SUPPLICATORY CANON TO STS. RAPHAEL, NICHOLAS AND IRENE ... Revised 12.26.24

ODE I

Irmos.  After crossing the sea as if it were dry ground and escaping the wickedness of Egypt, the Israelite cried out:  Let us sing to our redeemer and God.

Wholly blessed Raphael, holy Nicholas and Irene, as you are in the company of the divine choirs of martyrs, entreat God to deliver us from afflictions of various kinds.

When your holy body appeared from the recesses of the earth, it hallowed the pious.  But, wonder-worker Raphael, give us sanctification and deliverance.

Your bones have appeared as spiritual flowers, the mystical grace of which, O Nicholas, together with Irene, drives away the stench of afflictions.

Fountain of divine compassion, pour forth for me, O Virgin, the sweetness of salvation.  Dissolve the bitterness of my soul, which the multitude of my passions has instilled into it.

ODE III

Irmos.  You covered the vault of the sky with a roof, O Lord, and built the church; confirm me in your love, O summit of desires, support of the faithful and only clement Lord.

Your abundant power from God, O saint, acting wondrously, distributes higher blessings to all men.  Wherefore, O Raphael, give healing of soul and body to those who hasten to your protection.

Having contended lawfully for Christ, O martyrs, deliver us from every lawless act and the mischief of the enemy by your intercessions to the merciful God.

Truly, the arrival of your divine mysteries was a revelation to the world, O holy Raphael, with Nicholas and Irene.  Wherefore, grant us divine reverence.

As an illustrious throne and brilliant tabernacle of the Glorious King of all and the Pantocrator, wholly pure Maiden, make my soul a vessel of light and pure life, so that I may be saved.

O saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, preserve those who in faith have recourse to you from all kinds of dangers and diseases.

Kathisma
O our protectors, you have been made known fittingly, and as you appear to all the faithful, marvelously you always furnish their requests 
in your appearances.  Therefore we hymn you, wise Raphael and Nicholas.

ODE IV

Irmos.  I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of your dispensation; I have meditated on your works and glorified your divinity.

O Father Raphael, visit us invisibly and deliver from diseases and every misfortune those who call upon your great name.

O Irene and Nicholas, appear to those who have recourse to you in purity, delivering them from the attack of the invisible enemy.

Ask for us salvation in soul and body for all those who hasten to you, saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene.

Heal, O Virgin, the wounds of my soul by your kindness; ask for both my health and forgiveness of my faults.

ODE V

Irmos.  Illumine us with your commandments, O Lord, and by your lofty arm grant us your peace, O merciful God.

Many saw you and were filled with much joy.  Gladden, therefore, Father Raphael, also our life, which is grieved by bitter afflictions.

Hear our voice, divine Nicholas, and furnish our life, O wondrous Irene, with a peace that is free from disturbance.

O holy champions, Raphael, Nicholas and Irene—the joy of Lesbos—deliver us from sorrowful misfortunes.

Deliver us, O ever-virgin Mother of God, from the enemy’s mad attacks against us, for he always prowls like a restless lion.

ODE VI

Irmos.  I will pour out my supplication to the Lord and to him will I declare my afflictions, for my soul has been filled with troubles and my life has approached Hades, so like Jonah I pray:  Raise me up from death, O God.

O blessed saint, you appeared to the faithful in many visions, revealing to them the knowledge of hidden things; but even now appear secretly, holy martyr Raphael, and grant us our petitions.

Having appeared to the world from secret places, hidden under the earth for many ages, grant the wealth of the compassion of God to men as their intercessor, steadfast martyr Nicholas and godly fair-virgin Irene.

O new luminaries of the church, who prevailed long ago in your contest—Raphael, the wise theologian, and, with Irene, the divine Nicholas—deliver us by your authority from dangers in our life.

Be pleased, O Maiden, by your intercession to your Son and God and Lord, to rescue me from the evil of the passions and from every evil deed of the enemy, and give me, in your goodness, a sorrowful tear of repentance.

