Akathist Hymn to the Holy Hierarch Ambrose the Confessor (Khelaia)
As an image of the Sun of righteousness thou didst shine upon Iberia, and the God-inspired light that came down upon thee filled the hearts of the Georgians darkened by the lawlessness of their neighbours; and now, standing with radiant face before the Holy Trinity, entreat God to grant us victory over all delusions, that, cleansed and made wise by the word of God, we may cry to thee: Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Sealed with the grace of God and the righteousness of Abel, thou wast set upon by raging sons of Cain who rose up to put out thy life; and we, boasting in thy strength and valour, kindled with the fire of faith, sing thus to thee:
Rejoice, worthy descendant of strugglers; rejoice, inward steadfastness and valour; rejoice, manifestation of the warring spirit; rejoice, thou who by the power of God didst trample on Satan; rejoice, thou who wast raised above craft and treachery; rejoice, crown woven by the Lord; rejoice, thou who drawest forth from hearts an abundance of light; rejoice, thou who wast enthroned in holiness through martyrdom; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
The fear of God made thy soul blossom; Christ chose thee as a fruitful plant, and the heavenly fragrance of thy struggle was spread through the garden of God: Alleluia.
Thou who didst water thy soul with humility and poverty of spirit, seeker and lover of divine knowledge, thou didst amaze all by thy learning in the love of the law; be our intercessor too before God, O holy one, that we may cry to thee with understanding:
Rejoice, branch of godly learning that bringeth forth good fruit; rejoice, faithful disciple of the incarnate Word; rejoice, reed of Orthodoxy shaped for song; rejoice, parchment that holdeth the words of God; rejoice, thou who by thy learning didst glorify the all-holy Trinity; rejoice, thou who didst count thy fatherland a holy thing; rejoice, good narrator of the invisible glory; rejoice, boast of Orthodox Christians; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
The judgment of God, beyond the grasp of man, so determined, and joined thy wife to the eternal bosom; but thou, trampling on human sorrow by hope in God, didst sing to God: Alleluia.
Thy honourable priesthood was known to the holy angels, and by their intercession God appointed thee to the Theological Academy of Kazan, for a vessel of faith filled with the drink of knowledge was pleasing to Him; we lift up our eyes to thy holy icon and cry aloud:
Rejoice, thou who didst receive bodily sorrow with thanksgiving; rejoice, thou who didst obediently endure earthly torments; rejoice, thou who didst commit thy beloved wife to the earth; rejoice, for those who mourn have been comforted in the kingdom of heaven; rejoice, thou who didst go abroad to come to know divine wisdom; rejoice, thou who didst hearken to the mind of thy fatherland; rejoice, holy veil laid up in the Church; rejoice, green field that feedeth the faithful; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Tested by the students of the word of God with doubtful probing, thou didst drive out of their hearts the thought of thy lack of learning, and the assembly, recognising the nobility and greatness of thy soul, cried out to God: Alleluia.
Clothed with the beauty of a true precious stone and possessing many virtues, thou didst amaze the divinely wise fathers and teachers and give them wings to praise thee:
Rejoice, breath of Christianity blowing from Iberia; rejoice, valiant standard-bearer of the learning of our forebears; rejoice, grain of the Holy Spirit sown in rich soil; rejoice, thou who wast first despised by strangers; rejoice, thou who afterwards wast praised and magnified by those same; rejoice, thou who art numbered with the company of the saints; rejoice, for by thy humility the devil is overcome; rejoice, O holy one, for by thy struggle evil is driven away; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
To the glory of the enlightener of the Georgian people, the holy virgin Nino, equal to the apostles, thou didst celebrate the divine Liturgy in Kazan in the Georgian tongue, O holy one, and the wonder of three-voiced singing spread through that holy church: Alleluia.
