The Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs

After the usual beginning, are said:

Kontakia and Oikoi:

Kontakion 1: (Tone 3)

Come, pious Christians, let us bring reverent praises and spiritual song to the right-believing voivode Constantine, for for the kingdom of heaven and for his people, he received a martyric death, together with his sons: Constantine, Stephen, Radu, Matthew, and with the counselor Ianache. For this, from the depth of hearts, with joyful voices let us cry to them: Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith greatly contended!

Oikos 1:

Completing the golden chain of the new martyrs, incomparably purer than that of Ophir, in the city of the great Constantine with boldness you confessed Christ God and the renunciations for the temporal good things of this proud and unstable age you perfectly crushed. Therefore, marveling at your greatness of soul, we bring to you with humility words such as these:

• Rejoice, for you despised perishable wealth;
• Rejoice, for you found spiritual riches;
• Rejoice, for you were not overcome by material beauty;
• Rejoice, for for the love of Christ you counted all things as refuse;
• Rejoice, most wise ones, you chose the good portion;
• Rejoice, for you reaped the fruits of piety with joy;
• Rejoice, for you showed courageous patience together until the end;
• Rejoice, for you gained complete victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 2:

Being enlightened from on high, you accepted to suffer and die for the Creator of all, that you might also be glorified by Him; and more desirable to you than all the visible world was the martyric crown, for which you went to the sacrifice having on your lips the angelic song: Alleluia!

Oikos 2:

From tender childhood you understood, voivode Constantine, that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and you drank from the unceasing fountain of the divine Scriptures. Then in due time being deemed worthy of the mystery of holy matrimony, God blessed you with eleven princely offspring, whom also bringing up in His fear and admonition, four became glorious martyrs. Therefore from us now hear:

• Rejoice, for divine providence brought you from non-being into this world;
• Rejoice, for you all laid the good beginning of the fear of God;
• Rejoice, for you found the unspeakable sweetness of the Holy Scriptures;
• Rejoice, for with zeal, day and night, you drank from their springs;
• Rejoice, for you joined good deeds to knowledge;
• Rejoice, for your zeal gave you no moment of rest;
• Rejoice, for you well managed the evil days of this life;
• Rejoice, for you completed the journey and arrived at the heavenly haven;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 3:

You did not desire earthly rule and dominion, blessed Constantine, knowing yourself lord in your house and on your estate, but rather you desired to reign, through holy struggles and holy virtues, over the passions. You loved the heavenly power of the grace of the Holy Spirit more than the worldly one, and now you cry to the Lord together with your children and with the counselor Ianache: Alleluia!

Oikos 3:

You were compelled by the great council of the Romanian land to accept to be ruler, for in times greatly troubled by incursions of armies and enemies, your gentleness and wisdom brought good governance. Blessed are we that you cut off your own will and accepted the heavy scepter of rule, for saying also in yourself: "I and my house will serve the Lord," you encourage us all with desire to cry to you:

• Rejoice, new Moses of the land of Wallachia and of its prosperity;
• Rejoice, for together with the wise Ianache you weave its good increase;
• Rejoice, son Constantine, of Christ a brave soldier;
• Rejoice, well following him, you, wonderful Stephen;
• Rejoice, Radu, worthy of many praises;
• Rejoice, little Matthew, but perfect in mind;
• Rejoice, priceless adornments of the Romanian land;
• Rejoice, pearls and blessings of the city of Bucharest;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 4:

Dwellings of the Holy Spirit you became through martyrdom, for you also greatly helped the people of God to be built up in spirit, raising monasteries, churches, and printing books with chosen spiritual food. How then shall we not sing to the Master of all, Who was pleased to work through you, the song: Alleluia!

