Release me from this life

Since Thou hast become life and resurrection for all men through Thy goodness,
Release me from this life.
Thou Who art immortal, and send me away from this life, which is mortal:
Give my body over to mortal death, as with all Thy friends,
But grant me, Merciful One, life spiritual and eternal.
Since I have seen Thee in the flesh, and have been deemed worthy to hold Thee,
I behold Thy glory along with Thy Father and the Holy Spirit,
For Thou hast at the same time, remained on high, and come here below,
Thou, the only Friend of man.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Presentation in the Temple

Overcome by love

Overcome by love, He came into the world to seek
His creature who had wandered.
Without beginning, and Ineffable,
Son of God and our God,
Wisely and with divine providence, as a God,
He makes the search.
He is made flesh from His mother whom He cleansed
(as though swept clean) and sanctified;
And He offers His body as a lamp to the fire and oil
Of His divinity which illumines all.
For fire and clay always make light.
Thus from His divinity and Incarnation, Christ
Shed the light of the Lamp —
The Life and Resurrection.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Resurrection IV

St. Romanos on St. Thomas

O the marvel! the forbearance! the immeasurable meekness!
The Untouched is felt; the Master is held by a servant,
And He reveals His wounds to one of His inner circle.
Seeing these wounds, the whole Creation was shaken at the time.
Thomas, when he was considered worthy of such gifts,
Lifted up a prayer to the One Who deemed him worthy,
Saying, “Bear my rashness with patience,
Have pity on my unworthiness and lighten the burden
Of my lack of faith, so that I may sing and cry,
`Thou art our Lord and God.'”

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on Doubting Thomas

St. Romanos on the Ten Virgins

O brothers, let us love the Bridegroom,
Let us make ready our lamps,
Shining out with brightness and true faith,
So that, like the wise virgins at the Lord’s coming,
We may arrive with Him at the marriage,
For He, the Merciful, since He is God,
Offers to all as a gift
The incorruptible crown!
Thou, O God, the Bridegroom of salvation,
the hope of those who hymn Thee,
Grant to us who pray to Thee
That we find, without stain, in Thy marriage,
Just like the virgins
The incorruptible crown.

St. Romanos the Melodist, On the Ten Virgins I

St. Romanos on the Flight to Egypt

Nets and snares were fashioned, then,
For the young fawn of the Virgin and Mother of God,
But the trap was broken and the fawn escaped, tearing the snare.
With His mother, like a blameless deer, He fled
Into Egypt, as Micah once said.
O Thou Who art everywhere and Who rulest over all, where dost Thou flee?
Where dost Thou lead? In what city
Shalt Thou make Thy dwelling?
What house will contain Thee, what place will support Thee?
No part of creation anywhere is invisible to Thy sight,
But all things are laid bare to Thee,
Thou art the Maker of All, O Christ.
Why, then, dost Thou flee, Holy One?
Because of Thee, Herod mourns as he weeps
That his power will soon be destroyed.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Massacre of the Innocents

A time favorable for me

Lo, the day has dawned which I longed to see,
A time favorable for me.
My God is lodged in the house of Simon,
I shall hasten to him and weep, just as Anna did about her sterility. Simon may consider me drunk,
Just as Elias then considered Anna. I shall keep on praying
And saying, `Lord, I do not ask for a child.
I seek my very own soul which I have lost!
O Emmanuel, born of a Virgin,
just as Thou has removed the stigma of sterility when Samuel was born
Of the childless woman, so deliver me, a harlot
From the slime of my deeds.’

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Sinful Woman

The Word upon the dumb

Lo, our King, meek and gentle, seated upon an ass
With haste hurries to suffer and to cut suffering —
The Word upon the dumb, willing it that rational beings be redeemed.
And it was possible to behold the One on the back of the ass
Who is on the shoulders of the Cherubim,
The One Who once translated Elijah in a fiery chariot,
The One Who is poor of His own will, but rich in His nature,
The One Who is voluntarily weak, yet granting power
To all of those who cry out to Him:
“Thou art the blessed One Who comes to call up Adam.”

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Entry into Jerusalem

St. Romanos on the Annunciation

Joseph was amazed as he saw what was supernatural.
He understood, O Virgin, the rain upon the fleece
In thy conception without seed.
And he understood the bush that burned without fire and was unconsumed,
And Aaron’s rod, which blossomed.
Indeed, thy betrothed and guardian cried out to the priests:
“A virgin gives birth, and after the birth remains a virgin.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Annunciation II

In considering the tomb

In considering the tomb and those in the tomb, we weep,
But we should not; for we do not know whence they have come,
And where they are now, and who has them.
They have come from temporal life, released from its sorrows;
They are at peace, waiting for the receiving of divine light.
The Lover of Man has them in His charge, and He has divested them of their temporal clothing
In order that He may clothe them with an eternal body.
Why, then, do we weep in vain?
Why do we not trust Christ, as He cries:
“He who believes on me shall not perish,
For even if he knows corruption, after that corruption,
He will be resurrected and he will rise up
Saying, ‘Thou art the Life and the Resurrection'”?

St. Romanos the Melodist, On the Raising of Lazarus I

St. Romanos on the Second Coming

How great and of what kind
is the mourning of the condemned in the hour of judgment
(And indeed I have been set down as chief of the condemned).
When they see the Judge seated, fearful and exalted on His throne,
And when they behold the lines of the righteous and the saints shining in joy
And the sinners in dejection and eternal punishment,
They will cry out and show vain penitence.
Would that in the world we might show the fruit of repentance
And find the grace of mercy and forgiveness, O most just Judge.

St. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion on the Second Coming