Kon­takion 1

A won­der­ful and mar­vel­lous heal­ing has been given to us by your holy icon, O sov­er­eign Lady Theotokos. By its ap­pear­ance we have been de­liv­ered from spir­i­tual and phys­i­cal ills, and from sor­row­ful cir­cum­stances. So we bring you our thank­ful praise, O all-mer­ci­ful Pro­tec­tress. O sov­er­eign Lady, whom we call "The In­ex­haustible Cup": bend down your ear and mer­ci­fully hear our lamen­ta­tion and tears that we bring to you, and give your heal­ing to those who suf­fer from drunk­en­ness, so that we may cry out to you with faith:

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Ikos 1

Angelic pow­ers and mul­ti­tudes of saints con­tin­u­ally glo­rify you, the Theotokos, Queen of all, the in­ter­ces­sor for us sin­ful chris­tians wal­low­ing in law­less­ness and re­main­ing in sins. It is for our con­so­la­tion and sal­va­tion that you in your mercy gave us your mirac­u­lous icon, so that look­ing upon it, as at the one and only star among a mul­ti­tude of stars on a star­lit night, we may pros­trate our­selves, shout­ing from the very depths of our heart:

Rejoice, dwelling-place of the un­ap­proach­able God! Re­joice, our con­stant won­der! Re­joice, you make our sor­row wipe away our sins! Re­joice, you make our grief heal our ills! Re­joice, through your mirac­u­lous icon, you bring us your heav­enly mercy! Re­joice, O joy of our griev­ing heart! Re­joice, our won­der­ful rec­on­cil­i­a­tion with God!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 2

On see­ing the deep sor­row and grief of peo­ple pos­sessed by the de­struc­tive vice of drunk­en­ness, and also their true re­pen­tance, you have willed, O most holy Lady, to show your mercy to the blessed city of Ser­poukhov by the ap­pear­ance of your mirac­u­lous icon "The In­ex­haustible Cup", so that all who fall down be­fore it with faith and a con­trite heart will re­ceive heal­ing from this griev­ous ill­ness, and thus may cry to God from the depths of their heart: Alleluia!

Ikos 2

Having un­der­stood the mean­ing of the three­fold ap­pari­tion of St Var­laam, and his order to go to the city of Ser­poukhov, the man pos­sessed by the ill­ness of al­co­holism did so, and there, in a monastery he found your holy icon called "The In­ex­haustible Cup". On see­ing such mercy be­stowed on us sin­ners, we cry out to you with ven­er­a­tion:

Rejoice, through pious peo­ple you show to us sin­ners the glory of your mar­vel­lous work! Re­joice, saga­cious guide, show­ing us the way of sal­va­tion! Re­joice, O good teacher, by your good­ness you at­tract us to your­self! Re­joice, by be­stow­ing on us your great bless­ings you teach us grate­ful­ness! Re­joice, by mak­ing us know hope be­yond doubt you give us glad­ness of heart! Re­joice, you de­stroy our de­struc­tive pas­sions! Re­joice, you help us in our good in­ten­tions!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 3

The power of the Almighty and the grace of the sov­er­eign Mother of God strength­ened a man suf­fer­ing from al­co­holism, when in obe­di­ence to an order of the Theotokos, given to him by St Var­laam, he set out for the city of Ser­poukhov, in spite of his paral­ysed legs. On his ar­rival, he found the icon of the most pure Theotokos, and was healed from ill­ness of the soul and that of the body. There­fore, from the very depth of his heart, he grate­fully ex­claimed to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 3

You are an in­ex­haustible foun­tain, a cup of heav­enly gifts that ever ever re­mains full. And the peo­ple of the city of Ser­poukhov, as well as all or­tho­dox, from every city and vil­lage, who come to your most won­der­ful icon, "The In­ex­haustible Cup", are healed. And so with grate­ful lips they cry out to you:

Rejoice, O ves­sel of holy water that dis­solves our sor­row! Re­joice, O cup by which we re­ceive the joy of our sal­va­tion! Re­joice, you at­tend to our spir­i­tual and phys­i­cal ills! Re­joice, your prayers tame our pas­sions! Re­joice, you give to each ac­cord­ing to his needs! Re­joice, you give gen­er­ously to all! Re­joice, you have opened for us the trea­sury of mercy! Re­joice, you show mercy to the fallen one!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 4

People laden with pas­sions and ad­dic­tions, doubt­ing of ever find­ing de­liv­er­ance, come with re­pen­tance to your in­ex­press­ible mercy. And on hav­ing been healed, from the very depths of their hearts they cry to our Sav­iour born of you: Alleluia!

