Isaac Levitan,
Autumn Day in Sokolniki Park
"When in my childhood I called upon You consciously for the first time,
You heard my prayer; You filled my heart with the blessing of peace.
At that moment I knew Your goodness, knew how blessed are those who turn to You.
I started to call upon You, night and day, and even now, I call upon Your Name.
Glory to You, satisfying my desires with good things.
Glory to You, watching over me day and night.
Glory to You, curing affliction and emptiness with the healing flow of time.
Glory to You, no loss is irreparable in You; Giver of Eternal Life to all.
Glory to You, making immortal all that is lofty and good.
Glory to You, promising us the longed for meeting with our loved ones who have died.
Glory to You, O God, from age to age."
- Ikos 9, from the Akathist "Glory to God For All Things" a liturgical poem found, in 'samizdat' underground printed copy, among the papers of a priest who died at a prison camp in Soviet Russia in 1942. His name was Fr. Gregory Petrov. The poem may have been writted by Fr. Petrov, or by Metropolitan Tryphon (Prince Boris Petrovich Turkestanov) + 1934. The actual authorship of the poem is somewhat uncertain. If anyone has more information about the lives of these men of God, please feel free to let me know...
posted by Matthew Francis at Wednesday, January 04, 2006
5 Comments:
Now that is a beautiful poem, and a wonderful prayer. Thanks for sharing it.
Such words of comfort Matthew.
Okay, Seraphim, now you've got my curiousity piqued... I guess there is some debate about the authorship of the Akathist, regarding who indeed composed it. I just put it as I'd originally seen it attributed. I will update the post with this in mind.
I have seen "Glory to God for All Things" sometimes attributed to Archpriest (also sometimes referred to with the clerical rank of "Protopresbyter") Gregory Petrov (also spelled Petroff), where it is mentioned that he wrote it in one of the Soviet prison camps in 1940, before his untimely death in '42. And other times this same Akathist is ascribed to Metropolitan Tryphon (also called Trypon), whose baptismal name in the world was Prince Boris Petrovich Turkestanov. Metropolitan Tryphon departed this life in 1934.
I would be interested to learn more about the lives of these amazing men of God... do you know more about them? After reading about the lives of many Christians in the camps in the Fr. Arseny books, I wonder if the Akathist could perhaps be a collaboration?
There is another very similar Akathist called "An Akathist in Praise of God's Creation," that is often attributed to Metropolitan Tryphon. From various versions available, whole sections of it are quite similar to "Glory to God for All Things."
I think in fact they may be the same service under two names, as the the Greek Archdiocese's website has what I've known as "Glory to God for All things" under the name "An Akathist in Praise of God's Creation," and attributed to Metropolitan Tryphon instead of Fr. Gregory Petrov. In an article writtten in April '05, Fr. Alexis Vinogradov refers specifically to "Glory to God for All Things," but once again calls the Metropolitan its composer.
Whoever wrote it, it is a beautiful prayer! Glory to God for the person who wrote it... and for saints known and unknown.
Does anyone know more they might share?
Thanks, Sky, for the tip on Tavener. I will definitely check this out, as I'm sure it is superb.
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