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CANON FOR THE SYNODIKON OF ORTHODOXY INTRODUCTION In the Triodia this Canon is ascribed to
Theodore the Studite, but it cannot be by him, since he had died several years
earlier. The author is almost certainly the Patriarch St Methodios. The
troparion of the 8th Ode which speaks of the famous Icon of Christ above the
Bronze Gate of the Palace reminds one of the poem on the subject that was
written by the Patriarch Methodios to celebrate its restoration. The rubric in
the Triodion says, ’after the Dismissal of Matins and before the Liturgy, we
go in procession, together with wood of the Cross and the revered Icons, to the
place where the Synodikon is to be read. As we go and as we return we sing the
following Canon’. If this canon was first sung in 843, it is tempting to
suggest that it may have been sung as the clergy and people made their way from
the church of the Mother of God in Blachernae, where the vigil had been
celebrated, to the Great Church, where the Liturgy was to be celebrated. It is perhaps worth remarking that one of
those present would almost certainly have been a seventeen year old boy from
Thessalonika, who had recently been sent to Constantinople on the death of his
father and placed in the care of Theoktistos the Logothete, the Empress
Theodora’s chief minister. The young man’s name was Constantine; though he
is better known by his monastic name, Cyril — the Apostle of the Slavs. The Canon presents a number of linguistic and
historical problems, and this translation is only provisional. One of the
historical problems is why such prominence is given to otherwise almost wholly
unknown character, Lezix, who appears here as one of the leaders of the
iconoclasts. It seems that he was subsequently reconciled to the Church by the
Patriarch himself. The two troparia that are sung after the Canon
are not without interest. The first, which is now the Apolytikion for the day,
seems to have been a rallying song of the Iconodules, for we read in the life of
St Theodore the Studite that shortly after the exile of Patriarch Nikephoros and
the removal of the icons, St Theodore organised a solemn procession of the
icons, during which this troparion was sung. In his Life we read that ‘he
ordered all the monks under him to take the icons in their hands, hold them high
and then march round the whole circuit of the monastery, sing the hymn, “We
worship your most pure icon, loving Lord”, together with other hymns of
victory to Christ the Victor. This took place on the glorious feast of Palms,
which we all believers celebrate before the Passion and Resurrection of the
Master’ [PG 99:185]. The other troparion formed part of the ancient
office for the First Sunday of Lent, which was dedicated to the Prophets, in
particular Moses, Aaron and Samuel. The three are found together in Psalm 96:6, ’Moses and Aaron were among his priests: and
Samuel among those that call upon his name’. The present Gospel for this Sunday is also a
survival from the ancient office, and it was chosen presumably because of the
words of the Apostle Philip to Nathaniel, ’We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth’. CANON FOR THE SYNODIKON OF ORTHODOXY By Methodios Ode 1. Tone 6. Helper and Protector. Let us believers
sing a song of thanksgiving to our God, the Benefactor of all things, for he has
raised up a saving horn for us, a mighty kingdom, a champion of Orthodoxy. [Twice] Truly divine
grace has appeared to the inhabited world, glory and honour have appeared, the
Church leaps for joy, having received the robe of its own baring. Christ’s
tunic, previously rent by John the deceiver and poisoner, the godly Fathers have
now woven and given to the Church. The Church,
having taken up the Lord’s form, rejoices and leaps with gladness with her
children, as she has received from him prizes of victory, symbols of Orthodoxy. Let the haters,
dreadful Lizix and Antony with John and Theodore, both deniers of the faith, be
ashamed and turned back. Iannes and
Iambres, who opposed Moses the Lawgiver of old, were put to shame; while now
John the deceiver is truly routed with Antony. You tore apart
the faction of God’s foes, O Christ, and have now restored to the Church her
robe, the Church for which you poured out your blood, as you are good. Glory. I contemplate
you, O Trinity, and worship your divine might; deliver me from trials of every
kind, for I believe in you, Father, Son and all-holy Spirit. Both
now. Theotokion. Wearing from you
the royal robe, O Virgin, God appeared to mortals in human form, double in
being; the form of his form we hold in veneration. Ode 3. Establish, Lord. Rejoice, all you
choirs of Fathers and Apostles, as you behold the worship of the Icons, which
you clearly handed down. [Twice] Let the
all-unblemished Church cry out, ‘I have received my beauty and put on my robe,
of which John had stripped me’. Be ashamed, you
lawless, who battle against the Lord, for he was incarnate and has been made
manifest in an image, which we embrace in a relative manner. Who would speak
out the foul doctrines and lawless teachings of the insane John, expounding
Delphic ways? Anathema to
Lizix and John, with Antony, Theodore the godless blasphemer, together with
insane Theodotos! The blood shed
for the divine likeness of the incarnate Master cries out; blood that was shed
by John. The Lord has
expelled the horde of aliens and has given back to his own what was theirs.
