Hymn of Praise: The Lord Above All

The God Above All

By St. Nikoali Velimirovich

(For the Feasts of St. Anthony the Great, St. Theodosius the Great and St. George the New Martyr of Ioannina)

Above all divisions, above all classes,
The fearless God stands; the Lord above armies.
The wealthy he does not despise, nor, of the poor, is He ashamed.
Of the powerful, He is not afraid and, to the sinful, He beckons: Come!
Saints from everywhere, for Himself, He recruits
This one who begs and that one who rules
As a cherry-picker that plucks only the sweet cherries
Without concern, whether the branches are coarse or smooth,
Into one beautiful wreath, the Lord weaves all,
Only when the souls are repentant and holy.
Anthony the wonderful, throughout his life fasted,
Theodosius, the whole world, treated with Christ.
And George of Ioannina, his blood for Christ, shed -
All three, the Lord loved, eternally.
The Lord does not have loathing toward His crops
Nor toward other weaknesses of the created world.
Toward all, He is the same, but toward Him, all are not,
To everyone, He is of service; to everything merciful,
Always, above everything and above all classes,
Always, the fearless God; the Lord above armies.