A Hymn to St. Apolenaris at Nocturns (41)
1.
May the choir of the dwellers in heaven exult,
May the crowd of the faithful applaud;
May the passion of Apollenaris
Be the joy of the world.
2.
Here in the fever of the spirit
While he preaches to the gentiles,
What his limbs endure,
Cannot be described with tongue.
3.
Having been placed in the fire
He bears witness with a high voice to Christ;
Without doubt the one is cooked
And another is the one who speaks.
4.
He is hung on the rack,
The tortured flesh is torn apart;
Now punishment tortures punishment,
And the blow wounds the wound.
5.
Hot water boils
The shrivelled limbs with fire;
Thus two punishments
Are made out of one sacrificial victim.
6.
Such great glory is brought to
Ravenna from Antioch,
The latter send, the former receives;
The latter brings forth (gives birth), the former destroys.
7.
Thus the glory to the trinity,
Which arranges the creatures,
In order that sins of the past
Are saving the new generation.
Amen.