Hymn to the Theotokos

Hymn to the Theotokos

From the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom:

It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos,
ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim,
without defilement you gave birth to God the Word.
True Theotokos we magnify you!

From the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great:

All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace,

the ranks of Angels and the human race;

hallowed Temple and spiritual Paradise, glory of Virgins;

from you God was incarnate,

and He, who is our God before the ages, became a little child.

for He made your body a throne

and made your womb more spacious than the heavens.

All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace;

glory to you!

God the Lord hath appeared unto us;
let us celebrate the Feast, and let us rejoice and magnify Christ;
and with palms and branches let us raise our voices unto Him with praise, saying,
Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord our Saviour.

Holy Pascha:

The Angel cried to the Lady, full of grace:
Rejoice, O pure Virgin! Again, I say:
Rejoice, your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
With Himself He has raised all the dead. Rejoice, O ye people!
Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem!
The glory of the Lord has shone on you.
Exult now, and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of your Son!

The Ascension

^{(Tone 5)}

In unison we believers do magnify thee,
because thou didst give birth in time to the
Word not bound by time;
and in manner transcending every mind and utterance, thou
became the Theotokos.

Pentecost Sunday

^{(Tone 7)}

O Mother that hath known no man, thou didst conceive, not experiencing corruption,
lending a body to the Word,
the Creator of all, becoming a receptacle to thine insupportable Creator,
a dwelling-place to thine incomprehensible Maker.
Wherefore, O virgin Theotokos, thee do we magnify.

Festal Cycle

The Nativity of the Most-holy Theotokos

^{September 8th (Tone 8)}

Verily, virginity, O Theotokos, is impossible for a mother,
as birth-giving is impossible for virgins.
Yet in thee hath the dispensation of both been accomplished.
Wherefore, all we families of the earth ceaselessly bless thee.

The Universal Exaltation (Elevation) of the Life-giving Cross

^{September 14th (Tone 8)}

Thou art the mystical paradise,
O Theotokos; for that thou, being untilled, didst bud forth Christ,
by whom was planted on earth the life-giving tree of the Cross.
Wherefore, as we adore it being elevated, we magnify thee.

The Entrance (Presentation) of the Theotokos into the Temple

^{November 21st (Tone 4)}

The Angels beholding the entrance of the all-pure one were overtaken by surprise;
how hath the Virgin entered into the Holy of Holies?
Since thou art a living temple of God, O Theotokos, no impure hand shall touch thee.
But the lips of believers,
let them ceaselessly laud thee, crying unto thee joyfully with the voice of the angels,
Verily, O undefiled Virgin, thou art more exalted than all creatures.

The Nativity of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ

^{December 25th (Tone 1)}

Magnify, O my soul,
her who is more honorable and more exalted in glory than the heavenly hosts.
I behold a strange and wonderful mystery:
the cave a heaven, the Virgin a cherubic throne,
and the manger a noble place in which hath lain Christ the uncontained God.
Let us, therefore, praise and magnify Him.

The Circumcision of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ

^{January 1th (Tone 8)}

In thee rejoiceth all creation,
O thou who are full of grace,
the Hierarchy of the angels, and the mankind,
O consecrated temple and paradise endowed with speech,
glory of virginity, of whom God, who is our God before the ages,
was incarnate and became a little child.
For he made thy womb a throne,
and thy belly did He make more spacious than the heavens.
In thee doth all creation rejoice,
O thou who are full of grace, and it glorifieth thee.

The Theophany (Epiphany) of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ

^{January 6th (Tone 2)}

Magnify, O my soul, her who is more honorable,
and more exalted than the heavenly hosts.
Verily, all tongues are at a loss to praise thee properly;
and every mind, even though transcending the world,
is distracted in thy praise, O Theotokos.
But because thou art good, accept our faith,
having known our divine longing.
Wherefore, since thou art the aider of Christians, we do magnify thee.

The Meeting of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

^{February 2nd (Tone 3)}

Keep thou, Theotokos
Them who thy succour seek;
Preserve them from life’s harms, Thy servants true and meek.
Let us magnify, O believers, the first-born Son, the eternal Word of the Father,
Firstborn of a Mother who knew no man;
for we have beheld in the shadow of the Law and the Scriptures a sign,
that every first-born male that openeth the womb is called holy to God.

The Annunciation to the Most-holy Theotokos

^{March 25th (Tone 4)}

Receive, O earth, the glad tidings of great joy,
and ye heavens, praise the glory of God.
The Theotokos, being the living tabernacle of God,
shall never be touched by an unclean hand.
But the lips of believers shall sing unto her ceaselessly with the voice of angels,
crying joyfully, Hail, O full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ

^{August 6th (Tone 8)}

Now hath been heard that which had never been heard before;
for the Son, Who is from the Virgin without father,
hath been testified to in glory by the voice of the Father;
for He Himself is God and Man together unto the end of ages.

The Dormition of the Most-holy Theotokos

^{August 15th (Tone 1)}

All generations bless thee, O thou only Theotokos.
In thee, O spotless Virgin, the laws of nature were suspended;
for thy virginity was preserved in thy child-bearing, and Life is joined with death.
Thou, O Theotokos, didst remain a Virgin after child-birth,
and after death art still alive and dost ever deliver Thine heritage.