Ode I.
Irmos. Of old, the
wonder-working staff of Moses submerged the charioteer of the Pharaoh, having struck
the sea crosswise and divided it; but it saved fugitive Israel, who, travelling
on foot, raised to God a hymn of praise.
Daring
to praise in song your holy memory with a loud voice, I beg of you to shine your
glorious grace on my mind and give me strength, so that I may worthily sing praise
to you, David, blessed by all.
You
brought forth a most luxuriant flower from a radiant root, Father, and from
childhood you breathed forth a sweet fragrance stronger than an unbridled life,
having dedicated yourself completely to the Savior from your youth, O Father
with a heavenly mind.
With
great joy were you deemed worthy of a vision of the Baptist, Father, and joyfully
obeyed his voice; though in body you were not yet mature, yet you were mature in
understanding. And you stayed in his
temple, O holy one, as though you were truly bodiless.
Father,
your venerable father was astounded when he saw you in the holy temple wholly shining
as with lightning before the icon of the renowned John, O saint, and was prepared
for your future illumination by the Holy Spirit.
The
race of mortals has been saved from the condemnation of first-formed Adam by
your ineffable birth-giving, O all-pure Virgin; for having borne God beyond the
confines of reason, you proved to be the patroness of joy for us; wherefore we duly
praise you.
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
one who has loved God from childhood, O saint, you wisely left the love of your
parents and you followed with an unhesitating heart and wise mind the footsteps
of Christ.
Watered by the
streams of the Scriptures, O Saint, and ever-nourished on the divinely inspired
oracles, even in youth you appeared to be wholly and divinely wise, filled with
great understanding.
Having
divine strength in your soul, O saint, from youth you withdrew yourself from
the deceit of the world; as an exile from your homeland, you dwelt with the
Lord, taking up his sweetest yoke.
Following
your divine calling from Heaven with great desire, O saint, you found the wise
Acacius, who with loftier prudence directed you well to the course of your
heavenly journey.
From
your pure blood you bore marvelously the Creator of all, who became flesh to
save mankind, which had fallen through deceit, O Lady, Mother of God and refuge
of the world.
Kathisma. Tone
8. The Wisdom and Word.
You
truly longed for the virtuous and pure life from childhood; as a chosen vessel full
of wisdom and the calling from above, guarding your mind victorious over the nature
of the world, O blessed one. Wherefore
receiving the schema of the monks in like fashion as men of old, you gave ear
to the ascetics, our inspired Father. Intercede
with Christ our God that we who celebrate your holy memory with longing be
granted the remission of our offences.
O
Maiden, as his mother, entreat the Savior and Maker of all—whom you bore in a
manner transcending nature and who delivers all men from harsh slavery—to save
us from the madness of the serpent and from worldly snares and afflictions,
only Mother of God, for we look only to you, and faithfully we seek your swift
help, which ever saves us. You always
pray that those who celebrate you in song, O Virgin, attain to the future glory
and splendor of the joy of your Son.
Irmos. I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of your
dispensation; I have meditated on your works and glorified your divinity.
Smitten
with divine longing, you were joyfully obedient, blessed David, to the divinely
wise Acacius, being adorned by your humility.
You
subdued the arrogant serpent, Father, by your humility, and, celebrated by all,
you were exalted by your holy works.
As
an inspired monk, Father, you came to Mt. Athos, where with divine you wiped clean
love the ascetics who had fallen.
Cultivating
zeal in all things like the monastic saints of old, St. David, you shared in their
grace even in latter times.
O
Maiden, you were a divinely blossoming shoot, having cultivated without
cultivation a flower—the Lord of all—who filled the world with a divine
fragrance.
Ode V.
Irmos. Why have you thrust
me from your presence, O light inaccessible?
And why has the alien darkness covered me, a wretched man? But correct me and guide my ways to the light
of your commandments, I pray.
