Incorruptible King of the ages, who contains in His right hand all the paths of life through the human power of Your saving Providence, we thank You for all Your known and hidden blessings, for earthly life and for heavenly joys of Your future Kingdom. Continue to extend Your mercies to us as we sing:
Glory to You, God, forever.
I was born into the world as a weak, helpless child, but Your Angel spread bright wings, guarding my cradle. Since then, Your love has shone on all my paths, miraculously leading me to the light of eternity. I glorify the generous gifts of Your Providence, revealed from the first day to this day. I thank and cry with all who have known You:
Glory to You, who called me to life;
Glory to You, who showed me the beauty of the universe.
Glory to You, who opened heaven and earth before me as an eternal book of wisdom; The glory of Your eternity in the midst of the temporary world.
Glory to You for Your secret and obvious mercies;
Glory to You for every sigh of my chest.
Glory to You for every step of life, for every moment of joy.
Glory to You, God, forever.
Lord, how good it is to stay with You: the fragrant wind, the mountains stretching into the sky, the waters like endless mirrors, reflecting the gold of the rays and the lightness of the clouds. All nature whispers mysteriously, everything is full of affection, and birds and animals bear the stamp of Your love. Blessed is mother earth with her fleeting beauty, awakening longing for the eternal homeland, where in imperishable beauty it sounds: Alleluia!
You brought me into this life as into an enchanting paradise. We saw the sky like a deep blue bowl, in the azure of which birds are ringing, we heard the soothing noise of the forest and the sweet music of the waters, we ate fragrant and sweet fruits and fragrant honey. It’s good with You on earth, joyful with You as a guest.
Glory to You for the celebration of life;
Glory to You for the fragrance of lilies of the valley and roses.
Glory to You for the sweet variety of berries and fruits;
Glory to You for the diamond shine of the morning dew.
Glory to You for the smile of bright awakening;
Glory to You for earthly life, the harbinger of heavenly life.
Glory to You, God, forever.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, every flower smells, the quiet wafting of aroma, the tenderness of color, the beauty of the Great in the small. Praise and honor to the life-giving God, who spreads out the meadows like a flowering carpet, who crowns the fields with the gold of ears of corn and the azure of cornflowers, and the soul with the joy of contemplation. Have fun and sing to him: Alleluia!
How beautiful You are in the triumph of spring, when all creation is resurrected and joyfully calls to You in a thousand ways: You are the source of life, You are the conqueror of death. In the light of the moon and the song of the nightingale, the valleys and forests stand in their snow-white wedding dresses. The whole earth is Your bride, she is waiting for the imperishable Bridegroom. If You dress the grass like this, then how will You transform us into the future age of resurrection, how our bodies will be enlightened, how our souls will shine!
Glory to You, who brought forth from the darkness of the earth various colors, tastes and aroma;
Glory to You for the hospitality and affection of all nature.
Glory to You for the fact that You have surrounded us with thousands of Your creatures;
Glory to You for the depth of Your mind, imprinted throughout the world.
Glory to You, I reverently kiss the footprints of Your invisible foot;
Glory to You, who lit the bright light of eternal life ahead.
Glory to You for the hope of immortal, ideal, imperishable beauty.
Glory to You, God, forever.
How You delight those who think about You, how life-giving is Your Word, softer than oil and sweeter than a honeycomb is conversation with You. Prayer to You inspires and gives life; with what trepidation the heart is then filled and how majestic and reasonable nature and all life then become! Where You are not there, there is emptiness. Where You are, there is the wealth of the soul, there the song pours out like a living stream: Alleluia!
When sunset descends on the earth, when the peace of night sleep and the silence of the fading day reigns, I see Your palace under the image of shining chambers and cloudy canopies of dawn. Fire and purple, gold and azure prophetically speak of the indescribable beauty of Your villages, they solemnly call: let's go to the Father!
Glory to You in the quiet hour of the evening;
Glory to You, who poured out great peace into the world.
Glory to You for the farewell ray of the setting sun;
Glory to You for the rest of blessed sleep.
Glory to You for Your goodness in the darkness, when the whole world is far away;
Glory to You for the tender prayers of a touched soul.
Glory to You for the promised awakening to the joy of the eternal non-evening day.
Glory to You, God, forever.
The storms of life are not terrible for those who have the lamp of Your fire shining in their heart. All around there is bad weather and darkness, horror and the howling of the wind. And in his soul there is silence and light: Christ is there! And the heart sings: Alleluia!
I see Your sky shining with stars. Oh, how rich You are, how much light You have! Eternity looks at me with the rays of distant luminaries, I am so small and insignificant, but the Lord is with me, His loving right hand protects me.
