Akathist Hymn to Our Venerable Father Dodo of Gareja
With praises we sing of the radiant luminary of the Georgian people, the great ascetic Dodo, the chosen of God, and we entreat thee with hope in thy all-powerful intercession: accept this our small hymn and commend us to the good God, that He may drive every evil away from us and direct on the path of His commandments those who praise thee: Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
We know thee as an earthly angel and a heavenly man, holy Dodo, and we entreat thee eagerly: deprive us not of the power and help of thy holiness, but, since thou hast great boldness, entreat Christ our God to grant us victory over countless enemies and the powers of darkness, that we may find rest and unfading delight, who magnify thee with praises:
Rejoice, thou who wast brought up in holiness from youth and filled with spiritual wisdom; rejoice, thou who wast divinely armed with fervent prayer; rejoice, thou who didst make thy soul Christ’s own dwelling; rejoice, thou who like John the Baptist didst love the desert; rejoice, thou who didst follow Christ in a spotless priesthood; rejoice, thou who didst take His Cross upon thy shoulders; rejoice, thou who didst search out the invisible depths of divine grace; rejoice, thou who didst utter heavenly teachings above the orators; rejoice, thou who didst courageously take upon thee harsh struggles and trials; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
Born of pious parents in the region of Kakheti, following Christ from thy youth, thou didst fulfil all the virtues wholly without fault, and, reaching by prayer and fasting the summit of perfections, as a youth yet like an aged and wise man, thou didst put on the monastic habit, and with tears and vigil didst labour day by day for the glory of God: Alleluia.
Being zealous for godliness, thou didst put on the priestly garment of righteousness and grace, and at Ninotsminda didst begin to struggle beyond nature; now look upon us with tenderness and deliver us from a faith that is lifeless and lukewarm, and shelter our people from heresy and an alien law, that we may not bow to lawlessness and, keeping watch in the right faith, may be made worthy to offer a hymn:
Rejoice, divinely radiant shoot that sprang from the roots of those pious nobles; rejoice, fair tree grown up as a fruit of immortality and a plant of ascetic struggle; rejoice, thou who wast wasted in the flesh and adorned in the spirit; rejoice, thou who art filled with the wealth of divine grace; rejoice, ladder of virtues reaching from earth to heaven; rejoice, thou who art walled about by Orthodoxy and teachest the worship of the one Godhead in the Trinity; rejoice, destroyer of the sorcery and divination of the magi; rejoice, thou who didst expose their mockery by victory; rejoice, thou who cleansest from the stench of lawlessness; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
In the time when saints were few, Christ did not despise our people, through the intercession of His Mother, and sent John of Zedazeni from Syria with twelve disciples for the instruction and enlightenment of our people; and thou, O valiant one, hearing how one of the thirteen, the blessed David, was labouring with Lucian, didst set out to see that good shepherd, and with joy didst thank God and glorify His providence: Alleluia.
In thy heart thou didst love the life of stillness, and, renouncing the vanity of this world, O father, thou didst go to see that blessed elder; and meeting one another ye spoke of the divine teaching and entreated Christ God to shelter from every snare the Georgian people, the lot of His Mother; now ask of Him for us the deliverance of Iberia from the invasion of enemies and the unshaken keeping of the Church from every heresy, that Georgia may shine with faith and we may be moved to praise your divinely radiant struggle:
Rejoice, all-praised fathers, David, pillar of asceticism, and Dodo, radiantly enlightened by grace; rejoice, glorious preachers of love; rejoice, unshaken monuments of courage; rejoice, ye who lived with one spirit and bring to nothing the evil design of enemies; rejoice, ye who turned the uninhabited desert into a spiritual city; rejoice, teachers of the spotless faith; rejoice, walls and strength of the Church; rejoice, radiant luminaries of the world; rejoice, heavenly champions and cross-bearers of our people; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
When the venerable one saw thee zealous for divine works, he embraced thee with joy, and, showing thee the rock opposite, he said to thee: “Go, brother Dodo, with those other brethren, and make a monastery and a church in the name of the most holy Theotokos”; now pray fervently for us before her, that she may grant us a spirit of mercy, holiness and righteousness, that we may flee a sinful life and not cease to praise and thank God: Alleluia.