O saints Raphael and Nicholas and Irene, preserve those who in faith have recourse to you from all kinds of dangers and diseases.

Kontakion
As most fervent helpers of all, O Raphael and Godly-wise Nicholas, ever help those who suffer, and relieve the pains of our sufferings by your speedy protection.

ODE VII

Irmos.  The youths from Judea, having come to Babylon of old, by their faith in the Trinity trampled down the flame of the furnace, chanting, O God of our fathers, blessed are you.

O God-bearing Raphael, those who have beheld your heavenly countenance have received from it the light of divine joy.  Give also to me, therefore, O blessed one, the salvific gifts of your help.

Do not cease to heal the sufferings of our souls and bodies, thrice-blessed Nicholas and venerable Irene, and always give us deliverance from dangers and relief from distresses.

Having become known to the world as friends of the Lord, achieving your purposes of old, you brilliantly work miracles, Raphael and Nicholas, speedily coming to those who flee fervently to your protection.

The God and Lord of all who came forth from your pure womb in human form showed you to be the defender of all the world, O all-pure Virgin.  Wherefore deliver us from every distress.

ODE VIII

Irmos.  The king of Heaven whom the hosts of angels hymn, hymn and exalt him above all forever.

Grant both strength and health to those who have recourse to your divine relics and hymn you, all-blessed Raphael.

Enable us to faithfully accomplish a life untroubled in true benevolence by your intercessions, Nicholas the Godly-minded.

Give me strength amid the distresses of life and comfort in all despondency, O holy newly-appearing martyrs.

Heal, O Maid, my afflicted soul and heal the pain of my body with your sympathetic providence, O Virgin.

ODE IX

Irmos.  O Mother of God, we who have been saved through you fittingly confess you, and with the incorporeal choirs magnify you, O pure Virgin.

Deemed worthy by Christ of great gifts, O holiest Raphael, you have been proven to be a great protection and support for us.

O glorified martyrs of the Lord, with Nicholas and God-wedded Irene, deliver us from disgrace of the passions. 

O holy Raphael and Nicholas, with Irene, invisibly protect from above without ceasing those who celebrate you in faith.

We celebrate your power in hymns, O highly favored Virgin, because you always preserve us and you guide us safely to the divine will.

ENDNOTES FOR THE CIRCUMSPECT

The source of this canon by Anonymous may be found on various websites.  I used https://www.saint.gr/14/texts.aspx.

I thank Zoilus for proofing the Greek and I thank Aeteia, my lawfully-wedded, for proofing the English.  Any errors surviving their ministrations are purely my own.

I have thoroughly revised the translation as a matter of good housekeeping (12.26.24).

Ode I.
“It hallowed” (ἁγιάζει).  The verb in the temporal clause is aorist, so why the switch to the present?  English grammar requires agreement of tense, so I translated it as past.  
“Deliver” (ρύεσθαι).  ἐρύομαι Great Scott reports rescue, save, save from an illness, cure, deliver, set free, redeem, keep off, ward off, protect, guard.  Montie regards this word as a false distinction.  Its origins he believes lies in the notion of drawing or dragging, which is extended in the middle to get at the sense most relevant to our context—ransoming—which later assumed the meaning used here. 
Afflictions (θλίψεων).  Kyriakides reports trouble, grief, sorrow, affliction, distress.  Zerwick reports hardship, affliction.
“Holy” (θεῖον).  Montie reports that θεῖος can mean holy, sacred, excellent, extraordinary, marvellous.  Divine is not the only option.
“Wonder-worker” (θαυματοφόρε).  Literally, “wonder-producer.”  But why say that?  Our hymnographer is just trying to avoid repeating the same words.
“Spiritual” (νοητά).  Could be “noetic,” though that is an over-used word. 
“Dissolve” (λύσον).  Could be destroy, eradicate, put an end to etc.  The standard Anglophone translation of loose must at all costs be avoided.
“Sincerely” (ειλικρινώς).  Ειλικρινώς is unranked.  It appears in neither September nor October.  BGAD reports that its only appearance in NT literature is 1 Clement.  Bailly reports that Plato and Aristotle used it.  The adjective from which it is formed fares hardly better.  The DGE reports absolutamente, autenticamente, genuinamente, sinceramente (respectively, simply, truly/genuinely, earnestly, warmly).  Montie reports as much.  Lampe austerely reports purely and sincerely.
“Appear” (φάνητε).  Slater and Abbott help clear up the meaning of this verb.
“To those who have recourse to” (προστρέχοντοις).  I have edited the text to read προστρέχοντοις for προστρέχοντας, which would have reduced this troparion to incoherence.

