Prosomia of the Saint

Rightly are you called God-bearer: when the Master in his compassion took you in his arms, blessed Ignatios, as he revealed the doctrines of the true wisdom from the highest, then you received the beam with many lights, soaking up, like a sponge, the waters from the deep of enlightenments; and so you followed step by step Christ our God who called you. Implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

Wounded with perfect love, when the whirlwind of affection set your soul aflame, most holy Father, urging you forward to go towards the Master, then you cried out that revered word, ‘I am the Creator’s wheat, and I must be completely ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may appear as the purest bread for the Word, our God’. Implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

You were crucified with Christ, O Revealer of mysteries, when you cried aloud that inspired word, ‘My love has been crucified, and I am pressing forward with speed to share in his suffering’. Therefore, blessed Ignatios, you set out like the sun from the East and sped towards the West, giving light, and you were adorned with a diadem of the Kingdom as you were brought to Christ. Implore him to save and enlighten our souls.

Godbearer Ignatios, you enfolded Christ your love in your embrace, and you received the reward of your priestly service of the Gospel: to be perfected through blood; and so, becoming wheat of the immortal husbandman, you were ground by the teeth of wild beasts and were revealed as sweet bread for him. Blessed Athlete, intercede on our behalf.

O house of Ephratha, the holy City, the glory of the Prophets, make ready the house in which the Divine comes to birth.

How firm and adamantine was your soul, most blessed Ignatios! For as you had an unyielding desire for your true lover, you said, ‘There is in me no matter-loving fire, but rather living water, which speaks in me, and from within says to me: Come to the Father’; therefore, fired by the divine Spirit, you roused wild beasts to part you quickly from the world and send you to Christ the beloved; implore him that our souls may be saved.

Bethlehem prepare; Eden is opened for all. Make ready Ephratha, because the tree of life has flowered in the Cave from the Virgin. For her womb has been revealed as the spiritual Paradise in which is the plant of life; eating from it we shall live; we shall not die as Adam. Christ is born to raise up his image which had fallen.

You shared their way of life.

The ineffable descent of the Word of God, that is of the God-man Christ, is made known; he did not think that to be God was robbery, but is coming having taken the form of a servant from a pure Maiden, Child of God.

I will make you all my kinsmen, if you keep my commandments, says Christ to mankind, as he comes from a pure womb. He gives them peace and now commands them to have lowly thoughts, to recognise him as Lord and chant: We highly exalt you to all the ages.

Rejecting all the stain of passion, let us take up as as befits the coming of Christ a prudent disposition; for he is coming forth without stain to bear flesh and to grant to all divine refashioning through the Spirit.

He who bowed the heavens and dwelt in the Virgin comes forth in flesh to be born in the Cave of Bethlehem, as it is written, and to be seen as a babe, he who gives life to babes in the womb; rejoicing in him, let us all now go to meet him in uprightness of heart.

Sion, be glad, Bethlehem, make ready; the maintainer of all things, sending the Star ahead, reveals his measureless condescension; for he before whom the Powers of heaven tremble is truly being brought to birth from the Virgin without change, the only Lover of mankind.

Psalm 50 and the Canons.

Let us begin to-day to celebrate the forefeast of Christ’s Nativity, who was born in the body from the Virgin Mother in the Cave of Bethlehem through his great compassion.

Releasing me from the bonds of sin, the pre-eternal God, seen as a babe, is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Glory to his might!

Eden is opened, Master, as you are brought to birth in the flesh from a Maiden, Child of God, in the city of Bethlehem. We hymn your dread dispensation.

Canon of the Saint, a composition of Andrew of Crete.

As we radiantly celebrate, let us sing in harmony, the Martyr Ignatios urges on Christ’s Church towards his much-praised contest.

All-blessed Ignatios, we all honour your memory and reverence in psalms the One who crowned your all-honoured head, O blessed by God.

As a brightly shining beacon of the Church, Ignatios, you shed light on all the ends of the earth, and you are a torch for the West coming from the East.

Imitating the dangers Paul faced in every place, Ignatios, and while a prisoner you did not quail, confirming the Churches of Christ with numerous letters.

Glory.

