Akathist to Our Holy Mother Nino, Equal to the Apostles
Fellow-struggler of the ministers of the word of God and continuation of the preaching of Andrew, enlightener of the Georgians and harp of the Holy Spirit, O Nino, entreat Christ God to have mercy on our souls.
To the Champion who fighteth from on high, our ever-helper, we who by thee were delivered from bondage to the dark Pharaoh weave a garland of praises for thee, O flower of virginity, Nino! We are servants of the King on high enrolled in the army of Christ; but as thou hast His high power ever fighting with thee, be ever victorious over our enemies who war against us and deliver us from the passion of temptation, that we may compose for thee an angelic song: Rejoice, divine Bride, sanctified by the divine Spirit.
A heavenly angel was sent to confirm thee in running the apostolic way, and he gave thee spoken commandments written by the finger of God. And thou, pondering within thyself a work beyond thy strength, didst follow the course of obedience to the divine bidding; wherefore in amazement we cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou through whom joy hath shone upon us; rejoice, thou through whom we were freed from the curse of the first delusion; rejoice, thou who didst raise up the Georgians fallen into the darkness of errors; rejoice, thou who didst dry the tears of sorrow of the women of Georgia; rejoice, thou who didst lead up the thoughts of idolaters to knowledge beyond words; rejoice, thou who didst reveal to us the hidden mystery unknown even to the angels; rejoice, thou who didst make known to us Him who sitteth upon the fiery thrones; rejoice, for thou hast made known to each of us Him who beareth all creation in a virgin womb; rejoice, thou who hast shed upon us the light higher than the stars and luminaries; rejoice, thou who hast made known to us as Creator of all God, who dwelt in the womb of virginity to renew us who had grown old; rejoice, thou through whom we have come to know the Word, the Creator of all, who beareth all things; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
Seeing her womanly weakness, the holy virgin and apostle Nino answered the angel of God with boldness: Thy message seemeth to my mind very impossible, for thou speakest of a woman shepherding foreign tongues and many nations, that they may cry thus: Alleluia.
Unable to grasp a revelation beyond the knowledge of the mind, the virgin, blessed Nino, answered the divine minister: How can one who knoweth not the tongues and hath a weak nature go and turn savage men, turned to the darkness of evil, to God, to the light? But we, beholding perfectly the mercy of the King, cry with fear to the apostle Nino:
Rejoice, initiate of divine revelations in parables; rejoice, fountain that pourest out for us the nectar of heavenly faith; rejoice, beginning of the manifestation of Christ’s wonders to us; rejoice, supreme head of the shining forth of the divine law to us; rejoice, holy bridge that growest not old, by which we pass from bondage to darkness to the service of the living God; rejoice, divine ladder, by which we go up from passing and fleeting things to the kingdom that passeth not in heaven; rejoice, power that drivest out the dark demons with wounds and scourges; rejoice, thou who sheddest upon us the divine light of heaven; rejoice, thou who hast made the unwise Georgians wise with heavenly wisdom; rejoice, giver to us of the wisdom of God who is Himself a Person; rejoice, thou who by the wisdom of God the Trinity hast led us up to the highest knowledge; Rejoice, divine Bride, sanctified by the divine Spirit. Rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
The power of the Most High was ever thy helper through the Holy Spirit, who made the fruitless and barren heathen bear fruit; through Him we reap the sweetness of the highest knowledge of the heavenly garden, in which let us ever cry the divine song: Alleluia.
