Hymns to the Holy and Life-giving Pillar, the Lord’s Robe and the Cathedral Church (Svetitskhoveli)

O God who art from the beginning and ever existest, Word of the Father, who hast ordered all things in wisdom, grant to me also, as I speak, wisdom and a word, that I may worthily adorn the feast of the holy and living Pillar.

Today the archangels rejoice radiantly with those on earth and sweetly sing with glory the praise of the holy and blessed Pillar, the all-praised feast through which our redemption came to pass.

Gather today, ye assemblies of the faithful peoples, and let us sing with praises this feast of the all-radiant, holy and blessed Pillar, the all-illumined feast through which our salvation came to pass.

O all-beautiful Pillar, revealer of the wonders of God, borne not by human hands but hanging above the air by the ineffable providence of God the King.

O all-radiant one, who makest radiant and enlightenest the heart and mind of all who hope in thee: as God made thee known by a wonder, so thou by wonders savest all and deliverest from trials those who call upon thy name.

Come, ye peoples, let us sing and glorify this divinely radiant Pillar, from which rays of light shine forth and a fragrance goes out that spiritually enriches those who pray; and let us call blessed the blessed Nino, mother of us Georgians, who was counted worthy to see the wonder of the Pillar. Blessed and holy woman, all-praised even by the powers of heaven, the nectar of whose tears became the cause of the strange sight of the radiant Pillar, beyond the telling of men: the Pillar that a multitude of people could not move she saw raised up by invisible hands, and she gave thanks to God.

Today the holy and all-praised feast of the living Pillar hath shone forth upon us, through which we taste the soul-saving myrrh from the fountain of sweetness, which bestoweth immortality and deification and proclaimeth to us that kingdom to come and the delight of boundless love.

Come to us, all ye peoples clothed with light, children of the Cathedral Church, who have received the seal of baptism, and rejoice and sing to one another; for she keepeth the feast and gladdeneth together her children, born anew in the font of immortality.

Joy is come, life is come now, the enlightenment of all the world is come; for the Bride of Christ God, the holy and divinely radiant Cathedral Church, prepareth for us a marriage not of the flesh but heavenly and immortal, and an everlasting delight in which we may rejoice.

Rejoice, O living Pillar, who waterest the souls of the faithful with holy and sanctifying myrrh and deifiest all who flee to thee. O holy food, sweet to those who taste and fragrant, enlightening the senses and gladdening souls, lifting them like lightning into the height of heaven on fiery wings, burning up the spirits of evil and the adversaries, but reaching the royal thrones and resting there for ever!

Rejoice, blessed mother, who by the wisdom of God didst bridle the darkened soul of the Georgians, who were once going down into the abyss of hell; O skilful one, who didst make it white as snow, purify it like gold and sanctify it, and didst wisely prepare the Cathedral Church as a womb for our souls, in which they ever rejoice and sing to God and glorify with praises Him who hath granted the Pillar as the adornment of the Church and as our hope.

Rejoice, O holy Pillar, whom the tribes of the earth and the angels of heaven magnify with fear, and with one voice we cry: O living Pillar, brighter than the sun and higher to the sight than the ether, who dimmest the lights of the dawn and of lightning, untouched and untried by human hands but borne by angels: intercede for us and shelter us from trials.

Today the Wisdom of God and Word of the Father hath prepared for His throne a glory incomprehensible and wholly boundless; and the living Pillar, which gleameth with that radiant light and filleth all the world with divine fragrance, keepeth the feast, enlighteneth the souls and hearts of those who sing and of her children, and granteth us life and great mercy.

To this living Pillar, which the angels invisibly hymn, sing to and glorify, we, its children, standing visibly around it, rejoice and say: Rejoice, O Pillar, raised from earth to heaven and borne above the air not by human means but invisibly by angelic hands, who ever shelterest those who flee to thee.

These two rivers, on this side and on that, which sweep away snares and cleanse defilements, rejoice and exult with a loud voice and adorn the feast, and together with us they roar most awesomely and praise the living Pillar: Rejoice, O holy Pillar, our watchman and guardian and guardian of thy children, through whose glory we also are made blessed.

