Menaion of the Orthodox Church

The 17th Day of the Month of March.

The Commemoration of Our Venerable Father Alexis, the Man of God

At Vespers

On “Lord, I have cried…,” these stichera, in Tone I, Special Melody: “O all-praised martyrs…”

We know thee to be a man of God, both in name and in deed; for thou didst shine forth in the virtues, enduring boundless poverty and straightened circumstances on earth, and hast made the faithful steadfast by thy miracles.

With a desire which bedewed the flesh thou didst quench the burning lusts, O Alexis. Piously didst thou exchange thy chamber for a hut, and bodily delight for the divine likeness of the angels. With them do thou pray, that peace and great mercy be granted to our souls.

Unrecognized, thou didst remain in affliction, O wise one, before the gates of thy sacred parents, as the servants of the household mocked thee in thy needy condition. But dying, thou wast revealed through the wonders thou didst work, healing infirmities and expelling evil spirits.

But if it be Saturday or Sunday, we chant: Glory…, in Tone II

Christ God, loving thy calm, silent, guileless and meek life, O most blessed Alexis, hath shown thee to the whole world as a beacon, shining more brightly than the sun; for thou didst count thy wife and fleeting wealth as but dust, remaining unknown in thy father’s house, desiring Christ alone Who is beloved of thee. Remember thou thy servants at the throne of God, King of all, O venerable father, and cease not to pray for thy servants.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion, Special Melody: “O all-praised martyrs…”

My soul, which is grievously oppressed by evil passions, do thou heal, O all-holy one who gavest birth to Christ, the Healer and Savior of all, Who healeth every wound, Who was wounded by the devil’s malice and hath rescued us from death.

Or this Stavrotheotokion

The unblemished Ewe-lamb and Mistress, beholding her Lamb upon the Cross, bereft of form and comeliness, cried out lamenting: “Woe is me! Where hath Thy beauty set, O most sweet One? Where is Thy splendor? Where is the radiant grace of Thy form, O my Son most beloved?”

Troparion, in Tone IV

Having mounted to virtue and cleansed thy mind, thou didst attain unto that which was thine ultimate desire; and having adorned thy life with dispassion and taken up exemplary fasting with a pure conscience, remaining in prayer like one of the bodiless ones, thou didst shine forth upon the world like the sun, O most blessed Alexis.

At Matins

Canon to the venerable one, the acrostic whereof is: “Thee, the Man of God, do I praise, O blessed One,” the composition of Joseph, in Tone II

Ode I

Irmos: Overwhelming power once laid low the whole army of Pharaoh in the deep, and the incarnate Word hath destroyed pernicious sin. All-glorious is the Lord, for gloriously hath He been glorified.

In passing through thy blameless and venerable life, O wise one, from thy youth thou didst traverse the most narrow way. Wherefore, broaden thou the narrowness of my mind, that I may praise thee, O Alexis, who abidest in the broad expanse of paradise.

Relying wholly upon God, O blessed one, thou didst transcend thy body and the world. To fleeting riches didst thou prefer what is heavenly and abiding, and the everlasting city of Sion which hath been promised to the faithful.

Thou didst loose the barrenness of thy mother’s womb, being born like Samuel, O thou who art most rich. And having conceived pure fear in the womb of thy heart, in the divine virtues thou didst through faith give birth unto the spirit of salvation.

Theotokion: The Son Who is equally without beginning had thee, O Virgin, as the means of His assuming our likeness, for He found thee alone, O pure one, to be more pure than all creation. Wherefore, all of us, the generations of man, hymn and bless thee.

Ode III

Irmos: The desert, the barren Church of the nations, blossomed like a lily at Thine advent, O Lord; and therein hath my heart been established.

Pierced with longing for purity, thou didst exchange a bridal chamber on earth for one in heaven, and the love of a wife for the angelic habit most sweet.

Thou didst forsake the tumult of life and the burden of wealth, becoming a sojourner in thy homeland, O blessed Alexis, emulating the poverty of Christ.

With tears and pangs and abstinence, O most wise one, didst thou seek what is good when the light of understanding came, imparting dispassion to thy heart.

Theotokion: He Who on High is unseen by the angels is seen below, born of thee a perfect man, O pure one, renewing the world which perisheth.

Sessional hymn, in Tone III, Special Melody: “Awed by the beauty of thy virginity…”

Thou didst forsake the beauty of the world, exchanging transitory wealth for what is manifestly abiding and inviolable, O Alexis. Wherefore, we glorify thee with all the saints, and with splendor we celebrate on the day of thy memorial, asking that through thy prayers we may obtain great mercy, O blessed one.

Glory…, Now and ever…: Theotokion

The dread mystery of God which was wrought through thee, O divinely favored Mistress, is past understanding and comprehension, for, having conceived, thou gavest birth unto the Uncircumscribable One Who was wrapped in the flesh through thy pure blood. Him do thou ever entreat, as thy Son, O pure one, that our souls may be saved.

Or this Stavrotheotokion

Thy pure Mother who kneweth not wedlock, O Christ, beholding Thee hanging, dead, upon the Cross, said, weeping maternally: “What hath the iniquitous and thankless council of the Jews rendered unto Thee, O my Son, for Thy many and great gifts which they enjoyed? I hymn Thy divine condescension!”

Ode IV

Irmos: Thou didst come forth from the Virgin, neither a mediator nor an angel, but Thyself incarnate, O Lord, and hast saved me, the whole man; wherefore, I cry to thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!

A beggar, as poor as Lazarus, thou didst endure poverty; for divine desire comforted thy heart, which longed for the riches of heaven, O blessed one.

