St. Ignatius Orthodox Church completed the recording of the Akathist of Thanksgiving “Glory to God for All Things” in October of 2002, making the singing of this most poignant liturgical text available for the first time on compact disk.
St. Ignatius celebrates the Akathist with Little Compline several times per year, especially on the eve of American Thanksgiving.
Click on the links below for more information about the service and how to purchase the CD and its accompanying music book.
Please feel free to download the complete text of The Akathist of Thanksgiving at no charge (download here as MS Word document)
MP3 Music Samples:
Acknowledgement / Background
SINCE the fall of Communism, the Church – and the entire world – has been made aware of the crimes against humanity committed in Russia and the former Soviet Union for the cause of atheist “revolution.” An estimated 45 million people were slaughtered out of a programmed hatred and paranoia. Terror, betrayal, distrust, isolation, self-preservation, hopelessness and faithlessness defined the God-less Bolshevik (dis)order. We honor those Christians who refused to compromise their faith in Jesus Christ – hundreds of thousands of names, some known, though most known only to God – as Passion-bearers, New Martyrs, and Saints.
METROPOLITAN Tryphon (Boris Petrovich Turkestanov, 1861-1934) was one of the venerable hierarchs and spiritual pillars of the Orthodoxy whose words and prayers supported Christians during these terrible and violent persecutions. In the 1920-30s, his word was a word of the law for all the faithful surviving this chaos and spiritual insanity of the country. For his remarkable gift of word and sermon, Metropolitan Tryphon was often called the Moscow Chrysostom.
IN 1929 he wrote “The Akathist of Thanksgiving” which has become his spiritual legacy. The words of the hymn “Glory to God for All Things” gave the Church and the world light from great darkness, reminding us that even in the midst of frightful suffering true Christian conviction and courage are unconquerable. The hand-written text of the Akathist remained in the Russian underground until the 1970’s when it was first published abroad. In first publications, the text was mistakenly attributed to a Russian New Martyr – the Archpriest Gregory Petroff (+1942) – in whose papers the Akathist was found after his death in the Gulag. Later, when it became possible to publish the Akathist in Russia, the name of the Metropolitan Tryphon was revealed as its true author. The Akathist starts with the forewords of St. John Chrysostom: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We are indeed thankful for this Akathist; our hearts are lifted by it. We offer these prayers to the glory of God and in honor of those “men, women and children, flowers of the spiritual meadow of Russia, who blossomed forth wondrously in time of grievous persecution” (from the Troparion to the New Martyrs of Russia).
St. Ignatius of Antioch Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church
Madison, WI
Akathist of Thanksgiving
(All prices subject to change without notice. Please 4-6 weeks for shipping.)
Prepaid (preferred) mail orders to:
St. Ignatius Orthodox Church
2124 Shafer Dr
Madison, WI 53711
CD Price List
- 1-3 CDs — $16.98/CD
- 4-7 CDs — $15.00/CD
- 8+ CDs — $13.50/CD
We have now sold over 3,000 copies of the CD and dozens of the accompanying music book (which also means that this beautiful service is being celebrated in many other locations around the country and world)! And yet we know that there are many who have never even heard of the Akathist of Thanksgiving or this important CD project. With all sincerity we thank you for your support!
Music Book Price List
Comb Bound Books include all music sung on the CD)
- 1-4 Books — $10.00/Book
- 5+ Books — $8.00/Book
Shipping Charges:
Quantity of CDs:
- 1-3 — $4.25
- 4-7 — $4.50
- 8-11 — $4.80
- 12-15 — $5.20
- 16-19 — $5.50
First Class, Air or Express delivery is available on request: extra charges will be applied.
Music Book Domestic Shipping:
Delivery – approximately 2 weeks
Number of Books:
- 1-2 — $4.25
- 3-4 — $4.50
- 5-6 — $4.80
- 7-9 — $5.20
- 10-11 — $5.50
- 12-14 — $5.80
For rates to other countries or other special considerations please contact us
Bookstore and Distributor Discounts
- Church Bookstores (no minimum): 30% off single item retail price + shipping
- Distributor Discounts (10 item minimum): 50% off single item retail price + shipping