, thou wast found to be a champion of the Word, receiving thy breath through the all-holy Spirit. Illumined by Him, thou didst vanquish thine enemies; protected by Him, thou didst show thyself to be implacable; and, deified by Him, thou didst commune with Him, O holy one. Entreat Him, that He grant unto all oneness of mind, peace and great mercy.

O venerable father Athanasius, preacher of God, having endured tribulations and frequent perils, thou hast now been vouchsafed the food of paradise. Residing now within the divine mansions, thou hast drawn nigh, as a victor, to the tree of life incorruptible, adorned with a crown of righteousness and invested with the diadem of the kingdom of the Most High, O blessed one; and, resplendent with beauty, pray to Christ, ask thou of Christ, O divinely wise one, that He grant to the Church oneness of mind, peace and great mercy.

Glory…, in Tone VI

Let us all hymn Athanasius, the holy hierarch of Christ; for, having set at nought all the teachings of Arius, he doth manifestly proclaim throughout all the world the might of the Holy Trinity, the one indivisible God in three Persons, Whom he doth entreat in behalf of us who celebrate his memory with faith.

Now and ever…: doxasticon from the Pentecostarion.

At the Aposticha, the stichera from the Pentecostarion; and Glory…, the composition of Germanus, in Tone III

Again the Nile flowing with gold, the namesake of immortality, arriving for his annual commemoration, doth pour forth golden torrents of immortality in goodly floods, producing the food of immortality; and with exalted divine words he teacheth all to worship the indivisible might of the Trinity, poureth forth divine doctrines, giveth drink to the thoughts of the faithful, and prayeth for our souls.

Now and ever…: doxasticon from the Pentecostarion.

Troparion, in Tone III

Thou wast a pillar of Orthodoxy, strengthening the Church with divine dogmas, O sacred hierarch Athanasius; for, preaching the Son as consubstantial with the Father, thou didst put Arius to shame. O venerable father, entreat Christ God, that He grant us great mercy.

At Matins

At “God is the Lord…”, the Troparion from the Pentecostarion, twice; Glory…, that of the saint; Now and ever…, that from the Pentecostarion, once.

Canon from the Pentecostarion, with 6 Troparia, including the irmos; and that of the holy hierarch, with 6 Troparia, the acrostic whereof is: “Athanasius was the boast of the Orthodox”, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone VIII

Ode I

Irmos: The staff of Moses, once working a wonder, striking the sea in the form of the Cross and dividing it, drowned the mounted tyrant Pharaoh, and saved Israel who fled on foot, chanting a hymn unto God.

To Athanasius do I offer praise, lauding him as a doer of good; and I offer yet higher laudation unto God, by Whom men are given the right-praiseworthy gift of virtue, of which he became the animate image and seal.

Thou wast full of divine wisdom, O blessed one, and shining in thine angelic life more than the sun, thou hast surpassed the laws of our praise; yet accept praise from us, O venerable father, even though it is not worthy of thee.

We fittingly weave a hymn on the glorious day of thy commemoration, O Athanasius; yet, lacking greater hymns fit for thee, we ask that thou forgive us, and that the abundant grace of the Spirit be given us through thee.

Theotokion: Thou gavest birth to the divine Word of the Father, Him Who before was incorporeal yet became incarnate for our sake, O most immaculate one, thou boast of virgins, vessel of purity and temple of purity, O Mistress of the world, Bride of God.

Ode III

Irmos: O Christ, Who in the beginning established the heavens in wisdom and founded the earth upon the waters, make me steadfast upon the rock of Thy commandments; for none is holy as Thee, O Thou Who lovest mankind.

Having purified thy soul and body of all defilement, O Athanasius, thou wast shown to be worthy of God; wherefore, the fullness of the Trinity rested within thee, O initiate of the sacred mysteries of God, who art most rich.

As thou didst desire, the grace of the Comforter, finding thy soul cleansed of the passions, manifestly showed forth its actions therein, O father, and set thee before the world as an all-radiant lamp.

To hierarchs thou hast shown thyself to be a rule of hierarchy and a pattern of the active life; and thy lucid discourse was shown to be a model of vision, and doctrine to be the limit of thy theology, O all-wise one.

Theotokion: Thou wast shown to be more exalted than the cherubim and the seraphim, O Theotokos; for thou alone didst receive the infinite God in thy womb, O undefiled one. Wherefore, all of us, the faithful, bless thee with hymns, O pure one.

Kontakion & ikos from the Pentecostarion.

Sessional hymn of the saint, in Tone VIII, Special Melody: “Of the wisdom…”

Having learned the wisdom of the Word and cast down the deception of Arius, thou didst preach the Orthodox Faith to the world; for thou didst explain that Christ the Word, our life, is truly consubstantial with the Father. Wherefore, with oneness of mind the Church doth glorify the consubstantial Trinity in one Godhead, O God-bearing Athanasius. Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of offenses unto those who with love honor thy holy memory. Twice

Glory…, Now and ever…: Sessional hymn from the Pentecostarion.