O all-wondrous mother, who didst behold that vision beyond understanding and water with the nectar of thy tears the floor on which thou didst stand! Therefore thy soul was amazed, seeing the invisible ascent of the Pillar into heaven, and thou didst marvel when God brought it down again for our salvation.

O that apostolic spirit, which like lightning, like a chosen arrow, flew down to wound and drive out the spirit of the demons, to open the eyes of men and utterly overthrow the gloom of idolatry, and which showed forth to us the Pillar of light as a light, which we hold ever as our hope and refuge.

O wonder of wonders, the Pillar, hope and wall of the Georgian race, which standeth invisibly in our midst! It would not yield to the lifting of many thousands of hands, but without human hands it was raised up, and having come down again it standeth between heaven and earth and guardeth this kingdom for ever.

Ye heavens with the earth, and earth with thine offspring, and heaven amid thy lights, sun and moon with the stars, and again earth with all thine offspring, cry out all together; ye cattle, make peace with the wild beasts of the field; and ye plants and trees of many colours, far-famed in the fields and deserts, fruitful with fruit and fragrant, give forth your fragrance, and gather with one accord, sing and praise, and let living things also leap for joy: for the holy and life-giving Pillar radiantly gladdeneth its people in spirit and filleth them with the food of immortality.

Glory…

This most glorious Pillar hath been known from God of old: for long ago it journeyed with the great Moses and led the Israelites well and without straying by its divinely radiant guidance; throughout the four decades while the Israelites dwelt in the wilderness it showed them the time to halt and to set out and kept them free of care, and, striking Amalek and Pharaoh without mercy, it wrought marvellous wonders by divine providence; and now it worketh still more mightily among all, crushing the unbelieving, but for the faithful it is strength and life.

Both now…

Come, all ye children of light, sons of the font, lovers of the feast, and let us behold a strange sight.

The Pillar gleameth and sendeth forth its rays radiantly like lightning, and the Robe dawneth like the morning and the beams of light blaze forth like the sun; the heaven of the Church shineth and becometh a firmament of twofold light; the feast breatheth fragrance, and we the faithful exult with joy.

Behold, at the meeting of the lights we sing with rejoicing, saying thus: O Son of God, cause of the lights, shelter from trials those who in faith worship Thee and Thy Mother.

Let us glorify the thrice-radiant incomprehensible Light, the all-holy Trinity, the cause of lights and almighty fountain of holiness, and let us cry out in praise, uttering the thrice-holy hymn:

Holy is God the Father, ever without beginning,

Holy is God the Son, co-eternal,

Holy is the Holy Spirit, God with the Father and the Son.

Let the Light sent from the Light, the holy Robe of the Lord Jesus God, and the living Pillar and the throne of God be praised with trembling, and let us sing to the cause of lights, saying:

Holy is the Father, who begetteth the Son, without beginning,

Holy is the Son and almighty Word of the Father,

Holy art Thou, O immortal Holy Spirit.

Ye lights that shone forth from the Light, brighter than the sun and more glorious than the world, be supremely exalted today; ye children, sons of the Cathedral Church, cry out and say:

Holy is the throne, high and exalted,

Holy is the holy Robe of the blessed Jesus God,

Holy art thou, O holy living Pillar.

Sound, ye trumpets, to the ends of the earth; and ye powers of heaven that are on high, flash like lightning, blow and fly without ceasing, speak to all the tribes and rejoice with a loud noise: Make haste, all of you, for the Son of God keepeth the feast and prepareth a marriage in His dwelling, and by the all-holy Pillar in its midst, as at the breast, He feedeth all and giveth them immortality to drink in unfailing myrrh. This Pillar nourished the Israelites in the wilderness for four decades and led them aright by unerring guidance. This same served the Son of God on Tabor and at the Jordan. And we cry out: O wonder-working Lord, glory to Thee.

The lofty throne of God, likened to the heavens, holding the Pillar in its midst as a mother in her womb, gladdeneth her children with radiant good tidings and poureth forth an abyss of graces — that holy myrrh, the golden nectar, the dew of the Spirit.

O heaven, throne of God and enlightening Pillar, all-holy Theotokos, foreshadowed by the prophets and fathers as a holy and spotless Pillar of fiery light, shelter us and keep us in peace from all evil trials.

As the great Andrew and the venerable Nino, the two preachers, like a river swept away all the abomination of idols from the land of the Georgians, so these two rivers sweep away every defilement and water good fruit without ceasing.

