Menaion of the Orthodox Church

The 2nd Day of the Month of April

Commemoration of Our Venerable Father Titus the Wonderworker

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…”, these stichera, in Tone VIII, Special Melody: “O all-glorious wonder…”

O Titus, our divinely wise father, bearing thy cross thou didst follow after Christ and didst make all the passions subject to thy soul; wherefore, thou hast received the grace from on high to heal the sufferings and put down the afflictions of those who have recourse unto thee, and to cast out evil spirits. Wherefore, we celebrate and bless thy memory.

O Titus, our most blessed father, having learned sacred things by ascetic living, and illumined thy mind by divine communion, at the behest of the divine Spirit thou didst truly receive the most holy anointing of the priesthood, and, like an angel, thou didst serve God thy Master well upon the earth.

O venerable and divinely inspired Titus, illumining thy soul with the light of Orthodoxy, thou didst diminish the gloomy darkness of heresy; and, shining like a most splendid star, thou dost ever enlighten the ends of the world with thy luminous miracles. Wherefore, holding festival, we celebrate thy memory.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion

My thoughts are impure, my lips false, and all my works defiled. What, then, shall I do? How can I meet the Judge? O Virgin Mistress, entreat the Lord, thy Son and Creator, that He accept my soul in repentance, in that He alone is compassionate.

Stavrotheotokion

The unblemished heifer, beholding her Calf nailed of His own will to the Tree, cried out, lamenting piteously: “Woe is me, O my Child most beloved! How hath the thankless assembly of the Jews rewarded Thee, desiring to leave me bereft of Thee, my Child most beloved?”

At Matins

Canon, the acrostic whereof is: “Let Titus, the pillar of monastics, be hymned”, in Tone VIII

Ode I

Irmos: Having traversed the water as though it were dry land, and escaped the evil of Egypt, the Israelites cried aloud: Let us chant unto our Deliverer and God!

As thou art a treasury of dispassion, O Titus, by thy supplications save me who am grievously stuck fast wholly in carnal passions and have been corrupted by pleasures.

From infancy thou wast offered to God as the godly chosen one of the Spirit, and thou wast a servant and initiate of the mysteries of the Theotokos who knew not man.

Drawing in the sweetness of abstinence, thou didst spew forth the bitterness of the passions; wherefore, thou delightest our souls more than honey and the honey-comb, O father.

We praise thee, O Titus, as a new disciple of Paul; for thou didst show thyself to be an emulator of his struggles and with him hast received crowns, O blessed of God.

Theotokion: To the Word Who was begotten of the Father without mother thou didst in latter times give birth as God and man, O only Mother of God, for thou dost surpass all creation.

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.

Thou didst mingle the myrrh of sanctification with the perfumes of asceticism, O venerable, producing a fragrance of sweet savor for God.

Ever armed with the sword of abstinence and the shield of prayer, O venerable one, denouncing the prince of darkness, thou didst put him to shame.

Immersing thyself in the laws of asceticism, with the torrent of thy tears thou didst drown the passions as though they were other pharaohs.

Theotokion: O Mistress, do thou ever pray to Him Who was born of thee, that He be merciful to me on the day of judgment.

Sessional hymn, in Tone I, Special Melody: “The choir of the angels…”

Having fasted on earth like one of the incorporeal ones, O Titus, thou didst slay the enemy, and with thine Orthodox doctrines thou didst cast down the assembly of heresies together. Wherefore, celebrating today thy most holy memory, we hymn with joy the One Who hath magnified thee.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion

O all-holy Virgin, hope of Christians, with the hosts on high do thou unceasingly beseech God to Whom, in manner past understanding and recounting, thou gavest birth, that He grant remission of all our sins and correction of life unto those who ever glorify thee with faith and love.

Stavrotheotokion

The unblemished ewe-lamb, beholding the Lamb and Shepherd hanging, dead, upon the Tree, exclaimed, weeping and crying out maternally: “How can I bear Thy condescension and voluntary suffering, which are past recounting, O my Son, mine all-good God?”

Ode IV

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

All the vileness of sin didst thou revile, O blessed one, and with the arrows of abstinence thou didst wound hordes of the demons.

Wounding thy soul with desire for purity, thou didst ardently follow Christ and didst enter into the bridal-chamber of glory, O most blessed one.

Through abstinence thou didst flourish like a most fragrant meadow and an animate garden of the virtues. Thereby thou didst nurture all who honor thee.

O father, having truly acquired thee, like Moses and David, as a giver of laws of abstinence and a true model of meekness, we call thee blessed.