Eating but once a week, O Alexis, a life serene and devoid of grief didst thou desire, yearning for the bliss which awaited thee and is not fleeting.

Seeking to make of thy heart a temple for God, O glorious one, thou didst ever love to sit in the house of the Mother of God and to contemplate the beauties of Heaven.

Theotokion: O Virgin who nurtured at thy breast the Giver of milk, with all knowledge and divine compunction do thou now fill my heart which doth hunger and is straightened, I entreat thee.

Ode V

Irmos: Thou art a Mediator between God and man, O Christ God; for by Thee, O Master, are we led up out of the night of ignorance to Thy Father, the Source of light.

Ever watering thy soul with the sacred streams of thy tears, thou didst truly produce grain an hundredfold, storing it up well for the immortal Husbandman.

Thou wast seen on earth, O right wondrous father, emulating the life of the bodiless ones in thy great abstinence and in the care thou didst take in thy prayers, whereby thou wast illumined as with a light.

With the fire of prayers didst thou utterly consume the tinder of sin, O wise one; by thy standing in vigils thou didst lull every alluring pleasure to sleep; and in thy repose didst thou pass over to unwaning splendor.

Theotokion: He that dwelleth in light made His abode in thy holy womb, O pure one, fashioning anew the world that had perished through the darkness of ignorance. Him do thou beseech, that He enlighten all that hymn thee.

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!

She who kneweth not wedlock showeth thee forth as a living temple of God, for thou hadst become a dwelling-place of Christ; and she glorifieth thee who hid and sought to conceal thyself.

Thy prayers were as pleasing to God as incense, O blessed one; and thus by thy life thou hast made fragrant the minds of the faithful by the grace of the Spirit.

To thy native land doth Christ again give thee, who wast not desirous thereof, who forsook fleeting glory and wast adorned with a sacred life, O glorious one.

Theotokion: The Creator Who hath fashioned creation anew, O pure Mistress, is ineffably born of thee according to the laws of nature; and in His boundless mercy He doth deify me.

Kontakion, in Tone II

Having the house of thy parents as a foreign land, thou didst dwell therein in the guise of a pauper; and receiving after thy repose a crown of glory, thou wast revealed as wondrous on earth, O Alexis, Man of God, thou joy of angels and men!

Ikos: Thou wast adorned by thy life and words, and hast magnified the Church of Christ by thy life, causing thy father and mother, the emperor and the people to hold festival, preserving that which is in the image of God by thy deeds, O venerable Alexis. For thou didst shine forth in the world in thy chastity. Wherefore, the grace of thy virtues doth illumine all that celebrate thy memory with faith, O father, for thou hast been shown to be the joy of angels and men.

Ode VII

Irmos: The command of the iniquitous tyrant, opposed to God, raised up a lofty flame; but Christ, Who is blessed and all-glorious, spread a spiritual dew upon the pious youths.

O venerable one, thou didst endure want, sitting before thy parents’ gates all unknown, enduring the mockery of the servants, cruelly taunted, and afflicted by great poverty.

Putting to death the pride of thy flesh, O venerable one, by seeing thy parents and not being recognized by them, thou didst conceal the force of nature, and didst endure the disdain of the ignorant servants who offended thee.

O, the wonder! How didst thou, O Alexis, impoverished, ever abide in the riches of boundless humility? How didst thou endure the mockery and contempt of thy servants who knew not thy way of life, O all-wise one?

Theotokion: Thou wast the servant of the great mystery, O all-immaculate one; for thou gavest flesh unto God Who from great evils hath delivered us that magnify thee, O pure, blessed and divinely favored one.

Ode VIII

Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fiery furnace divided its activity at the command of God, consuming the Chaldæans, but bedewing the faithful, who chant: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!

Unknown before to thy parents, but revealed at the hour of thy departure, thou didst disclose to them thy secret, unto the glory of our God Who hath greatly and fittingly glorified thee, O glorious one.

With a mighty voice the Lord revealed thee to all Rome as a hidden treasure, reposing in the form of a pauper and enriching with gifts of healing all who have recourse unto thee with faith, O thou who art most rich.

Kings and princes, and the priests of the people went down to bury thee at God’s behest, O blessed one; and, beholding the magnificent sight, they marvelled at the wonders which thou didst work through the divine power of the Spirit.

Theotokion: He Who loveth mankind was incorruptibly incarnate of thine incorrupt womb, O all-immaculate one, renewing us who of old became corrupt by transgressing God’s commandment; and He hath delivered all from the corruption of sin, O Bride of God.

Ode IX

Irmos: God the Lord, the Son of the unoriginate Father, hath revealed Himself to us incarnate of the Virgin, to enlighten those in darkness and to gather the dispersed. Wherefore, we magnify the all-hymned Theotokos.

God doth glorify thee, O blessed one; for, when borne to the grave, thou didst pour forth healings, and the blind saw the light, and those who were mute received the power of speech, O most glorious Alexis.

Borne to thy burial, O father, and laid out, thou wast seen to be like the sun, most gloriously emitting rays of healing, driving away dark passions, burning up the demons and enlightening the divinely wise.

Moved by God, the first among the patriarchs came to bury thee, and the most Christian emperor, the princes, senators and young men, and the choirs of monastics; and they were sanctified by touching thee, O blessed one.

Thou wast borne aloft on a chariot of the virtues, and dost rest where are the ranks of the venerable and the assembly of the apostles and martyrs, the patriarchs and all the righteous. With them remember us who honor thee, O Alexis.

Theotokion: We offer thee the cry of Gabriel, O all-immaculate one, saying: Rejoice, O field unploughed! Rejoice, annulment of the curse! Rejoice, fount of living water, boast of the venerable, O Ever-virgin Theotokos!