Kon­takion 1

To Thee, the Cham­pion Leader, we Thy ser­vants ded­i­cate a feast of vic­tory and of thanks­giv­ing as ones res­cued out of suf­fer­ings, O Theotokos: but as Thou art one with might which is in­vin­ci­ble, from all dan­gers that can be do Thou de­liver us, that we may cry to Thee:

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Ikos 1

An archangel was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos: Re­joice! And be­hold­ing Thee, O Lord, tak­ing bod­ily form, he was amazed and with his bod­i­less voice he stood cry­ing to her such things as these:

Rejoice, Thou through whom joy will shine forth; re­joice, Thou through whom the curse will cease! Re­joice, re­call of fallen Adam; re­joice, re­demp­tion of the tears of Eve! Re­joice, height in­ac­ces­si­ble to human thoughts; re­joice, depth undis­cernible even for the eyes of an­gels! Re­joice, for Thou art the throne of the King; re­joice, for Thou bear­est Him Who beareth all! Re­joice, star that caus­est the Sun to ap­pear; re­joice, womb of the Di­vine In­car­na­tion! Re­joice, Thou through whom cre­ation is re­newed; re­joice, Thou through whom we wor­ship the Cre­ator!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 2

Seeing her­self to be chaste, the holy one said boldly to Gabriel: The mar­vel of thy speech is dif­fi­cult for my soul to ac­cept. How canst thou speak of a birth from a seed­less con­cep­tion? And She cried: Alleluia!

Ikos 2

Seek­ing to know knowl­edge that can­not be known, the Vir­gin cried to the min­is­ter­ing one: Tell me, how can a son be born from a chaste womb? Then he spake to Her in fear, only cry­ing aloud thus:

Rejoice, ini­ti­ate of God’s in­ef­fa­ble will; re­joice, as­sur­ance of those who pray in si­lence! Re­joice, be­gin­ning of Christ’s mir­a­cles; re­joice, crown of His dog­mas! Re­joice, heav­enly lad­der by which God came down; re­joice, bridge that con­veyest us from earth to heaven! Re­joice, won­der of an­gels sounded abroad; re­joice, wound of demons be­wailed afar! Re­joice, Thou Who in­ef­fa­bly gavest birth to the Light; re­joice, Thou Who didst re­veal Thy se­cret to none! Re­joice, Thou Who sur­pass­est the knowl­edge of the wise; re­joice, Thou Who givest light to the minds of the faith­ful!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 3

The power of the Most High then over­shad­owed the Vir­gin for con­cep­tion, and showed Her fruit­ful womb as a sweet meadow to all who wish to reap sal­va­tion, as they sing: Alleluia!

Ikos 3

Having re­ceived God into Her womb, the Vir­gin has­tened to Eliz­a­beth whose un­born babe at once rec­og­nized Her em­brace, re­joiced, and with leaps of joy as songs, cried to the Theotokos:

Rejoice, branch of an Un­fad­ing Sprout; re­joice, ac­qui­si­tion of Im­mor­tal Fruit! Re­joice, labourer that labourest for the Lover of mankind; re­joice, Thou Who givest birth to the Planter of our life! Re­joice, corn­land yield­ing a rich crop of mer­cies; re­joice, table bear­ing a wealth of for­give­ness! Re­joice, Thou Who mak­est to bloom the gar­den of de­light; re­joice, Thou Who pre­parest a haven for souls! Re­joice, ac­cept­able in­cense of in­ter­ces­sion; re­joice, pro­pi­ti­a­tion of all the world! Re­joice, good will of God to mor­tals; re­joice, bold­ness of mor­tals be­fore God!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 4

Having within a tem­pest of doubt­ing thoughts, the chaste Joseph was trou­bled. For know­ing Thee to have no hus­band, he sus­pected a se­cret union, O blame­less one. But hav­ing learned that Thy con­cep­tion was of the Holy Spirit, he said: Alleluia!