Glory to his goodness! Glory. Let us worship
with right belief the will that is without beginning, the authority and
sovereign power of the Trinity, ever rejecting Arius. Both
now. Theotokion. We confess you
to be truly the Sovereign Lady who gave birth to God, heeding not the words of
Nestorios, but the doctrines of the Fathers. Ode
4. The prophet heard. Rejoice with
gladness, O Church, and every city, town and village; let the monasteries be
opened and the nunneries adorned. Let then fittingly worship the relics and
icons of the Martyrs. Christ invites
you! Now godly Fathers assemble with eagerness and recount, like the Apostles,
the spectacle of his Incarnation, his miracles and his sufferings, as the Sacred
Gospel writes. Assemble
rejoicing with boldness, you multitudes of monks, for though they were evilly
strong, the cowards have again been worsted, and whatever counsel such men
counselled, the Lord will scatter. The stripes of
the Fathers, the blood shed by their blows have truly ceased; continuous exiles
are no more, and peace is being established for all. No longer does the work of
magic have force; for ‘God is with us’. The vine of evil
spread out its branches of impiety and flowered with the bitter grape cluster,
and their wine was the rag of the dragon, from which they truly gave the
Lord’s people the evil-minded drink. They defiled
your Temple with unlawful ordinations for money, and they have been canonically
cast out and are fallen from divine glory: Simon Magus, and with him John and
Antony. Against the wild
beasts and enemies of God, foul Antony, the traitor, John, of satanic mind and
enemy of the Church, assembled like fierce wolves, let us believers shout out
three times, ‘Anathema!’. Glory. O uncreated
Monarchy, Father, Son and Spirit, we worship you, whose praise the many-eyed
Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim sing, as they cry, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy are
you, O Highest and Almighty!’ Both
now. Theotokion. Holier than the
holies, higher than all creatures you were named, O Virgin Mother, who bore your
own Creator; therefore we offer worship to your holy form, O Birth-giver of God. Ode 5. Rising in the night. Christ has
conquered! Let earth leap for joy! Tumult has ceased; the weeping of the
Lord’s servants too has ceased; while everywhere the Faith has been unfurled
for the world. [Twice] Seeing the
Crucifixion in an Icon, we love it with reverence, greeting Christ and his
symbols, and we worship them, but do not honour them as gods. The garrulous
and blasphemous spirit of Lyzikos has ceased, that continually by day and night
spoke out against the divine image of Christ and his Saints. Why, thrice
wretched man, do you hate the immaculate image of Christ’s incarnation and of
all the Saints? For surely we believers do not worship dumb idols, do we? Lighting on
instruments of impiety, they assembled a synod of impious priests against God
most high, like the Jews, Annas and Caiaphas, of old. On the day of judgement, most wretched man, the company of the Fathers will stand as accusers of your godless soul; the Fathers who flesh you stripped bare with unnumbered blows. All the Churches
will shout aloud, crying that they were all deprived by you of the image of the
Lord and of his Saints, the holy Icons. Glory. Glory to you who
sustain the universe by your might! Glory to you, Unity in Three Persons,
Father, Son and Spirit, deliver from harm of every kind those who believe in
you. Both
now. Theotokion. We
reverence you, Sovereign Lady and Virgin, as the beauteous golden lamp that gave
birth for the world to the spiritual light and diminished the misty fog. Ode 6. I cried from my whole heart. The unsleeping
guardians of Christ’s Church cried out, asking him that she be given peace. He
heard and was attentive to their prayer. [Twice] The game traps
of the deceiver have been exposed by the teachings of the Fathers, and God, who
is uncircumscribed in his Godhead, formed in flesh is praised. Fellow workers of error, be ashamed! And let Theodotos and Lizix and Theodore, that abyss of destruction, be destroyed with Antony. You opened your
mouth, you wretch, not in spiritual songs, but in blasphemies against your
Master, rejecting the honourable fashioning of Icons. You overthrew
the doctrines of the Fathers and the teachings of the Apostles, writing against
them in accordance with your lawless cult, John, enemy of Christ. The smoke of
your tears filled the eyes of the devout; but with the wind of the godly
Teachers they have been dispersed, demented John. You ripped apart
the divine robe, like Arius of old Christ’s tunic, therefore you have been
cast out of the Church like a dog. Glory. I
glorify one source of Godhead in three hypostases; for God is one, Father, Son
and Spirit; though distinct in characteristics and persons. Both
now. Theotokion. Prophetically,
Pure Maiden glorified by God, you were revealed as City of God, from which your
Maker was born, preserving you after childbearing as you were before. Ode 7. We have sinned, we have offended. Divine grace has
now quenched the furnace of heresy, consuming the spiritual Chaldeans, bedewing
the servants of the Trinity, who had been held in its flames for four weeks of
