Full of Grace and Truth: Akathist to St. Ephraim of Nea Makri, the Righteous Martyr and Wonderworker

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

St. Ephraim of Nea Makri, the Great Righteous Hieromartyr and Wonderworker - Commemorated May 5 (his repose) and January 3 (the finding of his Holy Relics) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KBtBBuRAt7w/S0CPUe7LZ4I/AAAAAAAAADw/Vdd1drbUeoY/s1600/Scan20009-792797.JPG)

Akathist to St. Ephraim of Nea Makri, the Righteous Martyr and Wonderworker

written by Fr. Gerasimos Mikragiannanitou (of the Skete of Little St. Anne's, Mount Athos)

Note: The following is an amateur translation from the Greek, and that the meter of this translation is not set to match the original music.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

You dawned like a newly-revealed star through the revelation of your holy Relics, O Father, and you shine upon all with the rays of wonders, but ever fulfill the entreaties of those who faithfully hasten to you, O Saint Ephraim, and cry to you: Rejoice, O blessed Father.

You were sent from heaven, like another angel [Gabriel], and showed us grace (3), through which you gladden each of the faithful, O Righteous Martyr Ephraim, with the divine Spirit. Therefore we bless you, and cry to you with words like these:

Rejoice, you who formerly struggled well,
Rejoice, you who recently revealed yourself.
Rejoice, O cause of rejoicing,
Rejoice, O center of joy.
Rejoice, newly-enlightening star of the Church of Christ,
Rejoice, double-edged sword against the madness of the foe.
Rejoice, for you properly and righteously lived in asceticism,
Rejoice, for you were lawfully crowned through your struggles.
Rejoice, new support of the faith,
Rejoice, corruption and pain of the faithless.
Rejoice, you through whom the faithful are preserved,
Rejoice, you through whom the lawless are condemned.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Your righteous life and your holy end remained unknown to all, but was wondrously revealed with your holy Relics, O all-praised one, thus being made known to the ends of the earth, and teaching all to chant: Alleluia.

Receiving the divine knowledge of your godly life, and the revelation of your holy bones, we offer praise to God, Who glorified you with many wonders, O Ephaim who are blessed of God, through which you gladden those who cry to you:

Rejoice, divine healer of Christ,
Rejoice, beholder of the never-setting light.
Rejoice, you who were zealous for the Righteous in asceticism,
Rejoice, you who were zealous for the Martyrs in struggles.
Rejoice, most-pure vessel of the divine inbreathing,
Rejoice, most-fragrant flower of mystical fragrance.
Rejoice, for you mindfully denied the world,
Rejoice, for you wondrously purchased the things above.
Rejoice, you who calms the waves,
Rejoice, you who lifts up the mind to the Beloved.
Rejoice, sower of the love of Christ,
Rejoice, up-rooter of the delusion of satan.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Your God-given glory was hidden, O Ephraim, Righteous Martyr of the Lord, and those who beheld the revelation of your holy relics came to believe through your miracles, and they faithfully cry to the Lord: Alleluia.

You shone upon Amomon mountain formerly, and pleased Christ in righteousness. Now, you sanctify your holy Monastery through your holy relics, O Ephraim, and they dance in you and cry to you with joy:

Rejoice, lamp of hesychia,
Rejoice, type of chastity.
Rejoice, you who gladden the minds of the faithful,
Rejoice, you who shame the mindlessness of the faithless.
Rejoice, you who dyed the robe of your soul in your blood,
Rejoice, you who sealed your life with the seals of your struggles.
Rejoice, for you endured the attacks of barbarians,
Rejoice, for you were granted eternal crowns.
Rejoice, lamp-lighter of righteous asceticism,
Rejoice, three-sunned treasury of light.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Dissolving every confusion, and bestowing joy, you appeared to the chaste Abbess, and you revealed to her truly where your holy bones would be found. She, beholding this occurrence through God's revelation, cried out: Alleluia.