Trinity above all being, one Godhead, three-personned Unity, save, have mercy on those who faithfully cry to you, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’.

Both now.

Isaias, knowing the incarnation of Christ by the Holy Spirit, clearly foretells it, ‘The Lord is born as a Child from a Virgin for our rebirth, whose government is upon his shoulder’.

A Star has already dawned from the tribe of Juda; knowing which Kings of the East are moving and hastening to arrive that they may contemplate Christ, who is being brought to birth in Bethlehem.

You were revealed to be a model of sacred struggle, a tablet of endurance, a rule of courage, a pillar of the Church, a bulwark of Faith, an example of virtue, crowned by Christ for your honoured struggles.

Truly, Father, you have been called by the title ‘God-bearer’, for while still quite a child, you were carried and placed in the Lord’s hands, as he declared to us, ‘Become for me like this little child.’

What place has not been hallowed by your sufferings? In what region, Martyr, are you not known? Or what prison has not received you, Christ’s Martyr, as a prisoner. For godlike zeal roused to fight.

You cried out. I am pure wheat for our God and I am hastening to be ground by wild beasts. Let my bones be crushed, led my limbs be devoured and let me become food for beasts, that I may appear pure bread for Christ.’

In holiness you reached a remarkable stadium of martyrdom and displayed a strange courage more remarkable than those who had competed before, on fire with longing for unyielding lover, who set your soul alight like fire.

The Bishop Martyr, ever fervent in spirit, cried out with longing in the midst of dangers, ‘I go after Christ rejoicing. I am crucified with Christ. I live, but it is no longer I, but Christ alone,’ he says, ‘who lives in me.’

Glory.

I worship one Godhead, as beginning and end of all that is and all that will be, the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten beyond time, the right Spirit, proceeding from the Father.

Both now.

You blazed our from the East like a star and with the beams of your words you enlightened the world and banished the darkness, and like Paul you nobly completed the course, having endured dangers among nations and cities. So too you were ground like wheat by the teeth of wild beasts, becoming an offering to your Lord, Godbearer Ignatios. Intercede with Christ God to grant forgiveness of faults to those who celebrate with love your holy memory.

Set apart by Christ God, you made your sacred robe shine with splendour, and truly you met with martyrdom, O Godbearer. For you roused wild beasts to separate your from the world, imitating Paul the inspired, glorious Martyr. And so at Rome, Father, you fittingly accomplished martyrdom.

Mountains and hills, trees of the forest, rivers and seas and everything that has breath leap for joy; now Jesus, salvation, draws near to be born of a Virgin in the city of Bethlehem.

Take up your psaltery Prophet David, and sing clearly by the Holy Spirit, ‘From the Virgin has been born without confusion, he who shone from the womb of the Father before the morning star, the Lord of glory, Christ our God’.

You made the earth radiant with the brightness of your contests, holy Ignatios, when you led as a prisoner. For hastening like the sun with the rays of your martyrdom, you gave light to all the West bringing torches from the East.

Bound like Paul by rational beasts, you made haste towards Rome, wise Ignatios. But though a prisoner, you did not cease to strengthen the Churches, sending letters city by city to all Christ’s hierarchs to take courage.

‘Let the mouths of wild beasts be my slaughter and their bellies my sepulchres,’ you cried out, O Athlete, ‘Let no one trouble me, let no one weaken my resolve. For I am hurrying to be ground like wheat and to found as pure bread of God.’

‘I am hastening to become Christ’s, Christ’s alone, I say. For I am wholly Christ’s,’ you cried out, O Athlete, ‘Him I follow, him I am eager to attain. And through this fire and sword and all wild beasts I stand firm, that I may reach him.,

You reached the finishing line with fervent soul, courageous Martyr, wounded with love for your lover. For Christ was your love. Drawing breath from him and following after him, you braved the toils of every torment.

Glory.

Let us believers glorify a Trinity in Unity, as with never silent voices we cry out: Holy Trinity worshipped in Unity, and hymned without confusion in Trinity, glory to you, consubstantial Trinity.

Both now.

Clouds with gladness rain down sweetness, for already the Lord draws near to be born as an infant from a pure Virgin in a shabby Cave.

