Akathist Hymn to Our Venerable Father the Elder Alexis (Shushania)
O companion of the angels in the heavens, whom many thousands on earth who need thee extol with divine glory, as thou keepest the feast of the unwaning festival of the Church, intercede for us before God, that, loosed from the bonds of sins and attaining the dawn-bright kingdom, we who sing to thee may offer thee eternal praise there too: Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
Thou who from thy childhood wast embraced by divine grace and didst show forth a good shoot from a good root, thee, the wise helmsman adorned with God-pleasing deeds, we magnify thus: Rejoice, good narrator of the apostolic word; rejoice, thou who holdest fast the love of God; rejoice, psalmist of the Pascha of the kingdom; rejoice, companion at the table with Christ in ineffable glory; rejoice, thou who didst gain the heavenly estate; rejoice, thou who shinest with many virtues; rejoice, thou who wast delivered from the snare of the fowlers; rejoice, merchant of the pearl of great price; rejoice, member of the household of the saints; rejoice, thou who didst well complete thine earthly course as the hundred and fifty psalms of the Psalter; rejoice, granary opened to feed us; rejoice, holy and bountiful table; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O thou who wast trained in divine learning, to thee who didst receive the Word come down from heaven and cast off the teachings of fable-mongers we cry: Alleluia.
When thou wast bound up with earthly affairs in Istanbul, the angelic life was made known to thee by the Holy Spirit; and we say thus to thee who didst choose the better part: Rejoice, thou who wast called to the likeness of God; rejoice, keeper of the right faith; rejoice, thou who didst let the outward man perish; rejoice, thou who didst renew the inward man; rejoice, thou who standest aright in spirit; rejoice, fellow-dweller with the angels; rejoice, thou who art renowned for the freedom of Christ; rejoice, thou who wast wafted up to heaven like incense; rejoice, thou who art armed with a spotless mind; rejoice, thou who didst turn away from this passing world; rejoice, thou who didst show us truly a holy life; rejoice, for the knowledge of the Lord opened thy senses; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O thou adorned with the vow of virginity, bee of its divine flowering, to thee, the swift lamb hastening on the way to the kingdom, we cry: Alleluia.
O lofty candle blazing with angelic love in divine visions, the valiant ascetic girded with thy wondrous vigilance we magnify thus: Rejoice, divine wheat sown in the bosom of the earth; rejoice, skilled potter of our minds; rejoice, thou who knowest the eternal ascent of the soul; rejoice, joint heir with the sons of the kingdom; rejoice, cup filled with divine wine; rejoice, thou who keepest watch to praise Him who raiseth the dead; rejoice, thou who wast nurtured at the feet of the saints; rejoice, thou who wast tried by the word of the Lord; rejoice, thou who didst receive the wealth of grace that cometh down from above; rejoice, honourable vessel; rejoice, thou who didst courageously restrain the wantonness of the flesh; rejoice, thou from whom the fervour of the love of God shineth forth; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
To thee, who art called a friend of Christ and sealed in the heavens as a God-chosen sheep, whom the many mercies of the uncreated Three-Sunned Godhead set in order, the choir of angels, keeping the feast, sings with an awesome voice: Alleluia.
Thou who didst follow the thorny way of the monastic order and subject the desires of the flesh to the spirit, to thee, herald of the saints who leadest our minds up to heaven, we speak thus: Rejoice, thou who drinkest from the unfailing divine fountain; rejoice, thou who by thy prayer fillest the emptied wealth of our souls; rejoice, blessed plant; rejoice, thou who wast tossed by the waves in trials; rejoice, thou who hast now reached the peaceful shore; rejoice, spiritual warmth; rejoice, thou who art clothed in a heavenly garment woven with gold; rejoice, thou who quenchest the kindled furnace of our sins; rejoice, thou who art set aflame with surpassing love for God; rejoice, thou who wast nourished with rational manna; rejoice, thou who dwellest in the bosom of Abraham; rejoice, thou who weepest over our sins; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O God-made incense laid upon the censer of the seraphim, whose fragrance we penitents come to share, to thee who wast shown forth with valour in the harsh monastic struggle we sing: Alleluia.