Ode III.  
“Power” (χάρις).  “Power” is literally χάρις, a word which is capable of a remarkable range of meanings. Chris Eckerman notes that "scholars generally assume that χάρις, in epinician poetry, has a broad semantic range that includes splendor, glory, charm, favor, ode, grace, gratitude, and service" ("Χάρις in the Epinician Odes of Pindar and Bacchylides").  Even that list is not complete.  The point is that χάρις has a range of meanings that has nothing to do with St. Augustine and his revival of which Lutheranism, Calvinism and Jansenism are the high points.  James R. Harrison notes that grace must be understood within its constellation of themes: glory, wealth/abundance, mystery, power (Paul's Language of Grace in its Graeco-Roman Context, p. 243) and, of course, peace (ibid., p. 230, footnotes 69-71).
“The higher things” (τα κρείττονα).  Notice that the lexica prefer the old Attic τὰ κρείσσονα to the later Attic of our text.  The Lexicon Thucydideum qualifies our version of the word as vulgo (commonly, probably “with an accessory idea of contempt” [Lewis and Short]; a word whose use has fallen precipitously since 1750 to “0.07 occurences per million words in modern written English,” according to the online OED; by way of contrast, the word the enjoys the top-hat rate of 50,000 occurrences per million words).
Usually this comparative would be rendered as better, stronger etc.  We are interested in the neuter substantive use.  Great Scott reports the τὰ κρείσσονα as one's advantages, Montie and Lampe report the higher things. 
It is worth noting that Great Scott reports that the singular neuter substantive—τὸ κρεῖσσον—is used in late and peripheral texts as the Almighty or Providence.
“Mischief” > βλάβη.  Great Scott:  harm, damage, mischief.  Montanari:  damage, mistake, wrong.
“Arrival” (έκβασις).  A tricky troparion.  The crux is έκβασις, which has to do with landing.  The “mysteries” are the relics of the saints, which were recovered (another definition of έκβασις) and swept Greece as a “revelation (αποκάλυψις) to the world.”  (See Cavarnos’ book.)  A μυστήριον can be something hidden or secret.  Here again we have beware of defining words in accordance with the mental bottlenecks of our age.  Not everything that is hidden or secret is a sacrament, or an implement used in connection with a mystery religion.
“Grant” (νείματε).  St. Gerasimos uses the poetic version of this verb, which normally would be νέματε.
“All-pure” seems the best way to put Πανάμωμε.  “All-blameless” means nothing in English—who uses that expression?  Bauer rightly observes that the term was used to mean unblemished in the case of sacrificial animals or men in ritual contexts but also blameless in religious contexts.  I do not think that we call the Mother of God blameless in the same sense that we speak of a blameless man; in his 44th homily on Matthew, St. John Chrysostom puts the kibosh on that.  Montanari adds as a later extension immaculate or pure.  These extensions make “all-pure” viable.  As an epithet of extreme affection, “all-pure” makes sense, although "wholly pure" seems more natural.  

