Saint Sophrony of Essex (Sakharov)

Prayers which are read before any Akathist

Kontakion 1

The Creator of angels and the Lord of hosts, seeing that from your youth you knew an intense inner search (how can man attain eternity?) granted you to experience a divine visitation, which changed your whole life. Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Oikos 1

Thirsting for God, you abandoned painting and withdrew to the Holy Mountain Athos in order to possess Christ more truly. And by the providence of God, meeting Saint Silouan, a historical event took place which was to influence our entire era:

• Rejoice, sweetly fragrant flower sprung from Moscow;
• Rejoice, artist by nature who greatly loved painting;
• Rejoice, intense seeker of eternal things;
• Rejoice, you who renounced temporal things;
• Rejoice, you who abandoned painting for Christ;
• Rejoice, you who sought only what is profitable for the soul;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 2

From your great guide, you inherited also the great teaching on how the spiritual word is born. And you strove all your life to follow the Saviour, who spoke no vain words. Help us also to follow Him and to say: Alleluia.

Oikos 2

After the death of Saint Silouan you asked for a blessing to withdraw into the desert, but all the monks opposed you, and only after much time did you receive the desired blessing. And becoming a spiritual father at the monastery of Saint Paul, you unceasingly guided the monks on the path towards perfection:

• Rejoice, father, you who taught that the spiritual father must sense the rhythm of the inner world of each person who comes to him;
• Rejoice, servant of Him who sacrificed Himself as a lamb;
• Rejoice, father, you who prayed that the Spirit of God would guide you, giving the necessary word to each one;
• Rejoice, father, you who begged help from God so as not to err, for you acknowledged your imperfection;
• Rejoice, father, you who prayed that the Lord would guard you in the ways of His true will;
• Rejoice, father, you who asked from the Lord that He inspire in you words profitable and saving for the brethren;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 3

Seeing how the care of the superiors of the monasteries was directed towards the practical organisation of life, you understood how thirsty the inhabitants of the monasteries were for the spiritual word. And you prayed for each individual soul in the hour of conversation with it, that God would reveal to you what His thought is and even His words for that poor soul, that it might arise and sing: Alleluia.

Oikos 3

With each of those who came to you you behaved with the greatest attention and care, and they repaid you with deep gratitude. You knew the spiritual needs of people even without them speaking of them:

• Rejoice, you who tried to keep the hearing of your mind towards your heart in order to grasp the thought of God for each individual;
• Rejoice, father, you who were filled with endless love;
• Rejoice, father, you who were sought out for spiritual counsel and for support;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught us that because of our pride our heart is darkened and full of poison;
• Rejoice, father, you who tried to teach us about perfect love;
• Rejoice, father, you who knew that preaching perfection in the fallen world is impossible;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 4

Having arrived in Europe, around you, father, a monastic community began to gather. And seeking a suitable place to build a monastery, you were received in England, although they did not quite understand the benefit of a monk for society, for they did not know how to sing: Alleluia.

Oikos 4

From the very beginning you invested a very long time in conversations with the brethren. And often beginning a word of instruction, you all sat for hours and still the word was not exhausted:

• Rejoice, fountain of wisdom;
• Rejoice, treasure of good counsels;
• Rejoice, father, you who sacrificed yourself for your disciples;
• Rejoice, gentle and loving shepherd of sheep;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught the weak by rebuking the strong;
• Rejoice, father, you who strove and laboured even to plough the hardened ground of some hearts;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 5

Through your word the life of the cenobitic community of Saint John the Baptist in Essex was sanctified, and every work, however small, acquired a significance of cosmic dimensions. In the common life you saw above all the image of the Divine existence according to the likeness of the Holy Trinity, to whom is due the song: Alleluia.

Oikos 5

Mutual love is the content of the life of Each of the Three Divine Hypostases. Therefore, love and unity of the brotherhood became the main theme of your discourses. And you constantly repeated the word of the Lord which says, "that they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, ... and these in Us may be one":

• Rejoice, you who insisted greatly on the unity of the community;
• Rejoice, you who in prayer surpassed the boundaries of nature;
• Rejoice, you who saw the uncreated light;
• Rejoice, you who kept your heart pure and innocent;
• Rejoice, you who taught us that all our attention must be placed on passing the day without sin;
• Rejoice, you who constantly reminded that we must pray unceasingly;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 6

In your discourses one can feel with particular power how closely your dogmatic vision was linked to the whole process of the inner spiritual life. The dogmas of the Church had a real and direct connection with the daily affairs of the monastery, with the smallest details of the daily life of each monk. The monk must stand with his mind fixed on God even when doing the most banal daily activities. He must unceasingly sing: Alleluia.