By that wondrous singing thou didst bring peace to the soul of a God-protected people, and warmth and fervour to its heart; grant us too contrition of heart, that we may offer thee praise, O holy one:
Rejoice, unceasing intercessor before God; rejoice, thou who on the day of Saint Nino didst celebrate the Liturgy abroad in the Georgian tongue; rejoice, thou who didst move the people of Kazan to praise thee; rejoice, voice of the Most High that resounded mightily; rejoice, worthy disciple of the enlightener of the Georgians; rejoice, exalter of the fatherland; rejoice, thou who didst return to the bosom of thy Creator; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Equal to our venerable and God-bearing fathers and teachers, learned and filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, marked by an abundance of trials and raised upon the ambo like a pillar of light, O holy hierarch Ambrose, from there thou didst preach before those who hope in the Lord: Alleluia.
Light from heaven shone into thine eyes, and from thy lips words of truth flowed like saving streams, for Christ did not forsake thee but purified thee and tried thee like silver seven times, as David singeth in the psalm; and thy flock, O God-chosen preacher, sang to thee with tears:
Rejoice, loud-voiced preacher of righteousness in the name of the Lord; rejoice, rising of the perfection of teaching; rejoice, abundant flow of rational light; rejoice, sunrise of love and peace in the sunlight; rejoice, teacher, exalted and clothed with Christ; rejoice, O holy one, clothed by the Lord with signs; rejoice, font for our weakness; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Tireless labourer in the blessed vineyard of the fatherland, illumined with the light of Christ thou didst labour at Chelishi, and every honourable deed of thine sounded forth to the glory of God: Alleluia.
Seeker of scattered rational treasure and gatherer of the scattered leaves of a manuscript, thou didst bring to light the holy book of the Gospel; and now we who have the treasure of the Chelishi Four Gospels, filled with a sense of gratitude, weave this praise for thee:
Rejoice, labourer adorned with divine grace; rejoice, discoverer of the manuscript of the Gospel; rejoice, gatherer of ancient glory; rejoice, proclaimer of the struggles of the holy fathers; rejoice, reviver of antiquity; rejoice, boiling over of faith; rejoice, inkwell not made by hands of a holy and precious gift; rejoice, book of peace and love; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Blessed and anointed with chrism by the King of glory, seeing the woe of thy people, thou didst commend all Iberia to the Almighty, and thy flock, sheltered in the bosom of prayer, cried thus in faith: Alleluia.
Holding like a sword the pen given thee by holy Ilia the Righteous, thou bell of spiritual watchfulness and reprover of the ruinous drug of sloth, thou didst drive spiritual sleep from the people and cast down the wiles of the enemy visible and invisible; therefore we cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou who didst ring out like a bell for spiritual watchfulness; rejoice, worthy fellow-fighter of holy Ilia the Righteous; rejoice, thou who wast grieved and didst weep for the affliction of Georgia; rejoice, thou who didst feel the wounds and pain of thy native people; rejoice, thou who wast sent to heal the sicknesses of thy neighbours; rejoice, physician of the fallen and of those wounded by sins; rejoice, skilled conqueror of delusions and trials; rejoice, blessed lamp made manifest in the darkness; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Upon the lampstand of the Church of Christ thou shinest with godly brilliance, and, struck with awe at the sight of that light, those who sing of thy struggle are moved to cry: Alleluia.
Deprived by the wiles of Beliar of the honour of the priestly ministry and removed from thy flock, thou didst attain to divine blessedness, and, punished by the godless, thou didst commend thy homeland to God; therefore we cry to thee with reverence:
Rejoice, thou who wast condemned to exile for the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia; rejoice, thou who in the monastery of Ryazan didst pray for Iberia, the lot of the Theotokos; rejoice, warrior tormented by enemies for faithfulness to the word of God; rejoice, thou who wast mocked by the perishing; rejoice, sickle of sincerity; rejoice, noble shepherd who didst long for thy homeland; rejoice, thou who by the patience of Christ didst conquer the assaults of the devil; rejoice, wide-branching oak gnawed by moths; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
God heard thy cry and did not disregard thy labour, but was well pleased with thy harsh fasting, unceasing prayer, contrition of heart and the trembling voice with which thou didst entreat the Lord: Alleluia.
