Glory to God for All Things Ode 12 Illustrated

Akathist:  “Glory to God for all Things”   

by Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Tryphon (+1934)

See Ode 11

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi

ODE 12

How oft have I seen the reflection of Your glory in the faces of the dead.

How resplendent they were, with beauty and heavenly joy;

how ethereal, how translucent their faces;

how triumphant over suffering and death, 

 their felicity and peace.

Even in the silence they were calling upon You.

In the hour of my death,

enlighten my soul, too,

 that it may cry out to You: Alleluia!

IKOS 12

What sort of praise can I give You?

 I have never heard the song of the cherubim,

a joy reserved for the spirits above.

But I know the praises that nature sings to You.

In winter, I have beheld how silently in the moonlight

the whole earth offers You prayer, clad in its white mantle of snow, sparkling like diamonds.

I have seen how the rising sun rejoices in You,

how the song of the birds is a chorus of praise to You.

I have heard the mysterious murmurings of the forests about You,

and the winds singing Your praise as they stir the waters.

I have understood how the choirs of stars proclaim Your glory as they move forever in the depths of infinite space.

 What is my poor worship?  All nature obeys You, I do not.

Yet while I live, I see Your love,

I long to thank You, pray to You, and call upon Your Name:

Glory to You, giving us light.
Glory to You, loving us with love so deep, divine, and infinite.

Glory to You, blessing us with light, and with the host of angels and saints.
Glory to You, Father All-Holy, promising us a share in Your Kingdom.

Glory to You, Holy Spirit, Life-giving Sun of the world to come.
Glory to You for all things, holy and most merciful Trinity.

Glory to You, O God, from age to age.

Next:  Ode 13