Now that you have fallen asleep in the Lord in a holy manner, Father
Nicholas Planas, you have become the companion of the saints, and I entreat you
to beseech God to deliver me from sins and misfortunes.
Being as zealous as the Fathers, O Father Nicholas Planas, you performed
the divine sacrifice, completing the liturgy and praying as many times as there
were days.
Since you were bathed with tears of earthly compunction, O Father
Nicholas Planas, pray to the Lord to grant forgiveness of sins to those who have
asked you, O holy one.
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.
You, with Nicodemus, were the second blossom of Paradise on the island of
Naxos and now with him you earnestly entreat your God and Master to give grace
and mercy to the Naxians.
Holiest, fervent father of Vouliagmeni and of the temple of the
Forerunner, by your holy and sacerdotal intercessions entreat your God to give
us illumination and divine mercy.
Imitating the life of the seraphim and the other ranks of angels, you
lived on earth as a poor man and not as one enmeshed in earthly things, and you
distributed your wealth to your relatives and emptied out your wallet to the
poor.
You prolonged every pain in the recesses of your soul when you remained
without a wife, O saint, and you yearned after the solitary life.
You renounced, Nicholas, every ordinary desire of the flesh and you lived
as an angel on earth with complete self-control.
Although you lived amid the roar of many waters, Father Nicholas,
sometimes with dry feet you reached the church of Elisha and kept vigil.
Only gracious, all-merciful and compassionate Lord, by the intercessions of
Nicholas Planas grant me your peace now and the forgiveness of my sins.
Merciful and compassionate Lord, by the fervent prayers of your saint grant
your mercy and the forgiveness of trespasses now to all men.
You hearkened to the law, O good one; prescribe the laws for me by your
divine instructions so that I may find the unerring road of Christ.
O Father Nicholas, beseech the
Forerunner and the prophet Elisha, for whom you, all-blessed one, performed
services with fiery zeal every day when you prayed as a priest, and grant to
all men the intercession of the prophets and the saints, all-holy one.
I beg you by your intercessions
to deliver me, for I have fallen into the enemy’s net; keep me safe and sound
in this present life, O saint, and pray that I may attain to the summit of
blessings.
Set me free from the passions and
from various temptations and diseases, as many as now afflict my body, for it
is mortal, corrupt and wretched; give me strength, might and health and divine
assistance.
O Virgin that is hymned by all, our all-holy
intercessor, since we are piteously needy, by the fervent intercessions of
Nicholas give to all of us pardon, forgiveness of trespasses and your divine
assistance, so that we may flee the enjoyment of the world.
Prayers following Ode VI
Nicholas, as the recipient
of the abundant grace of the Lord, pour upon us Naxians the same grace and
illumine the hearts of all.
Nicholas, as the recipient of the abundant grace of the Lord, pour upon us Naxians the same grace and illumine the hearts of all.
Having renounced from childhood your whole heart for the sake of God, all-blessed Nicholas Planas, you longed to live most nobly and you followed after the poverty of the priesthood, fulfilled the service and the profession of the spiritual father, and you excelled in the most numerous miracles and all-night vigils; therefore we celebrate you, our holy, Heaven-revealing priest and father.
O holy Father, willingly listen to us who
hymn you and accept the entreaties and thanksgivings of the Naxians,
O famous saint, and give to all men joy and the health for which they long.
Having departed from the streams of life, Father, you also followed the
footsteps of the Lord and Savior of the world and you offered your holy soul to
him, imitating the fathers.
As a lamp in the darkness you showed that your heart
was lit up ceaselessly with longing for the Lord and as a priest you were a wonderworking and mystical officiant of the liturgy.
Ode VIII
Irmos. The king
of Heaven whom the hosts of angels hymn, hymn and exalt him above all forever.
Because you humbled your body, Father, by fasts, by sleeping on the
ground, by vigils and by many other toils, you lived among angels.
When you were venerating the icons of the saints on the walls, you looked at
your small body and laughed at it, so that they were moved to stretch out their
feet for you to kiss.
Let us peoples of Naxos and Paros in like manner worship in the temple of
Nicholas, to which we have gathered together now in manifest affection for you.
Worthily we the people of Naxos and Athens as your fellow countrymen and friends of
Christ our God hymn you unceasingly.
Your fame, Father Planas, has gone equally far past the boundaries of
Naxos and Athens and all have run to you with confidence.
Give me your grace, most holy father; I beg of you for mercy, divine
Planas, that my oppressive sins may be blotted out.
Ode I.
"Completing the liturgy and praying as many times as there were days." The saint is said to have performed the liturgy every day for fifty years.
Ode V.
"Unerring" (ἄσφαλτος) looks like the word for asphalt, but is really an adjective with a confusing hodge-podge of definitions: probus, bonus (Stephanos); unfehlbar, fehlerlos (Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität); solid, stable, well-built (Montanari).
Ode VI.
"Enjoyment" (εὐπάθεια) seems the easiest way out of a semantic thicket. Montanari offers pleasant sensation, enjoyment, joy, pleasure, sensitivity, passivity, and Kyriakides is largely in agreement. Lampe defines as happiness, spiritual well-being, benefit and passibility. Stephanus defines as "natura quae facile affici potest" (a nature which is easily affected, whence Kyriakides' susceptibility). Perhaps most of these definitions would be captured by a sense of well-being based on a sensitivity to pleasant sensations.
Prosomoia
"Heaven-revealing" is my best bet on οὐρανοφάντωρ, for LBG can offer nothing better than Ofenbarer
des Himmels. Logeion suggests shining up to Heaven (Pape agrees) and disclosing Heaven (Lampe agrees). The Worterbuch altgriechisch-deutsch at de-academic.com proposes am Himmel erscheinend (appearing in the sky or Heaven). If this latter definition is correct, then this word is probably an attempt to find a creative way to say "dwelling in Heaven."