When the light of the perfection of pastorship shone upon thy soul, thou didst attain to the dignity of a hierarch. Sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit, by thy fervent prayer enlighten and warm our hearts too, who cry thus:
Rejoice, thou who wast consecrated metropolitan of Chqondidi and then of Tskhum-Abkhazeti; rejoice, thou who afterwards wast raised to the throne of the Catholicos-Patriarch; rejoice, shepherd of all Georgia; rejoice, pillar of light that came to stand upon the blessed land of Iberia; rejoice, candle kindled upon the table of the Lord; rejoice, consolation of thy flock granted by the Comforter; rejoice, tabernacle ordered by God; rejoice, fruitful olive tree; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
Thy heart was filled with divine joy, O holy one, when freedom shone forth like the sun and the light-giving Church of Iberia rose up renewed, bearing the Cross; but the ruinous Beliar darkened this light with dreadful godlessness, and the tearful doxology of those who mourned was weighed in the palaces of heaven: Alleluia.
Grieved by dreadful lawlessness, reprover of the godlessness of the enemy who came with blood, thou wast pierced by the sword of persecution; and we, beholding thy great fatherhood, are strengthened and cry to thee thus: Rejoice, eyewitness of the freedom of Georgia;
Rejoice, mourner and chief bereaved of Iberia robbed of her freedom; rejoice, martyr and prisoner for the homeland; rejoice, sword of the Messiah turned against the tyrants; rejoice, blaze that turneth our fears to ashes; rejoice, whirlwind that overthroweth the unworthiness we have built; rejoice, torrent of courage; rejoice, gate of confession; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
O glory and boast of the Church of Georgia, raised up on the ladder of divine love above those wasted by malice and hatred, thou didst suffer for the word of truth and didst stand, glorifying God, at the trial craftily contrived by Satan: Alleluia.
Adorned with the grace of the Holy Spirit, worthy of the glory of the kingdom through many struggles, by thy being clothed with Christ the serpent was overcome, and the voice of righteousness declared thus: “My soul belongeth to God, my heart to my people, and my body to my executioners, as to ravens.” We ask help from God that we may magnify thee worthily:
Rejoice, thou who wast cleansed and made white by the word of God; rejoice, thou who from earthly turmoil hast come to dwell in the delight of the kingdom; rejoice, fair carving of the Church of Christ; rejoice, hymn raised up from the land of Iberia; rejoice, O holy one, who risest to heaven like incense; rejoice, thou who didst end thy life obediently in the service of truth; rejoice, thou who art justified for ever by the righteousness of God; rejoice, thou who art made perfect by unwaning mercy; Rejoice, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
O all-blessed and all-glorious sufferer and saint of God, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, persecuted by the godless for righteousness’ sake, accept from us unworthy ones this unworthy hymn, as from those who have nothing and are poor; entreat God whom thou didst love to keep us from every demonic delusion, that, delivered from eternal torment, we too may sing with thee to Him thus: Alleluia.
(This kontakion is read thrice, then Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1.)
O saint of God, all-praised and all-glorious, holy hierarch Ambrose the Confessor, united with the choirs of angels, honoured with the apostles, equal to the martyrs, beauty of the Church and perfection of spiritual pastorship, by thy prayer enlighten Georgia, the lot of the Theotokos. Strengthen 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. Entreat God to heal us from infirmities of soul and body, to blot out by His inexhaustible mercy the iniquities of us who have fallen, that by the grace and mercy of the Lord we may rise up comforted, and, strengthened by the fear of God, may courageously withstand the temptations of enemies visible and invisible that pour down upon us; let faith be our two-edged spiritual sword, meekness our breastplate and helmet, and righteousness our shield, that we too, like thee, holy Ambrose, may glorify God rightly, for to Christ befitteth glory, with His unoriginate Father and His good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