Oikos 4:

The darkness of unbelief and ignorance you drove away, and the light of divine knowledge shone over the land, for, like Solomon, you loved, glorious Constantine, the adornment of the house of God. From the printing presses came forth holy books, treasures of healings, the joy of devout Christians, for which we bless you saying:

• Rejoice, lovers of holy dwellings and altars;
• Rejoice, founders of monasteries and givers of precious offerings;
• Rejoice, for your printed works scatter darkness from the people;
• Rejoice, the books of the holy Hierarch Antim increase light in the land;
• Rejoice, for you continued the printing of the first Bible in Romanian;
• Rejoice, for then you gave us the Psalter, service books, and spiritual edification;
• Rejoice, for your books are desired even to this day;
• Rejoice, the Holy Trinity is blessed by all in your foundations;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 5:

Light-bearing torches for the Romanian lands and for all Orthodoxy were shown to be the printing presses founded or restored by you at Snagov and Bucharest, Râmnicu Vâlcea and Târgoviște, Buzău, Tiflis and Aleppo, causing Romanian and Greek, Iberian and Arab Christians to all sing with one voice: Alleluia!

Oikos 5:

Imperishable glory you obtained, pious lord Constantine, and justly you were considered in your time the defender of all Orthodox Christendom, for who fled to you and did you overlook, or towards whom did your mercy not pour forth beyond hope? Therefore tongues, tribes, and peoples sing to you, to the holy Hierarch Antim the Iberian, and to your fellow-sufferers, such things as these:

• Rejoice, valiant defenders of all Orthodoxy;
• Rejoice, for you are our strength, glory, and joy;
• Rejoice, pillars of heavenly fire, you unite heaven and earth;
• Rejoice, for Romanians and Greeks with chosen words greet you;
• Rejoice, for Iberians and Arabs from grateful hearts thank you;
• Rejoice, for your work signified heavenly manna for many lands;
• Rejoice, for you reaped heavenly fruits after you sowed with tears;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 6:

But how shall we, the unworthy, praise your zeal for the holy dwellings of God? For where did you not build or renew churches, monasteries, chapels, hermitages, infirmaries, refectories? For all these, from all parts benefited by you, Romanian cities and villages, monasteries from the Holy Mountain of Athos, as well as from Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Albania, from the islands of the Greek sea and from all the Orthodox East, as far as Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, resounds the song: Alleluia!

Oikos 6:

As the right-believing voivode Stephen the Holy in Moldavia, so also you raised many and chosen dwellings of worship, most blessed ones, and your donations reached everywhere. You well multiplied your talents, you perfectly built the tower of your good deeds, for which hear:

• Rejoice, for to the Great Martyr George you built a bright dwelling in Bucharest;
• Rejoice, for you also built a beautiful bell-tower for the Wallachian Metropolis;
• Rejoice, cry to you the monasteries from Sâmbăta de Sus, Râmnicu Sărat, and Viforita;
• Rejoice and be glad, tell you those from Brâncoveni, Bistrița-Vâlcea, and Arnota;
• Rejoice, whisper mysteriously those from Gura Motrului, Strehaia, and Sadova;
• Rejoice, you hear from Govora, Dintr-un Lemn, Mamul, and Tismana;
• Rejoice, tell you your churches from Făgăraș, Șcheii Brașovului, and Ocna Sibiului;
• Rejoice, you are sung to in that of the holy Martyr Demetrius from Târgoviște, at Mogoșoaia, and Potlogi;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 7:

The queen of your foundations, the holy monastery Hurezi-Vâlcea, destined to be a place of burial for you and all your race, wonderful voivode Constantine, gives measure of the generosity and zeal by which you were consumed for the beautification of the house of God, the Holy Church, for which you never considered anything too costly. Its incomparable beauty and harmony urges us to sing with a voice of celebration to God: Alleluia!

Oikos 7:

The great stone of the tomb which you prepared in the great church here sighs today for your holy relics, for the monastery from Halki and the church of Saint George in Bucharest received this priceless treasure. But the spirit, prayer, and traces of your steps are everywhere at Hurezi and in the hermitages which you raised, depicting them in the sign of the cross around, for which with humility we praise you, saying:

• Rejoice, true successors of the great Byzantine emperors;
• Rejoice, your foundation has no peer, it is like the morning star among lights;
• Rejoice, for seven years at it, with toil and without ceasing, was labored;
• Rejoice, for the craftsman Manea, skillful designer, wrought a jewel in stone for you;
• Rejoice, the hermitage protected by John the Baptist cried to you from on high;
• Rejoice, whispers the first Archdeacon Martyr, from his hermitage dedicated by the boy Stephen;
• Rejoice, you also hear from the hermitage patronized by the Holy Apostles;
• Rejoice, blessed are you, princely sons and your fathers;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 8:

The enemy of the human race, the father of lies and murderer of men, could no longer bear your great work done for the glory of God, worshipped in Trinity, and for the benefit of all right-glorifying Christendom, but placed oppositions in your bright path. But you, through unceasing prayers, fasts, alms, and vigils, prepared yourselves for the day of crowning, and to receive first the cup of suffering, singing to the Lord: Alleluia!