Glory to You for your constant care for me;
Glory to You for providential meetings with people.
Glory to You for the love of your relatives, for the devotion of your friends;
Glory to You for the meekness of the animals that serve me.
Glory to You for the bright moments of my life;
Glory to You for the clear joys of the heart.
Glory to You for the happiness of living, moving and contemplating.
Glory to You, God, forever.
How great and close You are in the powerful movement of a thunderstorm, How Your mighty hand is visible in the bends of dazzling lightning, Your greatness is marvelous. The voice of the Lord over the fields and in the noise of the forests, the voice of the Lord in the Christmas of thunder and rain, the voice of the Lord over many waters. Praise be to You in the roar of the fire-breathing mountains. You shake the earth like clothing. You raise the waves of the sea to the sky. Praise be to him who humbles human pride, who emits a cry of repentance: Alleluia!
Like lightning, when it illuminates the halls of the feast, then after it the lights of the lamps seem pitiful. So You suddenly shone in my soul during the most intense joys of life. And after Your lightning light, how colorless, dark, and ghostly they seemed. The soul was chasing after You.
Glory to You, the edge and limit of the highest human dream;
Glory to You for our unquenchable thirst for Communion with God.
Glory to You, who breathed into us dissatisfaction with earthly things;
Glory to You, who has clothed us with Your subtlest rays.
Glory to You, who crushed the power of the spirits of darkness, who doomed all evil to destruction;
Glory to You for Your revelations, for the happiness of feeling You and living with You.
Glory to You, God, forever.
In a wondrous combination of sounds, Your call is heard. You open to us the threshold of the coming paradise and the melody of singing in harmonious tones, in the height of musical colors, in the brilliance of artistic creativity. All that is truly beautiful, with a powerful call, carries the soul to You, makes us sing enthusiastically: Alleluia!
With the influx of the Holy Spirit, You illuminate the thoughts of artists, poets, and geniuses of science. By the power of the Superconscious, they prophetically comprehend Your laws, revealing to us the abyss of Your creative wisdom. Their deeds involuntarily speak about You: oh, how great You are in Your creatures, oh, how great You are in man.
Glory to You, who has revealed incomprehensible power in the laws of the universe;
Glory to You, all nature is full of the laws of Your existence.
Glory to You for everything that has been revealed to us through Your goodness;
Glory to You for what You have hidden in Your wisdom.
Glory to You for the genius of the human mind;
Glory to You for the life-giving power of labor.
Glory to You for the fiery tongues of inspiration.
Glory to You, God, forever.
How close You are in the days of illness, You Yourself visit the sick, You Yourself bend over the suffering bed, and the heart talks with You. You illuminate the soul with peace during times of severe sorrow and suffering, You send unexpected help. You console, You test and save love, We sing a song to You: Alleluia!
When in childhood I first consciously called on You, You fulfilled my prayer, and a reverent peace overshadowed my soul. Then I realized that You are good and blessed are those who resort to You. I began to call on You again and again, and now I call:
Glory to You, who fulfills my good desires;
Glory to You, who watches over me day and night.
Glory to You, who heals sorrow and loss through the healing flow of time;
Glory to You, with You there are no hopeless losses, You give everyone eternal life.
Glory to You, You have bestowed immortality on all that is good and lofty. You promised the desired meeting with the dead.
Glory to You, God, forever.
Why does all nature smile mysteriously during the holidays? Why then does a wondrous lightness flow into the heart, incomparable to anything earthly, and the very air of the altar and the church becomes luminous? This is the breath of Your grace, this is the reflection of the Tabor light; then both heaven and earth sing in praise: Alleluia!
When You inspired me to serve my neighbors, and illuminated my soul with humility, then one of Your countless rays fell on my heart, and it became luminous, like iron in fire. I saw Your mysterious, elusive Face.
Glory to You, who transformed our lives with deeds of good;
Glory to You, Who has imprinted unspeakable sweetness in every commandment of Yours.
Glory to You, who clearly dwells where mercy is fragrant;
Glory to You, who sends us failures and sorrows, so that we can be sensitive to the suffering of others.
Glory to You, who placed the great reward in the intrinsic value of good;
Glory to You, who accepts the high impulse.
Glory to You, who exalted love above all earthly and heavenly things.
Glory to You, God, forever.
What is broken into dust cannot be restored, but You restore those whose conscience has decayed. You return their former beauty to souls who have hopelessly lost it. There is nothing irreparable with You. You are all love. You are the Creator and Restorer. We praise you with a song: Alleluia!
My God, knowing the falling away of the proud angel of the morning star, save me by the power of grace, do not let me fall from You, do not let me doubt You. Sharpen my hearing, so that at all moments of my life I can hear Your mysterious voice and cry out to You, Omnipresent:
Glory to You for the providential coincidence of circumstances;
Glory to You for the gracious premonitions.
