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Selections from the Menaion on the Theotokos
Taken from The Festal Menaion translated from the original Greek by
Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware.
From Small Vespers for the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8):
Joachim and Ann keep festival, having brought into the world the only
Theotokos, first fruit of our salvation. With them we celebrate the feast
today, blessing the pure Virgin from the root of Jesse.
The Maiden in whom God came to dwell, the pure Theotokos, glory of the
prophets, the daughter of David, is born today of Joachim and Ann sober in
spirit; and by her birthgiving she overthrows the curse of Adam that weighed
upon us.
Come, all ye who love virginity, and who are friends of purity: come ye and
welcome with love the boast of virgins. She is the fountain of life that
gushes forth from the flinty rock; [Exodus 17:6] She is the Bush [Exodus
3:2] springing from barren ground and burning with the immaterial fire that
cleanses and enlightens our souls.
The Virgin, offspring of Joachim and Ann, has appeared to men, releasing all
from the bonds of sin.
From Great Vespers for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos:
Today God who rests upon the spiritual thrones has made for Himself a holy
throne upon earth. He who made firm the heavens in His wisdom has prepared a
living heaven in His love for man. For from a barren root He has made a
life-giving branch spring up for us, even His Mother. God of wonders and
hope of the hopeless, glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Although by the will of God other women who were barren have brought forth
famous offspring, yet among all such children Mary has shone most brightly
with divine glory. For, herself born wondrously of a barren mother, she bore
in the flesh the God of all, in fashion surpassing nature, from a womb
without seed. She is the only gateway of the Only-begotten Son of God, who
passed through this gate, yet kept it closed: [Ezekiel 44:1-3] and having
ordered all things in His own wisdom He has wrought salvation for all
mankind.
Today the barren gates are opened and the virgin Door of God comes forth.
Today grace begins to bear its fruits, making manifest to the world the
Mother of God, through whom things on earth are joined with heaven, for the
salvation of our souls.
Today Ann the barren gives birth to the Child of God, foreordained from all
generations to be the habitation of the King of all and Maker, Christ our
God, in fulfillment of the divine dispensation. Through her we children of
earth have been formed anew, and restored from corruption to life without
end.
What is this sound of feasting that we hear? Joachim and Ann mystically keep
festival. `O Adam and Eve,' they cry, `rejoice with us today: for if by your
transgression ye closed the gate of Paradise to those of old, we have now
been given a glorious fruit, Mary the Child of God, who opens its entrance
to us all.'
From Matins for the Nativity of the Theotokos:
We magnify thee, O Most holy Virgin, and we honour thy holy parents and
praise thine all-glorious Nativity.
The whole creation calls thee blessed, O ever-Virgin born today of Ann: thou
spotless branch of the root of Jesse, that brought forth Christ as flower.
O undefiled Theotokos, thy Son has set thee higher than all creation; He
magnifies thy birth from Ann and fills all with gladness on this day.
The holy parents of the Mother of God received from heaven a gift worthy of
God, a Throne higher than the very cherubim--she who in childbirth bore the
Word and the Creator.
O Mother of God, thou hast inherited according to the promise a birth worthy
of thy purity. For as a God-given fruit hast thou been granted to her who
before was fruitless. Therefore we and all the nations of the earth without
ceasing call thee blessed.
O holy Ann, mother of the Virgin, thou hast put forth from thy womb, against
all hope, a virgin flower according to the promise, a divine bud pure and
beautiful. Therefore as the root of our life do we call thee blessed.
O marvellous wonder! At the behest of the Almighty Maker of all, a fruit has
shone forth from a barren womb, that has wholly ended the world's barrenness
in good. Ye mothers, dance with the mother of the Theotokos and cry: `Hail,
thou who art full of grace: the Lord is with thee, granting great mercy to
the world through thee.'
From Small Vespers for the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the
Temple (November 21)
O ye gates of the sanctuary, into the Holy of Holies receive ye a Virgin,
the spotless Tabernacle of God the Almighty.
Ye virgins, joyfully bearing torches, attend the pure Virgin on her way, as
she enters the Holy of Holies, the Bride of the King of all.