St. Ephraim of Nea Makri (source)

Hearing your voice, and beholding you who spoke to her, O all-blessed one, you appeared to the Abbess, O wise one, and you revealed your name to her, and your holy death, for which we cry to you words like these:

Rejoice, O martyr among the Righteous ones,
Rejoice, O glorious one among the Saints.
Rejoice, you who lived a life equal to the angels,
Rejoice, you who cultivated the immortal fruit.
Rejoice, golden-woven crown of your holy Monastery,
Rejoice, evergreen tree of noetic fruit.
Rejoice, you who struggled on Mount Amomon,
Rejoice, you who were enriched with Christ's illumination.
Rejoice, you who cleanses stains of souls,
Rejoice, you who gladdens the city of the faithful.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Strange wonders and many appearances, both to those awake and to those asleep, you revealed to all the glory which you received from God of old, O Saint, and being astonished at your radiance, we cry to God: Alleluia.

Healings you pour forth, and joy and health, from the treasury of your holy bones, to those who hasten to your Monastery, and seek your help, O Ephraim. Therefore, the faithful who are nourished by your grace cry out:

Rejoice, spring of healings,
Rejoice, dissolver of sicknesses.
Rejoice, you who appeared to those awake and by dream,
Rejoice, you who delivers from every danger.
Rejoice, you who mystically sanctifies those who call upon you,
Rejoice, you who wondrously gladdens those who behold you.
Rejoice, you who heals incurable passions,
Rejoice, you who delivers from the burdens of the demons.
Rejoice, you who often appears, as you desire,
Rejoice, you who grants joy, as you choose.
Rejoice, builder of a heavenly mansion,
Rejoice, our fervent protector.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

The faithful who found themselves benefited by your many wonders, became your proclaimers, as you gave wing to their souls. Therefore, a multitude hastens to your Monastery, and reaps grace from your Relics, crying out: Alleluia.

You appeared shinning as another lamp from heaven, and recently on Amomon mountain, you became known to the Church of Christ through the uncovering of your divine Relics, though before you were utterly unknown, and you move all to cry to you:

Rejoice, pillar of the pain the righteous,
Rejoice, vine of godly laws.
Rejoice, newly-shining morning star of Christ,
Rejoice, newly-made shoes of the Church.
Rejoice, most-divine image of ascetical virtues,
Rejoice, most-secure rock of martyrical struggles.
Rejoice, for you lawfully opposed tyrants,
Rejoice, for you gloriously were translated to the Lord.
Rejoice, you who behold the radiance of Christ,
Rejoice, you who hymn His goodness.
Rejoice, you who shine with manliness of soul,
Rejoice, you who transform the fury of enemies.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Remaining hidden for many years below the earth, O God-bearer, you were later made known to us as a treasure, through the providence of God, O Saint Ephraim, and you enrich with your grace, those who cry to Christ: Alleluia.

St. Ephraim of Nea Makri (source)

You were shown a new sun to the Church of Christ, shining with the rays of wonders, and you dissolve the night of passions for those who hasten fervently to your intercessions. But, O Righteous Saint, we ever cry to you:

Rejoice, grape cluster of gladness,
Rejoice, deliverer from folly.
Rejoice, God-given healing of the sick,
Rejoice, deliverance for many who suffer.
Rejoice, man who bears God, and imitates the Righteous,
Rejoice, O Martyr of the King of all, and godly athlete.
Rejoice, you who join together asceticism and martyrdom,
Rejoice, you who shone with the glory from above.
Rejoice, you who dissolve the darkness of the passions,
Rejoice, you who were steadfast in your struggle.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Strangely does the grace pour forth which you bestow, O all-blessed one, to all those who call upon you. Therefore, throughout all of Attica, the voice of your wonders has gone forth, and all hasten to your Relics, crying to God: Alleluia.

All illumined and divinely shining, you were set in your divine Monastery, and you illumine with your new form those who are pure of heart in the Spirit, and you pour forth waves of grace to those who cry out to you with fervor:

Rejoice, boast of monastics,
Rejoice, armada of the Orthodox.
Rejoice, treasury of bodiless glory,
Rejoice, pasture of the wisdom from above.
Rejoice, heavenly aroma of divine grace,
Rejoice, divine slaughter of the fury of barbarians.
Rejoice, seal of a righteous life,
Rejoice, cinnamon of spotless virtues.
Rejoice, star on the mount of Amomon,
Rejoice, practical rule of the monastic way.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Paralytics you raise up, demoniacs you heal, and intractable passions you cease, and therefore multitudes from Athens and Piraeus and other surrounding areas hasten to your Monastery, O Father, hymning you and crying out: Alleluia.

