Akathist to the Holy Great-Martyr Catherine
To the chosen and crowned virgin-martyr, the Bride of Christ, we offer hymns of praise, as to the most glorious vanquisher of the tormentor and the all-wise instructor of philosophers; and do thou, great-martyr Catherine, who hast boldness before God, incline with mercy to the reverent petitions of those who cry to thee: Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
O holy virgin Catherine, who hast purity equal to the angels, having become like the angels in divine light and singing with them the thrice-holy hymn, hear us who on earth cry to thee thus:
Rejoice, honourable dwelling of purity; rejoice, miraculous showing forth of the divine counsel fulfilled in thee; rejoice, vessel of the Father’s mercy; rejoice, fulfilment of the passion of Christ; rejoice, holy dwelling of the Holy Spirit; rejoice, thou who wast enlightened by the light of reverent faith; rejoice, thou who wast born of the holy font; rejoice, thou who on earth didst wash thy garment in the blood of the Lamb; rejoice, thou who in heaven keepest festival with the holy virgins; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
Having seen such a vision, Catherine hastened to the holy father who had earlier given her the icon of the Theotokos, and told him how Christ, appearing with His all-holy Mother, turned His face from her, and called her foolish, poor and base if she did not forsake the impurity of idols. And the venerable one, hearing this, taught her the mysteries of faith and baptism; and she, with renewed soul, sang in thanksgiving to the Lord: Alleluia.
Holy Catherine gained a good mind, true nobility and incorruptible riches in spiritual rebirth when she stood worthily before Christ the heavenly Bridegroom. And He, appearing to her, loved her and by the gift of a ring named her His bride. And she, knowing such divine mercy, moved to the heart by such love of His, forsook earthly thoughts and thought unceasingly of her Beloved. Having received such grace, hear us:
Rejoice, thou who hatest the stench of the world; rejoice, thou who shinest with Christ amid the stench of the world; rejoice, good lover of the immortal Bridegroom; rejoice, treasury of divine mercy; rejoice, radiant day; rejoice, full moon; rejoice, olive tree planted in the house of God; rejoice, cedar grown in Lebanon; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
The power of the Most High then gave holy Catherine boldness to rebuke fearlessly the lawless king Maximian as he offered sacrifice to idols; and he for a long time became speechless, unable to withstand her words; and she, offering thanks to God, sang to Him: Alleluia.
Having wisdom given from on high, when the lawless king asked her, as she stood before him, her lineage and rank, holy Catherine confessed herself a king’s daughter, well learned in the knowledge of philosophers and orators, and named herself the bride of Christ, openly rejecting the service of idols:
Rejoice, all-glorious Catherine; rejoice, purity of royalty; rejoice, bee that didst turn away from the smoke of idolatry; rejoice, golden-winged dove; rejoice, incense of the sweet fragrance of Christ; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
The king let loose a storm of wrath upon the holy virgin, crying to her: Speak not evil of our gods. But holy Catherine answered: If thou wouldst have the darkness of delusion scattered from thy spiritual eyes, understand the wickedness of thy gods and know the true God, for the mere calling of His name, or the cross traced in the air, driveth away and destroyeth thy gods. And if thou wilt, I will show thee the truth, singing to God: Alleluia.
When the wicked king heard thy bold and wise answer concerning the faith of Christ, fearing to be overcome by thee, he gathered wise men from end to end of his realm for a disputation, fifty in number. And thou, strengthened by the Archangel Michael and assured of victory, didst rejoice to dispute with them; receive also from us this praise:
Rejoice, showing forth of the mind of Christ; rejoice, thou who like the Cherubim didst gain the knowledge of God; rejoice, thou who burnest with love for God like the Seraphim; rejoice, thou who wast made wiser than the wise; rejoice, spiritual sword sharpened against unbelief; rejoice, thou who drivest away wickedness; rejoice, instructor of the faithful; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
Catherine became like a star shining with God, vanquishing the fifty orators and setting them on the Christian way that leadeth to the Sun of righteousness, to Christ God who dawned from the Virgin; and they, condemned for Christ because of her wise words even to burning, blessed by thy prayer and going with joy into the fire, offered the hymn: Alleluia.
