Katavasia of the Dormition

Katavasia of the Dormition

(Tone 1)

Ode 1. Thy sacred and renowned memorial, O Virgin, /

is clothed in the embroidered raiment of divine glory. /

It hath brought all the faithful together in joy, /

and led by Miriam, with dances and timbrels, /

they sing the praises of thine Only-begotten Son: //

For He hath been greatly glorified.

Ode 3. O Christ, the Wisdom and the Power of God, /

who dost create and uphold all, /

establish the Church unshaken and unwavering: /

for only Thou art holy, //

who hast Thy resting place among the saints.

Ode 4. The dark sayings and riddles of the prophets /

foreshadowed Thine incarnation from a Virgin, O Christ, /

even the lightening of Thy brightness /

which was to come as light to lighten the gentiles; /

and the deep utters its voice to Thee in joy: //

‘Glory to Thy power, O Thou who lovest mankind.’

Ode 5. I shall declare the divine and ineffable beauty of Thine excellencies, O Christ. /

For Thou hast shone forth in Thine own Person /

as the coeternal brightness from the eternal glory, /

and taking flesh from a virgin’s womb, /

Thou hast arisen as the sun, //

giving light to those that were in darkness and shadow.

Ode 6. The fire within the whale, the monster dwelling in the salt waters of the sea, /

was a prefiguring of Thy three days’ burial, /

and Jonah acted as interpreter. /

For, saved and unharmed, as though he had never been swallowed, he cried aloud: //

‘I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of praise, O Lord.’

Ode 7. Divine Love, fighting against cruel wrath and fire, /

quenched the fire with dew and laughed the wrath to scorn, /

making the three-stringed harp of the saints inspired by God /

sing in the midst of the flames in answer to the instruments of music: /

‘Blessed art Thou, O most glorious God, //

our God and the God of our fathers.’

Ode 8. The all-powerful Angel of God revealed to the Children a flame, /

that brought refreshment to the holy while it consumed the ungodly. /

And He made the Theotokos into a life-giving fount, /

gushing forth to the destruction of death and to the life of those that sing: /

‘We who have been delivered praise the one and only Creator //

and exalt Him above all forever.’

Ode 9. In thee, O Virgin without spot, /

the bounds of nature are overcome: /

for childbirth remains virgin /

and death is betrothed to life. /

O Theotokos, Virgin after bearing child and alive after death, //

do thou ever save thine inheritance.