Theotokion: We hymn thee, O most immaculate one, as more exalted than the cherubim and the seraphim; for thou didst bear in thine arms the Master in the flesh, before Whom all things tremble.

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.

Quenching all the passions with the dew of thy struggles, O blessed Titus, and richly lighting the lamp of abstinence with the fire of love and faith, thou becamest the enlightenment of dispassion and a child of the day.

Thou didst produce the grapes of faith by divine cultivation, O father, didst place them in the wine-press and press them out with the pangs of abstinence, filling the spiritual cup of asceticism. And thou dost gladden the hearts of thy flock.

Having valiantly endured assault and wounding by invisible foes, thou wast shown to be a pillar of patience, making thy flock steadfast with thy divine staff in the pastures of abstinence, and nourishing them by the waters, O blessed one.

Theotokion: Having thee as a haven, rampart and confirmation, our intercessor, and sure entry into the kingdom, O most immaculate one, we all pray: By thy maternal entreaties let our hope not fail.

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.

Having destroyed the gloom and deep darkness of the passions, thou didst shine forth the day and light of the east in thy paths, O venerable one, by thy many struggles and endurance of tribulations with faith.

With the desire of abstinence thou didst remove thyself wholly unto God, leaving behind the world and the prince of the world, O God-pleaser, and thou didst possess thyself of the delight of the heavenly kingdom.

In thy soul thou didst amass the divine riches of the Spirit: immaculate prayer, pure chastity, protracted vigilance, painful ascetic endeavor, for which thou becamest known as the house of God.

Thou didst pass beyond the baseness of matter here below, O wise one, didst furnish thy mind with wings through immaterial prayer, and hast been shown to be an heir to delight on high through perfection of life.

Theotokion: Thou didst truly conceive the divine Word in thy womb, O most immaculate one, and didst give birth to Him supernaturally. By thy supplications render Him merciful, that He deliver all thy servants from tribulations.

Kontakion, in Tone IV

Thou didst forsake the tumult of life and, having lived thy life in tranquillity, O wise one, hast passed over unto God, O venerable wonderworker Titus, our father.

Ode VII

Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the youths who had come forth from Judæa trod down the flame of the furnace with their faith in the Trinity, chanting: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Unsullied by sins, O father, thou hast been revealed to us as a river of abstinence, inundating the passions and washing away the defilement of those who cry out with faith: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

O divinely blessed one, who dost now converse with the immaterial choirs and delightest unceasingly in the splendor of the banquet on high, take pity on those who chant: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Thou didst remain steadfast in thy confession of the Faith, O father; for, emulating Christ in the flesh, thou didst worship Him in painted icons, and didst cry: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Bearing the wounds of Jesus the Master on thy body, O father, heal me, who have been wounded by the darts of Belial and cry out: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Theotokion: In manner transcending nature and recounting thou didst bear the Master of all in thy womb, and with thy breasts dost nourish Him Who prepareth a timely banquet for all. Him do thou entreat, O pure one, in our behalf.

Ode VIII

Irmos: The King of heaven, Whom the hosts of angels hymn, praise and exalt ye supremely for all ages!

Having truly acquired thee as an animate tower and image of abstinence, O father, we all honor thy memory as is meet.

The choir of monastics rejoiceth and the assembly of the venerable and the righteous join chorus; for with them thou hast received a crown, as is meet.

Adorned with the virtues, thou hast gone up into the chamber of ineffable glory, chanting hymnody unto Christ for all ages.

Arrayed in priestly vesture and celebrating the unbloody sacrifice, thou didst offer sacrifice unto God forever.

Theotokion: Having conceived in thy womb Him Who existed before thee, O pure Virgin Mother of God, thou gavest birth ineffably unto God the King.

Ode IX

Irmos: O ye people, with glory let us honor the pure Theotokos, who received the fire of the Godhead in her womb without being consumed, and let us magnify her with hymns.

Thou wast shown by God to be a physician for those afflicted by the passions and a destroyer and expeller of evil spirits, O blessed one; wherefore, we call thee blessed.

Thou didst abandon the earth as a habitation of corruption, O father, and hast made thine abode in the land of the meek, with whom thou dost rejoice, delighting in divine sweetness.

Having thy struggles as a blameless rule of faith and an image of abstinence, we unceasingly magnify the Creator in hymns.

On this festive day Titus calleth the flock of monastics to a spiritual dance and convocation, and to a banquet of life incorruptible.

Theotokion: O most immaculate one, He Who made His abode in thee hath been born, casting down the slayer of men who of old in his wickedness caused our first parents to stumble; and He hath saved us all.