Having
been crucified by those who are in the world, you mortified, O Father, the
presumption of the flesh and in all things you were a model of the virtuous
life, hearkening entirely to your master, as one subject to the divine will.
O
holy Father, being as pure as can be, you became a priest of the mysteries of God
and his august minister and servant; wherefore, someone saw a divine light circling
you, revealing the radiance of your glory.
Guided
by the Holy Spirit, father, as a genuine friend of the God of all, you halted
in Steiria, O inspired one, subjecting yourself to greater troubles, not caring
for the flesh.
On
behalf of your neighbor, as a most inspired imitator of Christ, out of true
love you joyfully subjected yourself, St. David, to harsh punishments after you
were unjustly denounced, for you were full of kindness and goodwill.
Having
borne ineffably the Creator of all things and Lord, O highly favored Mother of
God and pure ever-virgin, deliver my soul from its captivity to the passions
and illumine me with the light of repentance.
Ode VI.
Irmos. Be merciful to me, O
Savior, for many are my transgressions, and lead me up from the abyss of sins,
I pray—for I have cried out to you—and hear me, O God of my salvation.
Beautified
with marvelous understanding, divinely wise one, and shining from your ascetic
labors, O blessed one, you halted in Euboea, St. David, like an angel with divine
foresight.
As
a spiritual sanctuary of grace, Father, you raised an august temple on the mountain
to the transfigured and deified man, Christ, wholly blessed David.
As
one who has purged his soul, you entered in the Spirit into the divine darkness
of the ineffable illumination, O wise one; then you received, Father, in your
heart the divine and resplendent light.
As
a guide and teacher of the virtuous life, you had a venerable company of disciples,
O saint inspired by God, which formed the divine training grounds for those who
were imitating your daily life, holy David.
As
you have borne, pure Virgin, the wisdom of God, the hypostasis and co-enthroned
Word of the Father, in the likeness of the flesh, deliver my soul from the
tricks of the avenging spirit.
Kontakion. Tone 4. Today you have appeared.
You
have appeared as a most bright star in the world, shining down on all who
approach you in faith, O David, boast of the Fathers.
Ikos
Let
us, the faithful, all send up a hymn to God, who gave strength to his servant David
to contend honorably in the noblest struggle for virtue. For, though he appeared in the last times as
an ever-shining star of divine radiance, he had the same zeal as the saints of
old long ago, having the same character in his life as they did and partaking
in their ways. He was their partner,
equally renowned in the glorious splendors of his achievements. After struggling in a great number of places,
with divine approval, he arrived at the island of Euboea. Then he built a church dedicated to the transfigured
Savior on Tabor and founded a holy monastery as a harbor of salvation. He showed kindness to all with divine gifts
of healing of soul and body.
With
the streams of your divine teachings, as an inspired servant of the Lord, you soak
the fields of souls, inspired one, for a greater and eternal fruitfulness of
salvation.
Your
monastery, wholly blessed one, observes your feast day, having acquired your body
as august gold, through which it rescues men from all kinds of soul-destroying
afflictions.
Let
Euboea leap for joy today and hymn brightly with psalms and odes David the
renowned, since she has acquired him as her protector and champion, defender
and great fame.
You
raised a church to the Lord of all dedicated to the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor
where you, O divinely wise David, received in your heart divine illuminations.
Heal,
O Maiden, my soul, diseased incurably by sin, and give me strength, O pure
Virgin, against deception, as you have driven out, O Queen, its dread madness.
Ode VIII.
Irmos. Hymn the Lord, who
was glorified on the holy mountain, and made known to Moses the mystery of the
Ever-virgin in the burning bush, and exalt him above all forever.
The
Creator who received your prayers from Heaven and glorified your holy life, O David,
wished to deliver those troubled terribly by the scourge of mosquitoes in
Disto, Father.
Though
you founded a lofty commonwealth, you were manifestly humble, virtuous, sympathetic
and an imitator of Christ, O David. You
also gave alms generously and provided relief to all men, near and far.
