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CANON FOR THE SYNODIKON OF ORTHODOXY

INTRODUCTION
In the Triodia this Canon is ascribed to Theodore the Studite, but it cannot be by him, since he had died several years earlier. The author is almost certainly the Patriarch St Methodios. The troparion of the 8th Ode which speaks of the famous Icon of Christ above the Bronze Gate of the Palace reminds one of the poem on the subject that was written by the Patriarch Methodios to celebrate its restoration. The rubric in the Triodion says, after the Dismissal of Matins and before the Liturgy, we go in procession, together with wood of the Cross and the revered Icons, to the place where the Synodikon is to be read. As we go and as we return we sing the following Canon. If this canon was first sung in 843, it is tempting to suggest that it may have been sung as the clergy and people made their way from the church of the Mother of God in Blachernae, where the vigil had been celebrated, to the Great Church, where the Liturgy was to be celebrated. It is perhaps worth remarking that one of those present would almost certainly have been a seventeen year old boy from Thessalonika, who had recently been sent to Constantinople on the death of his father and placed in the care of Theoktistos the Logothete, the Empress Theodoras chief minister. The young mans name was Constantine; though he is better known by his monastic name, Cyril the Apostle of the Slavs. The Canon presents a number of linguistic and historical problems, and this translation is only provisional. One of the historical problems is why such prominence is given to otherwise almost wholly unknown character, Lezix, who appears here as one of the leaders of the iconoclasts. It seems that he was subsequently reconciled to the Church by the Patriarch himself. The two troparia that are sung after the Canon are not without interest. The first, which is now the Apolytikion for the day, seems to have been a rallying song of the Iconodules, for we read in the life of St Theodore the Studite that shortly after the exile of Patriarch Nikephoros and the removal of the icons, St Theodore organised a solemn procession of the icons, during which this troparion was sung. In his Life we read that he ordered all the

monks under him to take the icons in their hands, hold them high and then march round the whole circuit of the monastery, sing the hymn, We worship your most pure icon, loving Lord, together with other hymns of victory to Christ the Victor. This took place on the glorious feast of Palms, which we all believers celebrate before the Passion and Resurrection of the Master [PG 99:185]. The other troparion formed part of the ancient office for the First Sunday of Lent, which was dedicated to the Prophets, in particular Moses, Aaron and Samuel. The three are found together in Psalm 96:6, Moses and Aaron were among his priests: and Samuel among those that call upon his name. The present Gospel for this Sunday is also a survival from the ancient office, and it was chosen presumably because of the words of the Apostle Philip to Nathaniel, We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.

CANON FOR THE SYNODIKON OF ORTHODOXY

By Methodios Ode 1. Tone 6. Helper and Protector. Let us believers sing a song of thanksgiving to our God, the Benefactor of all things, for he has raised up a saving horn for us, a mighty kingdom, a champion of Orthodoxy. [Twice] Truly divine grace has appeared to the inhabited world, glory and honour have appeared, the Church leaps for joy, having received the robe of its own baring. Christs tunic, previously rent by John the deceiver and poisoner, the godly Fathers have now woven and given to the Church. The Church, having taken up the Lords form, rejoices and leaps with gladness with her children, as she has received from him prizes of victory, symbols of Orthodoxy.

Let the haters, dreadful Lizix and Antony with John and Theodore, both deniers of the faith, be ashamed and turned back. Iannes and Iambres, who opposed Moses the Lawgiver of old, were put to shame; while now John the deceiver is truly routed with Antony. You tore apart the faction of Gods foes, O Christ, and have now restored to the Church her robe, the Church for which you poured out your blood, as you are good. Glory. I contemplate you, O Trinity, and worship your divine might; deliver me from trials of every kind, for I believe in you, Father, Son and all-holy Spirit. Both now. Theotokion. Wearing from you the royal robe, O Virgin, God appeared to mortals in human form, double in being; the form of his form we hold in veneration. Ode 3. Establish, Lord. Rejoice, all you choirs of Fathers and Apostles, as you behold the worship of the Icons, which you clearly handed down. [Twice] Let the all-unblemished Church cry out, I have received my beauty and put on my robe, of which John had stripped me. Be ashamed, you lawless, who battle against the Lord, for he was incarnate and has been made manifest in an image, which we embrace in a relative manner. Who would speak out the foul doctrines and lawless teachings of the insane John, expounding Delphic ways?