Thou who by non-possession of things didst receive an angelic mind, to him who drove away the wiles of seductive Beliar and gained the heavenly treasure that cannot be stolen we sing thus: Rejoice, thou who wast encouraged in the struggle; rejoice, thou who wast crowned for courage; rejoice, forerunner to the divine bosom; rejoice, thou who didst strangle proud desires; rejoice, thou who wast clothed in surpassing humility; rejoice, thou who wast made white by God-pleasing fasting; rejoice, thou who wast washed with tears of repentance; rejoice, thou who wast received into communion at the mystical supper of God; rejoice, thou who wast strengthened by the Most High; rejoice, shining forth of the river of grace in the thirst of this world; rejoice, thou who didst tear apart the passions like a spider’s web; rejoice, thou who by daily exercise in good drivest away the devil who besetteth us; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
Thou who didst receive a blessing for God-pleasing struggle from the holy hierarch Gabriel, who hast the unsleeping eye of the soul open in the love of sweet Jesus, we cry to thee: Alleluia.
Thou who wast moved to serve the poor and the suffering, comforter of the infirm and the mourning, who fillest the destitute with divine hope, we fall down before thee, crying thus: Rejoice, thou who knewest these last times; rejoice, thou who drivest away the darkness of the mind; rejoice, thou who wast joined to the chosen company of strugglers; rejoice, tireless labourer; rejoice, helper of the sick; rejoice, fair cupbearer of the thirsty; rejoice, feeder of the hungry; rejoice, thou who didst gain fragrance from good works; rejoice, thou who by thy course didst attain the kingdom; rejoice, right keeper of the monastic rule; rejoice, instructive image of love for neighbour; rejoice, thou who art now portrayed on a board as a radiant icon; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O thou who by divine foolishness didst shatter the eloquence of the vainly wise, to thee who for Christ’s sake went barefoot and hastened to pure places we cry: Alleluia.
O disciple of the treasure of the valiant Athonites and thoughtful visitor of that holy mountain, to thee, who didst bring that spiritual glory of the past to life again, we cry out thus: Rejoice, thou who didst follow Christ; rejoice, thou who didst pass through thy days in tireless labour; rejoice, thou who didst lay waste the designs of Beliar; rejoice, priest renowned as a friend of God; rejoice, divine cluster; rejoice, thou who didst receive rays from the Sun of righteousness; rejoice, thou who wast illumined by spiritual light; rejoice, thou who wast armed with unceasing prayer; rejoice, thou who wast nailed to the saving fear of God; rejoice, thou who wast made light by the yoke of Christ; rejoice, thou in whom the all-holy Trinity delighted; rejoice, for thou didst give no sleep or rest to thine eyes and thy flesh; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O fellow-singer with the nuns of thy household in the convent of Teklati, before the good teacher who made that blessed abode shine with angelic singing we fall down, crying thus: Alleluia.
O ascetic trained in the word of God, who didst pour forth divinely adorned teachings for our minds, thee, the priest and scribe who attained to the throne of true knowledge, we magnify thus: Rejoice, receiver of the precious spiritual myrrh; rejoice, thou who wast made manifest by praiseworthy eloquence; rejoice, thou who wast taught by the teaching of the Lord; rejoice, thou who wast nailed to the fear of God; rejoice, destroyer of all vainglory; rejoice, holy one of heaven; rejoice, blesser of the Creator of all; rejoice, thou who art adorned with divine humility; rejoice, thou who wast moved daily to psalmody; rejoice, feast made plain; rejoice, for with great love thou didst forge anew the hearts of the godless; rejoice, for even the angels marvel at thy struggle; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O valiant opponent of the assaults of the raging crafty one, from whom the fervour of Christ’s help burneth, we cry to thee with a loud voice: Alleluia.
To the herald of the unwaning life, who was made manifest in the Church by valiant struggle and was tried in the invisible warfare by immaterial battle, we say thus: Rejoice, thou who wast made equal to the ancient struggling fathers; rejoice, thou who wieldest the spiritual sword; rejoice, sacristan of eternal vigilance; rejoice, priest of the First Word; rejoice, window of heaven; rejoice, fair theologian; rejoice, washer-away of our defilements; rejoice, swift helper of those who need thee in distress; rejoice, thou who by thy holy prayer settest right our unseemly deeds; rejoice, thou who bringest wrath upon the perversity of men; rejoice, thou who crushest the frenzy of the crafty; rejoice, thou who turnest our sicknesses into health; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O builder of the monastery of the Archangel, who by an indestructible building didst gain that most spacious palace of the kingdom and settle beneath the roof of glory, we cry to thee: Alleluia.