Glory to You for revelations in dreams and in reality.
Glory to You, who destroys our useless plans;
Glory to You, who sobers us from the intoxication of passions through suffering.
Glory to You, who saves the pride of the heart.
Glory to You, God, forever.
Through the icy chain of eyelids I feel the warmth of Your Divine breath, I hear the flowing blood. You are already close, part of the time has dissipated. I see Your Cross - it is for my sake. My spirit is in the dust before the Cross: here is the triumph of love and salvation, here praise does not cease forever: Alleluia!
Blessed is he who eats supper in Your Kingdom, but You have already imparted this bliss to me on earth. How many times have You extended Your Body and Blood to me with your Divine right hand, and I, a great sinner, accepted this shrine and felt Your love, unspeakable, supernatural.
Glory to You for the incomprehensible life-giving power of grace;
Glory to You, who erected Your Church as a quiet refuge for a tormented world.
Glory to You, who revives us with the life-giving waters of baptism;
Glory to You, You return to the repentant the purity of immaculate lilies.
Glory to You, inexhaustible abyss of forgiveness;
Glory to You for the cup of life, for the bread of eternal joy.
Glory to You, who took us to heaven.
Glory to You, God, forever.
I have seen many times the reflection of Your glory on the faces of the dead. What unearthly beauty and joy they shone, how airy, intangible their features were, it was a triumph of achieved happiness and peace; in silence they called to You. At the hour of my death, enlighten my soul too, calling: Alleluia!
What is my praise before You! I have not heard the singing of the Cherubim, this is the lot of high souls, but I know how nature praises You. In winter I contemplated how in the moonlit silence the whole earth quietly prayed to You, clothed in a white robe, shining with diamonds of snow. I saw how the rising sun rejoiced in You and how the choirs of birds thundered in glory. I heard how the forest mysteriously rustled about You, the winds sing, the waters murmur, how the choirs of luminaries preach about You with their orderly movement in endless space. What is my praise! Nature is obedient, but I am not, while I live, I see Your love, I want to thank, pray and cry:
Glory to You, who showed us the light;
Glory to You, who loved us with deep, immeasurable, divine love.
Glory to Thee, who overshadows us with light, with hosts of angels and saints;
Glory to You, All-Holy Father, who has commanded Your Kingdom to us.
Glory to You, Son of the Redeemer, who opened the path to salvation for us;
Glory to You, Holy Soul, life-giving sun of the future age.
Glory to You for everything, O Trinity, Divine, All-Good.
Glory to You, God, forever.
O All-Good and Life-Giving Trinity, accept thanks for all Your mercies and show us worthy of Your blessings, so that, having multiplied the talents entrusted to us, we enter into the eternal joy of our Lord with victorious praise: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Alleluia!
[This kontakion is said three times.] [Next we repeat the 1st ikos and kontakion:]
I was born into the world as a weak, helpless child, but Your Angel spread bright wings, guarding my cradle. Since then, Your love has shone on all my paths, miraculously leading me to the light of eternity. I glorify the generous gifts of Your Providence, revealed from the first day to this day. I thank and cry with all who have known You:
Glory to You, who called me to life;
Glory to You, who showed me the beauty of the universe.
Glory to You, who opened heaven and earth before me as an eternal book of wisdom; The glory of Your eternity in the midst of the temporary world.
Glory to You for Your secret and obvious mercies;
Glory to You for every sigh of my chest.
Glory to You for every step of life, for every moment of joy.
Glory to You, God, forever.
Incorruptible King of the ages, who contains in His right hand all the paths of life through the human power of Your saving Providence, we thank You for all Your known and hidden blessings, for earthly life and for heavenly joys of Your future Kingdom. Continue to extend Your mercies to us as we sing:
Glory to You, God, forever.
The akathist of gratitude “Glory to God for everything” was written in the post-revolutionary years by Metropolitan Tryphon (in the world Boris Petrovich Turkestanov). He was born on November 29, 1861 in Moscow. His father, Prince Turkestan (1830-1891), was a direct descendant of an ancient princely family from Georgia. Great-grandfather, Prince Boris Pankratievich Turkestanoshvili, in whose memory he received the name, left for Russia under Peter I. The mother of the future saint was Varvara Alexandrovna, nee Princess Naryshkina.
