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.
As you
enjoy the triple light, O holy one, disperse by the light of your holy
intercessions the hellish gloom of my soul and illumine me with the shining
rays of the virtues.
Look kindly from above, holy David,
upon those who run reverently to your divine coffin and grant to them, O wise
one, your fervent help.
Euboea hails you, for she
has obtained you from God as a newly shining lamp and fervent
benefactor, O Father, and enjoys the bounteous grace of your miracles.
Shining vessel of purity and most holy
Maiden! By your urgent intercession, deem me worthy me to be pure in
heart and mind and in every perception.
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.
Having acquired abundantly generous
grace from God, O Saint, as a fountain of miracles, cause streams of your
fervent protection to gush forth, Father, on those who groan in the burning
heat of adversities.
In your sympathy heal the pains of our
souls and afflictions of our bodies, Father; with the authority given to you by
God, ask for the forgiveness of our offenses.
By your fervent intercession, always
grant success in life, deliverance from misfortunes and from every disease and
affliction, to those who have you as their benefactor, O holy David.
O Maiden that shines like the sun and
who ineffably bore God, the sun of glory in mortal matter! Enlighten
my blinded soul with your splendor and deliver it from all darkness.
Prayers following Ode III.
Preserve from all hardship
and disease, divinely wise David, those who run in faith to your intercession
as a glorious servant of the Lord.
Kathisma. Tone
2. Fervent intercession.
You were revealed as a
fervent benefactor and an inconquerable tower, O wise one, for
those who with faith cry out to you fervently, “Holy David, quickly come and
deliver us from dangers, as you ever stand by the Trinity.”
Ode IV
Irmos. I have heard, O
Lord, the mystery of your dispensation; I have meditated on your works and
glorified your divinity.
Having become the truest imitator of
the saints of old, O Father, with them ever make supplication, St. David, on
behalf of your flock.
From every difficulty and misfortune,
David, deliver those who fervently fall before the divine coffin of your
relics.
Limni of Euboea, Father, having
you as her supplicant and protector, is always delivered by your power from
every difficulty.
Give perspicuity of understanding and
peace in my heart, O Virgin, and preserve me unharmed from the snares of the
serpent.
Ode V
Irmos. Enlighten us with your commandments, O Lord, and
by your lofty arm grant us your peace, O merciful God.
Father David, ever turn your gaze to
your holy monastery from above; preserve it, for it is dedicated to your grace.
From Heaven, Father, look
kindly upon those who run to your body faithfully and grant them their
requests, O Saint.
Heal our wounds, blessed one and
preserve us unharmed by harsh difficulties in life, Father David.
As the Mother of the King of all, give
us the power to trample on the insolence of the enemy, O Lady, and protect
those who celebrate you in song.
Having acquired the gift of miracles,
you quickly and miraculously inspire strength in those who seek the grace of
your help and heal the destructive plague of the locust, holy David, as the
readiest help of the faithful.
I have been stricken by the wickedness
of the enemy and my wounds have smelled, Father, but I take refuge in your
sympathy, that I may be saved from the tormenting scourge that is oppressing
me; therefore, grant me, O wise one, both health and healing.
O great adorner of the island of
Euboea and most fervent protector of the faithful! Father David,
vessel of graces, deliver from great troubles and afflictions those who hasten
reverently to the coffin of your holy relics.
O Virgin, by the light of your
intercessions, illumine me, I pray, for I am passing my life in the darkness of
pernicious sluggishness and in the dullness of terrible sin, and guide my life
to the light of the commandments of God.
Prayers following Ode VI.
Preserve, divinely wise
David, from every mischief and disease, those who in faith run to your
intercession, as you are a distinguished servant of the Lord.
Kontakion. Tone
2. By the streams of your blood.
Taking refuge in your
intercession, David, and running to your holy head, may we be delivered from
every affliction and trial and snares of the serpent, for you are our
intercessor with the Lord.
Tone 6. Having laid up all.
Limni of Euboea has you as
its great protector, shelter and guardian, and your monastery rejoices in you,
O saint; for, as the servant of God, you help all who run to your divine
protection, and you furnish saving grace, O David, blessed by God, to those who
greet your head; wherefore we cry to you, “As one who speaks freely with God,
chase away from us the mischief of the destroyer.”
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.
Your head that is honored by all
gushes forth strength like water and furnishes health of soul and body,
quenching the flame of diseases and afflictions of those who approach it with
reverence, O David.
You who chased off the swarm of
mosquitoes by fervent supplication, O saint, preserve those who acclaim you,
wonderworking David, from the evils of enemies, visible and invisible.
Deliver, O wonderworking David, those
who praise you in song, from all kinds of diseases, grievous misfortunes,
bitter difficulties, soul-destroying snares, and groans and sufferings.