Having divine grace within thee, thou didst go forth to the north, darkened by idolatry, to the cedar; and at once, as soon as it sensed thy coming, Armaz fell with a lament, and Zaden with Gaim and Gatsi was struck by thunder, and their delusions were laid waste; delivered from bondage to them and from their error, the Kartlosians cried to thee rejoicing:
Rejoice, vine that pourest out divine sweetness for us; rejoice, holy land by which thou ever feedest us who hunger; rejoice, divine plant that ever givest us divine fruit; rejoice, heavenly garden that hast brought forth graces of every kind; rejoice, labourer in the divine apostolic course; rejoice, thou who by thy heavenly struggle hast become for us a divine haven that receiveth our life; rejoice, spiritual table by which thou sweetenest us who are embittered by sin; rejoice, thou who by thy labour hast brought forth the flower of divine delight; rejoice, gift reckoned as intercession for us sinners before the King; rejoice, soothing plaster for us who are weighed down by the burden of our guilt; rejoice, thou who wast sent as comforter and deliverer to us who are condemned by sin; rejoice, thou who reconcilest to God those fallen away through many sins; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
A storm was within the divine Nino as she saw the barbarian heathen cruelly oppressed by Satan; and the devil was perplexed, seeing a woman, a divine Bride; but when he knew his utter fall and the desolation of his delusions, he understood that her apostolic course was from the Holy Spirit, and with his powers he fled lamenting; and we, delivered from that bondage to darkness, cry thus: Alleluia.
When the shepherds, the princes of the Kartlosians, heard of the dreadful fall of Armaz and Zaden, they understood the appearing of God on earth in gross flesh, and like rational sheep they rose up with understanding to the divine shepherdess Nino, and beholding her and singing they offered a hymn:
Rejoice, divine lamb and shepherdess, to whom we rational lambs hasten; rejoice, harp of many-voiced song, by which thou ever leadest the rational sheep to the pasture of the commandments on the mountain of mountains; rejoice, thou who drivest away with blows the invisible dread wolf; rejoice, thou who hast opened to us the gates of paradise and of the delight of the kingdom of heaven; rejoice, for by thine intercession the heavenly ranks join with us to sing to God; rejoice, for we, born of the earth, are joined with the heavenly singers in the thrice-holy hymn of theology; rejoice, sleepless eye that ever watchest, divine lips that preach unceasingly; rejoice, invincible and most valiant power, by which thou anointest for virtue those who believe in thee; rejoice, thou who hast established us on the rock of faith, whereby we ever abide unmoved; rejoice, thou who ever strippest the mighty Belial in hell; rejoice, thou who ever pourest out upon us divine heavenly grace; rejoice, thou who strippest us of darkness and clothest us with the glory of the heavenly kingdom; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
When Rhipsime and Gaiane with their companions beheld the divine Nino, the wandering star running from on high on a God-guided course, they followed her as a divine luminary and a radiant lampstand, and through her sought the King of heaven who came to seek sinners; and having found the divine treasure, the pearl of great price, through the washing of regeneration, rejoicing in spirit they sang to the King of kings thus: Alleluia.
They saw how the Armenian youths, senseless infants in understanding, thought by the outward form of beauty, through the delusion of that wicked deceiver, to seize Rhipsime and Gaiane, who in spirit could not be seized; but they hastened to heaven, laying down their lives, led by the divine God-guided star; and with them we cry to the blessed Bride:
Rejoice, divine star, shining upon us from the divine moon of the noetic Sun; rejoice, radiant morning star that by running before heraldest to us the Mother of the Sun that setteth not; rejoice, thou who hast quenched the passion kindled in many ways by the author of delusions; rejoice, thou who hast cast down from dominion the tyrant, the man-hating dragon; rejoice, thou who by thine intercession ever guardest those who serve God the Trinity in right faith; rejoice, thou who by thine apostolic labour hast given us the Lord of lords, God who for love of mankind became man for our sake; rejoice, deliverer from the service of the works of that wild and dark idolatry; rejoice, thou who hast abolished that barbarous, unknown and vain law; rejoice, thou who hast cast down fire-worship and the other dark delusions of worship; rejoice, thou who hast quenched the flame of passionate desires with the rod of thy prayers; rejoice, thou who hast given us angelic purity in place of Persian impurities; rejoice, leader of all the tribes of the Kartlosians to eternal gladness; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
Running the way of the apostolic labour of preaching, Nino, clothed with the Spirit, having offered the holy women as the first fruits in gift to the Mother of God, turned thence to the north, confounded by lawless Babylonian errors, and began to teach the heathen what had been announced to her by the angel of God, and by deed preached the word foretold to her by the patriarch – the Godhead of Christ, which put Satan to shame; delivered by Him, we sing to the King our Deliverer thus: Alleluia.