When thou didst go out onto that horn of rock, O venerable one, thou didst stand in that narrow cleft of the rock that held but one man, and as thou didst waste thy body with fasting and unceasing prayer, the fragrance of thy struggle ever rose up before God like sweet incense; entreat Him now, O blessed one, to grant us the wisdom to discern good and evil, that we may walk worthily and in holiness on the path of our forebears and offer thee this praise and hymn:
Rejoice, thou who art mighty in spirit, who in great poverty didst take upon thee struggles and labours; rejoice, faster of the Lord and looser of the passions; rejoice, thou who didst fill our land with the fragrance of prayers; rejoice, chief of monks and vessel of virtues; rejoice, true father of those who flee to thee; rejoice, merciful one and benefactor of the poor; rejoice, helper and intercessor of the erring; rejoice, calm haven of the storm-tossed; rejoice, receiver of strangers and comforter of sojourners; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
Serving God in that harsh and rocky place, thou didst not fear the assaults of the demons, who raised a great war against thee, but thou didst turn back their devices by the name of Jesus Christ and the power of His Cross; now be our intercessor too before God, that He may grant victory over the demons and their devices to the Orthodox who revere thee, that we may rejoice in spirit, O father, and praise His might: Alleluia.
When the report of thy wonders and the radiance of thy virtues spread abroad, though that place was wholly comfortless and full of reptiles, a multitude of people forsaking this world flocked there, and, hewing out caves in the rocks, they became monks, and thou didst teach them to keep the commandments of God; intercede now for us before Him, that He may keep our Church and establish the priests together with the people unshakeably, that we may all labour together for the glory of God and call thee blessed according to our strength:
Rejoice, friend of God and strength of the assembly of monks; rejoice, thou who didst kindle in the desert the fire of unquenchable love; rejoice, rule of a spotless life; rejoice, mirror of the priestly struggle; rejoice, worthy servant of the divine altar; rejoice, unassailable wall of piety; rejoice, fiery pillar of the Church of Iberia; rejoice, manifest luminary of Gareja and sun of Kakheti; rejoice, true father and protector of our people; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
Though Nino, equal to the apostles, enlightened this land of the Georgians, many regions remained unconverted and some were still in paganism; and Bubaqar the barbarian, prince of Rustavi, turned to David, desiring to be converted to the right faith, and he sent him with his kin to thee, for thou wast a priest who offered the sacrifice; and, having taught him the godly law of Christ, thou didst perfect him by holy baptism; now sprinkle us too with the dew of thy grace, that our heart may not be cold to hear divine teachings and to glorify and sing to God: Alleluia.
Day by day thou didst send up prayer with tears like a river, and, ever keeping vigil, thou didst behold with the eye of the spirit the one God who dwelleth on high, and didst entreat Him for the forgiveness of sins, the strengthening of the brethren and the deliverance of thy land from all afflictions, for that people was a new planting and needed the teachings of the law; now leave not us either without help, and intercede for us with God, that He may grant us warmth of faith and love for our neighbour, that our heart may burn with the fire of divine zeal and we may utter this praise of thanksgiving:
Rejoice, angel among men, sent to shepherd thy people and labour for them; rejoice, thou who by thy struggle didst put to shame that adversary, the warring enemy; rejoice, thou who didst give heart to Christians long terrified by the lawless; rejoice, thou who by the grace of thy precious words awakenest the people from spiritual sleep; rejoice, banisher of the darkness of idolatry; rejoice, thou who makest the foolish and senseless wise; rejoice, thou who feedest with spiritual sweetness those who hasten to thee; rejoice, thou who trainest thy disciples by the strictest monastic rule and raisest them up in the virtues; rejoice, thou who didst multiply strugglers in the desert like the birds; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
God glorified thee, who glorified Him, as a wonderworker, for like His apostles thou didst work countless signs and healings: by prayer thou didst strengthen the infirm and open the eyes of the blind, didst drive out unclean spirits by calling on Christ God, and didst heal the deaf and the dumb by the touch of His Cross; so now also shelter us from harm of soul and body, that with renewed soul and unashamed lips we may praise Jesus who strengthened thee: Alleluia.
