Paraklesis, Small Supplicatory Canon to Theotokos
Chanted by Eikona. A poem of the monk Theosterictus, but ascribed by others to Theophanes. Translated and set to meter by Demetri Kangelaris and Nicholas Kasemeotes.
The Kanon was composed in the ninth century by Theosteriktos the Monastic (some believe it was by Theophanes the Hymnographer). Another Kanon for the Great Paraklesis was composed in the thirteenth сentury by Emperor Theodore I Ducas Lascaris.
There are other Paraklesis Services, identically structured and employing the same melodies, that are addressed to the saints, also seeking their intercessions before the Lord for the health and well being of the faithful.
The Paraklesis, is sung in times of danger, tragedy, sickness, temptation, or discouragement. The various hymns and prayers ask the Lord for salvation, deliverance, protection, guidance, and healing. Although these are addressed and directed toward the Virgin Mary and the saints, they ask for their assistance and prayers to the Lord.
All good things come from God, and Orthodox Christians always pray to God alone. Nonetheless, just as we ask one another to pray to God for us, or to join us in prayer to God for a particular purpose, so also we ask the saints in heaven, and especially the Virgin Mary, to pray for us. This is called “intercessory prayer,” when we ask others, either on earth or in heaven above, to pray to God for us.
Orthodoxy affirms that each of us and all the faithful living on earth are united to one another as well as to the Theotokos, the saints, and the faithful departed in a bond of faith and love in Christ. Therefore, just as in this life we pray for one another and turn to each other for prayer, we also pray for the departed souls and turn to the Mother of God and the saints to pray for us.
A Paraklesis is usually celebrated as a stand-alone service in the church with a priest. It can also be sung at any time and in any place in time of need, even by the faithful alone.
The Paraklesis may be celebrated at any times during the year, especially in time of particular need, at the request of one of the faithful, or even on a routine weekly basis in many parish churches. It is also traditionnaly chanted each evening during the Dormition Fast (August 1 through 14).
Kanon
Ode 1
Crossing the waters as on dry land,
in that way escaping from the evils of Egypt’s land,
the Israelites cried out lamenting:
let us sing to our redeemer and our God.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
With many temptations surrounding me,
searching for salvation, I have sought refuge in you;
O Mother of the Word, and ever virgin,
from all distresses and dangers deliver me.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Assaults of the passions have shaken me,
my soul to its limits has been filled with much despair;
Bring peace, O Maiden, in the calmness,
of your Son and your God, all-blameless one.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
To God and the Savior you’ve given birth;
I ask you, O Virgin, from the dangers deliver me;
for now I run to you for refuge,
with both my soul and my reasoning.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Diseased is the body and the soul;
deem me truly worthy of divine guidance and your care;
for you alone are God’s Mother,
as the good and the birth-giver of the Good.
Ode 3
The apse of the heavens, are you O Lord, Fashioner,
and the holy Church’s great Founder likewise establish me,
in constant love for You, for You’re the height of our longing,
Support of the faithful, the only One Who loves mankind.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
A protection and shelter I have with you in my life;
you, the Theotokos and Virgin, pilot me towards your port.
For you are the cause, the cause of that which is good;
support of the faithful, the only all-praised one.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
I entreat you, O Virgin, disperse the storm of my grief,
and the soul’s most inward confusion, scatter it far from me;
you are the Bride of God, for you have brought forth the Christ,
the Prince of Peace; O all-blameless one.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Having brought forth unto us the Cause and Giver of good,
from your great abundance of kindness, pour forth upon us all.
For all is possible, for you who carried the Christ,
Who is mighty in power, you who are blessed of God.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
With most serious ailments, and with the passions so dark,
I am being tested, O Virgin; come and bring help to me,
for I have known of you, that you are without fail,
the endless treasure of cures, only all-blameless one.
Troparia
Tone Plagal 4
Deliver us,
all of your servants, from danger, O Theotokos;
after God, we all flee to you, for shelter and covering,
as an unshakable wall and our protection.