Ikos 4

While the an­gels were chant­ing, the shep­herds heard of Christ’s com­ing in the flesh, and hav­ing run to the Shep­herd, they be­held Him as a blame­less Lamb that had been pas­tured in Mary’s womb, and singing to Her, they cried:

Rejoice, Mother of the Lamb and the Shep­herd; re­joice, fold of ra­tio­nal sheep! Re­joice, tor­ment of in­vis­i­ble en­e­mies; re­joice, open­ing of the gates of Par­adise! Re­joice, for the things of heaven re­joice with the earth; re­joice, for the things of earth join cho­rus with the heav­ens! Re­joice, never-silent mouth of the Apos­tles; re­joice, in­vin­ci­ble courage of the pas­sion-bear­ers! Re­joice, firm sup­port of faith; re­joice, ra­di­ant token of Grace! Re­joice, Thou through whom hades was stripped bare; re­joice, Thou through whom we are clothed with glory!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 5

Having sighted the di­vinely-mov­ing star, the Magi fol­lowed its ra­di­ance; and hold­ing it as a lamp, by it they sought a pow­er­ful King; and hav­ing reached the Un­reach­able One, they re­joiced, shout­ing to Him: Alleluia!

Ikos 5

The sons of the Chaldees saw in the hands of the Vir­gin Him Who with His hand made man. And know­ing Him to be the Mas­ter, even though He had taken the form of a ser­vant, they has­tened to serve Him with gifts, and to cry to Her Who is blessed:

Rejoice, Mother of the Un­set­ting Star; re­joice, dawn of the mys­tic day! Re­joice, Thou Who didst ex­tin­guish the fur­nace of error; re­joice, Thou Who didst en­lighten the ini­ti­ates of the Trin­ity! Re­joice, Thou Who didst ban­ish from power the in­hu­man tyrant; re­joice, Thou Who didst show us Christ the Lord, the Lover of mankind! Re­joice, Thou Who re­deemest from pagan wor­ship; re­joice, Thou Who dost drag us from the works of mire! Re­joice, Thou Who didst quench the wor­ship of fire; re­joice, Thou Who res­cues from the flame of the pas­sions! Re­joice, guide of the faith­ful to chastity; re­joice, glad­ness of all gen­er­a­tions!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 6

Having be­come God-bear­ing her­alds, the Magi re­turned to Baby­lon, hav­ing ful­filled Thy prophecy; and hav­ing preached Thee to all as the Christ, they left Herod as a bab­bler who knew not how to sing: Alleluia!

Ikos 6

By shin­ing in Egypt the light of truth, Thou didst dis­pel the dark­ness of false­hood; for its idols fell, O Sav­ior, un­able to en­dure Thy strength; and those who were de­liv­ered from them cried to the Theotokos:

Rejoice, up­lift­ing of men; re­joice, down­fall of demons! Re­joice, Thou who didst tram­ple down the do­min­ion of delu­sion; re­joice, Thou who didst un­mask the fraud of idols! Re­joice, sea that didst drown the Pharaoh of the mind; re­joice, rock that doth re­fresh those thirst­ing for life! Re­joice, pil­lar of fire that guideth those in dark­ness; re­joice, shel­ter of the world broader than a cloud! Re­joice, sus­te­nance re­plac­ing manna; re­joice, min­is­ter of holy de­light! Re­joice, land of promise; re­joice, Thou from whom floweth milk and honey!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 7

When Symeon was about to de­part this age of delu­sion, Thou wast brought as a Babe to him, but Thou was rec­og­nized by him as per­fect God also; where­fore, mar­veling at Thine in­ef­fa­ble wis­dom, he cried: Alleluia!

Ikos 7

The Cre­ator showed us a new cre­ation when He ap­peared to us who came from Him. For He sprang from a seed­less womb, and kept it in­cor­rupt as it was, that see­ing the mir­a­cle we might sing to Her, cry­ing out:

Rejoice, flower of in­cor­rupt­ibil­ity; re­joice, crown of con­ti­nence! Re­joice, Thou from whom shineth the Ar­che­type of the Res­ur­rec­tion; re­joice, Thou Who re­vealest the life of the an­gels! Re­joice, tree of shin­ing fruit, whereby the faith­ful are nour­ished; re­joice, tree of goodly shade by which many are shel­tered! Re­joice, Thou that has car­ried in Thy womb the Re­deemer of cap­tives; re­joice, Thou that gavest birth to the Guide of those astray! Re­joice, sup­pli­ca­tion be­fore the Right­eous Judge; re­joice, for­give­ness of many sins! Re­joice, robe of bold­ness for the naked; re­joice, love that doth van­quish all de­sire!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 8

Having be­held a strange na­tiv­ity, let us es­trange our­selves from the world and trans­port our minds to heaven; for the Most High God ap­peared on earth as a lowly man, be­cause He wished to draw to the heights them that cry to Him: Alleluia!

