Theoctistus of the Studium. + Circ. A.D. 890. He is said to have been the friend of S. Joseph; but is only known to us by the " Suppliant Canon to JESUS," to be found at the end of the Paracletice. The following is a Cento formed from it. Ἰησοῦ γλυκύτατε. JESU, Name all names above, JESU, best and dearest, Holiest, tenderest, nearest; JESU, source of grace completest, JESU, Well of power Divine, Make me, keep me, seal me Thine! JESU, open me the gate That of old he enter'd, Who, in that most lost estate, Wholly on Thee ventur'd; Thou, Whose Wounds are ever pleading, And Thy Passion interceding, From my misery let me rise To a Home in Paradise! Thou didst call the Prodigal : Love can never vary: Woe, that I have turned aside For the Heavenly Treasure! Treasure no less price hath won Than the Passion of The SON! JESU, crown'd with Thorns for me! Scourged for my transgression ! Witnessing, through agony, That Thy good confession; JESU, clad in purple raiment, For my evils making payment; Let not all Thy woe and pain, Let not Calvary, be in vain! When I reach Death's bitter sea Help the more forsaking me As the storm draws nigher: JESU, leave me not to languish, Helpless, hopeless, full of anguish ! Tell me,-Verily I say, Thou shall be with Me to-day! Metrophanes of Smyrna. + Circ. A.D. 910. He was Bishop of that See towards the close of the 9th century, and is principally famous for his Canons in honour of the Blessed TRINITY,-eight in number, one to each Tone. They are sung at Matins on Sundays and if the writer has not always been able to fuse his learning and orthodoxy into poetry, nor yet to escape the tautology of his brother bards, these compositions are stately and striking. Metrophanes was a vigorous supporter of S. Ignatius; and the partisan of Rome in her contest with Photius. It would be impossible, without wearying the reader, to translate the whole of one of the Triadic Canons; but a Cento from them may not be unacceptable. O UNITY OF THREEFOLD LIGHT. τριφεγγής Μονὰς θεαρχική. [From the Canon for Sunday of the Second Tone.] O Unity of Threefold Light, And scatter our transgressions' night, And turn it into day! Make us those temples, pure and fair, Thy glory loveth well, The spotless tabernacles, where Thou may'st vouchsafe to dwell! The glorious hosts of peerless might That ever see Thy Face, Thou mak'st the mirrors of Thy Light, The vessels of Thy grace: Thou, when their wond'rous strain they weave, Hast pleasure in the lay : Deign thus our praises to receive, M |