years. [Twice] The Church is
adorned, robed, made fair with the form of the Master of all things, of his
incarnation and sufferings, bearing their symbols to the end, in accordance with
God’s laws. The Lord’s
people that bears Christ’s name celebrates, keeps festival, seeing the Church
once again resplendent with the beauty of the divine form, which, though being
God, he bore as human in order to save us. In flesh the
Word was poor and hungry and thirsty, these being the attributes of the human
nature, through which he is circumscribed; though in hid Godhead he is simple
and uncircumscribed. The monstrosities and wizardries of the enemy of Christ have been destroyed, for he has been revealed as equal of the Greeks, inflated by their writings, which the voices of the just have utterly destroyed. What tongue will
recount your most damaging and soul destroying doctrines or the utterance of
your belly, falsely named John and forerunner of the Antichrist Satan? There was no
need for you to be so named, but rather Pythagoras, Chronos, and Apollo, whose
manner of life you rivalled, delighting in your impieties. Glory. Eternal,
all-powerful, beyond understanding; we believers all worship a Trinity, Father,
Son and Spirit, and let us confess them without confusion as we cry, ‘Holy,
Holy, Holy are you, O God!’ Both
now. Theotokion. Sure Bridge for Christians, the boast of the faithful and their refuge; Sovereign Lady, Mother of God, you alone are she that helps all and saves them from dangers. Ode 8. Whom the armies of Heaven. Believers, let us all rejoice like the prophets and let us mystically be glad, for this is the day on which Christ the Word gave back to the Church his own robe. Lezix and John,
the yoke of Beliar, ranged themselves in serried ranks as for against Christ’s
image, assaulting the Church with axe of wickedness. Who would not
grieve on seeing the outrageous act of daring, the divine image over the Bronze
gate of the palace, stoned by lawless men on John’s instruction. How do you not
understand, blind wretch, darkened in mind, when you see that all under heaven
has been adorned with Christ’s imprint; but alone you had the understanding of
the Jews? You thought you
would utterly destroy the incarnate Image of the Lord and all the saints from
the holy Churches; but divine grace has destroyed your tyranny. Dread Lezix,
along with John, the deniers of true religion, lawlessly said they would in no
way worship the sacred relics of the saints and their Icons. Glory. As we all devoutly reverence the all-creating Divine Power in three Forms, the Father who has no beginning, the Word and the Spirit that shines out with them, let us glorify to the ages. Both
now. Theotokion. Sure bridge of
Christians, boast of the faithful and their refuge, Sovereign Lady and Mother of
God, you alone help all and save them from dangers. Ode 9. Conception
without seed. Nations, clap
your hands; choirs of Father, hurry; Ascetics and those in the mountains, come
together; you, that of old were persecuted by John the impious deceiver, have
come publicly to heap scorn on wizardry and spells. [Twice] Desert, rejoice,
with the whole inhabited world; all you mountains, drop down sweetness; hills,
be glad, for Christ, the Word, has given peace to those on earth, and to the
godly Churches unity of faith. The God of just
sentences has now pronounced with freedom; Christ has appeared, giving strength
today to godly Teachers to proclaim boldness his condescension and to depict
with sureness his incarnation in icons. Longsuffering Lord, how wonderful are your
works! Who will number your love for humankind?
Who, when they see your Priests and Ascetics slain for the sake of your Icon,
would not burn up the deceivers? But you, when insulted, endured. Lord, who fixed the Church unshaken – and
the gates of Hell did not prevail – grant your peace to your people, that we
may all sincerely worship you with a single hymn of glory and glorify you. Let all who do not honour the imprint of your
embodying, Master, stand under anathema; above all John, with Antony and impious
Theodore, Theodotos and all the rest of the opponents of the Faith. Master, who gave your peace to your Apostles,
now too grant your calm to all, with your hand gathering the scattered, and
number them as rational sheep in the sheepfold of your holy Church. Glory. I glorify the Godhead of Father, Son and
Spirit, the One Nature in Three Hypostases. Essence Undivided, Separate in
Persons, one single kingship, almighty sovereignty that holds the universe in
being. Both
now. Theotokion. Help, protection and assistance
of all, O Mother of God, show that you can intercede for all those who
take refuge in you and that you drive away the impious by the power of your Son;
for as Mother you can do all things. And when we reach the appointed
place, we say the Troparion: We worship your most pure Icon… Glory.
Both now. Another. Tone 2. The choir of the Prophets gladly rejoices
today with Moses and Aaron, because the Cross, bringing the end of prophecy,
shines out, by which you saved us. At their intercessions, Christ our God, save
our souls. |
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translations on this page are copyright to This page was last updated on 28 February 2001 |