To this Pillar raised up by God, which cleaveth the air and reacheth like lightning to the heights of the ether, and hath turned back to us in mercy for ever and taken its stand in our midst, let us sing with the wondrous David and say: Blessed is He that cometh to us in the name of the Lord, who ever abideth and shineth unto ages of ages; and again let us cry out and say: Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, unto length of days (Ps 92:5); save us, O Thou who dwellest on high.

To “Let us sing”: “By a nod…”

O Light from Light, O Christ, Word of God, grant me a word and understanding in the opening of my mouth, that I may adorn with praises Thy lights, the Church and the holy Pillar.

O life-giving Pillar, by thy radiance enlighten the eyes of my soul, that I may keep them ever lifted on high, where the light of the Godhead abideth for ever.

The holy Robe of the Deliverer, which came suddenly, as if carried away, by a providence ordained beforehand, to the place where the throne of God was being prepared; before it we bow with trembling.

Praise be to God alone, the almighty, who delivered us in our darkness from the bitter slavery of idols, made us free and poured out divine light upon us.

Let us sing to, praise and glorify the holy Trinity, radiant in three lights, for it hath revealed to us the faithful the image of its light, the living Pillar.

A little Child, Christ God, who holdeth in His hand and ruleth things in heaven and on earth — Him the holy Virgin bore for us in the flesh: Thou savest our souls.

To “Be strengthened”: “O God our Saviour…”

O God our Saviour, Creator of all, who by Thy word didst establish the lofty heavens, Thou also, O Saviour, didst establish the holy Church and within it the holy Pillar, which abideth for us to venerate.

O holy Pillar, we stand around thee, and the angels invisibly rejoice with us: behold, today we have come; let us sing to Him who hath given us the holy Pillar that sanctifieth our souls.

Let us adorn with hymns and praises the holy Nino, the apostle, mother of the land of the Georgians, who shattered Armazi with the thunderbolt and who, by the nectar of her blessed tears, gave us the holy Pillar as our hope.

O blessed mother, counted worthy of visions of wonders beyond nature: when the black birds were made white in the river, then was divine baptism foreshown.

Let us worship the Father, exalt the Son and glorify the Holy Spirit; let us confess the holy Trinity in three Persons as one Godhead, which hath prepared the living Pillar as our hope and salvation.

O Mother and Virgin, who didst prefigure the Pillar of the Light and art thyself called a Pillar, whom the Cherubim magnify with fear; and with them we sing to thee with trembling and praise thee unceasingly.

To “I have heard”: “Christ God…”

O Christ God, who in wisdom and love for mankind hast ordered all things for our sake and for our twofold life, here and hereafter, glory to Thy goodness.

O Pillar of light, fire-like, who burnest up the godless people: when the heathen came into thy temple and tried to plunder it, thou didst burn them up with fire.

When the heathen peoples, supposing there to be treasure, boldly stretched out their hands, fire flashed forth and devoured the wretches without mercy; but we worship Christ.

O precious treasure, higher than the remembrance of every good thing, since the barbarians knew not thy glory, the wretches received a fitting punishment.

Distinct in Persons yet undivided in Godhead, of threefold light, one radiance, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit, save us.

Behold, we all call thee blessed, as thou didst prophesy, O all-holy Mother of God, for God who was born of thee prepareth a feast today with His people.

To “From the night”: “To Thee we rise early…”

Thou art light and ineffable radiance, surpassing the firmament and the sun, O living Pillar: keep those who venerate thee.

The divine Fire, Christ the Sun of righteousness, hath granted us His garment as a shelter for our bodies and souls, and we bow before it with trembling.

Through the living Pillar He giveth us myrrh as from the breast, and in the Robe Jesus the Deliverer swaddleth us and so maketh us white. Glory to His goodness.

O spacious throne, founded on earth like heaven, rejoice, for God reigneth within thee; and we thy children sing to thee today with joy and sweet voices.

In theology the Trinity is glorified in one nature, and in the dispensation the Son of God in two natures; yet we know the three as one Godhead and worship them as one in essence.

O wonder! The holy Virgin giveth birth without a husband and remaineth a virgin, a stranger to the ways of men; and for this we worship.