Turn to me,
in your good favor, all praiseworthy Theotokos;
look upon my grave illnesses,
which painfully sting my flesh
and heal the cause of my soul’s pain and suffering.
Ode 4
O Lord, I have heard of
the wondrous mystery of Your salvation;
I have contemplated all Your works
and I have glorified Your great divinity.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Still the darkest of passions,
calm the sea of errors in your great peacefulness;
it was you who bore the guiding Lord,
and you who are the blessed Bride of God.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Your depth of compassion
grant unto me as one beseeching you:
you have carried the compassionate One
the Savior of those praising you.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
We are thankful for all the gifts
which we have been given by you the spotless one;
and to you, we sing a hymn of praise,
knowing you to be the Mother of God.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
As a hope and foundation,
and a wall unshaken of our salvation;
we have you, the all-lauded one,
and from afflictions you rescue us.
Ode 5
Lord, enlighten us, with your precepts that can guide our lives,
and with your arm most powerful
grant to us Your peace,
O You Who are the Friend of all.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Pure one, fill my heart with a merriment, a happiness;
bestow upon me your spotless joy,
for you have given birth
to Him Who is the Cause of joy.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Deliver all of us from the dangers, Theotokos, most pure,
for you bore the timeless Deliverer,
and you bore the Peace,
the Peace which has surpassed all thought.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Dissipate the cloud of my sinfulness, O bride of God,
with the brightness of your eminence;
for you brought forth the Light,
divine Light, Which was before all time.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal me from the ills which the passions bring, most pure one;
make me worthy of your guiding care,
and unto me grant health,
through your intercessions and your prayers.
Ode 6
My petition, I pour out to the Lord,
and to Him I will confess my sorrows;
for many woes fill my soul to its limits,
and unto Hades my whole life has now approached,
like Jonah I pray to You,
O God, now raise me from corruption.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
From death and corruption He has saved
my nature, held by death and corruption;
for unto death He Himself has surrendered; for which reason, O Virgin, please intercede
with Him Who is your Lord and Son,
from the enemies’ evils deliver me.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
I know you as the protection of my life,
a steadfast shelter and refuge, O Virgin;
disperse the host of my many temptations,
and force away the demonic attacks from me;
I pray to you unceasingly,
from corruption of passions deliver me.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
We have you as a wall of refuge,
and our soul’s most perfect salvation;
you are an aid, in affliction, O Maiden,
and in your light we rejoice to eternity;
O Lady, also now,
from passions and dangers deliver us.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
I lie now on a bed of infirmities,
and there is no healing at all for my body
except for you, who has brought forth our Savior,
God, the Healer of all our infirmities;
of your goodness, I pray to you,
from corruption of sicknesses raise me.
Troparia
Tone Plagal 4
Deliver us,
all of your servants, from danger, O Theotokos;
after God, we all flee to you, for shelter and covering,
as an unshakable wall and our protection.
Spotless one,
who by a word, did bring to us the Word eternal,
in the last days ineffably;
do you now plead with Him
as the one with the motherly favor.
Ode 7
Coming out of Judea,
once the young men did go to the land of Babylon;
the flame of the furnace, they trampled down while chanting, with their faith in the Trinity:
O the God of our Fathers, blessed are You, our God.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
As you willed, O our Savior,
to dispense our salvation through Your economy
inside the Virgin’s womb; You showed to all the people
that she was our own guardian:
O the God of our fathers, blessed are You, our God.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
The Bestower of mercy
that you bore, O pure Mother, entreat on our behalf;
from sins deliver us, and from the soul’s defilement,
we cry out most faithfully: O the God of our fathers, blessed are you, our God.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
A Fountain of pureness
and a Tower of safety is she who carried You,
a Treasure of salvation and the Door of repentance,
she has been shown to those that cry:
O the God of our fathers, blessed are You, our God.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
The illnesses of body,
and the soul’s ailing sickness, of those who run to you,
for divine protection, as God’s holy Mother,
make them worthy of remedy:
for the Savior Christ was born from you.
