Troparia and kontakia for January 4

Forefeast of the Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Troparion — Tone 4

Prepare, O Zebulon, / and adorn yourself, O Naphtali; / river Jordan, cease flowing / and receive with joy the Master coming to be baptized. / Adam, rejoice with our First Mother / and do not hide yourself as you did of old in Paradise; / for having seen you naked, / He has appeared to clothe you with the first garment. / Christ has appeared to renew all creation.

Kontakion — Tone 4

Today the Lord enters the Jordan and cries out to John: / “Do not be afraid to baptize me. / For I have come to save Adam, the first-formed man.”

Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles

Troparion — Tone 3

Holy apostles of the Seventy, / entreat the merciful God / to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.

Kontakion — Tone 2

O faithful, let us praise with hymns / the choir of the seventy disciples of Christ. / They have taught us all to worship the undivided Trinity, / for they are divine lamps of the Faith.

Venerable Theoctistus, Abbot at Cucomo, in Sicily

Troparion — Tone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, / and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. / By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe! / O our holy Father Theoktistos, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Repose of Saint Eustathius I, Archbishop of Serbia

Troparion — Tone 4

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, / an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; / your humility exalted you; / your poverty enriched you. / Hierarch Father Eustathius, / entreat Christ our God / that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”)
O Hierarch Eustathius, divine thunder, spiritual trumpet, / planter of faith and pruner of heresies, great favorite of the Trinity, / while standing with the Angels before God, / pray unceasingly for us all.

Saint Aquila, Deacon, of the Kiev Caves

Troparion — Tone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, / and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. / By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe! / O our holy father Aquila, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Confessors Zosimus the Hermit and Athanasius the Commentarisius (Superintendent of Prisoners), Anchorites, of Cilicia

Troparion — Tone 8

Champions of Orthodoxy, teachers of purity and of true worship, / the enlighteners of the universe and the adornment of hierarchs: / all-wise fathers Zosimus and Athanasius, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things. / Intercede before Christ God to save our souls.

Saint Nikephoros the Leper

Troparion — Tone 1

All the angels were astonished by the struggles and and strict asceticism of the Venerable Nikēphóros the Leper; / for like another Job, patiently enduring his pain, he glorified God, / Who has crowned him now with glory, distinguishing him through miracles. / Rejoice, instructor of monastics! / Rejoice, beacon of light! / Rejoice, for a delightful fragrance pours forth from your relics!

Kontakion — Tone 8

(Podoben: “O Victorious Leader...”)
The valiant athlete of endurance and fortitude, / the steadfast diamond of patience and long-suffering was tried by affliction and sickness, / and in this way he glorified the Most High God, let us extol Nikēphóros the Leper, / saying unto him: Rejoice, O namesake of victory.

Venerable Euthymius and twelve other Monks, martyred at Vatopedi

Troparion — Tone 4

Your holy martyr Euthymius, O Lord, / through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. / For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, / and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. / Through his intercessions, save our souls!

Venerable New Martyr Onuphrius of Hilandar (Mount Athos)

Troparion — Tone 1

The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father, / for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away / but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, venerable Onuphrius, rejoices with the angels.

Metropolitan Symeon of Smolensk

Troparion — Tone 4

The truth of things revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, / a model of meekness, and a teacher of temperance. / Therefore, through humility, you attained the heights; / and through poverty, riches. / O Hierarch Symeón our Father, entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights…”)
O Hierarch Symeón, / divine thunder, spiritual trumpet, planter of faith, / and pruner of heresies, great favorite of the Trinity; / as you stand before God with the Angels, pray unceasingly for all of us.