In a grave they laid Thee; yet, O Christ, Thou art life. And they now have laid the Mother of Life as well: both to angels and to men a sight most strange!
We exalt thee greatly, Theotokos most pure, and now we glorify thy holy Dormition, as we bow before thine honoured and precious tomb.
In thy womb thou heldest Him who cannot be contained; thou art life to all the faithful: how canst thou die, and thy body be contained within a tomb?
Thou didst bring forth, Pure Maiden, God the heavenly King, and today in manner royal art carried forth to the Kingdom of the Heavens as a Queen.
Holy Mother of God, thou hast passed from this world, yet in departing thou hast not forsaken those left on earth, but dost deliver this world from every ill.
All the earth sings in glory at Thy grave side, O Christ, with due reverence; and, O Master, we also praise the entombment of thy Mother, ever Pure.
Overcome with wonder are the Angels, in awe in beholding thee, Pure Maiden, laid out as one dead; for from thee hast Light shone forth into all the world.
O Maiden Pure and Spotless, our Heavenly Queen, once more hath God sent Gabriel down to earth with the joyful news, now that thou shouldst leave this life.
Now the Bridegroom calls thee to rejoice in a manner both divine and most beautiful, O Bride of God, in the Bridal Chamber, holy and divine.
Thou, O Virgin, comest today to the throne and seat of God, where the awesome and unapproachable Light shineth forth from the Trinity, illumining the place where thou dost repose.
Departing from the earth, thou hast appeared before God. Thou wert not, O Mother of God, removed from Him, nor hath God been parted from His mother’s heart.
Thy most honoured Body, O Mother of God, remained uncorrupted by decay as thou layest entombed; but it passed with thee from earth to heaven.
Thine all-holy face shineth, Purest Maiden, in death; and thy countenance appeareth now as Paradise, breathing forth to all believers grace and life.
We thy children offer lamentations and love unto thee who art our Mother: accept our gift which we offer from the depths of our souls.
Look upon thy children who are gathered together today: may thine honoured eyes be open, that thou beholdest those who glorify with honour thy sacred repose.
Grant us thy blessing in the opening of thy lips, O Most Holy Mother of God, departing now at the end of thy time upon the earth.
Abandon us not as orphans when thou leavest us on earth; for, O Mother, thou art taken now to heaven, to abide there with thy Son and thy God.
Gathered at your bedside, we cry out to thee, our all-holy Virgin Mother, with fervent voice: “Save the faithful and have mercy upon us!”
Mother Anna, join us: come and stand in our midst! Come and lead the celebration of this glad feast of thy holy daughter, the Mother of our God!
Come, let us lift up praise and glory to God who hath summoned to the Holy of Holies today one who is yet greater than the holiest of Saints.
Filled with gladness, Heaven receiveth her Queen; for the Mother of creation cometh in glory and appeareth in glory, reigning with her God.
Now the God of Glory takes His mother to Him and the Son who hath received thee, O Purest One, hath prepared for thee a seat at His right Hand.
Glory to the Father and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Unto the Father and the Holy Spirit we with gladness sound forth hymns today, O Word and God of all, and we glorify Thy divine countenance.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Every generation calls thee blessed, and thy holy, pure Dormition we glorify, O Mother of God, ever-Virgin, Sovereign Queen!
In a grave they laid Thee; yet, O Christ, Thou art life. And they now have laid the Mother of Life as well: both to angels and to men a sight most strange!
-First Stasis of the Lamentations for the Dormition of the Theotokos
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