Godlike Prophets of God now leap for joy; for Christ, the truth, has come to fulfil the proclamations of your godlike tongue being brought to birth as a babe.

Such a High priest was ours, wise, faithful, undefiled, innocent, cried Paul as he described beforehand the sacred image of your sacred ways.

Having the high citadel of your life, Father, as an inviolable rule and model of orthodoxy, we are drawn up to it, longing to attain the ancient glory.

Devoutly rivalling the achievements of Paul, you endured all his dangers, noble Bishop and Martyr, light of the East and star of the West.

Led away as a prisoner to suffer, High priest Ignatios, prisoner of Christ, you wrote to the Churches and cities, strengthening all by your confession.

As our pillar, foundation and rampart, Martyr and Shepherd, keep the concord of the Church unshaken in the confession of Christ’s truth.

Glory.

I hymn and worship the equal honour of the Trinity, as I fittingly glorify one Godhead, undivided in three Persons, and ever acknowledged in one substance.

Both now.

Heaven upon earth shows to the Astrologers through a shining star the heavenly King now being brought to birth for our sake in the city of David.

The Prophet preaches and clearly cries, ‘You house of Ephratha, Bethlehem, in which God will appear from the Virgin, leap for joy and dance’.

As you truly loved your lover without flinching and spiritually lit the fire which led to him, Ignatios, you had in you the water that lived and spoke.

Though you drank Christ’s new cup, yet you remained thirsty to die for the sake of living, and you cried out, ‘These things are nothing to me, compared to attaining life.’

Accomplishing the martyrdom of your conscience, you did not quail when you saw the assaults of the wild beasts; you did not tremble when you were about to be ground like wheat by their fangs.

Burning with the love of Christ, O Athlete, you hastened to the fire of trials as to the morning dew, to attain your lover, the One Who Is.

You reckoned your lengthy torments, your unbreakable bonds, your being rent in pieces in Rome and the fire of the persecutors as nothing, Bishop and Martyr, for the sake of your lover.

Glory.

Trinity above all being, Unity above all goodness, the Father and the Son and the right Spirit, have mercy on those who worship your divine might.

Both now.

The holy new martyr John, from the island of Thasos was martyred in Constantinople in 1652,dying by the sword.

Showing the proof of Christ in the body, Jeremy cried out: God has appeared embodied upon earth, and found every way of knowledge, being born of a Mother in Bethlehem.

See, a rod has blossomed from a root, putting forth a fresh flower, Christ; and upon him, brought to birth in a Cave, the Spirit of understanding, counsel and divine knowledge has come to rest.

You did not have in you, Ignatios, fire that loved matter, but rather water that lived and spoke; water that called, ‘Come quickly to the Father; water leaping up that channels us from life to life.

‘Let the teeth of the wild beasts become for me,’ he said, ‘swords and blades and slaughters, and let the entrails of lions be my tomb, and let the fire be fed before corruption on the remnants of my skin.

‘To be alive in body is not what I love, for I long to live in spirit. For me to be alive is Christ, the divine love. To him I hurry, him I love,’ he says, ‘him I expect to gain’.

‘Death to me is sweet,’ he says, ‘all the agonies of my toils are sweet to me; wild beasts are pleasant, this fire to me is dew. I I will not hold on to living; therefore I hasten to die, that I may live with Christ.’

Glory.

Let us offer a hymn to the Trinity, as we glorify the Father without beginning, the Son and right Spirit, a single being, which we hymn thrice over, as we cry: Holy, Holy, Holy, God of our Fathers.

The Lord is clearly coming to his own by a strange birth; let us receive him, so that he, brought to birth in a Cave, may make us, who have been exiled from the Paradise of pleasure, dwell there once again.

See, our recalling dwells among us; let us with haste make joyful songs resound, and let us sing prefestal melodies to him who is contained in a tiny Cave.

Let the praise of Ignatios, the great Priest, be sung, doubly crowned, as Martyr and as Shepherd. For having struggled for the sake of the love of God, longing passionately to be loved, he did not refuse to suffer.