The living Bridal Chamber of God the Word receives bread from the hands of a
divine angel, as she dwells in the Holy of holies.
Great Vespers for the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple
Led by the Holy Spirit, the holy Maid without spot is taken to dwell in the
Holy of Holies. By an angel is she fed, who is in truth the most holy Temple
of our Holy God. He has sanctified all things by her entry, and has made
godlike the fallen nature of fallen men.
After thy birth, O Lady and Bride of God, thou hast gone to dwell in the
temple of the Lord, there to be brought up in the Holy of Holies, for thou
art thyself holy: and Gabriel then was sent to thee, O Virgin all-undefiled,
to bring thee food. All the powers of heaven stood amazed, seeing the Holy
Spirit dwell in thee. Therefore, O Mother of God without stain or blemish,
glorified in heaven and on earth, save our kind.
Ann, truly blessed by God's grace, led with gladness into the temple of the
Lord the pure and ever-Virgin, who is full of grace, and she called the
young girls to go before her, lamps in hand. `Go, Child,' she said, `to Him
who gave thee unto me; be unto Him an offering and a sweet smelling incense.
Go into the place which none may enter: learn its mysteries and prepare
thyself to become the pleasing and beautiful dwelling-place of Jesus, who
grants the world great mercy.'
From Matins for the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple:
The Theotokos, when she was three years old after the flesh, was led to the
Lord; and Zecharias, the priest of God, received her in the temple with
rejoicing and established her there.
O Mother of God, thou living and plentiful fount, give strength to those
united in spiritual fellowship, who sing hymns of praise to thee: and on
this day of they venerable entry, vouchsafe unto them crowns of glory.
Today has the temple become a wedding adornment and a fair chamber for the
Virgin, as it receives the living Bridal Chamber of God, pure and without
spot, she who shines more brightly than all the creation.
From Eve of old the transgression came upon mankind, and now from Eve's
stock has flowered forth our restoration and incorruption, even the
Theotokos, who is brought today into the house of God.
Be glad today, O Joachim, and rejoice exceedingly in spirit, O Ann, who now
present unto the Lord your daughter, as a three-year old victim of
sacrifice, holy and utterly without spot.
The ewe-lamb of God without spot, the dove without blemish, the tabernacle
that is to hold God, the sanctuary of the glory, has chosen to dwell in the
holy temple.
Three years old in the flesh and many years old in the spirit, more spacious
than the heavens and higher than the powers above, let the Bride of God be
praised in song.
Seeing the beauty of thy soul, O undefiled Virgin, Zacharias cried out with
faith: `Thou art our deliverance, thou art the joy of all. Thou art our
restoration, through whom the Incomprehensible appears comprehensible to
me.'
O Virgin all-undefiled, past understanding is thy wonders! Strange is the
manner of thy birth: strange is the manner of thy growing. Strange and most
marvellous are all things concerning thee, O Bride of God, and they are
beyond the telling of mortal men.
A child in the flesh but perfect in soul, the holy Ark enters into the house
of God, there to feed upon divine grace.
The ranks of angels rejoiced exceedingly and spirits of the righteous were
glad, when the Mother of God was led into the sanctuary.
Mary without spot rejoiced in body and spirit, dwelling as a sacred vessel
in the temple of the Lord.
Receiving heavenly food, she who was to become the Mother of Christ the
Saviour according to the flesh, increased in wisdom and grace.
O pure Theotokos, thou hast a clean and shining beauty of soul, and art
filled from heaven with the grace of God. Thou dost ever enlighten with
eternal light those who cry aloud in gladness: O pure Virgin, thou art truly
high above all.
Beholding the entry of the All-Pure, the angels were struck with amazement,
seeing how she entered marvelously into the Holy of Holies.
Thy wonders, O pure Theotokos, surpass the power of words. For in thee I see
something beyond speech; a body that was never subject to the taint of sin.
Therefore in thanksgiving I cry to thee: O pure Virgin, thou art truly high
above all.
Angels and men, let us honour the entry of the Virgin, for in glory she has
gone into the Holy of Holies.
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