Excerpts from the Akathist to Saints Peter and Paul
Kontakion
One
The Lord who
said of himself: "I am the Good Shepherd," said to you, O first-enthroned Peter: "If you love me, feed my sheep.” And he
who said: "I am Jesus," said of you,
O preeminent Apostle Paul: "He is a chosen vessel
unto Me, to bear my name before the Gentiles." And likewise to
all your colleagues, his Apostles, he said: "As
my Father has sent me, even so send I you; go and teach all nations". And you, receiving such grace from your good Chief Shepherd, as the foremost shepherds
and teachers of all the world, from all misfortunes preserve us on the pasture of salvation that we my cry out to you: Rejoice,
O holy first-enthroned Peter and Paul, wilth all the holy apostles!
Ikos One
"Blessed
art you, Simon, son of Jonas!" said Christ, the Son of the living
God, to you, O right glorious Apostle Peter. How then can we worthily call
you blessed who has been called blessed by God himself? Yet drawn faithfully, by a debt of love alone, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, first among the apostles, foundation of the holy Church;
Rejoice, mighty pillar and ground of the Orthodox Faith!
Rejoice, ardent lover
of the teaching of Christ;
Rejoice, first-seated among the council
of the apostles!
Rejoice, good gate-keeper of the Kingdom
of Heaven;
Rejoice, renowned physician for them that
repent of their sins!
Rejoice, you who spurned the vanity of
the world and loved the spiritual life;
Rejoice, you who
did forsake corruptible nets and fished the world with incorruptible ones!
Rejoice, with Peter, O Paul, for you both shone forth like two great beacons;
Rejoice, all you holy apostles, beholders of God, for you are the light of all the world;
Rejoice, for through you the Faith which saves us has shone forth from Christ
in every place!
Rejoice, O holy-enthroned Peter and Paul,
with all the holy apostles!
Kontakion Two
O teacher of the
Gentles, who received your title wondrously from on high, you believed when Jesus said to you: "Saul,
why are you persecuting me who cannot be touched by unbelief? Yet believe
henceforth; for lo! contrary audacity darkens you, but I have chosen you to be a witness to my judgments before the rulers,
the nations, and the children of Israel". And you, O Apostle
Paul, called such things by God, did cry out: Alleluia!
Ikos Two
Hearing a voice form
heaven, O Saul, you where thereafter unable to see; for you had adversely persecuted the Inaccessible One and received blindness
of your eyes in return for your zeal for the law; but, guided to the font, you attained divine baptism, where, having been
immersed with faith, the sight of your bodily and spiritual eyes was restored. Wherefore,
mindful of your miraculous calling, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, O apostles called by God, sent forth to preach to all the nations;
Rejoice, chosen vessel which pours forth the sweetness of the Faith of Christ
upon all!
Rejoice, beholder of the divine Light which
illumines from on high;
Rejoice, you who more than others was enlightened
by grace after the shadow of the Old Covenant!
Rejoice, you who
on earth conversed with the Lord Jesus who appeared to you;
Rejoice, you who
with his strength did dare to denounce them that were adamant in their unbelief!
Rejoice you who enlightened the whole world with your divinely wise writings;
Rejoice you who, following Christ, labored more than others for the salvation of man!
Rejoice with Paul, O Peter, for you overshadow the holy Church as the two cherubim
did the Ark;
Rejoice, you who stand before the throne
of the Most High like two seraphim!
Rejoice, all you holy apostles, for you
are like the heavens which proclaim the glory of God;
Rejoice, for you
are the stars which crown the Church, the Bride of Christ!
Rejoice, O holy first-enthroned
Peter and Paul, with all the holy apostles!
Kontakion Seven
On your arrival in
Lydda, O blessed Apostle Peter, you amazed the people living there when by the name of Jesus Christ, you raised up Aeneas,
who had lain in bed, sick with palsy, for eight years, and caused him to walk. In
Joppa you did likewise, by your supplication, return to life the dead Tabitha, and, summoned to Caesaria, you enlightened
with divine baptism Cornelius the centurion with all his household. Wherefore,
we all straightway cry aloud to God in unity of soul: Alleluia!
Ikos Seven
Simon Magnus sought to acquire the grace
of the Holy Spirit with silver; but you O blessed Apostle Peter, condemned him to inherit damnation with his silver and sternly
forbade both the avaricious practice of simony and the theft of sacred things.
Wherefore, we exclaim unto you thus:
Rejoice, you who enriched the Church of Christ with the grace of the Spirit;
Rejoice, you who forbade the reception of recompense for holy things in the Church!
Rejoice, you by whom avarice was cut off, as the root of all evils, through the
grace of the Spirit;
Rejoice, you by whom covetousness is cast
away by sanctity as a type of idolatry!
Rejoice, you who
lead a hard life for the sake of Christ;
Rejoice, you who
fulfilled well the commandment of Christ; you cannot serve God and Mammon!
Rejoice, you who likewise committed Sapphira, who was guilty of that sin, to the same punishment!
Rejoice, with Peter, O Paul, for you are like two olive trees which put forth
mercy;
Rejoice, all you holy apostles, as tender
olive shoots;
Rejoice, for because of you, all is like
a fruitful olive tree in the house of God.
Rejoice, O holy first-enthroned
Peter and Paul, with all the holy apostles!
Kontakion Ten
Great testimony did
you produce from the sayings of the prophets concerning Christ in the face of the leaders of the Jews, and before the Procurator
Festus and King Agrippa, O Apostle Paul, who was called by God, and all were utterly set at naught; for many of the Jews quoted
books to you in their frenzy, and you were answered by both Festus and Agrippa falsely, and were condemned to be sent to Rome. But, enduring everything with thanksgiving, you cried out with the faithful to
God: Alleluia!
Ikos Twelve
Full of great revelation
of divine mysteries, O chosen vessel of Jesus, all-wise Apostle Paul, you diligently
brought forth the name of God who had appeared in the flesh and saved them that believed in him; and having converted
many of the Gentiles and fought the good fight, in the City of Rome you finished your course most gloriously for the name
of your Lord, and received therein a crown of righteousness. Wherefore, we
cry out to you thus:
Rejoice, great lover of the name of Jesus, who suffered greatly for him;
Rejoice, you who bore witness before those of heaven, of earth and beneath the
earth, concerning his name!
Rejoice, for you bore witness well concerning
the Lord in Jerusalem;
Rejoice, you who were commanded by him
to bear witness also in Rome!
Rejoice, you who denounced the Emperor
Nero and converted his consort to the Christian Faith;
Rejoice, who in the
same Rome did bow your head beneath the sword, executed with Peter, who was
crucified head downward!
Rejoice, for at the severing of your honored
head milk flowed forth;
Rejoice, for this great wonder drew many
soldiers to the Faith!
Rejoice, you who were shown forth by the
confluences of the two rivers named Jor and Dan!
Rejoice, all you
holy apostles, like torrents of rivers which gladden the city of the Church of God;
Rejoice for you are like streams of sweetness which give all the faithful
to drink from the cup of salvation!
Rejoice, O holy first-enthroned
Peter and Paul, with all the holy apostles!