Ikos 4

On see­ing the sor­row and tears of par­ents, wives and chil­dren whose fam­ily mem­ber is pos­sessed by the pas­sion of ad­dic­tion, the Lord gave us your icon, O Theotokos, and all who come to it re­ceive con­so­la­tion and spir­i­tual joy. And so we cry out to you with tears of grat­i­tude:

Rejoice, O lamb, you gave birth to the Lamb of God! Re­joice, you are the ladle that draws up joy from the source of im­mor­tal­ity! Re­joice, you are the al­le­vi­a­tion of the grief of sor­row­ing moth­ers! Re­joice, you are the hope of the hope­less! Re­joice, you grace­fully pro­tect those who come to you! Re­joice, you are the de­light and joy of those in grief! Re­joice, your help­ing hand is there for those who seek it!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 5

O most gra­cious Lady, you have shown us your holy icon to be the star that leads to God, so that look­ing upon it and pray­ing to you, we may say: O Theotokos, give heal­ing to those who are suf­fer­ing from drunk­en­ness and any other ill­ness of mind and body, and teach us all to praise God, singing: Alleluia!

Ikos 5

O Theotokos, on see­ing the mar­vels and won­ders granted to those who humbly ven­er­ate you, won­ders pour­ing from your icon that mirac­u­lously ap­peared in Ser­poukhov, and also from those that were but copies of it, we cry out to you:

Rejoice, you are a speedy pro­tec­tress of all who come to you! Re­joice, you hear our prayers! Re­joice, you have blessed the city of Ser­poukhov! Re­joice, you have shown the glory of your mir­a­cles in the re­gion of Moscow! Re­joice, in­ex­haustible Trea­sure for all who are in need of heal­ing! Re­joice, O almighty help to those who strive for so­bri­ety! Re­joice, O almighty help to those who fight against the world, flesh, Satan and ad­dic­tions! Re­joice, you de­fend those who lead a good life in this world!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 6

O Theotokos, we pro­claim your won­ders that pour forth from your icon, "The In­ex­haustible Cup", and with tears we pray to you: Save us all from the pas­sion of drunk­en­ness and from other ad­dic­tions and sins, and teach us, O Pure One, to ab­stain from all im­pu­rity, and to sing to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 6

In the light of the Di­vine Glory, you look at your Son, the eter­nal God and Lord Jesus Christ, stand­ing in the chal­ice as shown on your icon mys­te­ri­ously called "The In­ex­haustible Cup;" and you give from it de­liv­er­ance from drunk­en­ness to us who come unto you and bring to you this un­ceas­ing praise:

Rejoice, for the an­gelic pow­ers and the human race! Re­joice be­cause you! Re­joice, for your glory sur­passes both human and heav­enly praise! Re­joice, you have re­vealed to us the mys­tery of the Di­vine Eu­charist by show­ing the image of your Son in the chal­ice! Re­joice, you show us the Lamb born of you who is al­ways eaten but never con­sumed! Re­joice, O cup of life and im­mor­tal­ity that leads us to the gates of eter­nal life! Re­joice, you fill our thirsty souls with the water from the foun­tain of im­mor­tal­ity! Re­joice, you do not with­hold your bless­ing even from the most re­jected and de­spised! Re­joice, by your com­pas­sion you pull us away from the pit of perdi­tion!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 7

A man wanted to thank you, O Theotokos, for heal­ing from al­co­holism, so he adorned your mirac­u­lous icon that is in Ser­poukhov, singing to God from the depths of his heart: Alleluia!

Ikos 7

We see a new mir­a­cle from your holy icon, O Theotokos. A ser­vant of God, Stephen, a vic­tim of the dis­ease of al­co­holism, was im­plor­ing your ma­ter­nal in­ter­ces­sion, and he has been granted a cure. So in grat­i­tude he adorned your icon with rich gifts, and falling be­fore it he called to you with tears:

Rejoice, life­giv­ing foun­tain of heal­ing! Re­joice, heav­enly cup of di­vine gifts! Re­joice, river that car­ries heal­ing! Re­joice, the sea into which sink all our pas­sions! Re­joice, with your ten­der ma­ter­nal hands you raise up those who fall under the weight of drunk­en­ness! Re­joice, you do not turn down gifts of grat­i­tude! Re­joice, joy of pious peo­ple! Re­joice, you grant us those of our pe­ti­tions that are good for us!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 8

