Saint Nicholas, Enlightener of Japan - Troparion & Kontakion

Troparion — Tone 4

You shared in the ways of the Apostles and sat upon their throne, / O faithful and divinely-wise servant of Christ, / chosen harp of the divine Spirit, vessel over­flowing with the love of Christ, / and Enlightener of Japan, O Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Equal of the Apostles, / entreat the Life-Giving Trinity on behalf of all your flock, and for the entire world.

Troparion — Tone 4

As a colleague of the Apostles in their labors and rewards, / the Church honors you with love, O Holy Hierarch Nicholas Equal of the Apostles. / For having laid the foundation of the beginning of Orthodoxy in pagan Japan by your many deeds, / you increased the number of those who are saved; / and as is meet, after your death God received you into the abode of His Apostles. / Therefore we beseech you: / “Pray to the Lord that your work may continue to abide unshakably for eternity, / and that all those doomed to perdition may enter the bosom of the Orthodox Church, / for the peace of the world and for the salvation of our souls.”

Kontakion — Tone 4

O Hierarch Nicholas, Equal of the Apostles, / the country of Japan received you as a sojourner and an alien.1 / At first you regarded yourself as a stranger, / but by pouring forth the warmth and light of Christ, you changed your enemies into spiritual sons, / and by imparting the grace of God to them, you established the Church of Christ; / and now pray for your sons and daughters that they may cry out, / “Rejoice, our good shepherd.”2

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “The steadfast…”)
As God You rewarded the steadfast and divinely eloquent preacher of Your Gospel, O Lord; / for You preferred his labors and illnesses to all the sacrifices and whole-burnt offerings of the Law.3 / By his prayers, preserve us from evils.


1 1 Peter 2:11
2 John 10:11
3 Mark 12:33