Your divine words shine with eternal glory, as you were seen by the pious and wise young [Abbess], and confessing your protection, which your bestow upon your Monastery, she cries out words like these:

Rejoice, new boast of the Righteous,
Rejoice, bearer of the glory of the Martyrs.
Rejoice, sleepless protector of your Monastery,
Rejoice, you who dwell with the holy Angels.
Rejoice, for you healed those who were terribly sick,
Rejoice, for you wondrously raised the paralytic.
Rejoice, you who dissolve the weight of headache,
Rejoice, you who ceases the passion of diabetes.
Rejoice, jewel of the graces of God,
Rejoice, precious diadem of the faithful.
Rejoice, O Ephraim, the beauty of ascetics,
Rejoice, radiance of your monastics.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

Your holy vision, while awake or by sleep, is multiplied in your Monastery, in which dwell chaste nuns, who are filled with much rejoicing, as they proclaim you their protector, but cry to God: Alleluia.

St. Ephraim of Nea Makri (source)

With the heavenly myrrh, which you treasure in your soul, you gladden the hearts of the faithful, and you made the treasury of your sacred relics to be an ointment store of fragrance, from which you make fragrant those who piously cry out to you:

Rejoice, myrrh-container of grace,
Rejoice, godly protection of your Monastery.
Rejoice, fragrant paradise of incorruption,
Rejoice, cypress of holy dispassion.
Rejoice, for you deposed the enemy who wars against us,
Rejoice, for you magnified Christ through your pains.
Rejoice, for you laid below the earth for many years,
Rejoice, for you shone from the earth by divine command.
Rejoice, you who purge the wounds of souls,
Rejoice, for you burn up the terrible arrows.
Rejoice, you who ever bestow healings,
Rejoice, you who ever protect us.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

All the cities of the faithful hymned the Savior at the finding of your divine and all-sacred bones, O godly one, for they were preserved unharmed below the earth for many years. O Ephraim, we honor them, and cry out to you: Alleluia.

Protect your Monastery from every danger, through your intercessions to the Savior, and grant it, O Father Ephraim, the gifts of your blessings, which we seek through your grace, as we ever cry out:

Rejoice, our unassailable wall,
Rejoice, unshakable tower of the faithful.
Rejoice, the safest protector of your Monastery,
Rejoice, the protector and guardian of your children.
Rejoice, God-given foundation of pious nuns,
Rejoice, heavenly boast of pious ascetics.
Rejoice, for you honor the petitions of the faithful,
Rejoice, for you ever drive away evils.
Rejoice, you who intercede to Christ on behalf of all,
Rejoice, you who burn up the energy of the passions.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

You fill us with grace, and much rejoicing, and divine exaltation, O Father, and you gladden our souls, and you also sanctify the bodies, through the treasury of your relics, of those who cry out to the Trinity: Alleluia.

Praising your struggles in hymns, O Father, we praise Him Who gave you grace, and standing round your Relics, we cry out that your protection might be granted to us, O Saint, that we might ever cry out to you:

Rejoice, equal in honor to the Righteous,
Rejoice, companion of the Martyrs.
Rejoice, partaker of unwaning crowns,
Rejoice, you who are filled with the three-sunned illumination.
Rejoice, very precious gift of your holy Monastery,
Rejoice, newly-founded wall of the sacred Church.
Rejoice, you who gladden the choirs of the faithful,
Rejoice, you who erect holy staircases.
Rejoice, through whom we are delivered from distress,
Rejoice, through whom we are healed from passions.
Rejoice, intercessor of the faithful to Christ,
Rejoice, my deliverer in dangers.
Rejoice, O blessed Father.

O thrice-praised Father, O Righteous Martyr Ephraim, the companion of the former Saints (3), with them entreat Christ, that we be delivered from all kinds of dangers, and that we might be granted the life to come, we who cry to God: Alleluia.

And straightaway,

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

(http://analogion.gr/glt/texts/May/05c.uni.htm)