Oikos 8:

Many enemies seen and unseen did Satan stir up against you, a rain of slanders, lies, and deceits swirling the minds of the treacherous sultan Ahmed and his savage vizier Ali Pasha. You, however, putting on the breastplate of righteousness and arming yourselves with the weapons of light, strengthened yourselves through humble repentance, for which hear from us thus:

• Rejoice, that hell with its servants rises up against you;
• Rejoice, that the heavenly host hastens to your aid;
• Rejoice, good stewards of the Lord, who always yearned for good deeds;
• Rejoice, for for this you will also be fearless confessors;
• Rejoice, for being brought before the cruel sultan, you confronted him;
• Rejoice, for you threw the blood-drinking vizier into perplexity;
• Rejoice, for the unconquerable power of the Holy Cross is with you;
• Rejoice, fearless heroes against the flood of the crescent;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 9:

The most eloquent orators cannot tell how you, being of princely birth and raised in delights, could go with unwavering resolve and on the narrow path with hearts full of courage. These are the wonders of our faith wrought in sons of light, obedience, and sacrifice! To God, wonderful in His Saints, for this let us together sing: Alleluia!

Oikos 9:

On the Holy and Great Friday of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lover of mankind allowed, by His fearful and unattainable judgments to our darkened minds, the wrath of pagan fury to fall upon your blessed house. All the inhabitants of Bucharest wept bitterly and with ceaseless lamentation, and even the stones on your road, seeing you loaded into carts and taken towards Constantinople, under strict guard, for the fearful interrogation. For this neither shall we be silent, but will say to you:

• Rejoice, for in suffering you follow the Lord of lords;
• Rejoice, for you decided not to deny the King of kings;
• Rejoice, all of you, lord, sons, and sons-in-law, for you set out for the confession of Christ;
• Rejoice, that six of you obtained the crown and glory of martyrdom;
• Rejoice also for the much-sorrowful lady Maria, who accompanies you;
• Rejoice, that the glorious lady surpasses Hecuba of old in glory incomparably;
• Rejoice, for your journey was likened to that of the holy Hieromartyr Ignatius;
• Rejoice, for you received the eternal heavenly reward, like him, from the Lord of glory;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 10:

Having arrived in the city of the holy Emperor Constantine, you were thrown into the fearful prison of the Seven Towers, in the darkness and cold which you endured chained, the Most Holy Spirit prayed within you with unutterable groanings, His grace enlightened, warmed, and strengthened you, teaching you to give fervent thanks to God for all things and to sing to Him: Alleluia!

Oikos 10:

Who will be able to tell the multitude of torments and tortures to which you were subjected for nearly four months, through which you surpassed even many of the martyrs of old, you became a fearful and wondrous spectacle to angels and men, being purified like gold refined seven times in the fire; and we, praising Him who glorified you in life and after death, bless you saying:

• Rejoice, for you were shut in the dark and damp prison;
• Rejoice, for your accusers put you in chains and fetters;
• Rejoice, for you bled terribly, scraped like the martyrs of old;
• Rejoice, for they burned you with pincers reddened in fire on your chest and armpits;
• Rejoice, for you remained firm as diamond in Orthodoxy;
• Rejoice, for you believed unwaveringly in the life of the age to come;
• Rejoice, for the Savior Christ and His Most Pure Mother watched you from on high;
• Rejoice, for all the Saints and all the heavenly powers prayed for you;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 11:

The day of the royal feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, when you completed 60 years of life, glorious voivode, and the lady Maria should have honored her Most Holy protectress, was chosen by the pagans for the increase of your countless sorrows. For opening the heavy gates of the prison, you were brought before the cruel sultan, his court, and the executioner with drawn yataghan, for the last and hardest confrontation. Going towards which, all of you, you sang in your hearts: Alleluia!