To “He cried”: “As Jonah…”

The ranks of angels sing invisibly around thee, O living Pillar, seen by us; and we with them glorify God who hath adorned thee.

When the wicked barbarians, supposing a hidden treasure, tried to plunder, fire flashed forth and devoured them without mercy to the foundations.

O treasure, truly priceless Pillar, enclosed not by men but by angels, and not to be touched by human hands!

For their bold attempt to plunder thee, swift vengeance was rendered to the wicked barbarians, when the merciless were at once mercilessly consumed by fire.

O Trinity, shelter from all evils and trials us who worship Thee as is Thy due, distinct yet undivided, in three Persons and one in essence.

Rejoice, O Queen, hope, shelter and wall of all the faithful who venerate thee, sealed by thy Son.

To “Blessed”: “The youths in Babylon…”

The fire that cooled the youths in Babylon like water gave them light in the likeness of the Pillar, and with an unharmed spirit they said: O God, blessed art Thou.

In place of the altar of sacrifice Christ the King granteth our children the font, and in place of blood He maketh us breathe the fragrance of myrrh: O this change, O wonder-working God, blessed art Thou!

Over the children led to slaughter at the altar of Armazi Satan danced and exulted; but now the children coming to baptism bless Christ.

Accept the children’s song of the sons of Thy throne, O Son of God, who rejoice with hymns before Thy garment and the holy Pillar and bless Thee now and unto the ages.

O God of gods and Lord of lords, holy Trinity, one Godhead, shelter us who confess Thee in faith, that we may bless Thee.

O all-holy censer of pure gold, full of fragrance, which amazeth the senses of men: therefore we bless thee and Him who was born of thee.

To “Bless”: “He who alone…”

He who alone is the King of glory, the Good One, hath prepared the feast of the living Pillar, which shineth brilliantly in the body of the Cathedral Church.

Today the children of the Church rejoice in the feast of the lofty throne, which is gladdened with divine radiance by the holy Pillar: therefore, ye peoples, exalt it unto the ages.

O divine Robe, over which the all-holy Pillar shineth upon thee like lightning, like the sun, while the choirs of angels invisibly rejoice and sing and bless Christ unto the ages!

O blessed Nino, saviour of Kartli, who didst deliver our souls from the darkness of deceptions and dost feed us with the food of immortality, the holy and fragrant myrrh.

O Trinity, God known in three Persons and worshipped as One in a single Godhead, confessed without confusion and without division, we sing to Thee and bless Thee now and unto the ages.

Rejoice, O immaculate Mother of God, whose portion we Georgians have been made worthy to be; blessed are we through thee, O all-holy one, who ever shelterest us and carest for us, and we bless thee unto the ages.

To “Magnify”: “She who carried…”

O Pillar of light, brighter than all lights, who makest the light of the sun pale and wholly eclipsest its rays, who wast made worthy to surpass in every triumph the sun’s ether and the dawn of day!

Thou wast encompassed by the fire of the Godhead, by which we are delivered from the eternal fire; that fire alone burned ever within thee, yet thou didst remain unharmed, bestowing immortality on our souls, O holy divine Robe.

O blessed mother Nino, who didst shatter the shrines and altars with the thunderbolt and overthrow all their places of libation, and didst make the light of the Godhead shine upon us who sat in the darkness of ignorance.

O city of Mtskheta, once mournful amid the pride and revelry of the demons within thee, behold, rejoice now and keep the feast: in place of that pride the children of the Church sing within thee for ever.

O joy and boast of all the faithful, holy Trinity, whom we magnify without confusion with a pure heart and sing to with fear and trembling: O God, keep us ever, who confess Thee as one Godhead.

O holy golden palace, who didst contain in thy womb God whom the heavens cannot contain, O Bride kept unburnt, rejoice, guardian of our souls and bodies from every evil.

The feast of the Cathedral Church and the light of the holy Pillar and of the Lord’s Robe gather the ends of the world and pour out myrrh as holy food for us who venerate the holy Theotokos and Christ born of her, that we may find life for our souls.

The joy and glory of all the world is come, for the holy Cathedral Church gladdeneth her children, prepareth the feast of the living Pillar, distributeth the holy myrrh generously to all, and feasteth with the food of immortality those who hold a firm and unshaken hope and faith, that through her intercession God may grant great mercy to our souls.