Anathema to Lizix and John, with Antony, Theodore the godless blasphemer, together with insane Theodotos! The blood shed for the divine likeness of the incarnate Master cries out; blood that was shed by John. The Lord has expelled the horde of aliens and has given back to his own what was theirs. Glory to his goodness! Glory. Let us worship with right belief the will that is without beginning, the authority and sovereign power of the Trinity, ever rejecting Arius. Both now. Theotokion. We confess you to be truly the Sovereign Lady who gave birth to God, heeding not the words of Nestorios, but the doctrines of the Fathers. Ode 4. The prophet heard. Rejoice with gladness, O Church, and every city, town and village; let the monasteries be opened and the nunneries adorned. Let then fittingly worship the relics and icons of the Martyrs. Christ invites you! Now godly Fathers assemble with eagerness and recount, like the Apostles, the spectacle of his Incarnation, his miracles and his sufferings, as the Sacred Gospel writes. Assemble rejoicing with boldness, you multitudes of monks, for though they were evilly strong, the cowards have again been worsted, and whatever counsel such men counselled, the Lord will scatter. The stripes of the Fathers, the blood shed by their blows have truly ceased; continuous exiles are no more, and peace

is being established for all. No longer does the work of magic have force; for God is with us. The vine of evil spread out its branches of impiety and flowered with the bitter grape cluster, and their wine was the rag of the dragon, from which they truly gave the Lords people the evil-minded drink. They defiled your Temple with unlawful ordinations for money, and they have been canonically cast out and are fallen from divine glory: Simon Magus, and with him John and Antony. Against the wild beasts and enemies of God, foul Antony, the traitor, John, of satanic mind and enemy of the Church, assembled like fierce wolves, let us believers shout out three times, Anathema!. Glory. O uncreated Monarchy, Father, Son and Spirit, we worship you, whose praise the many-eyed Cherubim and the sixwinged Seraphim sing, as they cry, Holy, Holy, Holy are you, O Highest and Almighty! Both now. Theotokion. Holier than the holies, higher than all creatures you were named, O Virgin Mother, who bore your own Creator; therefore we offer worship to your holy form, O Birth-giver of God. Ode 5. Rising in the night. Christ has conquered! Let earth leap for joy! Tumult has ceased; the weeping of the Lords servants too has ceased; while everywhere the Faith has been unfurled for the world. [Twice]

Seeing the Crucifixion in an Icon, we love it with reverence, greeting Christ and his symbols, and we worship them, but do not honour them as gods. The garrulous and blasphemous spirit of Lyzikos has ceased, that continually by day and night spoke out against the divine image of Christ and his Saints. Why, thrice wretched man, do you hate the immaculate image of Christs incarnation and of all the Saints? For surely we believers do not worship dumb idols, do we? Lighting on instruments of impiety, they assembled a synod of impious priests against God most high, like the Jews, Annas and Caiaphas, of old.
On the day of judgement, most wretched man, the company of the Fathers will stand as accusers of your godless soul; the Fathers who flesh you stripped bare with unnumbered blows.

All the Churches will shout aloud, crying that they were all deprived by you of the image of the Lord and of his Saints, the holy Icons. Glory. Glory to you who sustain the universe by your might! Glory to you, Unity in Three Persons, Father, Son and Spirit, deliver from harm of every kind those who believe in you. Both now. Theotokion. We reverence you, Sovereign Lady and Virgin, as the beauteous golden lamp that gave birth for the world to the spiritual light and diminished the misty fog. Ode 6. I cried from my whole heart. The unsleeping guardians of Christs Church cried out, asking him that she be given peace. He heard and was attentive to their prayer. [Twice]

The game traps of the deceiver have been exposed by the teachings of the Fathers, and God, who is uncircumscribed in his Godhead, formed in flesh is praised.
Fellow workers of error, be ashamed! And let Theodotos and Lizix and Theodore, that abyss of destruction, be destroyed with Antony.

You opened your mouth, you wretch, not in spiritual songs, but in blasphemies against your Master, rejecting the honourable fashioning of Icons. You overthrew the doctrines of the Fathers and the teachings of the Apostles, writing against them in accordance with your lawless cult, John, enemy of Christ. The smoke of your tears filled the eyes of the devout; but with the wind of the godly Teachers they have been dispersed, demented John. You ripped apart the divine robe, like Arius of old Christs tunic, therefore you have been cast out of the Church like a dog. Glory. I glorify one source of Godhead in three hypostases; for God is one, Father, Son and Spirit; though distinct in characteristics and persons. Both now. Theotokion. Prophetically, Pure Maiden glorified by God, you were revealed as City of God, from which your Maker was born, preserving you after childbearing as you were before. Ode 7. We have sinned, we have offended. Divine grace has now quenched the furnace of heresy, consuming the spiritual Chaldeans, bedewing the servants of the Trinity, who had been held in its flames for four weeks of years. [Twice]