Seeing thee disregard his royal will and count his admonitions as nothing, he turned to the craft of flattering temptation, promising thee half his kingdom. But thou, who didst prefer faith to earthly treasures, and didst love Christ the Bridegroom more than an earthly kingdom and the martyr’s robe more than purple, didst reject his vain talk. Therefore we offer thee a hymn of praise:
Rejoice, virgin, exposer of flattery; rejoice, thou who didst crush the serpent with bound tongue; rejoice, daughter of a king; rejoice, virgin clothed in a golden garment; rejoice, thou who art raised above all that is material; rejoice, thou who didst spring forth on the mountain of divine revelation; rejoice, thou who wast enlightened by the light of divine knowledge; rejoice, trumpet of the Spirit, that givest forth the sound of true theology; rejoice, good confessor of the faith; rejoice, radiance of the light of the Gospel; rejoice, guardian of the eternal laws; rejoice, our helper; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
A God-clad preacher, filled with zeal like the apostles, thou didst boldly preach Christ the true God before the tormentor, singing to Him, wounded and in prison: Alleluia.
When the light of the true knowledge of God shone forth in thy heart, it scattered the darkness of sorrows; for He did not leave thee in hunger, giving thee food through a dove, and afterwards, when thou wast seized with grief because of sickness in prison, He Himself visited thee, strengthened thee and promised thee many crowns. And thou, of steadfast soul, wast strengthened all the more, and didst turn to the light of the faith of Christ the Empress Augusta and the general Porphyry with his soldiers, who fled to thee, and didst teach them this hymn to thee:
Rejoice, thou who showest forth divine love to the world; rejoice, firm adamant; rejoice, wine of ineffable wonders; rejoice, thou who by patience slayest the enemy; rejoice, thou who bearest the wounds of the Lord in thine own body; rejoice, thou who didst set the Empress Augusta on the path of those who attain the martyr’s struggle; rejoice, for thou didst appear in darkness as a light; rejoice, for the Lord Himself, the Light of the world, shone upon thee in prison; rejoice, swift deliverer from the bonds of sin; rejoice, swift healer of the sick; rejoice, helper of our salvation; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
When the lawless king wished to cast thee into loathsome idolatry, he laid such a snare for thee, O all-wise one, to catch thee with flattery, praising thy beauty; but thou, calling beauty temporal and swiftly passing, didst confess Christ as the living and true God, singing to Him: Alleluia.
The king showed open madness and inhumanity when he commanded the eparch to tear thy virgin, spotless and holy body on the wheel; but thou wast miraculously rescued unharmed by the hand of an angel, and the wheel, which till then had killed many at the hands of the unbelieving, was shattered to pieces, while the king himself and the people standing by marvelled and cried thus: “Great is the God of the Christians”; and we, amazed at this, cry to thee:
Rejoice, martyr, holy and abstinent like an angel; rejoice, glory of the legion of martyrs; rejoice, radiant victory over the enemy; rejoice, trembling of the unbelieving; rejoice, vessel that multipliest the powers of God; rejoice, joy of the faithful; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
Beholding the strange renunciation of glory and the martyrdom for Christ of the empress and the general with his soldiers, let us withdraw from love of the world and the flesh and come to know the Lord, for He is our beauty, glory and crown, as we sing thus: Alleluia.
All thy sweetness and all thy desire, holy Catherine, was Jesus; for His sweetness thou didst endure bitter torments and disregard the sceptre offered thee, beholding the reward to come. Accept from us this hymn of praise:
Rejoice, holy one, lover of the Holy of Holies; rejoice, turtle-dove of the beautiful Bridegroom, longed for in the wide wilderness of the world; rejoice, for like a hart thou seekest on the mountains of spices Him who was born before the everlasting hills; rejoice, thou who didst bear the martyr’s struggle for love of Christ; rejoice, thou who didst stand before God in the form of a martyr; rejoice, for the wise men through thee attained the kingdom of heaven; rejoice, for through thee we too hope to receive the same; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
All the nature of angels rejoiced with joy, Catherine, beholding thee, the vanquisher of the ruler of the world, fleeing to things above the world, like a victorious general following the legion of martyrs; and offering the song of victory thou didst cry thus: Alleluia.
Lips of many words fell silent, unable to withstand thy God-inspired words, glorifying thy gifts by silence; and how can we, the weak, open our mouths to praise thee? Yet we boldly entreat thee: make us worthy, O full of grace, not to have offered in vain this hymn offered to thee:
Rejoice, instrument of the Holy Spirit; rejoice, shining of ineffable dawn; rejoice, whirlpool of divine dogmas; rejoice, thou who didst defeat the philosophers in disputation; rejoice, bowl of wisdom; rejoice, thou who didst untie the tangles of the wise; rejoice, thou who destroyest the charms of sin; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
Desiring the salvation of thy soul, thou didst count thy body as nothing, Catherine, and crying this to the tormentor thou didst go joyfully to have thy head cut off by the sword, singing thus to the Holy Immortal One: Alleluia.