Ikos 8

Wholly pre­sent was the In­ex­press­ible Word among those here below, yet in no way ab­sent from those on high; for this was a di­vine con­de­scen­sion and not a change of place, and His birth was from a God-re­ceiv­ing Vir­gin Who heard these things:

Rejoice, con­tainer of the Un­con­tain­able God; re­joice, door of solemn mys­tery! Re­joice, re­port doubt­ful to un­be­liev­ers; re­joice, un­doubted boast of the faith­ful! Re­joice, all-holy char­iot of Him Who sit­teth upon the Cheru­bim; re­joice, all-glo­ri­ous tem­ple of Him Who is above the Seraphim! Re­joice, Thou Who hast united op­po­sites; re­joice, Thou Who hast joined vir­gin­ity and moth­er­hood! Re­joice, Thou through whom trans­gres­sion hath been ab­solved; re­joice, Thou through whom Par­adise is opened! Re­joice, key to the king­dom of Christ; re­joice, hope of eter­nal good things!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 9

All the an­gels were amazed at the great act of Thine in­car­na­tion; for they saw the Un­ap­proach­able God as a man ap­proach­able to all, abid­ing with us, and hear­ing from all: Alleluia!

Ikos 9

We see most elo­quent or­a­tors mute as fish be­fore Thee, O Theotokos; for they are at a loss to tell how Thou re­mainest a Vir­gin and could bear a child. But we, mar­veling at this mys­tery, cry out faith­fully:

Rejoice, re­cep­ta­cle of the Wis­dom of God; re­joice, trea­sury of His Prov­i­dence! Re­joice, Thou Who show­est philoso­phers to be fools; re­joice, Thou Who ex­pos­est the learned as ir­ra­tional! Re­joice, for the clever crit­ics have be­come fool­ish; re­joice, for the writ­ers of myths have faded away! Re­joice, Thou Who didst rend the webs of the Athe­ni­ans; re­joice, Thou Who didst fill the nets of the fish­er­men! Re­joice, Thou Who drawest us from the depths of ig­no­rance; re­joice, Thou Who en­light­en­est many with knowl­edge! Re­joice, ship for those who wish to be saved; re­joice, har­bor for sailors on the sea of life!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 10

Desir­ing to save the world, He that is the Cre­ator of all came to it ac­cord­ing to His Own promise, and He that, as God, is the Shep­herd, for our sake ap­peared unto us as a man; for like call­ing unto like, as God He heareth: Alleluia!

Ikos 10

A bul­wark art Thou to vir­gins, and to all that flee unto Thee, O Vir­gin Theotokos; for the Maker of heaven and earth pre­pared Thee, O Most-pure one, dwelt in Thy womb, and taught all to call to Thee:

Rejoice, pil­lar of vir­gin­ity; re­joice, gate of sal­va­tion! Re­joice, leader of men­tal for­ma­tion; re­joice, be­stower of di­vine good! Re­joice, for Thou didst renew those con­ceived in shame; re­joice, for Thou gavest wis­dom to those robbed of their minds! Re­joice, Thou Who didst foil the cor­rupter of minds; re­joice, Thou Who gavest birth to the Sower of pu­rity! Re­joice, bridecham­ber of a seed­less mar­riage; re­joice, Thou Who dost wed the faith­ful to the Lord! Re­joice, good nour­isher of vir­gins; re­joice, adorner of holy souls as for mar­riage!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 11

Every hymn is de­feated that tri­eth to en­com­pass the mul­ti­tude of Thy many com­pas­sions; for if we offer to Thee, O Holy King, songs equal in num­ber to the sand, noth­ing have we done wor­thy of that which Thou hast given us who shout to Thee: Alleluia!

