Stricken by the
malice of the enemy, I flee to your protection, crying out, “Bring peace to my
life, Father, and grant me health in both body and soul.”
Having finished
your life in a holy manner, you always hallow and deliver from all evil, holy
father Nektarios, those who approach your divine relics.
As one who
performs mighty works of miracles, Father, heal the painful diseases of those
who seek your help, O wonderworking Hierarch, Nektarios.
As the
compassionate Mother of God, O beneficent Maiden, take compassion on
me and deliver me from all the mischief and madness of the invisible serpent.
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 compassionate
Lord.
As a compassionate hierarch, preserve those who celebrate you from all kinds of
diseases, grievous afflictions, deadly attacks and deceptions of the hateful
author of evil.
Your divine head always
gushes forth the immaterial, divine nectar of divine grace, which you received
from God, and it drives away the bitterness of the passions from our souls, O
holy one.
Finishing the journey of
my life amid sorrows, troubles and oppressive afflictions, Father, I have fled
to you for refuge; do not disdain me, but under your protection, deliver me
from distressing dangers.
O refuge of the world and unbreakable foundation! Highly favored Virgin, protect and preserve those who flee to your protection for refuge from the tortuous snares of the deceptive serpent.
Prayers following Ode III
Preserve from
every harm and affliction, O Hierarch, those who in faith run to your
intercession and honor you, holy Nektarios.
Kathisma. Fervent intercession. Tone 2.
The
casket of your relics has become an abundant fountain of healings in
the Spirit, O wise one, for it heals those who suffer and freely bestows health
and strength on those who approach it with fervent faith, most holy Father
Nektarios.
By your power,
Father Nektarios, guard your monastery and keep it unharmed by every attack of
the deceptive enemy.
Deem the sick who
run from everywhere to your divine temple, Father, to be worthy of healing and dispel
their pain.
Give strength and healing in soul and body to those who
sincerely bless you, Nektarios, and
deliver them from misfortunes.
Direct me,
all-pure Virgin, to the soul-saving road of repentance and in the end deaden
the turbulence of my passions and annihilate them.
Aegina has found
you to be a fervent protector; therefore, she always flees to your power and is
delivered from every affliction.
Deem us worthy,
Father Nektarios, to live out this life in tranquility, undisturbed by every
plot of the enemy.
Since your sacred
monastery has acquired you, O holy father, as her great guardian and champion,
she exults in your speedy protection.
Undefiled and
pure virgin, Mother of God, keep out of all harm’s way those who ever hope in
your protection.
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.
Alleviate the pains of body and soul, Father Nektarios, of those who look
to your intercession. Fill our hearts
with joy and dissolve the mist of grievous despondency.
Beseech the all-merciful Word, wonderworking Nektarios, that those who
run to your protection with faith be delivered from all kinds of trials and
deadly snares of the enemy and from the greatest needs and difficulties.
O divinely-inspired one, in your compassion, do not cease to watch over
your holy monastery from above; guard it constantly, for it has acquired as a
great treasure, wonderworker Nektarios, the coffin of your holy remains.
As you have borne the Savior, the Redeemer of men and the compassionate
Word, protect me and save me, O Maiden, from the wicked tyranny of the evil one,
and give
strength to my soul to make progress towards the better life.
Prayers following Ode VI.
Preserve from all harm and
every affliction, O Hierarch, those who run to your intercession with faith and
honor you, O divinely inspired Nektarios.
Kontakion. Tone 2.
Protection of Christians.
You
are the correction of the fallen and the support of the shaken, O Nektarios,
having been glorified by the Lord in latter times. Always preserve even us victorious over
trials in life, asking God for the forgiveness of our offenses, and for
strength and salvation for our souls, O Hierarch.
Prosomoion. Tone 6.
Having laid all.
You
have appeared as a new star in the church of Christ in recent years, shining
forth conspicuously by the purity of your life, O holy one. By the spiritual splendors of the glories which are in
you, gaze down upon our souls and ever disperse the moonless night of the
demons and the darkness of our sicknesses by the shining splendors of
healings. Therefore, we cry to you, “Do
not cease to deliver us from the attacks of the evil spirit and from all kinds
of afflictions.”
Preserve those
who ever honor you from manifold pains, trials, dangers, misfortunes, envy and
malice of malignant men, O Nektarios, blessed by all.
Father Nektarios,
incessantly healing the painful diseases of those who approach your divine
relics in faith, you have appeared as the most zealous helper of the pious in
the last times.