Ode IV

Irmos: Thou art my strength, O Lord, Thou art my power; Thou art my God, Thou art my joy, Who, without leaving the bosom of the Father, hast visited our lowliness. Wherefore, with the Prophet Habbakuk I cry unto Thee: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

From on high the Spirit of Christ breathed upon thee the life-bearing breath which of old divinely entered the upper chamber and filled the disciples; and it showed thee, O father, to be a thirteenth apostle proclaiming the Orthodox Faith.

Burning greatly with divine zeal, thou didst aid the council in Nicæa; and even before thou wast made a hierarch thou didst preach that Christ the Word is consubstantial with the Father. Wherefore, Christ made thee a chief shepherd and disciple.

Entrusted by divine providence with the task of nurturing the Church, O Athanasius, like a scythe thou didst cut down all the spiritually harmful blasphemies of the heretics, severing them at the root; and, watering the seed of the Word, thou didst cultivate it, O wise one.

Arius’ severing of Father from Son and Sabellius’ confusion between Them, which proceed from immeasurable evil unto the dishonor of God Who is equally worshipped, were utterly consumed by thy fiery tongue, O Athanasius, and all heretical blasphemies with them.

Theotokion: After the first Adam, Thou didst become the new Adam; coming after our first mother, Thou art the Deliverer and Savior of all; and after death, Thou art the true Life immortal. Wherefore, acknowledging her who gave thee birth to be the Theotokos, we call her, the pure one, blessed, as is meet.

Ode V

Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange darkness covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me, and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

Having Christ speaking within the melodious instrument of thy tongue, O father Athanasius, with thy writing thou didst put to shame the heresy of idols, guiding the lost and turning them to the true God.

All pernicious heresies didst thou denounce with thy discourses and writings, O blessed father, dispelling from the whole world all manner of falsehood with thy wise demonstrations, and indisputably making clear the Orthodox Faith.

The Church of Christ truly calleth thee a great teacher of wise teachers, O father Athanasius, and hath numbered with the apostles thee who dost elucidate the unsullied word of the Faith.

Theotokion: Having acquired maternal boldness before thy Son, O most pure one, disdain not to take thought for us as thy kin, we pray; for thee alone do we Christians set before the Master to obtain cleansing of His mercy.

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.

Apollinarius, showing himself to be the sower of alien seed, preaching that the incarnation of Christ was that of an earthly Word and mind, was strongly denounced by thee as mindless and perverted, O all-blessed one.

The power of Thy divinely inspired words hath, like the voice of thunder, manifestly smote the ears of the heretics and made their faces dark, O thou who art pleasing to God.

Everyone doth marvel, as is meet, at thy wise writings, which suitably make reference to offshoots of heresy yet to be, which, foreseeing, thou dost refute prophetically.

Theotokion: The only-begotten Son, the God of my salvation, Who before time began was invisible, in latter times became the Firstborn of the day, becoming visible in the flesh through thee, O Mother of God.

Kontakion, In Tone II, Special Melody: “Of thy blood…”

Planting Orthodox doctrines, thou didst cut down the thorns of heresy, increasing the seed of the Faith with the rain of the Spirit, O venerable one; wherefore, we hymn thee, O Athanasius.

Ikos: Pouring forth the torrents of the divine teaching of thy discourses upon the world, thou gavest drink to the souls of the faithful, O Athanasius, and didst drown the proponents of heresy like Egyptians of old, giving us the divinely inscribed law of Orthodoxy, that we may worship the Trinity in one Godhead. Therewith hast thou preserved us, delivering us from the invisible foe; wherefore, we hymn thee, O Athanasius.

Ode VII

Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fire stood in awe of the condescension of God; wherefore, the youths, dancing with joyous step in the furnace, as in a meadow, chanted: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Having preached in Orthodox manner that the Word, the only-begotten Son, is equally worshipped and equally enthroned with the Father, O father, namesake of immortality, thou didst likewise teach that He is equally enthroned and consubstantial with the Spirit.

The father of ungodliness, seeing thee to be a sacred teacher and preacher of the three-Sunned Light, who proclaimed the Orthodox Faith even unto the ends of the earth, raised up persecutions against thee.

The countless tribulations thou didst endure when contending for piety, O blessed one, were like radiant crowns; for thou wast as adamant to those who beat thee, and like a magnet didst thou draw all to thee.

Strange and alien dogmas didst thou drive from the Church of Christ, theologizing concerning the hypostases of the Trinity and the unity of the Godhead, whom thou didst hymn, chanting: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Theotokion: As thou alone art the one who, without knowing wedlock, gave birth in time to the Timeless One, the Word Who before was incorporeal, O Virgin, we chant to Him together, crying: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Ode VIII

Irmos: Madly did the Chaldæan tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but, beholding them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

O Athanasius, right glorious adornment of hierarchs, pillar of light, foundation of the Church, champion of the Trinity, golden clarion of theology, famed recorder of the laws of the monastic life, thou dost celebrate with us, bringing priests to perfection and leading the faithful to Christ forever.

