St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary Healer of Christ (source)
Note: The following is my amateur translation of the second canon (in the second tone) in a series of eight canons in the eight tones written by St. Joseph the hymnographer to honor the great martyr and healer of Christ, St. Panteleimon. These are very beautiful and compunctionate hymns, and rightly praise such a great wonderworker of Orthodoxy. For the full texts of the canons in Greek, see here. If I am not mistaken, these are used around the feast of the Saint (i.e. either in the days leading up to or following his feast) in his Monastery on Mount Athos to more fully celebrate this great feast, the feast of the Russian Monastery of the Holy Mountain. May St. Panteleimon intercede for us all, and grant us healing of the passions of our souls and bodies! Amen!
Written by St. Joseph the Hymnographer (+883AD)
Canon II in the Second Tone
The acrostic, from the first to the
seventh, according to alphabet, in the eight and ninth: “Song of
Joseph”
Ode I. Come, O people.
Entreat for our sanctification and
enlightenment from God, O all-joyous one, for those who praise you
with holy melodies, and who are enriched by you as a divine
protector.
You disdained royal and lawless
commandments, and hastened to the eternal, heavenly Kingdom, which
you received, having struggled, O Panteleimon.
You clearly denied the generation and
the worldly pride, O wise one, and struggled steadfastly. Entreat the
Savior, that those who ever hymn you may be saved.
Theotokion.
You are the glory of the faithful, O Birth-giver of God. Make those who faithfully hymn you to partake of the
joy to come and eternal glory, through your protection.
Ode III. Strengthen us.
Having believed in God and having
called upon Him in holiness, you raised the dead man, O blessed one.
But entreat that I be saved, who am dead by all kinds of offenses.
Having desired the true life, you
endured the storms of tortures, O all-blessed one, and were tied to a
tree, as your flesh was torn apart with iron.
The Judgment is now at the gates, be
watchful, my soul, and cry out: “Save me, have mercy on me, O
Master, through the intercessions of Your divine Champion.”
Theotokion.
Having given birth to God in the flesh,
O Virgin, ceaselessly entreat on behalf of those who hymn you, O
unshameable protection of the world.
Ode IV. I have hearkend, O Lord.
You were offered as a pure sacrifice to
Him Who was pierced for us, O greatly-suffering Martyr Panteleimon.
Your flesh was utterly and mercilessly
burned with torches, O all-blessed one, as you received divine
refreshment from on high.
Enlighten me with the light of
repentance, through your bright prayers, O Champion, and deliver me
from eternal torments.
Theotokion.
Cleanse us all from the pollution of
the passions, O Birthgiver of God, for you bore the Source of
dispassion.
Ode V. O, the source of light.
Keeping the law of God, and deposing
the wiles of the lawless, you were cast into the sea, O Martyr, but
were saved by the mighty hand of Christ, our only God.
You struggled in a strange manner, and
befriended God, O glorious one. Enlighten the eye of our heart, which
was darkened by the passions of life, O wise one.
Theotokion.
O Pure and Virgin Mother, the eternal
beauty of the Champions, and the refuge of those repenting, help us,
who are terribly endangered on the sea of life.
Ode VI. In the abyss of offenses.
Arrayed with divine grace, O
all-blessed one, amidst beasts you remained unmoved, O glorious
Panteleimon, amazing all who gazed upon you with faith.
We have been enriched by you as our
protector and most-fervent intercessor, O Panteleimon,. Deliver us
from fatal trials and dishonorable passions, through your prayers.
Those who beheld the multitudes of
wonders worked by you came to believe in Christ, O Champion, and you
inherited that [eternal] mansion through your blood of martyrdom.
Theotokion.
Entreat the All-good Word, O you who
are graced by God, on behalf of us all, that we be granted remission
of offenses, and that we receive eternal life.
Ode VII. The children were shown to be
rhetors.
As your members were utterly flogged on
behalf of the Lord, O Champion, you were unjustly bound to a wheel,
but preserved by the hand of an Angel, and you conquered the bodiless
foes through your body, O blessed-one.
Through the grace and strength of
Christ, you joyously cast out our illnesses, O godly-minded Panteleimon,
therefore I cry out to you: heal the passions of of my heart,
entreating the Good and only Benefactor [Christ].
Preserve my soul from every snare of
the enemies, O Panteleimon, I entreat you, that as you formerly
healed the paralytic, now heal me, that I might walk the good path
righteously, through your prayers.
Theotokion.
As the Throne of the King of All, you
became fiery, O Chaste One, in which sat He Who raised those bodies
long-dead, and refashioned those who had been terribly shattered by
sin.
Ode VIII. In the furnace fire.
Rejoicing in mind, you were placed in
boiling oil, but were not burned, as you were aflame, O Martyr, with
the love of Christ, and you received the refreshment from on high.
Therefore, we honor you, O wise Panteleimon.
You stood with your feet immovable on
the rock of the knowledge of Christ, and were not shaken by the many
forms of tortures which were thrown at you in evil. Therefore, we hymn
you, unto all the ages.
Theotokion.
I ceaselessly entreat you, O Birthgiver
of God, to deliver me from the evil path and impure thoughts, and
every other soul-corrupting danger, that I might hymn you, unto all
the ages.
Ode IX. God the Word from God.
That you might gain the riches of
heaven, O Martyr, you counted the thoughts and joys of this world as
refuse, and endured the greatest pains of your flesh manfully, thus
righteously pleasing the Master of all.
Having imitated Christ, the Giver of
Mercy, O Panteleimon, you were renamed according to the mercy which
you showed towards all men, as you truly pour forth healing for every
disease, O godly-minded one, for those who hasten to you.
Through your prayers for us, O Martyr,
deliver us from the many forms of temptations, and terrible
sicknesses and afflictions, O Panteleimon, and deliver from the
eternal fire those who hasten to your protection with faith, O
all-joyous one.
The awesome [Second] Coming of the
Master approaches; who would not be pained at you, O wretched soul?
Hasten, arise, cry out to Jesus, my God: “have mercy on me, save
me, through the prayers of the wise Champion, as the only
Surpassing-Good One.”
Theotokion.
I am a lover of sin, and I shudder at
the Judgment which awaits me there, O Birth-giver of God and
All-Spotless One, namely terrible punishment. Therefore, I entreat
your motherly prayers, which surpass understanding, to have mercy on
me and save me.
(source)
For Canon I (in First Tone) to St. Panteleimon, see here.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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