When the powers of the wonders wrought by thee at Gareja shone forth like the sun, the assembly of lovers of the desert multiplied greatly, and ye hewed out a church to the glory of the most holy Theotokos, where for many centuries kings with priests and peoples fled as to a calm haven, and, emboldened by the grace that dwelt there, they called thee blessed, O holy one, as a great struggler of the Church:
Rejoice, thou who wast clothed in humility firmer than diamond; rejoice, thou who with a river of tears didst make the desert fruitful; rejoice, unshaken rock of reverence; rejoice, treasury of wisdom, teacher of the knowledge of God; rejoice, thou who seest those inward hidden passions; rejoice, thou who seest the desires of all hearts; rejoice, thou who teachest sin-loving men the sweetness of self-restraint; rejoice, image of the piety of our forebears; rejoice, glory and strength of our fatherland; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
With a pure mind and innocent hands ever keeping reverent watch in the ministry of the priesthood, thou wast crucified by great toil, wholly sinless like Adam formerly in paradise, and thou didst multiply the monasteries, and, filling them with struggling fathers, thou didst make that desert, a lair of beasts and dwelling of demons, into a dwelling of elders, with whom thou didst labour in poverty and humility and with purified lips didst glorify God: Alleluia.
Having passed along all the ways of virtue, tried in many struggles, thou didst spend fifty years as abbot, and, reaching a great old age, foreknowing by the grace of the Spirit thy departure from the flesh, thou didst gather thy disciples, and, strengthening them by prayer, thou didst partake of the incorruptible Mysteries of Christ and pass over to those eternal mansions where is the rest of those who have laboured and struggled, and, having gained honour according to thy labours and fervent struggle, thou rejoicest with them before God; entreat Him now to still the waves of our passions and guide into the haven of life those who praise thee:
Rejoice, perfection of the fathers and good guide of desert-dwellers; rejoice, teacher of the Georgians who didst attain by virtue to the perfect measure; rejoice, divine lamb who shepherdest the rational lambs; rejoice, thou who didst shine with wonders, enlightener of the Georgians; rejoice, unbreachable wall of the faithful; rejoice, multiplier of soul-profiting teachings; rejoice, staff of elders and rod of young plantings; rejoice, glory of Gareja and boast of Christians; rejoice, good mediator between God and men; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
When they heard of thy repose, the assembly of strugglers came, and, covering thy much-labouring body with black coverings, they buried thee in thy cell with all the order of the schema; and on the tomb they laid a stone and left an opening for a hand, to take out earth as a blessing, that those who touch it might receive blessing and grace through thee and praise God in spirit and in truth: Alleluia.
After thy death they called that holy monastery of thine “Dodorka” and adorned it gloriously, and that cell hewn from the rock they made into a church; they carved thy likeness on the stone of the tomb, and depicted on the wall of the church thy being borne up to heaven by angels, that all who came after them might stand firm and unshaken on the way of the commandments of Christ, and, armed with thy strength of spirit, might call thee blessed as a great father and guide:
Rejoice, wise preacher of the teaching of the apostles and fathers; rejoice, unassailable tower and image of unfeigned righteousness; rejoice, thou who by thy struggle didst finish well the divine course; rejoice, chosen one of the Lord, who untroubled didst give up thy soul to Him; rejoice, power and strength of Orthodoxy; rejoice, joy of the Church of Iberia; rejoice, father and fervent protector of holy “Dodorka”; rejoice, great elder and guide of heaven-imitating Gareja; rejoice, unsleeping guardian of thy fatherland; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
When the lawless invaders had many times laid waste thy holy monastery and church, thy tomb became inaccessible and the lamp before it went out; but the monk Mikheil-Gobron Sabinin, knowing the wonders thou hadst wrought in the desert, set it in his heart to seek out thy holy relics and translate them to the desert of David, and, telling this matter to the fathers of the lavra, they called thee blessed as is fitting and praised the Almighty: Alleluia.
