Homily III — Greeting her at the tomb, and the closing prayer
Come, let us all go out in spirit with her as she departs. Come, let us all, with the longing of our hearts, go down with her as she goes down to the tomb. Let us stand around the most holy bier. Let us sing holy hymns, chanting something like this: “Rejoice, you who are full of grace; the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). Rejoice, you who were foreordained to be Mother of God. Rejoice, you who were chosen beforehand in the counsel of God before the ages: most divine shoot of the earth, dwelling-place of divine fire, most holy ornament of the Holy Spirit, spring of living water, paradise of the tree of life, living branch of the divine cluster of grapes that pours out nectar and ambrosia, river full of the fragrances of the Spirit, field of the divine ear of grain, rose most radiant in virginity and breathing out the fragrance of grace, lily of the royal robe, ewe who bore the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), workshop of our salvation, higher than the angelic powers, servant and mother.”
Come, let us stand around the undefiled tomb and draw divine grace. Come, let us carry the ever-virgin body in the arms of our souls, and go in with her into the tomb, and die with her, dying to the passions of the body, but living with her a life free of passion and undefiled. Let us listen to the divine hymns that come from the immaterial lips of the angels. Let us go in to venerate, and come to know the strangeness of the mystery: how she has been lifted up, how she has been raised on high, how she has been taken up to heaven, how she stands beside her Son above all the ranks of angels. For nothing stands between Mother and Son.
This third discourse on your departure, after the two before it, I have made for you, Mother of God, in reverence and love for the Trinity, whom you served when, by the good pleasure of the Father and the power of the Spirit, you received the Word who has no beginning, the all-powerful wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). Accept, then, my eagerness, which goes beyond my ability, and grant us salvation: freedom from the passions of the soul, relief from the diseases of the body, release from hardships, a peaceful course of life, the illumination of the Spirit. Kindle our longing for your Son; make our life pleasing to him; so that we too, having attained the blessedness of that world and seeing you shining with the glory of your Son, may send up holy hymns, rejoicing for ever in the assembly of those who keep festival in a way worthy of the Spirit, to him who through you built our salvation, Christ, the Son of God and our God. To him be glory and power, with the Father who has no beginning and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always and to all the endless ages of ages. Amen.
Greek
Δεῦτε, πάντες νοερῶς ἐκδημούσης συνεκδημήσωμεν. Δεῦτε, πάντες καρδίας πόθῳ πρὸς τὸν τάφον κατιούσῃ συγκαταβῶμεν. Περιστοιχήσωμεν τὸν ἱερώτατον κράββατον. Ὕμνους ἱεροὺς ᾄσωμεν, ὧδέ πως μελῳδοῦντες· Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. Χαίροις, ἡ προωρισμένη Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Χαίροις, ἡ προεκλελεγμένη τῇ πρὸ αἰώνων βουλῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ, γῆς θειότατον βλάστημα, πυρὸς θείου κατοικητήριον, Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἱερώτατον ἄγαλμα, ὕδατος ζῶντος πηγή, παράδεισος τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλου, θείου βότρυος κλῆμα ἔμψυχον νέκταρ καὶ ἀμβροσίαν πηγάζοντος, ποταμὸς πλήρης τῶν ἀρωμάτων τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἄρουρα τοῦ θείου ἀστάχυος, ῥόδον τῇ παρθενίᾳ φανώτατον, καὶ πνέων τῇ εὐωδίᾳ τῆς χάριτος, κρίνον τοῦ βασιλικοῦ ἀμφιάσματος, ἀμνὰς ἡ τεκοῦσα τὸν Ἀμνὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸν αἴροντα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν ἐργαστήριον, ἀγγελικῶν ὑπερτέρα δυνάμεων, δούλη καὶ μήτηρ.
Δεῦτε, τὸν τάφον περιστοιχήσωμεν τὸν ἀκήρατον, καὶ θείας ἀρυσώμεθα χάριτος. Δεῦτε, ψυχικαῖς ἀγκάλαις τὸ ἀειπάρθενον σῶμα βαστάσωμεν, καὶ συνεισέλθωμεν ἔνδον τοῦ μνήματος, καὶ συννεκρωθῶμεν, τοῖς μὲν τοῦ σώματος ἀπογινόμενοι πάθεσι, συζῶντες δὲ ζωὴν ἀπαθῆ καὶ ἀκήρατον· ἀκουτισθῶμεν τοὺς θείους ὕμνους ἐξ ἀΰλων τῶν ἀγγελικῶν χειλέων προϊεμένους. Εἰσέλθωμεν προσκυνήσοντες, καὶ γνῶμεν τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ ξένον, ὡς ἦρται, ὡς μεμετεώρισται, ὡς πρὸς οὐρανὸν εἴληπται, ὡς τῷ Υἱῷ πασῶν ὕπερθεν τῶν ἀγγελικῶν παρίσταται τάξεων· οὐδὲν γὰρ μέσον Μητρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ.
Τοῦτόν σοι τὸν ἐξόδιον λόγον τρίτον ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶ πεποίημαι, Μῆτερ Θεοῦ, αἰδοῖ καὶ πόθῳ τῆς Τριάδος ᾗ ἐλειτούργησας τῇ πατρικῇ εὐδοκίᾳ, καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὸν ἄναρχον Λόγον, τὴν παντοδύναμον τοῦ Θεοῦ δεξαμένη σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν. Δέχου τοίνυν τὴν προθυμίαν, τὴν δύναμιν ὑπεραίρουσαν, καὶ δίδου τὴν σωτηρίαν, παθῶν ψυχικῶν ἀλλοτρίωσιν, νόσων σωματικῶν λώφωσιν, περιστάσεων λύσιν, βίου γαληναίαν κατάστασιν, φωτισμὸν Πνεύματος· τὸν πρὸς τὸν σὸν Υἱὸν πόθον ἐκπύρσευσον, εὐάρεστον αὐτῷ τὸν βίον ἡμῶν κατάστησον, ὡς ἂν καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖθεν τυχόντες μακαριότητος, τῇ Υἱοῦ δόξῃ ὁρῶντές σε ἐξαστράπτουσαν, ὕμνους ἱεροὺς ἀναπέμψωμεν, αἰωνίως εὐφραινόμενοι, ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἑορταζόντων ἀξίως τοῦ Πνεύματος, τῷ διά σου τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν οἰκοδομήσαντι, Χριστῷ τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Θεῷ ἡμῶν· ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, σὺν τῷ ἀνάρχῳ Πατρί, καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ζωοποιῷ Πνεύματι, νῦν, καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς σύμπαντας καὶ ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.