Prayers Following Ode III.
“To those who have recourse to” (προστρέχοντοις).  I have edited the text to read προστρέχοντοις for προστρέχοντας, which reduces this troparion to incoherence.  Abbott-Smith reports that this word is used literally three times in the NT.  The September score is 14; the October score is 30.  Zoilus the Elder originally opined that “perhaps the metaphorical ‘those who join you/those who side with you’ works here.”  His suggestion was prescient, as this verb is, says Kent, used by Plutarch to describe how clients attach themselves to their patron.  I had always wondered at how much running there was in the canons.  Muraoka seems to corroborate this when he reports that the person so running is of a “relatively lowly situation.”  Mr. K. reports to run to, to have recourse to.  Lampe also reports to have recourse to.  Stephanus reports this verb is used de eo qui gratiae captandae caussa [sic] accedit ad aliquem (“concerning him who approaches someone to obtain a favor”).  Since in English there is no convenient fashion by which we announce that we are attaching ourselves to a patron, it seemed best to settle on to have recourse to, even though εν πίστει appears to corroborate the patronal interpretation.
"Diseases" > νόσημα.  Montanari:  disease, evil, fault, vice, permanent sickness of the soul.  Great Scott:  disease, passion, vice, grievous affliction.
Kathisma. 
“Recently” (αρτίως).  This word can also mean “fittingly.”  In favor of this alternatively translation, the hymnographers love to throw in filler-words like this.  However, I took into account Mr. K.’s definitions and the fact that these three saints had in St. Gerasimos’ day just been exhumed. 

Ode IV.
“Sins” (πταισμάτων).  Great Scott reports stumble, mistake, fault, 
failure.  Montie reports sin.  Lampe reports error, fault.  Sophocles reports fault, crime, sin.  Mr. K. reports that in the modern Greek of his day it survives as fault, more specifically offence against police regulations, a petty offence.  The word for delinquent back then was πταιστ
failure.  Montie reports sin.  Lampe reports error, fault.  Sophocles reports fault, crime, sin.  Mr. K. reports that in the modern Greek of his day it survives as fault, more specifically offence against police regulations, a petty offence.  The word for delinquent back then was πταιστής.  Not found in NT, whose authors were after bigger game.  In the Perseus corpus, 5466th most frequent word.  
“Forgiveness” (συγχώρησιν).  This word is unranked.
“[Good] health” (σωτηρίαν).  Translators reflexively render σωτηρία as salvation.  Great Scott reports preservation, deliverance.  Montie adds means of salvation, escape, safe return, health, well being, protection. 
“Pray for” (αιτήσασθε).  Standardly defined as ask for, request etc.  LMPG alone reports pedir, suplicar; Bauer reports pray for.
Kathisma.  "Made known" > ἀναδείκνυμι.  Montanari:  show by raising, make seen, show, make known, proclaimed, dedicate.