During the serious illness of her son, still an infant, when the doctors lost hope for his recovery, the mother went to the church of the holy martyr Tryphon and prayed for the healing of her son, promising after recovery to dedicate him to God and, if the son was worthy of the monastic rank, to give him the name Tryphon. When the baby recovered, Varvara Alexandrovna made a trip with him to Optina Pustyn to see Elder Ambrose, famous throughout Russia. Meeting them, the elder unexpectedly said to the people standing in front of him: “Make way, the bishop is coming.” The people who parted were surprised to see a woman with a child instead of the bishop. In 1887, Boris, having received the blessing of his parents, entered Optina Pustyn as a novice under Elder Ambrose, who blessed him to become a monk.
In 1891, Boris took monastic vows with the name Tryphon in honor of the holy martyr Tryphon - this is how the vow made by his mother was fulfilled. Soon Fr. Tryphon was ordained a hierodeacon and then a hieromonk. Elder Ambrose blessed him to study at the Moscow Theological Academy. During his studies, Hieromonk Tryphon chose to serve in a transit prison. In 1895 Fr. Tryphon graduated from the Academy with a candidate of theology degree, having defended his dissertation on the topic “Ancient Christian and Optina Elders.” He knew five languages: Greek, Latin, French, German and English.
From 1895 to 1901 Fr. Tryphon was the caretaker of the Moscow Theological School, the rector of the Bethany and then the Moscow Theological Seminaries. On July 18, 1901, he became Bishop of Dmitrov, vicar of the Moscow diocese, and held this post for almost 15 years. Bishop Tryphon often performed divine services, which were very popular with Muscovites, preached a lot, carried out enormous church and public work, without abandoning his scientific works. For his amazing gift of speech, the believing people nicknamed him “Moscow Chrysostom.” The Bishop was spiritually connected with many ascetics of the Russian Church - the Optina elders Anatoly and Barsanuphius (whom he elevated to the rank of archimandrite), the elder of the Gethsemane monastery Barnabas, and the elder Zechariah. After the outbreak of World War I, the bishop served in the active army. On the Polish front he received a shell shock and was forced to return to Moscow in poor health. In 1916, Bishop Tryphon retired to the New Jerusalem Resurrection Monastery. After a trip to the front, he returned again in 1917 to New Jerusalem.
Since 1918, Bishop Tryphon lived in Moscow, without taking part in the administrative affairs of the Church. A constant stream of visitors came to him for advice on both spiritual and everyday issues. The believing people already revered him as a great bishop, a wonderful preacher and a spirit-bearing elder and ascetic. His advice and opinions were often decisive not only for the fate of his many spiritual children, but also in many events related to the fate of the Russian Orthodox Church after the revolution. Holy Patriarch Tikhon loved Vladyka, often served with him, and in 1923 he elevated him to the rank of archbishop. They were two great spiritual pillars that supported the holy Russian Church in a cruel and sorrowful time for Russia.
After the death of Patriarch Tikhon in 1925, the role of Archbishop Tryphon increased even more. While formally retired, he was truly one of the main spiritual leaders of Russian Orthodoxy; in 1931, on the anniversary of the 30th anniversary of his episcopal service, Archbishop Tryphon was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.
In the 20-30s, the word of Bishop Tryphon was the law for those who preserved the true faith and spiritual mind in the horrors of Russian life; the people believed that the Lord himself spoke through their lips. The artist Pavel Korin, who painted a portrait of Metropolitan Tryphon from life, recalled that he was able to paint most of the portraits of clergy for “Departing Rus'” only thanks to the bishop. Those whom the artist invited to the studio agreed to pose only after they learned about the blessing of the revered metropolitan.
Shortly before his death, Metropolitan Tryphon wrote this amazing akathist, which became his spiritual testament. “Glory to God for everything”—these words contain the main spiritual experience of the Russian Orthodox Church during the most severe persecution ever suffered by the Church of Christ in history. Let us remember that Metropolitan Veniamin (Kazansky) of Petrograd, innocently convicted and sentenced to death during the trial for the confiscation of church valuables, ended his speech at the trial in 1924 with these same words.
Christ Himself said: Take courage: I have overcome the world (John 16:33), and therefore, no matter how difficult and sad the events of earthly history may be, the power of God always prevails. There is a mortal battle going on, and we know that Christ has already defeated the enemy of the human race, but every person must also win. The resurrection became possible only after Golgotha, and the seeming defeat of millions dying for faith and truth becomes a victory - the path to eternal, endless, joyful life. The great son of Russia sings about this with inspiration, thanking God for “all Your known and hidden blessings, for earthly life and for the heavenly joys of Your future Kingdom,” so that, “having multiplied the talents entrusted to us, we entered into the eternal joy of our Lord with victorious praise: Alleluia!”
Metropolitan Tryfon died on June 14, 1934 and was buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow. His grave is still an object of veneration for millions of Orthodox Russians.