When Mikheil-Gobron and the deacon Spiridon with three hieromonks of the lavra reached Dodorka, they served a paraklesis, and, praying for help, by diligent searching they found thy church; and when they rolled away the stones of the tomb, a wondrous fragrance came forth that flowed from thy all-honourable relics, and in awe they called thee blessed with tears, O venerable one, and gave glory to God; now we send thee as our intercessor before Him, that He may multiply for us teachers and instructors of the law, to preach the true faith with a loud voice and to praise thee, imitating thy word and deed:
Rejoice, good labourer in the struggle of piety; rejoice, thou who leadest thy flock to the true God; rejoice, thou who didst receive from Christ the crown of victory; rejoice, thou who by the power of God didst work many wonders; rejoice, thou who art called the father and guide of many fathers; rejoice, thou who didst live worthily and grow old in righteousness; rejoice, thou who wast caught up from the earthly abode into the heavenly; rejoice, companion of the heavenly hosts, who standest unashamed before the Holy Trinity; rejoice, thou who bringest us in peace into the haven of eternal life; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
When they opened thy tomb as a treasury of grace, they saw a man of heaven and an angel of earth, wrapped in sackcloth, and they did not cease to glorify God and praise thy struggle; and when they brought up thy precious relics, O blessed one, like a divine alabaster box they poured forth fragrance abundantly, and as they bore them to the desert of David with singing and censing, the fathers too came out to meet them with the ringing of bells, and, laying them in the church, they praised God who worketh wonders: Alleluia.
When they had passed that night in prayer, the fathers served the divine Liturgy and wished to bury thee near thy fellow-struggler, for thou wast also, O blessed one, a teacher of holy David; but opponents of this good work soon appeared, and they buried thy precious relics within the enclosure of the lavra; and afterwards, bringing them up by the will of God, they laid them in the church, whereby they enriched that monastery with a twofold grace and stirred all to weave a crown of praises:
Rejoice, shepherds of rational sheep, who feed them by divine word and deed; rejoice, ye who plant the love of Christ in the hearts of the heathen; rejoice, our God-blessed guides, who teach holiness and humility; rejoice, ye who by courage of spirit gave an example to the faint-hearted and the slack; rejoice, ye who gain the souls of men for Christ; rejoice, intercessors and strengtheners of strugglers; rejoice, swift hearers of prayers sent up in cells; rejoice, ye who ask a heavenly crown for those who revere you; rejoice, ye who gladden those who keep your feast with longing; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
With joy we praise thee, true shepherd of the flocks of Christ, and hasten to the dwelling of thy relics, that we may fervently kiss these holy things and give thanks and glory to God; be now our guide in life and our intercessor before Christ, that He may grant purity and contrition to our hearts, and we may ever glorify His holy name: Alleluia.