Afflicted by the raging powers of darkness and helped by the hand of divine grace, the much-suffering ascetic who turneth back the deadly venomous arrows of Beliar we magnify thus: Rejoice, plant trained by the skilled Gardener; rejoice, thou who didst understand the eternal good; rejoice, thou who art praised for thy longed-for piety; rejoice, thou who boastest in the Life-giving Cross; rejoice, thou who rememberest the mercies of God with ceaseless mind; rejoice, thou who hastenest to the life-giving words; rejoice, thou who wast grown weak in the flesh; rejoice, thou who wast raised from the bed of sickness by the Physician of all; rejoice, thou whose youth was renewed like the eagle’s; rejoice, for wondrous was thy victory too; rejoice, for the Lord became thy shelter; rejoice, wherefore thou soarest in the heavens; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
Grown up for life on rational bread, thou didst drive away all fleshly flattery, and, guarded by rightly dividing the word, thou didst chant to heaven: Alleluia.
Venerable father, thy departure hence became the beginning of that unwaning blessedness; and we, suffering evil and needy, who need thee, sing to thee thus: Rejoice, thou who tamest the boastfulness of the crafty one; rejoice, swift hearer of our groanings; rejoice, thou who didst gain an incorruptible treasure in the eye of heaven; rejoice, reprover of vain and frenzied philosophy; rejoice, thou who speakest unceasingly to the Lord even for the godless; rejoice, thou who mournest over lawlessness; rejoice, thou who sheddest tears over our errors; rejoice, preacher of the right faith; rejoice, honourable body tossed by trials; rejoice, thou who by divine help didst pass through the flood of this passing world; rejoice, for thou didst not mingle with the affairs of the world; rejoice, for thou didst hold the Gospel as thy treasure above all; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
He who ever joineth help to great trials, Christ, maketh thee, the intercessor for our souls, to shine with eternal light upon the lampstand of this passing world: Alleluia.
Thou who didst depart from the world in the peace of God, to the psalmist who hath reached the assembly of the saints and is anointed before the fiery throne of the all-good Creator we fall down, crying thus: Rejoice, now the adornment of heaven and earth; rejoice, thou who art renowned in royal purple; rejoice, divine adornment portrayed among men; rejoice, good narrator of the life-giving law; rejoice, shining forth of spiritual learning; rejoice, thou who didst live by the ten commandments; rejoice, fulfiller of the love of Christ; rejoice, thou who by the virtue of silence art made to resound for ever; rejoice, thou who loosest our sighs; rejoice, our native tongue; rejoice, fair cluster of the divine vineyard; rejoice, spiritual one woven with gold; Rejoice, fair throne of divinely radiant good struggle, venerable father Alexis!
O venerable father Alexis, crowned in the partaking of living food, who now in the heavens beholdest and celebratest the uncreated light, intercede for us before God, that, remembering all His saints every day and attaining the kingdom by the ineffable mercy of the Lord, we may there too chant thus: Alleluia.
(This kontakion thrice, then the first ikos: “From thy childhood…” and the first kontakion: “O companion of the angels in the heavens…”.)
O fair temple of God-pleasing virginity and divine fragrance wafted up by many virtues, venerable father Alexis, spiritual organ of this earth and now of heaven too, who soarest with the saints in the ineffable delight of Christ, by thy honourable prayer strengthen our God-protected people and its rulers. Establish in their ministry the Most Holy and Most Blessed Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazeti, the great lord, our father Ilia, the most reverend metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, the honourable priests, the deacons in Christ, the monastic orders and all Orthodox Christians. Seal us from on high with thy divine blessing and stretch out thy hand to us in trials and straits; teach us good labour and struggle for the salvation of our wretched soul, and vigil in the night, that, ever girded, we may await Christ our God who cometh with dread glory, to whom befitteth all glory, honour and worship, with His unoriginate Father and His all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Author of the akathist: the priest Mikheil Galdava.