When this divine light, bearing the word of truth, shone forth among the Targamosians, darkened by Egyptian lawlessness, thou didst drive away the darkness and gloom of the idolatry there; for their idols, unable to bear the sight of thee, were cast down: an inconsolable trembling seized Armaz, and Zaden with those like him became wholly dust; and those delivered from their delusion cried to thee, O divine apostle, mother Nino:
Rejoice, thou who raisest us up, cast down by sin; rejoice, thou who castest down Satan the deceiver in woe; rejoice, thou who makest invisible the delusion of the tastes of the devil and of sin; rejoice, thou who plainly exposest the hidden guile of the multitude of Armaz’s idolatry; rejoice, thou who buriest the head of that dark Pharaoh in the depth of the sea of hell; rejoice, rock that pourest out living water, with which thou sprinklest for comfort those who labour under sin; rejoice, divine pillar, fiery in spirit, who leadest to heaven those delivered by thee from bondage to darkness; rejoice, divine haven of the Georgians, shelter and cloud that droppest comforting dew; rejoice, thou who ever feedest us with heavenly manna, the bread of life; rejoice, minister within the Holy of Holies of that heavenly angelic delight; rejoice, holy land tilled by the heavenly Husbandman, who year by year bringest forth for us the work of faith and vision; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
When King Mirian, enslaved to the devil, was about to strip his soul of that dark delusion, thou didst appear to him as a stranger, a captive, a woman come from afar; but clothed with heavenly light thou becamest known to him as saviour and deliverer from the captivity of the devil; therefore he marvelled at thine ineffable wisdom and apostolic labour, and in amazement cried with thee to God thus: Alleluia.
The heavenly virgin Nino showed us a new and wondrous beginning beyond nature, when the Creator of all natures appeared from a virgin womb, renewing human nature; for blessed Nino, who gave us this sight more wondrous than all wonders, let us weave a written hymn:
Rejoice, flower of many beauties, that givest forth a fragrance of many sweet savours; rejoice, most blessedly beautiful crown of abstinent ascetics; rejoice, thou who hast clothed us, fallen through sin, in the image of the resurrection of heavenly blessedness; rejoice, thou who hast given to us of the underworld the heavenly life of angels; rejoice, most beautiful tree, that ever bearest the fruit of immortality; rejoice, God-made plant of many leaves, under whose shade we of Christ gather; rejoice, thou who didst conceive divine grace, from which floweth the fountain of living water; rejoice, thou who becamest the guide of us, delivered by thee from a darkened mind, to ascend to heavenly glory; rejoice, fervent and zealous intercessor with the Judge who cometh in dread; rejoice, thou who by thine intercession reconcilest to the merciful God us who have fallen away through many sins; rejoice, thou who clothest with divine light us who were stripped bare by bondage to darkness; rejoice, comfort of sinners, consolation of those weighed down by guilt, highest desire; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
Thou didst come to a strange and darkened land as a stranger among us; we beheld thee come to us in the form of a captive, and thou didst deliver us from captivity to the tyrant Belial, as the King on high, humbled for us as a man, was found in the form of a servant, to seek out His hidden image; and us too, delivered by thee from bondage to the darkness of Satan, He hath by our removal to heaven united with the heavenly ones in song, whereby we of earth cry the heavenly hymn thus: Alleluia.
The King who fulfilleth all things on high and in heaven, who appeared on earth in all perfection, perfectly taking a human body, who dwelt uncircumscribed in a virgin womb, the same filled all the earth and all things under the earth; therefore He who was born of the Virgin granted thee, a virgin, to us as our deliverer; wherefore we cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou who didst contain in thyself the divine grace of the uncontainable God; rejoice, treasury that hidest within thee many heavenly mysteries; rejoice, thou who dost wither the evil satanic doubt of the unbelieving; rejoice, thou who hast made the faith and hope of the Orthodox blossom into fruit of every kind; rejoice, thou who didst bring us the good tidings of Him who sitteth on thrones above the heavens and came to seek us; rejoice, thou who didst preach to us God, who resteth upon the Seraphim, made manifest among us sinners; rejoice, thou who didst bring into one service of God those divided in many ways by Satan; rejoice, thou who didst unite us with God who dwelt in a virgin womb; rejoice, thou who didst deliver us from the tyrannous bondage of dark Belial; rejoice, thou who didst crush and shatter the keys and bolts of the dark tyrant Satan; rejoice, thou who didst open and prepare for us that heavenly delight; rejoice, thou in whose hope we constrain the gross things that constrain us; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
Thy great apostolic labour amazed all the guile and craft of Belial, for they saw thee come as a stranger into captivity, as a woman weak by nature, yet a citizen higher than men and the deliverer of many souls from captivity to that alien tyrant; and we, who through thee trample on their craft and delusion, cry in deliverance to our Deliverer thus: Alleluia.
We see the many-voiced compositions of orators and verses skilfully adorned with Hellenic powers powerless to praise thee fittingly: how a woman, having a weak nature, didst overcome and sternly cast down the mighty power of Satan, and didst complete the apostolic course with zeal; wherefore, marvelling at this as at a wondrous mercy of God, we cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou who by thy surpassing wisdom hast revealed to us the wisdom of the self-existent God; rejoice, thou who hast fulfilled His divine foreordinations through the cross with many wondrous miracles; rejoice, thou who hast exposed as folly the vain earthly compositions of the philosophers; rejoice, thou before whom learned wordsmiths who hasten to praise thee appear speechless; rejoice, thou who hast turned the many wiles of Satan into folly and madness; rejoice, thou who hast withered and abolished the fabulous vain rites of idolatry; rejoice, thou who hast torn apart the deluding Athenian compositions of the Hellenes; rejoice, thou who hast filled the divine net of the heavenly fishers by thine apostolic labour; rejoice, thou who hast drawn up to the knowledge of God souls sunk in the depth of godlessness; rejoice, thou who hast enlightened with heavenly knowledge those who through thee believe in Christ; rejoice, divine heavenly ship, that carriest across from the waves of the earth those who commit themselves to thee; rejoice, quiet haven, that receivest those who suffer in soul and flee to thee; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
The King who willeth the life of all, willing the salvation and turning to repentance of the souls of the Kartlosians, evilly perishing and darkened, sent thee, this divine mother, to shepherd and labour for the peoples allotted to His Mother; for thou becamest like us, and coming as a captive from afar thou didst deliver us from captivity to that evil darkness; through thee we cry thus: Alleluia.
Thou art an unshakeable wall of adamant for all the faithful Targamosians, O divine virgin Nino; buffeted by the waves of trials in the sea of this vain passing world, we ever flee to thee our protectress; for God, the Maker of heaven and earth, having dwelt in a virgin tabernacle, sent thee, a virgin, to be our deliverer; to thee we cry thus:
Rejoice, lamp of divine virginity, O Nino, who goest before the virgins burning bright; rejoice, thou who hast revealed to us that heavenly knowledge unknown to men; rejoice, thou who by thy gospel hast given us the worship of the one Godhead in three Persons; rejoice, thou who hast made wise unto the knowledge of the Godhead of Christ our mind led astray by the deceiver; rejoice, thou who hast led up erring worshippers of a senseless idol to the reasonable worship of God the Creator of all; rejoice, thou who by thine intercession makest invisible the soul-destroying passions sown in our senses by the invisible enemy; rejoice, thou who hast multiplied the seeds of a spotless divine life; rejoice, Bride sown by the all-spotless Bridegroom, who callest us to the heavenly bridal chamber; rejoice, adornment of many beauties of the Orthodox Kartlosians; rejoice, thou who hast adorned the unseemliness of the maidens there with the goodness of the highest virginity; rejoice, shelter close to the souls of ascetics as a garment; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
The flowers of hymns and the adornments of psalms and songs grow faint if we are ever so zealous to compose for thee, O virgin; for we can show no worthy and perfect return by our zeal in praise for the countless motherly and compassionate mercies which thou hast shown us; for thou hast delivered us from the darkness that giveth birth to the passions, and we cry thus: Alleluia.
We behold thee, the holy virgin, as a bearer of divine light, a lamp burning in many ways, for the enlightening of our souls darkened by the nights of sin; for by the immaterial light of divine faith thou didst lead us to the knowledge of the heavenly King, and ever leadest us, like a radiant dawn, to receive the enlightenment of the radiance of that great Sun; through thee we send up the voice of our cry thus:
Rejoice, nectar of the radiance of the noetic Sun, that drivest away the darkness of sin from the face of our minds; rejoice, radiant lamp that enlightenest our souls left in darkness; rejoice, spiritual lightning that drivest from our souls the passions like lightning; rejoice, thunder that terrifiest the evil spirits and ever overthrowest their delusions; rejoice, thou who makest heavenly enlightenments shine upon those delivered from bondage to darkness; rejoice, river of living water, that ever pourest out for us the dew of the mercy of thine intercession; rejoice, thou who by water and the Spirit in the washing of the font hast renewed the heavenly image in us; rejoice, thou who driest up the stains of sin from our souls; rejoice, thou who by the second birth grantest the fonts that cleanse soul and body; rejoice, thou who anointest us with the fragrant myrrh of the manifold gifts of the Spirit; rejoice, thou who mixest for us in the throne of the divine Spirit the joy of heavenly food; rejoice, thou who ever feastest and entertainest us at the supper of the mystery of life; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
When He willed to grant grace and enlightenment to all the world through the divine rays of His disciples, He revealed thee as our deliverer, for the renewal of us who had been estranged from that grace, and as the looser of the debt to the serpent of that first delusion; thou didst tear up the handwriting of our first transgressions and overthrow the deluding errors of the idols without hands; and we cry thus: Alleluia.
Singing of thee, our apostle and mother, we compose and gather a spiritual praise of flowers, youths with maidens, old men with children, and we extol thee as the holy temple of the divine Spirit and a virgin woman, an apostle of Christ, who taught us that He who holdeth and beareth all creation was borne in the womb of the all-spotless Virgin; and we offer thee a spiritual hymn thus:
Rejoice, rational tabernacle, that ever entertainest us with the delights of thine apostolic struggle; rejoice, palace sanctified by the divine Spirit, who hast led us into the innermost Holy of Holies; rejoice, spiritual ark, filled with manifold divine graces; rejoice, thou who from the divine treasury of heaven givest us the grace of the Spirit as food; rejoice, thou who makest the Christ-believing kings of the Kartlosians flourish with the crown of victory; rejoice, helper, intercessor and boast of the Orthodox priests there who keep themselves in purity; rejoice, flower that adornest the holy churches in many ways; rejoice, thou who by the mercy of thine intercession leadest up to imitate the heavenly ones those grown weak of hand and come to despair of mind; rejoice, thou who keepest inviolate there the law of the kingdom of Christ first preached by thee in the Spirit; rejoice, thou who by thy power ever overthrowest and drivest away the adversaries and enemies stirred up by Satan who rise against it; rejoice, enlightenment of my darkened mind; rejoice, hope of my soul, darkened and come to the despair of sin; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
O spiritual and much-hymned divine virgin, mother Nino! Gift reckoned as intercession for us before the all-spotless Virgin, Mother of the Word of God who beareth all things! Accept from us this small and poor hymn, a mite of entreaty, and ever deliver us from trials of soul and body and from enemies visible and invisible who rise against us, and by thine intercession snatch from eternal condemnation us who cry thus: Alleluia. (This verse thrice.)