You
were truly a great champion to those beaten down amid terrible dangers and the
best physician of all to those in sicknesses.
To those who were afflicted, O wonder-working David, you appeared as a
sweet comforter.
Having
ascended the height of perfection of miracles, O wise one, you have gained
grace, and you have gone through numerous places, Father, granting profit of
souls and bodies as a receptacle of the Spirit.
You
fearfully received the flame of Godhead, even Christ, without being burnt; you
bore him two-fold in nature, one in hypostasis, unchangeable and unmixed for
the salvation of the world.
Ode
IX.
Irmos. Heaven was amazed at
this and the ends of the Earth were astounded, for God appeared bodily to men and
your womb became more vast than Heaven; wherefore, Mother of God, the orders of
angles and men glorify you.
Having
cleansed your heart of earthly thoughts with your severe asceticism, Father
David, you were filled with the noetic light; wherefore you also prophesied clearly
to your disciples your departure to God, to whom you also entrusted divine covenants
filled with grace.
You
went up to the glory of Heaven after you completed your holy struggle, Father
David, and you immediately rejoiced mystically in the tree of life, having been
reckoned a citizen in the lands of the saints; to us your children, you have
left your divine body as a divine consolation.
O
truly highly honored treasury of the grace of the Spirit, your divine and
wonderful head has been brought to light, Father David, always fragrant and
gladdening the souls of the faithful, furnishing strength and health to those
who take refuge in you with reverence.
O
great protector of Euboea, O holy and wholly blessed David, protect your
monastery from every plot; watch over your present island and preserve it
unharmed, and direct even me to the path of salvation, for I have newly composed
this hymn to you.
O
brilliant, golden lamp, radiant and illustrious temple in which Christ, the
Creator of all, dwelt and rendered us vessels of divine activity and beauty! O Virgin
Mother of God, with the light of your intercession illumine my darkened mind.
ENDNOTES
FOR THE CIRCUMSPECT
Source: This canon appears to be another one by St. Gerasimos of Little Anne Skete to the saint. One fine copy, among others, may be found here or here. 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.
Ode
I.
“Renowned” (τοῦ
πάνυ). A perfect example of why it pays
to look at the end of the lexical entry and not at the beginning. A contemporary translation of a canon to St.
Nicephorus the Leper simply omitted τοῦ πάνυ—probably because
the adverbial definitions (totally, completely, quite etc.) did not make
sense. πάνυ
is the word in Greek for our colloquial assents (“Totally!”, “Absolutely!” etc.
“Father
. . . father” (Πάτερ . . .
γεννήτωρ). An awkward line, but progenitor
(the “definition” provided by Montanari) is a word that survives only in the
lexical ossuaries of the learned.
“Patroness”
(πρόξενος). The Greek typically means patron, protector,
intermediary. Lampe has agent.
Ode
III.
“Even
in youth” (ἐν
νεανίαις τελῶν). This puzzling construction of τελέω features an
intransitive use of a verb which is more commonly used transitively (bring to
completion, finish, complete, etc.). Several
hours of frustrating research came to an end with the PGM version of St.
Gregory Palamas, in which ἐν τοῖς γέρουσι τελῶν was rendered as inter senes vivens. It is odd that a verb normally employed as a
circumlocution for dying should be used to mean living. Better to render as “belonging to the monastery”
(since as per Coptic a monk is an old man). My final translation of ἐν νεανίαις τελῶν
reflects the English preference for the abstract youth over the concrete
young men.
“Withdrew”
(ἀπέστης). The verb can have more kick than that—it can
mean renounce or even rebel.
“Dwelt”
(προσῳκειώθης). As Zoilus observes, this can be rendered as “resettled
with” after “the addressee has relocated from his homeland.”
“O Lady, Mother of
God and refuge of the world” is a good example of one of the hymnographers’ favorite
rhetorical devices—the figure of fullness.
Kathisma.