Oikos 11:

Exhausted by torments and sufferings, bound in heavy chains, with uncovered heads, barefoot and only in shirts, the brave confessors stood before the pagan tyrant, who with terrible deceit promised them life if they would abandon their law and pass to the Turkish law. Voivode Brâncoveanu answered him: "We will not abandon the Christian law; in it we were born and have lived, in it we wish to die." Then to his children he said: "Sons, be men! We have lost everything we had on this earthly world. Only our souls remain to us; let us not lose them also, but let us bring them pure before our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us wash away our sins with our blood." Therefore it is right that now you hear:

• Rejoice, for you did not bow to the deceitful words of the crafty sultan;
• Rejoice, for the angels with heavenly crowns drew near to you;
• Rejoice, for to the first baptism you now add that of blood;
• Rejoice, for thus you completely wash away all your sins;
• Rejoice, brave and unconquered soldiers of the heavenly King;
• Rejoice, for the crafty serpent could not deceive you with anything earthly;
• Rejoice, for not bending to enticements and terrors, you despised the law of the pagan Mahomet;
• Rejoice, for you endured for the new law, of grace and love of Christ, and were crowned by Him;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 12:

If Matthew hesitated for a moment, like a child, before the fierce executioner, but afterwards, being encouraged by the words of his princely father, going alone he placed his head on the block, zealously desiring the most luminous company of the holy martyrs, in which he will sing for ever and ever to the Holy, Consubstantial, and Undivided Trinity: Alleluia!

Oikos 12:

Fell like ears of corn under the sickle the heads of the princely children and of the faithful Ianache before the eyes of the voivode, from which flowed streams of tears for the unspeakable temporal pain and the approaching eternal bliss. But in his brave heart resounded powerfully the prophetic words: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me." For this, worthily, we bring to you these songs of praise:

• Rejoice, for through firm resolve you conquered sin, death, and hell;
• Rejoice, for Christ, the grantor of struggles, received you into the heavenly realms;
• Rejoice, that tyrants and the faithless are terrified seeing you or remembering you;
• Rejoice, well-accepted intercessors for the country, people, Orthodoxy, and us wretched ones;
• Rejoice, protectors of Bucharest and mediators for all Romanian souls;
• Rejoice, petitioners for her, that she may obtain wisdom from above and abundant mercy;
• Rejoice, and do not allow us to deny the holy faith through a pagan life;
• Rejoice, victors, and ask for mercy for us from the Most Pure Lady;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

Kontakion 13: (this kontakion is said three times)

O, holy martyrs Brâncoveni, who have conquered and been crowned, look down from the height of the blessed and unending heavenly life upon us, burdened by many, great, heavy, and unrepented sins, and receiving our little prayer as a child's babbling, intercede with the God of mercy and compassion to deliver us from eternal torments, that, being saved, we may ever sing to Him together with you in the unspeakable joy of His kingdom: Alleluia!

Then is said again Oikos 1:

Completing the golden chain of the new martyrs, incomparably purer than that of Ophir, in the city of the great Constantine with boldness you confessed Christ God and the renunciations for the temporal good things of this proud and unstable age you perfectly crushed. Therefore, marveling at your greatness of soul, we bring to you with humility words such as these:

• Rejoice, for you despised perishable wealth;
• Rejoice, for you found spiritual riches;
• Rejoice, for you were not overcome by material beauty;
• Rejoice, for for the love of Christ you counted all things as refuse;
• Rejoice, most wise ones, you chose the good portion;
• Rejoice, for you reaped the fruits of piety with joy;
• Rejoice, for you showed courageous patience together until the end;
• Rejoice, for you gained complete victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil;
• Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith well contended!

and Kontakion 1: Come, pious Christians, let us bring reverent praises and spiritual song to the right-believing voivode Constantine, for for the kingdom of heaven and for his people, he received a martyric death, together with his sons: Constantine, Stephen, Radu, Matthew, and with the counselor Ianache. For this, from the depth of hearts, with joyful voices let us cry to them: Rejoice, long-suffering martyrs Brâncoveni, who for the right faith greatly contended!