Oikos 6

Theology had become your state and you prayed that God would also impart your state to others. Our gnoseology is the path towards the true knowledge of the true God – theology as a state of our spirit which lives unceasingly in God – the Holy Spirit:

• Rejoice, father, you who hastened before death to transmit everything to your disciples;
• Rejoice, father, you who filled all your disciples with sanctifying divine energy;
• Rejoice, father, you who lived a consuming repentance;
• Rejoice, soul full of courage and firm hope;
• Rejoice, father, you who urged the one who reached the brink of despair to drink a cup of tea;
• Rejoice, father, you who always hoped in the mercy of the Lord;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 7

You almost never prepared yourself to give a word to the brethren, but you prayed that the Lord would give you a word of instruction. And even when you were half ill and half blind, bent with age, your love for your disciples helped you to overcome your weakness, in order to benefit those who sang to the Lord: Alleluia.

Oikos 7

You behaved naturally and simply, you spoke rarely and as from the heart. But the impulse of fervent prayer to God, through your word, embraced those present and lifted their mind into that world where divine realities are contemplated as something manifest:

• Rejoice, father, you who thirsted to see the disciples rejoicing in "all the fullness of Godhead";
• Rejoice, father, you who glorified the Lord seeing the deliverance of souls from the snares of deception;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught us that deep repentance is a fire which consumes everything unclean in man;
• Rejoice, father, you who wept for all Adam, for the whole Man;
• Rejoice, father, you who through the remembrance of God sanctified all your work and word;
• Rejoice, father, you who guided us on how to make daily life become an unceasing communion with the Lord;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 8

You taught that the only beginning and foundation of the spiritual life is repentance. And when you plunged with your whole being into that painful hell of repentance, the grace of the Holy Spirit descended upon you and raised you to the shore of the Divine life. With this grace every word of yours was filled, every movement of your soul and heart. All manifestations of daily life, down to the smallest details, bore the seal of pure contemplation of the Truth. Your heart sang: Alleluia.

Oikos 8

The unerring path to contemplation and divine love is one alone: repentance. And the final summit of the vision of God is when the whole man is immersed in God and the uncreated Light fills his entire being: both spirit and soul, and even the body. Love, now no longer earthly, completely embraces the soul and inclines man to prayer for the whole world, for all people, for the whole Adam:

• Rejoice, fervent preacher of repentance;
• Rejoice, father, you who constantly immersed yourself in contemplation;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught that the true path to heaven passes through hell;
• Rejoice, intercessor for the world through whom all the snares of the enemies fall;
• Rejoice, you who taught that afflictions are the seal of election by God;
• Rejoice, you who urged us to receive troubles and afflictions with joy and thanksgiving, no matter how hard they are for us;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 9

Sufferings transform man, making him like the Only-begotten Son, who himself suffered unto death. Sufferings bring forth such a great fruit, that, if we were a little more understanding, we would no longer wish in any way "to come down from the cross," but would sing: Alleluia.

Oikos 9

Pains are unavoidable in order to receive the Divine gifts. If we approach the throne of God crushed to the end under the weight of afflictions, if we add to these our own inner crushing and repentance, not sparing ourselves, then without doubt, the divine light will overshadow us:

• Rejoice, father, you who taught us to ask God's help in order to endure sufferings and troubles;
• Rejoice, father, you who urged us not to ask for deliverance from them;
• Rejoice, father, you who encouraged us that the Lord sends down His mercy upon those who endure afflictions for Him;
• Rejoice, father, you who from your own experience knew that the cross becomes unspeakably sweet when the soul is visited by Him;
• Rejoice, father, you who said that true eternal glorification is nothing but cross, insults, slanders, poverty, pains, perhaps even death;
• Rejoice, father, you who assured us that it is impossible for man to be saved without pain;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 10

The remembrance of death teaches true prayer. The remembrance of death fills the soul with holy fear and sobriety which no longer allows man to sin. The remembrance of death brings true repentance. And through tears the soul cries out: Alleluia.