Thou wast revealed as a firm and insurmountable wall to those women who went with thee to the place of thy beheading and lamented, calling thee hard-hearted and foolish towards thyself, for thou didst not spare thy sweet life in its flowering, but didst hate the earthly kingdom and blessedness offered thee. Thou didst forbid their useless lament and vain talk, for thou didst hasten by death to be united more quickly with thy Beloved; therefore we sing to thee:
Rejoice, thou who didst endure to the end; rejoice, stream well drained; rejoice, for neither sorrow nor wounds nor the sword could part thee from the way of confessing Christ; rejoice, thou who didst keep the fire of love unquenched upon the hearth; rejoice, beauty of martyrs; rejoice, firm dwelling of Christians; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
We boldly offer thee a hymn of praise, though our word is poor and our mind is amazed how we can cry out; for thine all-wise word, which caught many from ignorance and the impurity of idols, buildeth us up; grant us too thy word, that we may sing to God, from whom majesty is poured out upon thee: Alleluia.
O light-receiving candle, quenched by the stroke of the sword but burning on the heavenly lampstand before the throne of the Holy Trinity, beholder of the holy angels who bowed to thy living head and received from the King the command to bury thy virgin body on Mount Sinai, that they might make it invisible, for thou thyself didst desire this because of the enemies of God: we offer thee this hymn:
Rejoice, sunlike virgin, who hast dawned in spirit in heaven; rejoice, thou who hast attained Mount Sion; rejoice, crown of goodness held by the hands of the Lord; rejoice, thou who receivest joy from the fullness of the house of God; rejoice, thou who hast drawn near to the eternal tabernacle not made with hands; rejoice, thou whose body resteth on the mountain of the law; rejoice, for there the God of Sinai, the God of Jacob, hath appeared to us; rejoice, thou who holdest the place of the revelation to Moses; rejoice, token of the zeal of Elijah; rejoice, thou who standest before the bush unburnt; rejoice, virgin, who hast drawn near to the Virgin Queen in a garment of gold and many colours; rejoice, for through thee she is hymned among virgins singing with the timbrel; rejoice, for her great beauty is shed upon thee; rejoice, thou who standest before the eternal throne; rejoice, for all who pray, gathered in the ecumenical church, behold thee; rejoice, incense that bearest up to the Most High the sweet fragrance of prayers for us; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
Thou wast granted by God the grace of guidance to come to know His truth in the longed-for mysteries, that thou mightest bestow it on all according to what profiteth their petitions. Therefore we, darkened, entreat thee with compunction, O wise virgin: enlighten the eyes of our minds and mark out for us the path that leadeth to heaven, that we too, now and for ever, may sing with thee to the all-wise Consubstantial: Alleluia.
Singing of thy mighty struggles of martyrdom, we praise thee as a living vessel of the salvation of men; for through thy mind the Lord brought to nought the great wisdom of the wisest of this age, calling them through thee as holy speakers, renewed men, who suffered in turn for Christ; enlighten us too, who are darkened, O good virgin, who cry to thee:
Rejoice, beholder of the wisdom of God; rejoice, thou who art clothed with power from on high; rejoice, struggler anointed with the oil of gladness; rejoice, general who leadest to the everlasting glory of the divine legion; rejoice, thou who hast drawn near to the light of the saints; rejoice, thou who standest as a fervent minister before Him who dwelleth in unapproachable light; rejoice, thou who strengthenest with thine own voice the choir of the thrice-holy hymn; rejoice, thou who tastest the ineffable sweetness of goodness; rejoice, for glory and joy have come upon thy head; rejoice, for eternal glory clotheth thee; rejoice, thou who art adorned by God in three Persons with the crown of the kingdom of heaven; rejoice, our intercessor for grace and endless glory; Rejoice, Catherine, all-wise Bride of Christ!
O holy great-martyr Catherine! Accept this hymn of praise and deliver us from enemies visible and invisible, and by thy beneficent intercession shelter us from eternal torment, that we may ever sing with thee to God: Alleluia.
O holy Catherine, virgin and martyr, true Bride of Christ! We entreat thee by the intercession of the twofold grace with which thy Bridegroom, the sweetest Jesus, armed thee beforehand, as one who put to shame the delusions of the tormentor, vanquished the fifty orators by thy wisdom and, wounding them with heavenly teaching, directed their steps to the light of the true faith: ask for us also this divine wisdom, that we who undo the snares of the tormentor of hell and hate the temptations of the world and the flesh may be made worthy to spread the divine glory and our holy Orthodox faith, becoming its worthy vessels, and in the heavenly tabernacle may praise and glorify with thee our Lord and King Jesus Christ unto the ages of ages. Amen!
