O all-holy Virgin, Mother
of the Lord of the hosts on high, Thou Queen of heaven and earth and almighty
Defender of our country, accept from us Thine unworthy servants this song of
praise and thanksgiving and bring our prayer up to the throne of Thy God and
Son, that He be merciful towards our unrighteousness, and extend His grace to those
who honour Thy name and venerate with faith and love Thy wonder-working ikon.
For we are not worthy to be forgiven by Him hadst Thou, O Lady, not made Him
merciful towards us, for all things from Him are possible to Thee. Therefore we
run to Thee as Thou art our swift and undoubted Protector. Hear us who pray to
Thee: overshadow us with Thine almighty veil and ask from Thy God and Son zeal
and vigilance for our shepherds, wisdom and strength for the souls of those who
govern our cities, righteousness and impartiality for our judges, understanding
and humility for our leaders, love and concord for the married, obedience for
our children, patience for those who have been offended, the fear of God for
those that offend, stoutheartedness for the afflicted, restraint for those that
rejoice, and for all of us the spirit of understanding and godliness, the
spirit of mercy and meekness, the spirit of chastity and truth. Yea, O all-holy
Lady, be merciful towards Thy feeble people: gather together the dispersed, guide
on the right way those that have gone astray, uphold old age, make the young
pure, bring up the children and look down upon all of us with the care of Thy
merciful protection. Raise us from the depth of sin and enlighten the eyes of
our hearts to see salvation. Be merciful to us both here and yonder, during our
wandering in the land of this earth and at the Last Judgement of Thy Son: and
make our fathers and brothers who have departed this life live the eternal life
with the angels and all the saints. For Thou, O Lady, art the glory of those in
heaven and the trust of those on earth. After God, Thou art the hope and
Defender of all who flee to Thee with faith. We then pray to Thee and to Thee
as our almighty Helper, do we commend ourselves and one another, now and for
ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Source: ‘Akathist Hymn to Our Lady of All Protection’,
http://web.archive.org/web/20060716022749/http://oholy.net/VeilAkathistPrint.html,
opened 27 Dec. 2014
Icon
from https://orthodoxwiki.org/Protection_of_the_Mother_of_God,
opened 19 Sept. 2017
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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