Ode V
“Holy” (θείοι) or sacred, but not divine.
“Champions” (αθληταί).  The athlete is a recurring term in our hymns.  See Benjamin Williams’ discussion of athletic imagery in Jewish writings, including the LXX.  Robert T. Meyer,  in his notes on St. Athanasius’ life of St. Anthony, reminds us that the athletic metaphors start with St. Paul and never stop.  Kittel notes that ἀθλητής does not appear the LXX, but is used in IV Maccabees, where it notably describes the Maccabean martyrs.  Kittel adds that the very word ἀθλητής is not used in the NT, but shows up in St. Ignatius’ epistle to Polycarp (see below) and I Clement (“the apostles are called ἀθληταί [athletes] who ἤθλησαν [contended] to the death”).  Kittel does not mention how interested St. Ignatius was in the metaphor.  He advises St. Polycarp (in Strawley’s translation) to “bear the infirmities of all men, as a perfect athlete.  Where there is more toil there is greater gain” (I).  “Be temperate, as God’s athlete” (II).  “It is the business of a great athlete to suffer blows and to conquer.  And above all for God's sake we ought to endure all things, that He also may endure us” (III).  “Share one another's toil, contend together, run together, suffer together, alike in rest and rising be together” (VI).  As Strawley observes, “in later times the word ‘athlete’ became a common synonym for a martyr.”  The Coptic Dictionary Online describes ἀθλητής as an epithet for ascetics and martyrs (https://coptic-dictionary.org/search.py).  An Oxonian scholar observes that καλὸς ἀθλητής is code for martyr (https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/E00935_Greek_epitaph_for_a_local_priest_whose_name_is_lost_perhaps_a_martyr_Found_near_Savatra_Lycaonia_central_Asia_Minor_Probably_late_antique_/13802660).  Similarly, J. Payne Smith reports that in Syriac the phrase victorious athlete meant martyr.  Syriac might have picked this up from the Greek, for we find in the canon to St. Theodore the General that he was a νικηφόρος . . . ἀθλητής.  The GOA translator knew this at some level, though instead of saying “victorious athlete,” he confusedly wrote “martyr athlete.”  In order to do this, he had to insert a word that is not in the text (martyr) and throw victorious into the next clause.  It is unfortunate that athlete in English is almost frivolous now; we would be better served to say “Olympian,” since the grim and brutal efforts of people merely hoping to enter the contests are common knowledge.  I have settled on champion as the translation of this word, soothing my conscience by remembering the COD’s definition (“athlete . . . . that has defeated all competitors,” that is, a victorious athlete).  I will tend to  add spiritual in order to guard against distracting connotations.  

Excursus.  An interesting tangent on this topic is formed by Jared Secord’s proposal that athletes in the ancient world practiced celibacy as a part of their already rigorous training.  His point is that Christian authors employing athletic imagery would have known this.  This raises the interesting question of whether athletic metaphors contributed to the idealization of celibacy in the early church.  See https://online.ucpress.edu/SLA/article/2/4/464/83342/The-Celibate-AthleteAthletic-Metaphors-Medical.  David Carmona Centeno’s “Origen y uso en español de la acepción cristiana de at(h)leta. Un recorrido por los tratados y escritos religiosos de la 2ª mitad del siglo XVI y 1ª del XVII Universidad de Extremadura” not only provides a useful thumbnail sketch of the word under discussion but provides an excerpt from Tertullian [(athletae) continentur a luxuria] which seems to support Secord’s speculative thesis. 

Ode VI. 
“Gladly consent” (ευδόκησον).  Possibly the least awkward translation of all the awkward translations.  “Be well pleased”?  Moulton points out that “as showing the difficulty of getting an adequate translation for the verb, it may be mentioned that Plummer . . . has pointed out that the V[ul]g[ate] renders it in ten different ways in its fifteen occurrences in the Epp., and five different ways in the six occurrences in the Gospels, three of which differ from all the renderings in the Epp.”

Ode VII
“Deliverance from etc.”  The chiasm is lost in English.
“Were” (τυγχάνοντες).  The Greek word seems to be an example of the hymnographers’ Pindaric avoidance of the substantive verb. 
“Come to the help of” (προφθάνοντες).  Alone among the lexicographers, Sophocles—in  his grammar of “Romaic” and not in his splendid dictionary—knows that προφθάνω means to come quickly.  I added “to the help of” since that is implied by the context.

Ode VIII.  
“Virtuous conduct” > ευπραγία.  Montanari:  well-being, good outcome, good behavior, (pl.) good actions.  Great Scott:  well-doing.  Words are often two-faced like this.  Is it doing good or is it well-doing (defined by COD as “virtuous conduct”)?

Ode  IX
“From above, invisibly, protect unceasingly” (υψόθεν αοράτως, σκέπετε απαύστως) is a remarkable string of adverbs in a literature unafraid of padding. 
“Have proven” (εδείχθης).  There is something attractive in Great Scott’s suggestion, “you have been brought to light.”
“Passions” (παθών).  This word could also be translated as sufferings.