You appeared as a
divine prize and a new diadem, Father Nektarios, to the island of Aegina, which
ever runs to your intercession, O saint, and enjoys the protection of your
benevolence.
Guide me to the
path of the commandments of him who was incarnate of you, O Maiden; remove the inclination of my heart from the
gates of sin, so that I, saved by your grace, may always celebrate you, O Virgin.
Ode VIII.
Irmos. The king of Heaven whom the hosts of angels
hymn, hymn and exalt him above all forever.
At long last, by the power
of your divine intercessions dry up the stream of malice which floods the
furrows of my heart.
Knowing you as the healer
of sicknesses, we take refuge in the relic of your divine head, so that we may
be delivered from painful afflictions.
Unceasingly protect your
holy monastery and provide by your intercession, Father and Hierarch, your paternal
gifts.
Heal, O Maiden, my soul,
which is ailing from the most wicked attack of the serpent; shine on me the
light of dispassion.
Deliver us from the
madness of the invisible enemy and from terrible misfortunes in life, for we
take refuge in your protection, O Father.
Deliver me from pains of
soul and body, O Father, by the abundant grace given to you by God.
Entreat the compassionate
Christ on behalf of your distinguished monastery, Aegina and all Greece,
Father Nektarios.
We celebrate your grace in
hymns, O Virgin favored by God, for as an affectionate mother you unceasingly protect, support
and care gently for us.
ENDNOTES FOR THE
CIRCUMSPECT
This is the second canon to St.
Nektarios on this site. This canon is by
St. Gerasimos of Little Anne Skete. The
text may be found at https://www.proseyxi.com/paraklisi-eis-ton-agio-nektario/. I thank Zoilus for proofing the Greek and Aeteia,
my lawfully-wedded, for proofing the English. Any errors surviving their
ministrations are purely my own.
Ode I. The adjective for compassionate here (εὐσπλαγχνίσθητι) is different from the
one found in the next ode (συμπαθὴς). English is not a language with written
records stretching back roughly 3400 years into which speakers can comfortably
dip into roughly the last 2800 years for extra synonyms and collateral forms.
"Who is wont to be kind" (φιλάγαθος). Tricky word. Cremer provides the most thorough survey of this puzzling word. This quality refers to someone "who devotes himself in earnest to right doing." He adds that "ecclesiastical Greek . . . we find the word mostly used in the particular sense of one who likes to be kind, who likes to do good." Stephanus defines as benignus (kind, liberal, beneficent). The COED defines beneficent as "doing good, (showing) active kindness."
Ode III. I have dropped ἀσινεῖς unharmed
from the text on logical and stylistic grounds.
The reader is free to put it where he wants in the first troparion.
Ode IV. τῇ σῇ χάριτι could also
be “by your favor” or “grace.”
Ode V. Ἀνωτέρους … διατήρησον
is a puzzling construction. I have
adopted the solution proposed by my esteemed editor, Zoilus. Another way to render it is to follow the DGE
as “victorious over every hardship.”
Ode VI. “Of the evil
one” (τοῦ χείρονος). This common expression in modern hymns seems
to be an example of using the comparative (the worse one) for the more
usual positive (the evil one).
Prosomoion. “Of the glories in
you” (τῶν ἐν σοὶ χαρίτων) is odd-sounding in English. I am tempted to say “of your glories.” In point of vocabulary, we need to remember
that at least St. Gerasimos and other recent hymnographers use grace generally
in an epinician sense. This whole topic
is surrounded booby-traps. The fact that
the hymnographers draw on Pindar et al. for their use of χάρις doesn’t mean that they exclude the broadly Christian sense
of grace, but it does mean that we need to be careful not to read into these
canons the results of the entire development of the doctrine of grace from St.
Augustine to Calvin. (It is the weirdest
thing to one day realize that St. Paul was not a Calvinist.) Montanari’s definitions—glory, respect, honor,
success—are suggestive. Slater’s Pindaric lexicon defines χάρις as splendor, honor, glory of the luster given by achievement, especially in
games. Graces cannot refer to
heavenly grace, which is normally singular in number. However, for Pindar, graces are an important
part of the poet’s vision of the victor as being divinely radiant due to his
victories and subsequent honors.
Ode VII. I have again
dropped ἀσινεῖς (unharmed) from
the first troparion as a pleonasm.
Protection is
plural in the text (ἀντιλήψεις), which makes no sense in
English.