Oikos 10

Let us think of our own death, let us contemplate the Righteous Judge, let us fear the terrible Judgment, let us think with trembling what our fate will be considering the multitude of sins. Let us understand that we are worthy of hell, but let us hope in the mercy of the Lord, who was crucified to save the whole Man:

• Rejoice, father, you who learned from Saint Silouan that we must hold our mind in hell, but not despair;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught us that if we repent no sin can separate us from the Lord whom we love;
• Rejoice, father, you who helped us through the remembrance of death not to waste a single moment of life;
• Rejoice, father, you who guided us not to despair, for this is what the demon strives for with all his might;
• Rejoice, father, you who taught us to guard our mind from the whispers of the evil one;
• Rejoice, father, you who insisted that we burn with the Name of the Lord all the snares of the tyrant;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 11

The beginning of the spiritual life is the beginning of the struggle with sin, with the passions. To conquer the passions is the hardest work, yet this victory is also the greatest of all. The passions are conquered through a long, fierce, hard and unceasing struggle, day and night, with the cooperation of grace. Without grace we could not even say: Alleluia.

Oikos 11

The passions darken the mind, the passions cool the heart, the passions cut off our boldness towards God, the passions darken the image of God in man. It is absolutely necessary to cleanse our mind and heart and our whole soul:

• Rejoice, father, you who struggled with the passions unto blood;
• Rejoice, father, you who said that self-denial in every moment is the hardest cross;
• Rejoice, father, you who conquered the old man;
• Rejoice, father, you who became a servant of God forever;
• Rejoice, father, you who shattered the yoke of sin;
• Rejoice, father, you who stripped yourself of your own will and surrendered to the Lord;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 12

You laboured to transmit to us the whole teaching which you received from your spiritual father, Saint Silouan. And after a venerable life of 98 years, with joy you gave up your soul into the hands of the beloved Lord. And now you rejoice with all the angels and all the saints singing: Alleluia.

Oikos 12

The Lord had revealed to you the time of your falling asleep, and before departing, you comforted your disciples and said to them, "after my departure according to the flesh we are not separated":

• Rejoice, chosen vessel of the Lord;
• Rejoice, unceasing intercessor for the salvation of Man;
• Rejoice, our tireless mediator;
• Rejoice, our unwavering helper;
• Rejoice, father, who guided us with great love;
• Rejoice, father, who does not forget us even after death;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 13

O, Holy Most Venerable Father Sophrony, you guided us both through profitable words and through the example of your life, trying to show us the path towards perfection. Help us through your prayers that your labours may not be in vain, but a hundredfold fruitful, and, following you, may we eternally sing together with you: Alleluia. (This Kontakion is said three times)

Oikos 1

Thirsting for God, you abandoned painting and withdrew to the Holy Mountain Athos in order to possess Christ more truly. And by the providence of God, meeting Saint Silouan, a historical event took place which was to influence our entire era:

• Rejoice, sweetly fragrant flower sprung from Moscow;
• Rejoice, artist by nature who greatly loved painting;
• Rejoice, intense seeker of eternal things;
• Rejoice, you who renounced temporal things;
• Rejoice, you who abandoned painting for Christ;
• Rejoice, you who sought only what is profitable for the soul;
• Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Kontakion 1

The Creator of angels and the Lord of hosts, seeing that from your youth you knew an intense inner search (how can man attain eternity?) granted you to experience a divine visitation, which changed your whole life. Rejoice, venerable father Sophrony, unwearying guide on the path to perfection.

Prayer:

Venerable father Sophrony, help us with your prayers to live in love and in the fear of God. Help us to pass our time in sobriety and unceasing prayer. Help us to attain true prayer. Help us to cleanse the eyes of our soul so that we may attain the vision of God. Help us to live in repentance and in struggle with sin, having always the remembrance of death before us. Help us to conquer the pride within us and to completely renounce our own wills and desires. Help us to live in peace, unity and love with all people, that we may be one, according to the model of the Holy Trinity. Help us, holy father, to make a good beginning and to be saved. Amen.