It must be strange and in­cred­i­ble to un­be­liev­ers to hear that your icon "The In­ex­haustible Cup" pro­cures mir­a­cles. But to us who be­lieve in your words pro­claimed about your first icon, "The Grace of the One who is born of me and my own bless­ings will al­ways be with this icon", this pre­sent icon also ex­udes your mercy. And so, rev­er­ently we ven­er­ate it, cry­ing to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 8

People suf­fer­ing from al­co­holism and ad­dic­tions do put all their hope in you, O sov­er­eign Lady. Bend down to our ills and our pas­sions. For who but you, O Theotokos, shall raise us out of the pit of perdi­tion and of phys­i­cal and spir­i­tual mis­ery? And thus hav­ing bent our knees, we cry out to you:

Rejoice, you do not re­ject the prayers of those who are sin­ful! Re­joice, you give your help to those who ask for it! Re­joice, you show the depth of your com­pas­sion for the sin­ner! Re­joice, you give courage to those who have lost all hope! Re­joice, you ex­tend your help­ing hand to those who suf­fer from drunk­en­ness! Re­joice, by your gift of grace you con­sole those who suf­fer pa­tiently! Re­joice, you nurse our phys­i­cal and emo­tional ills! Re­joice, you teach us to de­spise the empty plea­sures of this life!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 9

All the an­gels are amazed at your mercy, O Lord, for You have given to sin­ful mankind a strong pro­tec­tress and helper. She looks down at our weak­ness, and heals those suf­fer­ing from the bit­ter dis­ease of drunk­en­ness, and teaches the faith­ful to sing: Alleluia!

Ikos 9

The most ex­alted human mind can­not praise enough the ap­pear­ance of your glo­ri­ous icon, O sov­er­eign Lady. Nor can we sin­ners bring from our sin­ful lips a glo­ri­fi­ca­tion wor­thy of our Pro­tec­tress. On hav­ing seen in­nu­mer­able mir­a­cles com­ing from your icon, we re­joice in our heart and spirit, and pro­claim:

Rejoice, from your holy face mir­a­cles pour forth! Re­joice, you speed­ily de­liver us from grief and sor­row! Re­joice, you put to shame those who deny you! Re­joice, you pro­tect from every evil those who come to you! Re­joice, by your gen­tle ra­di­ance you dis­perse the dark­ness of our pas­sions and our sins! Re­joice, you fill our hearts with love for your Son and for your­self! Re­joice, you show us the path of re­pen­tance! Re­joice, you are our me­di­a­tor be­fore the right­eous judge!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 10

Wish­ing to save all those who suf­fer from the dis­eases of al­co­holism and other ad­dic­tions, you have given us your won­der­ful icon, O Theotokos, so that all who suf­fer may come to your mirac­u­lous image; and hav­ing been healed, may ten­derly cry out to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 10

You are the wall and the shield, O Lady Theotokos, for those who suf­fer from drunk­en­ness, and also for all those who come to you fer­vently and who pi­ously ven­er­ate your holy icon; for the Lord God gave it to us to help us, and to heal us from this de­struc­tive ad­dic­tion. And thus He in­spires us to sing to you:

Rejoice, you al­le­vi­ate our suf­fer­ings and give hope to those who de­spair! Re­joice, you are the heal­ing of our ills! Re­joice, with your pu­rity you wipe away our cor­rup­tion! Re­joice, by your ho­li­ness you il­lu­mine our dark­ness! Re­joice, by your cloak of com­pas­sion you clothe our mor­tal body! Re­joice, by your strength you for­tify our prayers! Re­joice, you strengthen us in our weak­ness! Re­joice, you dis­perse the dark clouds of pas­sions that sur­round us!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 11

O pure one, do not de­spise our hum­ble singing that we bring to you from full­ness of love and zeal; and do not turn away your face from those who suf­fer from drunk­en­ness and de­spair, but do help us, so that we also may be cleansed from every im­pu­rity and may rightly and justly sing to God: Alleluia!