Ikos 11

We be­hold the holy Vir­gin, a shin­ing lamp ap­pear­ing to those in dark­ness; for, kin­dling the Im­ma­te­r­ial Light, She guideth all to di­vine knowl­edge, She il­lu­mineth minds with ra­di­ance, and is ho­n­oured by our shout­ing these things:

Rejoice, ray of the noetic Sun; re­joice, ra­di­ance of the Un­set­ting Light! Re­joice, light­ning that en­light­en­est our souls; re­joice, thun­der that ter­ri­fi­est our en­e­mies! Re­joice, for Thou didst cause the re­ful­gent Light to dawn; re­joice, for Thou didst cause the river of many streams to gush forth! Re­joice, Thou Who paintest the image of the font; re­joice, Thou Who blottest out the stain of sin! Re­joice, laver that wash­est the con­science clean; re­joice, cup that drawest up joy! Re­joice, aroma of the sweet fra­grance of Christ; re­joice, life of mys­ti­cal glad­ness!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 12

When the Ab­solver of all mankind de­sired to blot out an­cient debts, of His Own will He came to dwell among those who had fallen from His Grace; and hav­ing torn up the hand­writ­ing of their sins, He heareth this from all: Alleluia!

Ikos 12

While singing to Thine Off­spring, we all praise Thee as a liv­ing tem­ple, O Theotokos; for the Lord Who hold­eth all things in His hand dwelt in Thy womb, and He sanc­ti­fied and glo­ri­fied Thee, and taught all to cry to Thee:

Rejoice, taber­na­cle of God the Word; re­joice, saint greater than the saints! Re­joice, ark gilded by the Spirit; re­joice, in­ex­haustible trea­sury of life! Re­joice, pre­cious di­a­dem of pious kings; re­joice, ven­er­a­ble boast of rev­er­ent priests! Re­joice, un­shak­able fortress of the Church; re­joice, in­vi­o­lable wall of the king­dom! Re­joice, Thou through whom vic­to­ries are ob­tained; re­joice, Thou through whom foes fall pros­trate! Re­joice, heal­ing of my flesh; re­joice, sal­va­tion of my soul!

Rejoice, o Bride Un­wed­ded!

Kon­takion 13

O all-praised Mother Who didst bear the Word, holi­est of all the saints, ac­cept now our of­fer­ing, and de­liver us from all mis­for­tune, and res­cue from the tor­ment to come those that cry to Thee: Alleluia!

Се́й конда́къ глаго́лется три́жды. Та́же Икосъ 1-й и Конда́къ 1-й

Prayer to the Most Holy Lady Theotokos

O most holy Sov­er­eign Lady Theotokos! Higher art thou than all the an­gels and archangels, and more ho­n­ourable than all cre­ation, a helper of the wronged art thou, the hope of the hope­less, an in­ter­ces­sor for the poor, the con­so­la­tion of the sor­row­ful, a nour­isher of the hun­gry, a robe for the naked, heal­ing for the sick, the sal­va­tion of sin­ners, the help and pro­tec­tion of all Chris­tians. O all-mer­ci­ful Sov­er­eign Lady Vir­gin Theotokos! Through thy mercy save and have mercy on the most holy Or­tho­dox pa­tri­archs, the most holy met­ro­pol­i­tans, arch­bish­ops and bish­ops, and all the priestly and monas­tic or­ders, the mil­i­tary lead­ers, civic lead­ers, and Christ-lov­ing armed forces, and well-wish­ers, and all Or­tho­dox Chris­tians do thou de­fend by thy pre­cious omophorion, and en­treat, O Lady, Christ our God Who was in­car­nate of thee with­out seed, that He gird us with His power from on high against our en­e­mies, vis­i­ble and in­vis­i­ble, O all-mer­ci­ful Sov­er­eign Lady Theotokos! Raise us up out of the depths of sin, and de­liver us from famine, de­struc­tion, from earth­quake and flood, from fire and the sword, from in­va­sion of aliens and civil war, and from sud­den death, and from nox­ious winds, and from death-bear­ing plagues, and from all evil. Grant, O Lady, peace and health to thy ser­vants, all Or­tho­dox Chris­tians, and en­lighten their minds, and the eyes of their hearts unto sal­va­tion; and vouch­safe unto us, thy sin­ful ser­vants, the king­dom of thy Son, Christ our God; for blessed and most-glo­ri­fied is His do­min­ion, to­gether with His un­o­rig­i­nate Fa­ther, and His Most-Holy and good and life-cre­at­ing Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Akathist to the Most Holy Lady Theotokos in Eng­lish
Other hymns in Eng­lish