After this we say this:

PRAYER

O, holy martyrs Brâncoveni, who, through wise labors, guarded the treasure of the holy and right faith until the end, and from the King of glory, Christ God, received an unfading martyric crown! What words shall we dare to bring to you, the unworthy, by which to praise your most zealous life, of good stewards and faithful servants of the Most Holy Trinity, as well as your courageous end, of true heroes of Orthodoxy, through which you became a spectacle of great wonder to men and angels? Truly we should rather love silence, as ones burdened by many, great, heavy, and unrepented sins, and find nothing good in us which draws us near to your devout works and your holy virtues, and gives us a reverent boldness, to direct to you, with good hope, our humble prayer. But where and to whom shall we be able to flee, if not to the Almighty and All-knowing God, wonderful in His Saints, and to you, as to those who, having well completed the journey of life through the vale of temptation and lamentation of this deceitful age, were purified like gold passed through fire seven times, and became sanctified dwellings, in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit God have dwelt. O, blessed, holy, and good victorious martyrs Brâncoveni! Look down from the height of the glory of your heavenly dwellings upon us, who at every hour are endangered in countless ways, and who for our great slothfulness and pride, overwhelmed by illnesses, losses, afflictions, and by fearful and unforeseen needs, more than all, according to divine justice, have become wretched and oppressed. But how could we not have reached this point? You, finding yourselves in such delight and earthly wealth, throughout your life had an unceasing desire for the incorruptible riches of grace, while we, although by the mercy of divine providence being poor and in straits, despising reverent non-acquisitiveness, ever craving the false and perishable beauties of this proud and unstable age, more than the bent woman have been nailed to them, and have utterly destroyed thought towards heavenly things. You, counting all the glory of the present age as smoke, a shadow, and a delusion of a deceptive dream, princely rule, great wealth, health, and even your life, counted all as refuse, that you might gain Christ forever; while we, willingly, and compelled by no one, through material greed have plunged into the abyss of love of pleasures of which it is shame even to speak, and more than the unbelievers and the unfaithful, loving the foolishness and shamelessness of passions, have become paganized. For this, instead of becoming, according to the Master's word, the salt of the earth and the light of the world, because of us the all-holy and most reverend name of the One God, Alone True, and worshipped in Trinity, is more and more blasphemed among the nations. What answer shall we give to the fearful, Righteous, and Impartial Judge, for we know full well that death, judgment, sentence, and just recompense are unavoidable for each of us, for what we have done in thought, word, and deed, and for never thinking of eternal torments, we find ourselves in danger of falling into them lower than those who have not known God through brutish understanding, as was revealed to Saint Macarius the Great. Do not let us become more worthless and stem our slipping into slavery to the world, the flesh, and the devil, through your holy and ever-accepted prayers, O most blessed martyrs, fervent intercessors to God for the whole world, for Orthodoxy, for your country and people, for all who flee to you with firm faith and unhypocritical humility. Obtain for us all things good and profitable for the enlightenment of the eyes of our minds and hearts darkened by the care of this present life, the burning and unceasing zeal for good deeds which animated you, the acquisition in knowledge of the pearl of great price of pious faith working through love, the valuing of it more than the light of the eyes and than this temporal life, until our last breath. Incline to mercy and compassion the merciful and man-loving God, to call us all to Himself, to open to us the door of His light that we may awaken an hour earlier, that we may wish to work in His vineyard and field, redeeming the past time, which we have badly spent being darkened by ignorance and overcome by hateful thoughts and passions of dishonor. Ask for us also the unshaken steadfastness and diamond strength which you had until you gave up your souls, purified through the baptism of blood, more brilliant than the rays of the sun into the hands of the Creator of all. That thus, being deemed worthy also of the portion at the right hand, together with you and with all the Saints who have pleased Him from the beginning of the ages, we may glorify the God of our life, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the unspeakable bliss of His kingdom, unto the ages of ages. Amen.