Thou wast truly the namesake of immortality, for in thy discourse thou didst transcend active things; and overcoming tangible things in thy discourse and through the fame of thy life, in both thou didst pass all bounds. Wherefore, shining forth with immutable virtue, thou hast acquired an immortal memory forever.

O God-pleasing initiate of the mysteries of heaven, thou didst show forth a most splendid episcopacy in thy valiant sufferings: thou didst dispel falsehood by thy frequent banishment for the Trinity, Whom preaching thou dost cry: Worship the Father, bless the Son, and hymn the Spirit for all ages!

Theotokion: Thou wast a vessel of the never-waning Light, O all-pure one, for He hath been a light to those in darkness and shadow, illumining all things with the grace of divine knowledge. Him do we unceasingly hymn, O ye faithful, for all ages.

Ode IX

Irmos: Heaven was stricken with awe, and the ends of the earth were amazed, that God hath appeared in the flesh, and that thy womb became more spacious than the heavens. Wherefore, the ranks of men and angels magnify thee as the Theotokos.

Thou didst shine forth like lightning, O father, and thy sound poured forth like thunder on all upon whom the sun doth look; for thou didst receive true inspiration from the heavens above. Wherefore, let not the grave cause thy memory to be extinguished, O Athanasius.

Illumined now most brightly with the thrice radiant light of the threefold Sun, like a mirror thou dost reveal effulgence to those who hymn thee, shining from on high like the sun. O blessed one, do that which we beseech of thee, whether it be great or insignificant.

Chanting, we entreat thee earnestly: pray thou for the Church, that through the Cross victories may be granted to Orthodox Christians, strength given to the Orthodox Faith against the heresies of the enemy, salvation to us, and peace to the world on the day of thy commemoration, O Athanasius.

Theotokion: O intercessor for all Christians, all-immaculate Virgin Mother of God, in that thou art merciful deliver from tribulations and perils thine oppressed servants who have suffered the wounds of cruel scourgings, and heal thou those on whom painful stripes have been inflicted.

Exapostilarion, Special Melody: “O Light immutable…”

Thou wast shown to be a river of golden flow, giving drink to all with the waters of thy teachings, O servant of the Trinity, adornment of hierarchs; for by thy doctrines, O Athanasius, thou didst destroy the teaching of Arius.

Glory…: another exapostilarion, Special Melody: “The heaven with stars…”

In laudation let us hymn the great Athanasius, the glory of hierarchs, offspring of Egypt and adornment of immortality, as the one who cast down Arius and the helper of the faithful.

Now and ever…: exapostilarion from the Pentecostarion.

On the Praises, 4 stichera, in Tone IV, Special Melody: “As one valiant among the martyrs…”

By thy fiery teachings is all the tinder of heresy utterly consumed, O all-glorious one; and by the abyss of thine understandings is the wicked army of the unruly drowned, O venerable Athanasius. And the Church of the faithful is adorned every day by thy doctrines, O blessed one, and doth honor thee, crying aloud. Twice

With the staff of thy teachings thou didst drive the spiritual wolves from the Church of Christ, O all-wise one, and thou hast hedged it round about with the confirmations of thy words, and hast presented it to Christ unshaken and unshakable. Pray thou to Him, that those who celebrate thy most honored memory with faith may be delivered from corruption and misfortunes.

With the splendors of thy divine discourses, O venerable one, is the whole Church adorned: it is piously bedecked with comely beauties and doth honor, as is meet, thy most festive memory, O Athanasius, thou glory of priests, radiant and great preacher of piety, and champion of the Trinity.

Glory…, the composition of Patriarch Germanus, in the same tone

The great and true clarion of the Church, the much-suffering Athanasius, today doth splendidly summon the whole world to goodly praise. O all ye faithful, let us go forth to greet the festival of the good shepherd, honoring his sacred labors with hymns, that, through his supplications, we may receive from Christ God great mercy.

Now and ever…: doxasticon from the Pentecostarion.

At the Aposticha, stichera from the Pentecostarion; and Glory…, in Tone III

In sanctity let us praise Athanasius, the great adornment of hierarchs, the invincible intercessor; for, having mown down the hordes of heresies with the power of the all-holy Spirit, he raised up trophies to Orthodoxy throughout all the world, piously defining the mystery of the Trinity through the character of Its Persons, and uniting them into One, without confusion, through Their identical essence. And, theologizing like one of the cherubim, he ever prayeth for our souls.

Now and ever…: doxasticon from the Pentecostarion.

At Divine Liturgy

On the Beatitudes, 8 Troparia: 4 from the appointed ode of the canon from the Pentecostarion, and 4 from Ode III of the canon of the saint.

Prokimenon, in Tone VII

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

Stichos: What shall I render unto the Lord for all that He hath rendered unto me?

Epistle to the Hebrews, §318 [7:26-8:2]

Brethren: Such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Alleluia, in Tone II

Stichos: Thy priests shall be clothed with righteousness, and Thy righteous shall rejoice.

Stichos: For the Lord hath elected Sion, He hath chosen her to be a habitation for Himself.

Gospel according to Matthew, §11 [5: 14-19]

The Lord said to His disciples: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Communion Verse

In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings.