Akathist to the Holy Right-believing Queen Tamar
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things with Thy grace, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, deliver us and release us from our sins; O Master, pardon our iniquities; O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O come, let us worship God our King. O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King and God. O come, let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and our God.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of thy compassions blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of mine iniquity; and my sin is continually before me. Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me. For, behold, thou lovest truth: thou hast manifested to me the secret and hidden things of thy wisdom. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be purified: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Thou shalt cause me to hear gladness and joy: the afflicted bones shall rejoice. Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: establish me with thy directing Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and ungodly men shall turn to thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation: and my tongue shall joyfully declare thy righteousness. O Lord, thou shalt open my lips; and my mouth shall declare thy praise. For if thou desiredst sacrifice, I would have given it: thou wilt not take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings. Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a broken and humbled heart God will not despise. Do good, O Lord, to Sion in thy good pleasure; and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then shalt thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, offering, and whole-burnt-sacrifices: then shall they offer calves upon thine altar.
Who can tell thy greatness, O wondrously exalted sovereign? For the praise of thy virtues is raised above our understanding; but, hard pressed by countless trials, we flee to thy holy icon and move thee to be our helper and mediator before God, that He may grant us victory over all delusions and make us worthy to extol thee and sing to thee: Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
O how great a glory thy valour won for thee, O blessed one! For even after thy death glorious Vardzia now proclaimeth thy labours, and Metekhi and Betania loudly preach thy fervent prayers; and we, knowing the multitude of thy intercessions and mercies, commit ourselves wholly to thy divine protection, and, zealously recounting thy goodness, utter thy praises:
Rejoice, plant of Jesse and shoot of David; rejoice, image of womanly chastity; rejoice, flowering branch of holiness; rejoice, glory of the land and of the faith; rejoice, unsearchable abyss of love; rejoice, divine trumpet of Orthodoxy; rejoice, ungrudging fountain of mercy and inexhaustible sea of love for mankind; rejoice, true servant of the Saviour, who didst shine forth in comeliness; rejoice, leader and cross-bearer of thy people and helper of the Messiah; rejoice, wall and strength of the Church of Christ; rejoice, strength and glory of the sceptre of kings; rejoice, manifest sun and luminary of Iberia; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
Having planted for ever in thy heart the fear and love of God, thou didst clothe thyself with mercy, meekness and reverence, and didst imitate the life of those worthy myrrh-bearing women and the sisters of Lazarus; now with them entreat God that He may be pleased to make us grow, multiply and be filled with mutual love and divine wisdom, that we may pass well along the road of this our brief life and ever praise our Saviour Christ: Alleluia.
He who knoweth secret things, seeing thy divine holiness and simplicity of mind, anointed thee with the oil of gladness and set thee as autocrat of Iberia and all the East; and thou by the weapon of the Life-giving Cross didst guide to most glorious victories and establish in the right faith the flock entrusted to thee; so now also strengthen our people with courage and direct well our royal road, that we may walk wisely in the way of truth and praise thee unceasingly:
Rejoice, thou who didst spring from pious roots and art called a daughter of David the prophet; rejoice, thou who wast brought up in holiness and walled about with unfeigned faith; rejoice, thou who wast anointed with royal oil from thy youth; rejoice, thou who wast sanctified by mercy and enlightened in thy thoughts; rejoice, thou who wast made perfect by a virtuous life and divine wisdom; rejoice, thou who didst shine with goodness and love for mankind; rejoice, thou who didst excel in comeliness and beauty; rejoice, thou who wast kindled with love for thy native land; rejoice, thou who wast sent to shepherd and rule the people that is the lot of the Theotokos; rejoice, thou who art adorned with the steadfastness of thy great labours; rejoice, tireless labourer in the blessed vineyard of the fatherland, exalted by the Lord; rejoice, thou who wast called to be queen and leader of the Targamosians; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
Thou wast like an angel in form and full of wisdom, O queen who didst follow Christ, and thou didst cleanse thy mind by the study of the divine Scriptures and by fervent prayer, and didst waste thy flesh by fasting, vigil and lying on the ground, and didst shine with the brilliance of the virtues; therefore we move thee to intercede with God, that He may look upon us who have no answer before Him and fill us with divine watchfulness, that we may escape the wrath stirred up by God and praise Jesus, the Almighty God: Alleluia.
Thou didst appear to thy people as a watchful shepherd, O Tamar, victor in the contest among kings, and didst swiftly gather all the men of the priesthood and those learned in the law to search out the good and cast out the perverse, and as a woman thou didst leave that council with reverence; and when the all-blessed assembly of the fathers heard thy words, they rejoiced at the love of God in thy soul and, as to a helper of the council, offered thee open praise:
Rejoice, sun of Georgia of many lights, who with the dawn of piety bringest light to all; rejoice, lamp of the Orthodox Church, who drivest away the darkness of folly; rejoice, thou who establishest in piety hearts shaken by the waves of the world; rejoice, thou who didst courageously expose false belief; rejoice, thou who didst deliver many souls from captivity and bondage to oppressors; rejoice, thou who makest labourers fruitful and feedest the poor; rejoice, thou who castest down and scatterest priests who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are wolves; rejoice, thou who puttest to shame those who hate righteousness and call evil good; rejoice, thou who turnest the erring onto the path of truth; rejoice, thou who softenest the hearts of raging beasts; rejoice, reprover of oppressors and of rulers and judges who hate mankind, and merciful one to those unjustly persecuted by them; rejoice, swift helper and protector of reverent priests and monks; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
As thou didst walk in the commandments of God and in His statutes, He granted thee an understanding and wise heart to discern good and evil; and thou didst fill with shame and all dishonour the double-minded among the people; so also crush the insolence of those armed with godlessness against the right-believing, and deliver us from every harm of wicked men, that all the right-believing may prosper and our prayer may be offered before God: Alleluia.
O how truly divine and wondrous are thy deeds, valiant queen! For in piety and reverence thou didst not leave thy earthly kingdom ungoverned, but didst rule and order it well beyond all kings and sages, and didst excel in glory and victories; and thy people, grateful to the all-merciful God, told of thy glory to all and called thee blessed thus, who art enlightened and all-praised:
Rejoice, fair flower of the radiant garden of David; rejoice, inexhaustible fountain of divine wisdom; rejoice, thou who shinest with heavenly grace, worshipper of the Messiah; rejoice, invulnerable guardian of the right faith; rejoice, unshaken tower of righteous judgment; rejoice, thou who sweetly bearest the divine yoke; rejoice, divine labourer in the vineyard of Christ; rejoice, shield that guardeth piety; rejoice, sword that cutteth off impiety; rejoice, sweet and good consolation of the Georgian people; rejoice, glory and strength of our fatherland; rejoice, unsleeping guardian and strengthener of Iberia; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
Thou didst put on love and virtue as purple, O God-loving anointed of the Lord, and, opening the treasuries of thy fathers and forefathers, thou didst stretch out mercy and welcome such as none had ever seen; and thy people, knowing thy motherly compassion, magnified thee even in thy lifetime and did not cease to sing to God: Alleluia.
When Jesus looked with mercy upon our people, the lot of His Mother, He sent down upon thee strength, courage and victory over all oppressors, as upon thy God-loving grandfather David the Builder; and thou, for faithfulness to the fatherland and the peaceful keeping of thy peoples, didst like him scatter the treachery of the double-minded and of enemies; now cease not to intercede for thy people before Christ the Deliverer, that until the end of the age He may guard Iberia and the people of Iberia, that we may be saved in love and peace and sing in faith:
Rejoice, thou who didst keep the nobility of the spirit; rejoice, thou who with tears didst quench the flame of the deceiver and his snares; rejoice, thou who didst courageously endure manifold afflictions and sorrows; rejoice, thou who sweetenest divinely wise minds; rejoice, guardian of the dignity of thy people; rejoice, thou who stillest trials and storms; rejoice, thou who by truth destroyest falsehood and holdest back the wrath of God; rejoice, thou who tramplest on the pride of tyrants and the delusion of the devil; rejoice, thou who terrifiest and humblest all who are at enmity with the Iberians; rejoice, deliverer from the many-woven devices of the enemy; rejoice, thou who bringest terror upon the lawless; rejoice, thou who bringest low the haughtiness of the Ishmaelites; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
The delight of this passing age did not lead thee astray, nor the glorious crown and sceptre, as with many kings; but, longing for the glory above, thou didst receive abundantly this glory below also, according to the Lord’s promise; cease not to entreat Him to have mercy on our people and to give us again a faithful and valiant shepherd, to teach and guide the people of the law, chosen to be sons of God, and ever to offer to God a sacrifice of praise: Alleluia.
When they were anxious for the birth of an heir, they did not leave thee to thine own will, who wast wholly unwilling to marry, and, choosing the valiant David of royal lineage, as befitted the lot and rank of thy radiance, they set upon thy divinely radiant head the honourable crown of marriage; and thy people exulted with joy and sang to thee with one voice as to the all-radiant luminary of the world:
Rejoice, good shepherd of the divine flocks; rejoice, thou who like Solomon art full of wisdom and a judge of just rule; rejoice, strength of the Orthodox granted from heaven; rejoice, chosen vessel of virtues; rejoice, dwelling of good works; rejoice, giver of offerings to the churches; rejoice, benefactor of the clergy; rejoice, builder of hospices and physician of the sick; rejoice, merciful one to the poor and defender of widows and orphans; rejoice, righteous judge of the helpless and helper of weak subjects; rejoice, thou who in afflictions stretchest out a hand that never putteth to shame, intercessor for those who call on thee; rejoice, crown and glory of pious kings; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
When in sleep thou didst see in a vision the delight of paradise and a radiant throne adorned with precious stones, and didst hasten to sit upon it, a certain man clothed in light did not permit thee, crying thus: “It belongeth to thy handmaid, O queen, for she wove with her own hand the vestments of twelve priests”; then thou also didst the same, and, having gained those incorruptible heavenly vestments, thou criest ever to God with the assembly of the saints: Alleluia.
Thy glorious and wondrous name hath spread through all the earth, O queen anointed to reign, for in the weakness of woman’s nature thou didst strive like a man, and didst fearlessly guard the peoples and kingdoms entrusted to thee from the trials that surrounded them, and didst widen still more the borders of Georgia from Speri to Derbend, and didst build churches and monasteries not only in thy fatherland but in all the holy places to the glory of God, and didst fill them with great mercy; deprive us not now of thy help, and shelter by His power our people who bear the name of Christ, that, kept unharmed, we may boast and cry:
Rejoice, thou who with the light of piety enlightenest souls remaining in darkness; rejoice, healer of many wounds; rejoice, deliverer from tumult and war; rejoice, thou who bringest to nothing the delusion of superstition; rejoice, thou who bringest lukewarm faith to life; rejoice, thou who by divine grace makest the ignorant wise; rejoice, instructor of the stiff-necked and the disobedient of mind; rejoice, deliverer of the condemned from death; rejoice, thou who cleansest from the stench of lawlessness; rejoice, thou who drivest away the evil designs of enemies; rejoice, thou who by the labour of thy hands didst feed elders and the destitute; rejoice, thou who didst adorn and beautify the glorious Anchiskhati icon not made by hands; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
Thy kingdom, blessed by God, thou didst magnify by a divine manner of life and adorn with good works, and thy life thou didst adorn with patience and humility; therefore God set upon thy head a crown of glory and established the prosperity of thy people; so now also pour out upon us the grace of thy prayer and grant us, as to thee, the warmth of faith, love of neighbour and divine zeal for the fatherland, that day by day we may labour for the glory of God and praise His might: Alleluia.
A fall into poverty and exhaustion by famine swiftly overtook the emperor Alexios when he forgot the fear of God and seized the great wealth given by thee to the monks of the Black Mountain, for that natural righteous anger was kindled in thee, the merciful one; and, sending again a greater treasure to the monks, thou didst take Trebizond and Lazia from the covetous emperor and justly give them to Alexios Komnenos, who gave thanks to God for granting him such a helper and protector, and called thee blessed in thy glorious and blessed labours:
Rejoice, imitator of Abraham’s hospitality; rejoice, thou who teachest sin-loving men the sweetness of self-restraint; rejoice, hater of treachery and softener of hard hearts; rejoice, thou who leadest men to the service of the fatherland and to good order; rejoice, weapon of the right-believing and conqueror of raging haters of God; rejoice, thou who breakest the boldness of the shameless and castest down the invaders and the insolent; rejoice, thou who hinderest the frenzied and quenchest the folly of sorcerers; rejoice, planter of honour and courage; rejoice, thou who bringest wrath upon leaders and chiefs of the people who work lawlessness; rejoice, thou who strikest terror into defilers of holy things and corrupters of Christianity; rejoice, thou who by founding the “Empire of Trebizond” didst guard the borders of thy land; rejoice, thou who shelterest thy kingdom from the attacks of enemies; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
As David the Builder offered a golden necklace at Gelati to the Khakhuli Theotokos when the “wondrous victory” was granted him by God at Didgori, so thou too, having received victory from on high at Shamkor, didst send there the banner of the caliph and an adornment of gold by the hand of Shalva of Akhaltsikhe, and, offering an iambic poem to the Theotokos, thou didst offer the thrice-holy hymn to God: Alleluia.
Thou didst count as nothing the threats of that lawless sultan Rukn ad-Din and didst not fear the boasting of tyrants, but with fervent prayer thou didst commend Soslan-David and his army to the Theotokos of Vardzia, and, taking off thy shoes, with streams of tears thou didst lead the army out towards Basiani; and until they arrived, thou didst go up the highest hill and bless the victorious banner and the invincible army; so now also we move thee to intercede with God, that the rule of thy kin, blessed and anointed with chrism, may not fail in our land, and we sing thus to thee, who art enlightened and all-praised:
Rejoice, thou who pourest forth living water from most sweet lips; rejoice, thou who straightway raisest up the erring and the fallen; rejoice, thou who castest down altars and uprootest idols root and all; rejoice, thou who blottest out every kind of evil ways and vices; rejoice, thou who exaltest the Christ-loving army; rejoice, thou who lovest the faithful and humblest the double-minded; rejoice, builder of churches and monasteries on high rocks and in those holy places; rejoice, raiser of towers and fortress-cities impregnable and unassailable to enemies; rejoice, thou who stirrest to love those whose heart is grown gross; rejoice, candle that enlighteneth the wise and burneth the foolish; rejoice, thou who by the stream of thy tears drownest countless enemies; rejoice, thou who by unceasing prayer undoest wars without warfare; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
O power of God who loveth mankind, who looked with mercy upon thy fervent prayer and humbled the godless barbarians and unbelieving Hagarenes beneath the feet of Christians, and kept thy kingdom untouched by the ranks and invasions of enemies, and thou, bathed in tears, didst offer thanks to God; entreat Him to give us wisdom and steadfastness to trample on the devices of the enemy, lest those who hate us say, Where is their God, in whom they hoped? — and that we may praise Him who strengthened thee: Alleluia.
The right hand of the Most High was thy helper, O valiant sovereign, and made manifest wondrous victories over the enemies who rose against thee, for that very lawless servant of the sultan cried out with trembling how the Archangel had won the victory over them; then fear and dread of thy holiness fell upon kings and many peoples, as the might of an unconquerable sovereign; and with them we too fall down with compunction before the precious icon of Michael the Archangel and offer thee thankful praise:
Rejoice, thou who like Anna the prophetess didst keep thy widowhood with reverence; rejoice, teacher of love for the fatherland; rejoice, thou who dost well direct the deeds of fathers and forefathers; rejoice, thou who makest the Orthodox hosts valiant and showest them mercy; rejoice, thou who by firm hope destroyest the malice of adversaries; rejoice, terror and conqueror of the Christ-hating Hagarenes; rejoice, radiant restorer of David’s victory; rejoice, thou who didst raise still higher the banner of Gorgasali and David; rejoice, uniter of neighbours and smiter of enemies; rejoice, reprover of haters of their brothers and seekers of gain, who dost mightily trample them down; rejoice, thou who blessest reverent women and puttest to shame the foul and foolish; rejoice, thou who makest all the peoples and tribes entrusted to thee flourish; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
When the Georgians heard of thy wasting by sicknesses, they prayed daily with zeal; but every search of the physicians’ art was in vain, for the decree could not be withstood, and He who calleth stood at the doors, since not Georgia alone but all the lands were unworthy of thy reign; therefore we hope for the grace-filled consolation and help that come through thee, and offer this divine hymn to God: Alleluia.
Thou wast tried like Job with incurable wounds, and, calling the nobles with a trembling voice, thou didst bless them before the icon of the Lord and the Life-giving Cross and besought them all to abide ever in good things, remembering thee; and, giving thanks to Christ, thou didst commend to Him the kingdom and thy spotless soul and wast joined to the assembly of the angels; then they buried thy much-labouring body at Gelati with an abundant outpouring of tears and, as to the blessed mother of the Georgians, offered thee this praise of thanksgiving:
Rejoice, thou who didst bind the people of the Targamosians in one mind, one soul and one will; rejoice, thou who bringest wrath upon the wrong-believing, comforter of all the right-believing; rejoice, thou who madest thy land flourish and thy people sober; rejoice, thou who by thy divine struggle didst amaze the bodiless ranks; rejoice, thou who didst make the halo of Christian kings shine; rejoice, thou who instead of a passing reign didst receive the light that passeth not away; rejoice, thou who dwellest with the saints and art adorned with the crown of victory; rejoice, thou who art added to the glorious choir of kings who strove for faith and land; rejoice, thou who art magnified in heaven and on earth; rejoice, thou who inclinest mercifully to those who entreat thee and carest for our salvation; rejoice, thou who spreadest the joy of grace in God-loving hearts; rejoice, thou who by courage of spirit gavest an example to the faint-hearted and the slack; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
As thou didst deliver thy land and all the Orthodox people from the trials that surrounded them and fill them with divine joy, so now also cast down our oppressors who are at enmity with thy much-labouring people, humbled and despised until now, and by thine intercession deliver us from passions of the soul and diseases of the body, that like thee we may serve the fatherland worthily and righteously and glorify God: Alleluia.
Knowing the multitude of thy intercessions and mercies, we commit ourselves wholly to thy divine protection and entreat thee: look down from heaven on the inheritance of the Georgians and on our Orthodox people who dwell in it, for countless enemies who love turmoil have raised against us unceasing war, and we cannot withstand them; but do thou deliver us from their snares by the intercession of the Theotokos, that we may not be trampled underfoot by plunderers of alien tribes and peoples, and, armed with thy strength of spirit, may open our mouths to sing to thee:
Rejoice, daughter of the house of the Bagratids, to whom were entrusted the throne of David and the seal of Solomon; rejoice, gentle by nature and plenteous in mercy, who before all others didst abolish the penalty of death and the cutting off of limbs; rejoice, champion of piety, who didst teach many fathers and mothers the order of marriage and the measure of goodness; rejoice, guardian angel of thy kingdom, who didst crush all the enemies and warriors who came to root our tongue and people out of their dwellings; rejoice, thou who art full of victory and triumph, who didst put to shame all the enemies of God; rejoice, labourer of wondrous humility, for the angels, seeing thee truly a conqueror, said in amazement: The enemy is fallen, is fallen by a woman, and the athlete of Christ hath appeared crowned; rejoice, thou who didst strive for the purity of the law, on whom instead of that honourable crown was set a heavenly crown seven times more honourable; rejoice, invincible bride of Christ, for, joined to the delight of paradise, thou rejoicest with the angels and reignest with Christ unto the ages; rejoice, beauty of the radiant company of kings, for even after death thou shinest on our land more brightly than the disc of the sun; rejoice, God-inspired ascetic, for the Lord hid thy longed-for tomb as He hid that of the prophet Moses who saw God; rejoice, boast of thy people, who didst make the voice of the Georgians’ victory resound through all the earth; rejoice, thou who art ever remembered by the Kartlosians, for not thy people only, but the very stones cry out thy glory; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
O most renowned among sceptre-bearers and most virtuous among women, Queen Tamar, receive now these our hymns, and with pious boldness entreat Christ our God to deliver us from all afflictions and trials and to instruct us, that we may not turn aside from the path of righteousness or transgress His commandments, but after the custom of the men of our fatherland may abhor all falsehood and covetousness and all together sing to the Lord: Alleluia.
This kontakion thrice, then:
O how great a glory thy valour won for thee, O blessed one! For even after thy death glorious Vardzia now proclaimeth thy labours, and Metekhi and Betania loudly preach thy fervent prayers; and we, knowing the multitude of thy intercessions and mercies, commit ourselves wholly to thy divine protection, and, zealously recounting thy goodness, utter thy praises:
Rejoice, plant of Jesse and shoot of David; rejoice, image of womanly chastity; rejoice, flowering branch of holiness; rejoice, glory of the land and of the faith; rejoice, unsearchable abyss of love; rejoice, divine trumpet of Orthodoxy; rejoice, ungrudging fountain of mercy and inexhaustible sea of love for mankind; rejoice, true servant of the Saviour, who didst shine forth in comeliness; rejoice, leader and cross-bearer of thy people and helper of the Messiah; rejoice, wall and strength of the Church of Christ; rejoice, strength and glory of the sceptre of kings; rejoice, manifest sun and luminary of Iberia; Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
Who can tell thy greatness, O wondrously exalted sovereign? For the praise of thy virtues is raised above our understanding; but, hard pressed by countless trials, we flee to thy holy icon and move thee to be our helper and mediator before God, that He may grant us victory over all delusions and make us worthy to extol thee and sing to thee: Rejoice, holy right-believing Queen Tamar!
O holy Tamar, citizen of the Jerusalem on high, radiant with a God-pleasing reign and deeds of struggle! Champion of the Georgians and boast of women, merciful, free of wrath, protector of the poor and swift helper of the fallen, who by thy intercession gladdenest the sorrowful, strength and power of those who flee to thee in faith!
O all-wondrous Queen Tamar, glorious among the saints and radiant in piety among women! By thy motherly compassion make merciful towards us the sweetest Jesus, our God, whom thou didst love, that in His boundless mercy He may look upon our people, the lot of His Mother, which beareth the Cross of the Lord upon the earth, and keep it from the snare of the enemy and from enmity among brothers, and renew again our faith in Him, and raise up for us an anointed one from the root of David, who by the power of the Cross shall wall about all the borders of Georgia together and shall exalt and restore our height and strength from the land of forgetfulness, that we may be one flock and the Lord may be our Shepherd. 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 and all the monastic orders, the members of the Orthodox Church and all right-believing Christians.
O truly wise queen and valiant ascetic, crowned Tamar, glorious one! Lift up again thy hands clothed in struggle to the King of heaven, before whom thou art glorified with a divinely radiant crown, O blessed one, and ask for us, that He may grant glory to the churches, honour to the clergy, good shepherding of the people to rulers, courage to soldiers, sinlessness to the laity and chastity to women; and to us a life of good conduct, adornment with works of mercy, enlightenment through holy prayer, cleansing through confession, radiance through communion, an honourable departure, the inheritance of the kingdom, singing with the angels, reigning with the saints, and with thee glory and thanksgiving; for to Him befitteth all glory, honour and worship, with the Father 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 the holy and right-believing Queen Tamar and of all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.
Author and compiler: Tinatin Mchedlishvili
