Prayer to St. Sabbas the Sanctified, of Jerusalem
Dec 5
O wondrous and laudable Saint of God, venerable Father Sabbas!
Today [in thy holy church] , devoutly standing before thy holy icon and joyously celebrating thy bright memory, we praise thee, as one who cometh to our aid.
And, honoring thy great boldness before God, we humbly beseech thee, most blessed one, mercifully to receive this our hymn of praise, brought to thee in love and sincerity.
And as one having great boldness before the Lord, hasten thou in thine intercession so acceptable to God, and ask from the King of kings and Lord of lords, that He continue His great and rich mercies to us sinners; that He bestow the spirit of right faith upon us, the spirit of knowledge and love, the spirit of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, that He deliver us from troubles and temptations, sending down upon us all those things that are useful unto the salvation of our souls.
May He grant unto His people blessed and peaceful times; may He send down His grace upon Orthodox bishops, that they may rightly divide the word of His truth: unto those in civil authority and to judges may He send wisdom, and freedom from hypocrisy.
And unto all Orthodox Christians may He grant peace, tranquillity, freedom from strife, devotion in the fulfillment of His commandments, abundance of the fruits of the earth; may He deliver [the suffering lands of Russia and Serbia,] this and every Christian land from famine, earthquake, flood, fire, the axe, the onslaught of foreign enemies and civil war, deadly contagion and from every ill.
Yea, O Saint of God, despise not our petitions, but hear us who entreat thee, and keep us under thy protection and defense, [along with this monastery,] undisturbed by enemies visible and invisible, that we may be vouchsafed to complete our life in repentance, and obtain the eternal good things in the Kingdom of Christ
our God, so as there to praise, together with thee and all the Saints, the rightfully worshipped name of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, unto ages of ages.
Amen
From the Akathist published by the Russian Kellia of St. Sabbas the Sanctified on Mt. Athos. St. Petersburg: the Synodal Press, 1913
St. Sabbas was born in Cappadocia, and reposed in 532 AD in his 94th year, in the monastery he founded near Jerusalem).
Provided by Fr John Shaw, via email