A heavenly angel was sent to confirm thee in running the apostolic way, and he gave thee spoken commandments written by the finger of God. And thou, pondering within thyself a work beyond thy strength, didst follow the course of obedience to the divine bidding; wherefore in amazement we cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou through whom joy hath shone upon us; rejoice, thou through whom we were freed from the curse of the first delusion; rejoice, thou who didst raise up the Georgians fallen into the darkness of errors; rejoice, thou who didst dry the tears of sorrow of the women of Georgia; rejoice, thou who didst lead up the thoughts of idolaters to knowledge beyond words; rejoice, thou who didst reveal to us the hidden mystery unknown even to the angels; rejoice, thou who didst make known to us Him who sitteth upon the fiery thrones; rejoice, for thou hast made known to each of us Him who beareth all creation in a virgin womb; rejoice, thou who hast shed upon us the light higher than the stars and luminaries; rejoice, thou who hast made known to us as Creator of all God, who dwelt in the womb of virginity to renew us who had grown old; rejoice, thou through whom we have come to know the Word, the Creator of all, who beareth all things; rejoice, thou most beautiful among women, divine Bride.
To the Champion who fighteth from on high, our ever-helper, we who by thee were delivered from bondage to the dark Pharaoh weave a garland of praises for thee, O flower of virginity, Nino! We are servants of the King on high enrolled in the army of Christ; but as thou hast His high power ever fighting with thee, be ever victorious over our enemies who war against us and deliver us from the passion of temptation, that we may compose for thee an angelic song: Rejoice, divine Bride, sanctified by the divine Spirit.
The apostle chosen by Christ, the instructed preacher of the word of God, the evangelist of life, the guide of the Georgian people on the paths of righteousness, the very own disciple of the Mother of God, Nino, let us all praise today with rejoicing, our fervent divine intercessor and sleepless guardian.
Accept with all loveliness and with earnest care for our souls, O motherly struggler, virgin, blessed Nino, this small and poor gift of thanksgiving from us, poor and unworthy servants, offered with zeal and love to thee, our queen and champion! O light poured out upon us in mercy by God from all the generations of women as the saviour and champion of our darkened souls and the deliverer from bondage to the darkness of the devil! As thou didst labour for us of old by thine apostolic toil and thy motherly mercy, so now also cease not to labour and intercede before Christ the King, whom thou didst proclaim to us by thine apostolic toil, and deliver our wretched souls from bondage to the darkness of the devil and from his manifold delusions, and snatch our mind and soul from captivity to the most abominable soul-darkening passion! Rise up with thy mighty help from on high against our enemies who have risen against us, and break their barbarous arms, stretched out against us with many wiles, and take away their power and strength by the almighty power of our invincible King Christ! And turn back utterly, O sweet and most blessed mother, the multitudes of the heathen who because of the multitude of our sins come upon us day by day as destroyers, armed to take us captive; and until the end and gathering up of the vanity of this world abide with us inseparably, O most blessed mother, merciful mother, with thy children fallen away through the guilt of sin and taken captive by the passion of the devil, and labour with us inseparably for the divine, Orthodox and all-spotless faith for which thou didst labour, by the life-giving grace of the help of the all-holy Spirit! And until the end of this our short life shelter us ever in the spotless faith with a spotless way of life, that by thine intercession, help and protection we may ever and unfailingly glorify with worship, all our life long, the Creator of all, the King of kings, our Saviour Christ, one in Godhead and essence with the Father and the Spirit, worshipped by all that exist, now and ever and in the age to come. Amen.