Thrusting for the cup of Christ’s passion, you hurried as a prisoner, wise Ignatios. And having reached the starting line, you did not cease to cry aloud, ‘I thirst to be thirsty for Christ to the ages.’

By the paths of the Faith you nobly sped through the earth, like the sun, from the extremities of heaven. And having set from the earth towards Christ without setting, you make the light of incorruption shine for the world.

Held fast in bonds, you journeyed through the earth, perfuming us by your struggles. And now, after the end, like a lily of the field and a lily of the plain, you make us fragrant.

Glory.

Let the Trinity, in being a Unity, be hymned; let the Unity, in Persons a Trinity be honoured; as one in nature, but three in Persons, not divided, not compounded.

With Patriarchs, with all the Just and with the Holy Prophets let us leap for joy; from a Maiden the Lord, Jesus, redemption, illumination, life, salvation is now being brought to birth in the city of David.

Already the gateways of the incarnation of the divine Word have been clearly opened for all; heavens be glad, Angels leap for joy, and let earth in spirit make merry with mankind, along with Shepherds and with Magi.

The God-bearer invites to a banquet, setting before us his sacred struggles. Come, lovers of martyrs, having plucked with holiness the mystical flowers of delightful songs, let us wreathe our own heads with crowns.

Most sacred priest, you made your sacred robe more sacred by your struggles. Therefore, having obtained a double crown, with Martyrs and with Pastors, Bishop and Martyr, you sing the praise of Christ our God.

‘I am pure wheat of God,’ you said, ‘and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may become bread, made holy and made pure for my lover and my God. And as I long for him, I do not quail at death.

As one who despises things below, Ignatios, and servant of mysteries on high, as celebrant and victim you offered yourself for martyrdom as unblemished worship, making yourself ready for wild beasts and fires.

The bowels of wild beasts became your tomb, but now you have Sion as your dwelling and you live in the newness of the life-bearing Spirit as you reign with Christ in heaven and delight in his beauty.

Made radiant by the unapproachable light and dwelling in the mansions on high, holy Ignatios, as you appeal to your God and Creator on behalf of this your flock, do not cease to make constant intercession.

Glory.

Let the light beyond beginning, our life, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be ever hymned in three Persons and one Godhead, simple Trinity, united in nature and identical in honour.

At Lauds we insert 6 Stichera, and we sing the following Prosomia, in alphabetical order.

The Star of Jacob rises in the Cave. Come, and as we celebrate the Forefeast, let us hasten with the Magi, let us gather with the Shepherds; let us see God in swaddling clothes; let us see a Virgin giving suck. O awesome sight! The King of Israel is at hand.

Hills drop down sweetness; for see, God has come from Theman, Nations be defeated; Prophets and Patriarchs leap for joy; mankind dance inspired by God; the strong and great Prince, Christ is brought to birth; on earth the King of heaven is at hand.

Raising mortals up from earth, the Creator has come, renewing once again the royal image; Powers of things above, rejoice together, sing your hymn; the middle wall of enmity is abolished; he has come for whom it was laid up; for God becomes a mortal; Christ, the King of Israel, is at hand.

Come, believers, let us meet the Creator, who has come to earth to dawn from a Virgin; let us shine with purity, let us blaze with virtues; let us be prepared with trembling and joy to see with the eyes of the mind Christ become a babe, who in his supreme goodness makes us mortals divine.

Christ draws near; Bethlehem prepare in advance; already the salvation of the Nations sheds its light. Make ready the Manger, assemble the Shepherds, summon the Magi from Persia; the Armies of the Bodiless Minds cry out: The King of heaven, Christ is at hand.

Isaias, dance, receive the Word of God; prophesy to the Maiden Mary that a Bush is on fire and is not consumed by the ray of the Godhead. Bethlehem make ready; Eden open your gate; Magi journey to see salvation wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger, whom a Star above the Cave has revealed to be the Lord, the giver of life, who saves our race.

Living monument and breathing image, your yearly festival is here, Godbearer Ignatios, and proclaims your priestly service and your deeds of valour; your resistance to shedding of blood on behalf of the Faith; that blest and revered voice which said: I am God’s wheat, and am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts; and so, as you became an imitator of Christ, intercede that our souls may be saved.