188

now, always and unto ages of ages, amen.

36.

Thanksgiving for the exile and the tribulations, which he underwent in the persecution against him. (283)

I thank you, Lord, I thank you, only knower of hearts, just king, all-merciful! I thank you, beginningless, all-powerful Word, who came down to the earth and was incarnate my God and became what you were not, a man like me without change and flux and all sin, so that you, the impassible, having suffered unjustly at the hands of the lawless, might grant impassibility to me, the condemned, in imitating your sufferings, my Christ. Just therefore is your judgment and your command also, which you commanded us to keep, all-merciful. And this is the imitation of your humility, that just as you yourself suffered, being sinless, so we who have sinned might endure all things, both temptations and persecutions and scourges and tribulations and finally death from the lawless. For you heard that you had a demon and were considered a deceiver by the godless and an adversary of God and a transgressor of the law. You, as an evildoer, were arrested and bound, and led away alone, when all had left you, both disciples and friends. You also stood before the judge as one condemned, O Word, (284) and the judgment which he brought against you, you accepted. You, both for speaking, endured a slap from a servant, and for being silent, were immediately condemned to death. For your words were a sword to the lawless, but your silence, O King, was a cause for condemnation; wherefore the unjust, not bearing to see you, the only just one, handed you over to a most shameful death. For this you were struck on the head and crowned with thorns, and you were clothed in a scarlet robe. Your face was spat upon, alas, and you were mocked, hearing mockingly, "Hail! O King," from the Hebrews.

188

νῦν, ἀεί καί εἰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν.

ΛΣΤ'.

Εὐχαριστία ὑπέρ τῆς ἐξορίας καί τῶν θλίψεων, ὧν ὑπέστη ἐν τῷ κατ᾿ αὐτόν διωγμῷ. (283)

Εὐχαριστῶ σοι, Κύριε, εὐχαριστῶ σοι, μόνε καρδιογνῶστα, βασιλεῦ δίκαιε, πανοικτίρμον! Εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ἄναρχε, παντοδύναμε Λόγε, ὁ κατελθών ἐπί τῆς γῆς καί σαρκωθείς Θεός μου καί γεγονώς, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦς, ἄνθρωπος ὅμοιός μου δίχα τροπῆς καί ῥεύσεως καί πάσης ἁμαρτίας, ἵνα παθών ὁ ἀπαθής ὑπ᾿ ἀνόμων ἀδίκως ἀπάθειαν παράσχῃς μοι τῷ κατακεκριμένῳ ἐν τῷ μιμήσασθαι τά σά παθήματα, Χριστέ μου. ∆ικαία οὖν ἡ κρίσις σου καί ἡ πρόσταξις ἅμα, ἥνπερ προσέταξας ἡμᾶς φυλάσσειν, πανοικτίρμον. Αὕτη δ᾿ ἐστίν ἡ μίμησις τῆς ταπεινώσεώς σου, ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ἔπαθες αὐτός ἀναμάρτητος πέλων, οὕτως ἡμεῖς ὑποίσωμεν ἁμαρτήσαντες πάντα, καί πειρασμούς καί διωγμούς καί μάστιγας καί θλίψεις καί τελευταῖον θάνατον παρά τῶν παρανόμων. Σύ δαιμονᾶν γάρ ἤκουσας καί πλάνος ἐνομίσθης ἀθέοις καί ἀντίθεος καί παραβάτης νόμου. Σύ ὡς κακοῦργος συλληφθείς καί δεθείς μόνος ἤχθης, πάντων καταλιπόντων σε μαθητῶν τε καί φίλων. Σύ καί παρέστης τῷ κριτῇ ὡς κατάκριτος, Λόγε, (284) καί κρίσιν, ἥν ἐξήνεγκε κατά σου, κατεδέξω. Σύ καί λαλήσας ῥάπισμα παρά δούλου ὑπέστης καί σιωπήσας θάνατος εὐθύς κατεδικάσθης. Οἱ λόγοις σου γάρ μάχαιρα τοῖς ἀνόμοις ὑπῆρχον, ἡ σιωπή δέ, βασιλεῦ, καταδίκης αἰτία˙ διό μή φέροντες ὁρᾶν σέ τόν δίκαιον μόνον οἱ ἄδικοι θανάτῳ σε παρέδωκαν αἰσχίστῳ. Ὅθεν ἐτύφθης κεφαλήν καί ἀκάνθαις ἐστεφανώθης, χλαῖνάν τε κοκκίνην ἐνεδύσω. Ἐνεπτύσθης τό πρόσωπον, οἴμοι, καί ἐνεπαίχθης, Χαῖρε! ἀκούσας παικτικῶς, βασιλεῦ, ὑπ᾿ Ἑβραίων.