Ode 8
The King of heaven, Who is praised,
and is hymned by the host of the angels;
praise and exalt Him
throughout the many ages.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
Do not neglect those who seek the help you grant;
they hymn you, O virgin Maiden,
and they do exalt you,
throughout the many ages.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
O Virgin you pour a wealth of healing
on those who faithfully hymn you,
and those who exalt your
child-bearing wonder.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
The infirmities of my soul are healed by you,
and the pains of my body, O Virgin,
so that I may praise you,
O Lady, in God’s favor.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
You drive away the assaults of temptations,
and attacks of the passions, O Virgin,
therefore we do praise you
throughout the many ages.
Ode 9
Saved through you, O pure Virgin,
hence we do confess you
to be most truly the birth giver of our Lord;
with choirs of bodiless angels,
you do we magnify.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
The streams of my many tears,
reject not, holy Virgin;
for you gave birth to the One Who dried all the tears,
from all the faces of people the Christ was born of you.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
With gladness fill my heart,
most-holy virgin Lady,
for you are she who received the abundant joy;
take the grief of my sinfulness, and make it disappear.
Most holy Theotokos save us.
A shelter and protection
and a wall unshaken, become, O Virgin, for those who flee to you,
a sheltered cover and refuge, and a place of joy.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
O Virgin, from the brightness
of your light illumine
the ones who call you most piously God’s Mother,
take all the gloom of our ignorance and banish it away.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Oppressed I am, O Virgin;
in a place of sickness,
I have been humbled; I ask you: bring remedy,
transform my illness, my sickness, into a wholesomeness.
Troparia
(Not during the period of August 1-14)
Tone Plagal 2
Have mercy on us, O Lord; have mercy on us; laying aside every excuse, we sinners offer this
prayer to You as Master: have mercy on us.
Glory to the ✝ Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, have mercy on us, for we have placed our trust in You. Do not be exceedingly angry with
us, nor remember our transgressions, but look down upon us even now with compassion, and
save us from our enemies. For You are our God, and we are Your people; we are all the work of
Your hands, and we call upon Your name.
Now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Blessed Theotokos, open the doors of compassion to us who have our hope in you, that we may
not perish but be delivered from adversity through you, for you are the salvation of the Christian
people.
Apolitikion and Theotokion
August 1 through 14
On the Evening of August 1
Tone 4
You have been given a royal crown because of all that you endured for Christ our God, O first and holy
martyr Stephen. You have put your persecutors to shame and have seen your Savior enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Do not cease to intercede for the salvation of our souls.
Glory …, now and … The mystery that was hidden from the ages and unknown to the angels • was made
manifest to those on earth through you, O Theotokos. • God took flesh in a union without confusion • and willingly accepted the Cross for our sake, • thereby raising up the first man • and saving our souls from death.
On the Evening of August 2
Tone 4
God of our Fathers, • Who always deals with us according to your everlasting compassion, • do not take
away your mercy from us, • but through their prayers • guide our lives along the ways of peace.
Glory …, now and … The mystery that was hidden … (see above)
On the Evening of August 3
Tone 4
Your martyrs, Lord, in their struggles • have brought away the crowns of incorruption, from You our
God; • by having Your power, they tore down tyrants; • and they shattered the feeble audacities of
demons. • Through their supplications, Christ God, • save our souls.
Glory …, now and …The mystery that was hidden … (see above)
On the Evening of August 4
Tone 4
Let us come forth, O believers, and welcome the Transfiguration of Christ. Let us joyfully celebrate the
preparation of this feast, crying aloud: “Truly the day of divine rejoicing has arrived, and has shone forth
the radiance of Christ’s divinity.”
On the Evenings of August 5 through 13
Grave Tone
You became transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, • showing Your glory to Your disciples as they
were able to perceive it. • Shine also upon us sinners, • Your everlasting light, • by the intercessions of
the Theotokos; • O Giver of Light, glory to You.
(Source: https://www.goarch.org/-/small-paraklesis)