O Virgin, I pray that you deem me
worthy to cultivate purity of life and a sincere mind. Grant me an
upright heart and the characteristics of repentance, so that after death I may
attain to the life on high.
Ode VIII
Irmos. The king of Heaven
whom the hosts of angels hymn, hymn and exalt him above all forever.
Behold, Father, those who hasten with
faith to your holy monastery, and give them the beneficial gifts of your
protection.
Dry up the stream of sin which
inundates our souls, Father, and cause the water of divine life to gush
invisibly forth on us.
Everyone who runs to your all-holy
head is sanctified in both body and soul, holy one, and proclaims to all your
benefactions.
As you gave birth in the flesh to the
supersubstantial Word, deliver me from the madness of the most absurd passions,
Virgin, and in the end save me.
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.
Your venerable coffin overflows with
healings and heals terrible diseases, from whose attacks deliver us, blessed
David.
Watch over your holy monastery, divine
one, and bring to all Euboea the gifts of your paternal blessing.
Strengthen us, Father, every hour, to
travel the path of salvation, so that we, O David, may take part in the
unending life.
Supremely bright lamp of the
immaterial glory, glorified Virgin and Mother of God, make me a participant of
heavenly glory.
ENDNOTES FOR THE
CIRCUMSPECT
I thank Zoilus for proofing the Greek
and I thank eagle-eyed Aeteia, my lawfully-wedded, for proofing the English
with her incisive insights. The text of this canon may
be found
at https://www.proseyxi.com/paraklisi-eis-ton-osio-david-ton-en-euvoia/.
Ode I.
“Euboea” (you-BEE-uh) in
modern Greek is spellt and pronounced “Evia” (E-vee-uh).
“Hellish” is interpolated at the suggestion of Zoilus, who felt
that ζόφον meant “not just any gloom . . . but the underworld-ish
kind.”
“Benefactor” renders προστάτης. According
to the learned, προστάτης is a synonym for benefactorus
(benefactor). To judge from Montanari’s definitions,
a προστάτης was expected to use his resources or access to obtain favors
for his clients and to protect his clients from any kind of trouble. In
return, the client offered unstinting loyalty, respect and public
support. This is why our hymns keep returning to the themes of
reverence, praise, greetings, etc.
Ode III.
“From misfortunes.” The hymnographers do not mind joining singular and
plural noun phrases.
“Who have” (πλουτοῦσι). A verb
whose meaning changed slightly with time from meaning “to be rich” to “to
have,” whether simply, as in Stephanos (possideo, praeditum esse) or in
abundance (Maltby).
Kathisma.
“Cry out.” I opted to avoid the pleonasm of the text. Our
hymnographer actually wrote πίστει ἐκβοῶσι σοι, καὶ θερμῶς κραυγάζουσι (with faith they cry out to you
and fervently cry). Greek enjoys an army of synonyms which can be
deployed anywhere to fill out the demands of melody. The pilgrim may
replace my more Laconic translation with the original pleonasm.
Ode IV.
I have corrected τῇ σορῷ τῇ θείας to read τῇ σορῷ τῇ θείᾳ.
“Father.” Πάτερ is another synonym for
benefactor.
“Limni” (Λίμνη) is a town in
Euboea.
Ode V
“Look kindly”
renders βλέμμα ἱλαρόν . . . ἔκτεινον, which lit. means “extend a
cheerful face.” The DGE’s desplegar
suggested to my fertile imagination “present,” esp. since the verbal
collocations of face in English ruled out most of the usual
definitions of the verb.
Ode VI.
“You inspire strength” renders ἐνεργεῖς, which DGE defines to mean infundir
fuerzas, dar energía.
“My wounds have smelled” renders exceedingly loosely καὶ προσώζεσαι [=
προσώζεσαν] τοῖς μώλωψι. My
hunch is that our
hymnographer had in mind προσώζεσαν καὶ ἐσάπησαν οἱ μώλωπές μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀφροσύνης μου
(LXX Ps. 38:5). I have no explanation for the case of τοῖς μώλωψι.
“Adorner” is an awful translation. Κοσμήτωρ can mean that, or sweeper, marshaller, leader, steward, overseer, arranger, governor, manager, regulator, guide, dean, provost, quaestor etc.,
depending on the century and the context. From time to time I have
found words like these being used in the hymns. They sound
truly out of place. I have to assume that there is some kind of
reference in the back of the mind of the hymnographers that I am not catching
or that Katharevousa developed a shade of definition not captured by any
lexicon of the numerous I have consulted.
Ode IX.
“Lampstand” (λυχνία) could also mean “candlestick” in
both ancient and modern Greek.