The Church is adorned, robed, made fair with the form of the Master of all things, of his incarnation and sufferings, bearing their symbols to the end, in accordance with Gods laws. The Lords people that bears Christs name celebrates, keeps festival, seeing the Church once again resplendent with the beauty of the divine form, which, though being God, he bore as human in order to save us. In flesh the Word was poor and hungry and thirsty, these being the attributes of the human nature, through which he is circumscribed; though in hid Godhead he is simple and uncircumscribed.
The monstrosities and wizardries of the enemy of Christ have been destroyed, for he has been revealed as equal of the Greeks, inflated by their writings, which the voices of the just have utterly destroyed.

What tongue will recount your most damaging and soul destroying doctrines or the utterance of your belly, falsely named John and forerunner of the Antichrist Satan? There was no need for you to be so named, but rather Pythagoras, Chronos, and Apollo, whose manner of life you rivalled, delighting in your impieties. Glory. Eternal, all-powerful, beyond understanding; we believers all worship a Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, and let us confess them without confusion as we cry, Holy, Holy, Holy are you, O God! Both now. Theotokion.
Sure Bridge for Christians, the boast of the faithful and their refuge; Sovereign Lady, Mother of God, you alone are she that helps all and saves them from dangers. Ode 8. Whom the armies of Heaven.

Believers, let us all rejoice like the prophets and let us mystically be glad, for this is the day on which Christ the Word gave back to the Church his own robe.

Lezix and John, the yoke of Beliar, ranged themselves in serried ranks as for against Christs image, assaulting the Church with axe of wickedness. Who would not grieve on seeing the outrageous act of daring, the divine image over the Bronze gate of the palace, stoned by lawless men on Johns instruction. How do you not understand, blind wretch, darkened in mind, when you see that all under heaven has been adorned with Christs imprint; but alone you had the understanding of the Jews? You thought you would utterly destroy the incarnate Image of the Lord and all the saints from the holy Churches; but divine grace has destroyed your tyranny. Dread Lezix, along with John, the deniers of true religion, lawlessly said they would in no way worship the sacred relics of the saints and their Icons. Glory.
As we all devoutly reverence the all-creating Divine Power in three Forms, the Father who has no beginning, the Word and the Spirit that shines out with them, let us glorify to the ages.

Both now. Theotokion. Sure bridge of Christians, boast of the faithful and their refuge, Sovereign Lady and Mother of God, you alone help all and save them from dangers. Ode 9. Conception without seed. Nations, clap your hands; choirs of Father, hurry; Ascetics and those in the mountains, come together; you, that of old

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were persecuted by John the impious deceiver, have come publicly to heap scorn on wizardry and spells. [Twice] Desert, rejoice, with the whole inhabited world; all you mountains, drop down sweetness; hills, be glad, for Christ, the Word, has given peace to those on earth, and to the godly Churches unity of faith. The God of just sentences has now pronounced with freedom; Christ has appeared, giving strength today to godly Teachers to proclaim boldness his condescension and to depict with sureness his incarnation in icons. Longsuffering Lord, how wonderful are your works! Who will number your love for humankind? Who, when they see your Priests and Ascetics slain for the sake of your Icon, would not burn up the deceivers? But you, when insulted, endured. Lord, who fixed the Church unshaken and the gates of Hell did not prevail grant your peace to your people, that we may all sincerely worship you with a single hymn of glory and glorify you. Let all who do not honour the imprint of your embodying, Master, stand under anathema; above all John, with Antony and impious Theodore, Theodotos and all the rest of the opponents of the Faith. Master, who gave your peace to your Apostles, now too grant your calm to all, with your hand gathering the scattered, and number them as rational sheep in the sheepfold of your holy Church. Glory. I glorify the Godhead of Father, Son and Spirit, the One Nature in Three Hypostases. Essence Undivided, Separate in Persons, one single kingship, almighty sovereignty that holds the universe in being. Both now. Theotokion. Help, protection and assistance of all, O Mother of God, show that you can intercede for all those who take refuge in you and that you drive away the impious by the power of your Son; for as Mother you can do all things.

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And when we reach the appointed place, we say the Troparion: We worship your most pure Icon Glory. Both now. Another. Tone 2. The choir of the Prophets gladly rejoices today with Moses and Aaron, because the Cross, bringing the end of prophecy, shines out, by which you saved us. At their intercessions, Christ our God, save our souls.