Rejoice, O blessed mother Nino, boast of the apostles and glory of women, who by thy struggle and labour, by constant prayer and fasting, wast made worthy of a blessed vision fit for angels alone: for thou sawest the Pillar, which human hands could not move, raised untouched to heaven; and brought down again by the nectar of thy tears, it abideth for ever between heaven and earth, beyond the reach of human means, and sheltereth our souls and bodies.

To “Let us sing”, tone 4: “The impassable sea…”

Open my mouth and fill it with grace, that I may utter a fitting and worthy word, O only-begotten Word of the Father, in praise of Thy throne and of the living Pillar.

Gather, ye spiritual assemblies of the faithful peoples, and let us sing with praises this feast of the all-holy lofty throne, and glorify and venerate the all-holy Pillar.

O all-holy Pillar, light and radiance, unsetting sun, who shinest in the souls and minds of the faithful, who confess thee as our hope and venerate thee in faith.

To “Be strengthened”: “Those who sing to Thee…”

Let us sing to and praise the throne that imitateth heaven, which holdeth the Pillar in the midst of its womb as a breast and poureth out to us unstintingly the holy myrrh like milk.

O radiant Pillar and light, wall about with thy light thy children, who stand around thee and sing the hymn and praise of divine beauty.

Behold the blessed tower, which encloseth a light and radiance that matter cannot hide, the work of that God, wrought wisely and with divine beauty.

To “I have heard”: “When he saw…”

That blessed mother, to whom Christ God granted apostleship, was made worthy of the wondrous ascent of the invisible Pillar and of its descent again.

O blessed Pillar, strangely beheld by the holy woman, raised into the air of heaven and by the mercy of God come down again to abide with us!

O holy Lady, Mother of God, proclaimed and foreshown by the holy fathers and prophets as an all-radiant Pillar of light, intercede for us.

To “From the night”: “Thou, O Lord…”

Thou art the Pillar, the light of lights, which flashed like lightning at the Jordan and on Tabor, bearing witness to the Son of God.

As thine image, O Virgin, Pillar of light, God whom thou didst carry hath revealed the Pillar of light; therefore we venerate thee together with Him.

To “He cried”: “I have fallen…”

The old laws of our fathers and the altars made with hands have been wondrously changed for us, and in their place thou hast the holy throne, the myrrh and the living Pillar as our hope.

O this divine change: the throne in place of Armazi, myrrh in place of things made with hands, and in place of the altars the holy living Pillar, which the Son of God hath granted us!

Thou who didst reach from earth to heaven and dwellest in heaven, yet art ever with us, O living Pillar, holy Lady, intercede for those who hope in thee.

To my supreme champion and invincible helper, the holy and divinely radiant Pillar, which shineth over the Lord’s Robe woven from above, flasheth like lightning over the throne that imitateth heaven, adorneth those who love its feast and sing, and like the dawn granteth twofold joy to those who offer praise: Rejoice, O living Pillar!

Behold, gather at this holy feast of the Lord, ye ends of the earth, and ye angels with men, all together in the unity of the Spirit, prophets and patriarchs, apostles, martyrs and hierarchs, choirs of fathers and virgins; make haste, all of you, and fly hither; rejoice, call out and cry aloud, strike the harp, ye prophets and all ye saints; open the scriptures in praise of the living Pillar and say:

Rejoice, O holy and living Pillar, for thou dawnest over the divine Robe!

Rejoice, O Pillar that enlightenest the ends of heaven and makest souls fruitful with immortality!

Rejoice, O blessed Pillar, who ever gazest with radiant eye upon the holy Robe!

Rejoice, thou who flashest like lightning and pourest out holy myrrh for the faithful!

Rejoice, O divine Pillar, who givest souls to taste of sweetness!

Rejoice, O Pillar, companion in counsel and in mysteries of the great Moses, who spoke of God!

Rejoice, guide and fellow-traveller of the Israelites!

Rejoice, foreshadowing of the new Law, who didst serve God Himself on Tabor and at the Jordan!

Rejoice, O light, witness to the Light as the beloved Son!

Rejoice, hope of the fathers who struggled in the desert and of the holy martyrs, radiant sight seen from time to time!