“Victorious
over the nature [or form]” (σχέσεως
ἀνώτερον). Only the DGE preserves this useful definition
of ἀνώτερος.
Ode
IV.
“Adorned”
(σεμνυνόμενος). I conjecture that our hymnographer
confused σεμνύνω (honor, celebrate in the active; have a modest
demeanor in the middle; be arrogant in the passive) with σεμνόω (embellish, adorn) (Montanari). In our case, the verb is plainly
middle-passive. However, it is worth
noting that Great Scott defines σεμνόω as exalt, magnify in the
active and give oneself airs in the middle. Schrevelius defines σεμνύνω as to
make venerable and majestic, extol, set off, exalt, exaggerate,
σεμνόω as to make venerable or splendid, set
off, embellish, extol mightily, exaggerate. Kontopoulos defines the active of σεμνύνω as to
render venerable, the middle as to pride in, glory in. A number of lexica omit σεμνόω (e.g., Great Scott and Stephanos). My hunch is that our hymnographers, due to
their epinician roots, are always looking for a way to work in adornments and
embellishments. “Made venerable by your
humility” is another possibility; “extolled by your humility” or “glorying in
your humility” seem less likely.
“Were
exalted, etc.” The translation of περίβλεπτος
ἐν
πράξεσιν ὤφθης ταῖς
ὁσίαις
ἀνυψούμενος
is tentative.
“You wiped clean
etc.” (ἀπομάττων . . . τὰ
παλαίσματα). Literally, “wiping clean the falls of the
ascetics.” This compressed expression
sounds odd in English. Similarly, in the
Iliad, we find Ἀλεξάνδρου ἕνεκ᾽ ἀρχῆς (Γ
100). This simple line sounds odd in English,
too: “on account of the beginning of
Alexander.” Anthon generously expands it
to read "on account of the conduct of Alexander, which gave a beginning to
the whole war."
“Ascetics” (ὁσίων). Presbyteros notes
that ὅσιος is Byzantine jargon for ascetic.
“Falls” (παλαίσματα). The Greek refers to falling in the context of
wrestling. Over and over again, the
hymnographers underscore the similarities of the struggles of athletes to win
their contests and those of monastics to win theirs.
Ode
V
“Submitting”
(καθυπακούων).
Stephanos quotes Dindorf as remarking that this exceedingly rare verb is
a figura inepta pro ὑποβάλλω (“a clumsy way of saying submit”).
Ode
VI.
“Shining
from your ascetic labors” (πόνοις ἀσκητικοῖς, ἐκλάμπων). As Zoilus notes, “Pindar often uses light as
a metaphor for victory. The victor is often depicted as "bright"
because of all the πόνοις he has undertaken
in athletic training and contest.”
“Being
a spiritual, etc.” This short troparion is
problematic. St. David is referred to as
father, saint, David and wholly blessed. I opted to drop “saint” in order to make the
troparion work in English. If anyone wants
to put “saint” back in, he may add it wherever he likes. Then I added “Christ” in order to make it
clear to whom the temple was dedicated.
“Training
grounds” (σκάμματα).
Another athletic metaphor.
“Tricks”
(σοφισμάτων) could also be “specious arguments.”
Kontakion.
“Boast
of the fathers” (πατέρων τὸ καύχημα)
is followed by a truly puzzling τῶν
ἰαμάτων
τοῖς θείοις
χαρίσματι (“of the healings by the divine with
a gift”?). It is not until the end of
the ikos that the solution is found: There
we find exactly the same phrase. Whereas
in the kontakion it makes no sense, in the ikos it makes perfect sense.
“Favors”
(ἰαμάτων). Or gifts, graces.
Ode
VIII.
“Without
being burnt” (μὴ φλεχθεῖσα τὴν
ἄχραντον
νηδύν σου). Literally, “not having kindled your
immaculate womb,” which in English is grotesque.
Ode
IX.
“The tree of life” is Christ.
