Sunday March 08, 2026 / February 23, 2026
Light of Orthodoxy, pillar and doctor of the Church, adornment of monks, invincible champion of theologians, O Gregory the wonderworker, praise of Thessalonica, preacher of grace, ever pray that our souls may be saved.
Organ of wisdom, holy and divine, bright clarion of theology, we praise thee in harmony, O divine speaker Gregory: But as a mind standing before the First Mind, direct our mind to Him, father, that we may cry: Rejoice, preacher of grace!
Now is the time for action, judgment is at our doors. So let us rise and fast, and let us offer tears of compunction with almsgiving, crying: We have sinned more than the sand of the sea. But forgive us all, O Creator, that we may receive incorruptible crowns.
The angelic powers were at Thy tomb; / the guards became as dead men. / Mary stood by Thy grave, / seeking Thy most pure Body. / Thou didst capture hell, / not being tempted by it. / Thou didst come to the Virgin, granting life. / O Lord, Who didst rise from the dead: glory to Thee!
Thou Who didst call Thy mother blessed / came of Thine own will to the passion. / Shining on the cross, desiring to recall Adam, Thou didst say to the angels: / "Rejoice with Me, for the lost coin has been found." / Thou Who hast ordered all things in wisdom, / O our God, glory to Thee! (1x) Blessed be the name of the Lord, henceforth and forever more.
When Christ God, the Giver of Life, / raised all of the dead from the valleys of misery with His mighty hand, / He bestowed resurrection on the human race. / He is the Savior of all, the Resurrection, the Life, and the God of all.
As thou didst share in the ways of the apostles/ and didst occupy their throne,/ thou didst find thine activity to be a passage to divine vision,/ O divinely inspired one./ Wherefore, ordering the word of truth,/ thou didst suffer for the Faith even to the shedding of thy blood.// O hieromartyr Polycarp, entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.
Offering sacrifices of the virtues unto the Lord as spiritual fruits,/ O wise Polycarp,/ thou wast therefore glorified by God as a worthy hierarch./ Wherefore, enlightened today by thy words,// we hymn thy praiseworthy memory, glorifying the Lord.