Like a radiant candle set high upon a lampstand thou didst shine upon thy land, and by thy grace-filled prayer and divine teaching thou didst establish the Georgian people in the right faith; and after death thou wast numbered among the saints of the Church of Iberia, and thou hast grace before God, that He may again arm us with His invincible power against enemies visible and invisible, that we may pass well along the road of this passing life and praise thee with longing:
Rejoice, monk, imitator of the angels, who didst establish the Georgian people in the faith; rejoice, all-blessed and venerable elder-guide, who by patience in struggles didst offer thy flocks to God as a spiritual sacrifice; rejoice, wise and spirit-bearing one, who, standing before the throne of the Lord, didst lay hold of the kingdom He hath prepared for those who love Him; rejoice, watchful and God-loving father, for the whole camp of the angels marvelled at thy struggle, O holy one, for thou didst labour in the flesh and shine in heaven in the spirit; rejoice, beauty of the Church of Iberia, for thy tomb richly poureth forth the fragrance of grace and healing; rejoice, desert-dweller likened to Elijah and John, for “Dodorka” proclaimeth thy struggle and loudly preacheth thy labours; rejoice, most valiant ascetic, for we the faithful have the tomb of thy precious bones as a spiritual wealth, a treasury of grace and a banisher of demons; rejoice, for the Church of the Georgians rejoiceth and giveth thanks to God for thee, holy father Dodo; rejoice, heavenly champion of our people, for thou canst help all who trust in thy prayers and flee to thy intercession; Rejoice, holy father equal to the angels, venerable Dodo of Gareja!
O saint of God and wonderworker, our venerable father Dodo of Gareja! Have mercy on us who fall down in faith before thy firm intercession and fatherly grace and help, and keep us from grievous sins and infirmities and from the many snares of the devil; and at the time of judgment, when we stand before that immortal throne, deliver us from that fearful and dreadful punishment, that, guided by thee, we may attain without hindrance to the kingdom of heaven and ever glorify the all-holy Trinity: Alleluia.
This kontakion (thrice), then Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1.
O dawn-bright star of the desert, our venerable father Dodo of Gareja, great abbot of the divine monastery of “Dodorka” and boast of our beloved people; monument of ascetic struggle and firm rock of faith; guide of the fathers and fair adornment of the Church of Christ; worker of many wonders and our intercessor before the Saviour and His most pure Mother!
O great wonderworker Dodo of Gareja, radiant in piety among the fathers! Thou who by God’s providence from on high camest to the desert of Gareja as a haven of souls and a multiplier of monasteries didst finish thy angelic course on earth, and, when thou wast raised from the flesh before Christ, God and Saviour, thou didst bestow thy all-praised relics on the holy Church as a light and a crown of graces; and we venerate them and entreat thee: be our intercessor before Him, that He may renew His grace and mercy for our people, the lot of His Mother, which beareth the Cross of the Lord upon the earth, and keep us from the snare of the enemy and from the mockery and oppression of the Antichrist. By thy mighty power shelter and strengthen the Most Holy and Most Blessed Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazeti, our father Ilia, the most reverend metropolitans, archbishops and bishops and all the priestly and monastic orders. Strengthen the servants of God and all Orthodox Christians.
O ascetic who didst turn waterless deserts into cities and wast a good ruler, our venerable father, holy Dodo of Gareja! Thou who didst choose the angelic life and put on the holy monastic schema, remember us now before God, since thou hast great boldness towards Him, that He may grant splendour to the churches, honour to the clergy, good shepherding of the people to our rulers and governors, courage to soldiers, sinlessness to the laity and chastity to women; and that He may make us grow, multiply and be filled with the spirit of wisdom, mutual love and divine understanding, and restore to us love of righteousness, many children and mercy to widows and orphans; that He may grant us love of a holy life, hatred of unseemly deeds and contrition of heart, that the corrupting spirit of this age may not rule over us, and that, made worthy of the heavenly citizenship, we may with thee sing, bless and glorify the all-holy Trinity, to whom alone befitteth all glory, honour and worship, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
It is truly meet that we should magnify thee, O Theotokos, who art ever-blessed and all-immaculate and the Mother of our God. Thee, more honourable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the only Theotokos, we magnify in song.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Thy most pure Mother, of our venerable and God-bearing father Dodo of Gareja and of all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.
Author and compiler: Tinatin Mchedlishvili