Ikos 11

O most holy Lady! On your icon you are seen like a burn­ing can­dle in rays of grace, sur­rounded by the as­sem­bly of saints and holy mar­tyrs. And as you in­di­cate to us the path of right­eous­ness, we call to you and say:

Rejoice, by the in­ter­ces­sion of St. Dom­nica you save us from this world of trou­ble! Re­joice, by her plead­ing you help us to over­come pas­sions of the flesh! Re­joice, by the prayers of the holy mar­tyr Var­laam, you fill our hearts with pious thoughts! Re­joice, by his plead­ing you il­lu­mine our con­science! Re­joice, by the prayers of the holy mar­tyr Paraskeva you de­liver those who suf­fer from drunk­en­ness! Re­joice, by her in­ter­ces­sion you call us to re­pen­tance and watch­ful­ness! Re­joice, to­gether with the holy mar­tyr An­tipas you mel­low the bit­ter heart! Re­joice, with him you save those who call on your name!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 12

The grace that shines through your icon "The In­ex­haustible Cup" calls to it all those who suf­fer, all the un­for­tu­nate, wid­ows and or­phans, and es­pe­cially those who are ill with the dis­ease of al­co­holism. And no one goes away empty-handed from your in­ex­haustible cup, O mer­ci­ful one, but all are filled with di­vine gifts; so that hav­ing re­ceived heal­ing and help, they may sing to you: Alleluia!

Ikos 12

Prais­ing your won­drous work and great mercy that you show to those who suf­fer from ad­dic­tions, we beg you, O com­pas­sion­ate one - save, have mercy on us, show us the right path, and do not re­ject us who seek your pro­tec­tion and call out to you:

Rejoice, you sus­tain us on the way to sober­ness! Re­joice, by the dew of your mercy you de­liver us from the pas­sion of al­co­hol! Re­joice, by your mercy you heal us from ad­dic­tions! Re­joice, you are a speedy help to those who suf­fer from all kinds of de­pen­dence! Re­joice, you sup­port those who are even-tem­pered! Re­joice, you hum­ble the pride­ful! Re­joice, you exalt the hum­ble and wish sal­va­tion to all!

Rejoice, O Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup that quenches our spir­i­tual thirst!

Kon­takion 13

O all-mer­ci­ful Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, hear our prayer, and de­liver us from all ills, phys­i­cal and emo­tional, and es­pe­cially your ser­vants who suf­fer from this dis­ease, so that they may not per­ish, but might be saved and thus would sing to God: Alleluia!

First Prayer

O our mer­ci­ful and holy Lady Theotokos, hope and refuge of the or­phan, de­fense of the stranger, help of those in need, and pro­tec­tion of those who are bit­ter: You see our mis­for­tune, you see our sor­row. From all sides we are as­sailed by temp­ta­tions, and there is no one to pro­tect us. You, your­self, help us, for we are weak. Feed us, for we are strangers. Show us the way, for we are lost. Heal us, for we hurt. Save us, for there is no hope for us. We have no other re­course, nei­ther pro­tec­tion nor con­so­la­tion, but you, O Mother of all who suf­fer and are bur­dened. Look down on us sin­ners, who are harsh and bit­ter, and pro­tect us by your holy omophor, that we may be de­liv­ered from all evil that as­sails us, and es­pe­cially from drunk­en­ness, so that we may al­ways glo­rify your all-holy name. Amen.

Sec­ond Prayer

O all-mer­ci­ful sov­er­eign Lady, we come to your pro­tec­tion. Do not de­spise our pe­ti­tions, but kindly hear us - wives, chil­dren, hus­bands, par­ents, and all those who suf­fer from heavy af­flic­tion of ad­dic­tions of all sorts; and re­store those who, be­cause of it, fall away from our holy Mother the Church and its sal­va­tion. O mer­ci­ful Theotokos, touch their heart and speed­ily re­store them from their fallen state, and lead them to salu­tary re­pen­tance. Im­plore your Son, Christ our God, to for­give us our tres­passes, and not to turn away His mer­cies from His peo­ple, but that He would strengthen us in so­bri­ety and chastity. Ac­cept, O all-holy Theotokos, the pe­ti­tions of moth­ers shed­ding tears about their chil­dren, wives sob­bing for their hus­bands, chil­dren, or­phans, beg­gars, and all those who were for­saken, and us all who ven­er­ate your icon. And let your prayers carry our pe­ti­tions to the throne of the Almighty. Cover us, and keep us from all snares of the enemy, and the traps of the evil one, and at the dread­ful hour of our death, help us to pass the or­deal with­out stum­bling. By your prayers, save us from eter­nal con­dem­na­tion, so that God's mercy may cover us for the ages to come. Amen.

Akathist to the Theotokos, the In­ex­haustible Cup in Eng­lish
Other hymns in Eng­lish