Rejoice, thou who shootest sunlike, golden rays like arrows into the hearts of the faithful!

Rejoice, thou who didst flash down in Zion upon the apostles in twelve parts, as tongues of fire!

Rejoice, thou who above all dost prefigure the all-holy Theotokos, who sprang up from the earth and rose to heaven, who hath united us with God!

Rejoice, O living Pillar!

Thou who art radiant like the angels and hymned with praise by the powers on high, who makest the whole world shine with wonders: having seen and come to know thee, we stand in amazement and cry to thee, saying thus:

Rejoice, thou by whose radiance all beneath the heavens is lit!

Rejoice, thou by whose wonders the world is made bright!

Rejoice, all-radiant unsetting sun!

Rejoice, light of lights, victorious in brightness!

Rejoice, for thou dawnest over the holy and blessed Robe!

Rejoice, for like lightning thou makest the throne of the Son of God shine!

Rejoice, renewal of the faith that had grown faint!

Rejoice, destroyer of the wickedness of idols and revealer of the true faith!

Rejoice, thou who hast clothed with light the dwellers of the land!

Rejoice, thou who didst destroy the lawless sons of Hagar and raise up the horn of salvation!

Rejoice, invincible champion of Christians, who reconcilest God with men!

Rejoice, thou who hast gained a chosen people, a holy and royal race!

Rejoice, thou through whom the Creator is worshipped!

Rejoice, O living Pillar!

O divine joy!

O most glorious feast!

O how great a sweetness, making the soul immortal, for the people of the faithful sing and offer praise to those that image the holy Trinity — the throne of God, the Pillar of light and the holy Robe of the Lord — which the angels also hymn with rejoicing!

Rejoice, O throne of God the Light!

Rejoice, O Robe that didst enfold the Light!

Rejoice, O living Pillar!

To “Blessed”: “In the furnace…”

We who once were going down into the furnace of hell, delivered by mercy, let us cry out and say: Blessed art Thou, O Lord.

Once children were slaughtered and wept at the altar of Armazi, but now before the Pillar they are baptized in the font and cry: Blessed art Thou, O Lord.

Rejoice, O immaculate Virgin Theotokos! O Pillar, our strength, who like lightning enlightenest and makest radiant our soul, heart and mind!

To “Bless”: “Deliverer of all…”

O Deliverer of all, mighty God, we praise and glorify Thee, who hast made us worthy to reach this holy feast and hast gladdened our souls and minds.

Rejoice, O Pillar, for thou guardest bodies from trials and makest known the light of the soul through the font and the myrrh, and we venerate thee unceasingly.

Rejoice, O Pillar, for like lightning thou shinest between heaven and earth, and by love thou bindest together and unitest things heavenly and earthly.

To “Magnify”: “The stone…”

The stone of light, hung in the air without hands, standeth invisibly, and angels with men sing unceasingly: Glory to the Pillar, our hope.

O dwelling, holy house of the glory of God, O the great splendour of thy holiness, for with thee the Pillar gladdeneth us, thy children, and together ye shelter us!

O our Pillar and light, Mother of the Son of God, who didst nourish Jesus God at thy breasts, so through the Pillar thou givest us also to taste of the myrrh.

To “Let us sing”, plagal tone 4: “The depth of the Red Sea…”

O God, who in Zion didst pour out the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, and didst show forth fire in tongues to burn up the tares of the heretics and the altars of the idols, and didst fill them with wisdom, so let fall wisdom on me also as a drop of fire, that we may worthily adorn the feast with divine song.

Rejoice, O throne that imitatest heaven, for the Son of God prepareth for thee a joy that enlighteneth all the world today; for behold, the angels, invisibly standing here in our midst, sing with us unceasingly to the holy Pillar.

O holy Trinity, known in three Persons, one Godhead and One; O Father who begettest the Son, O Son born of Him, O Spirit who proceedest, worshipped together, who rulest in wisdom, cause of all lights: save Thy creatures, who trust in Thee in faith.

O Mother and Virgin, who didst carry the Son of God, spacious golden palace, who didst wondrously contain in thy womb Him whom the heavens cannot contain, O Pillar, light of the Light, of the Lord of lights, who didst become the bound of the boundless and hast united us through thine intercession: shelter us from trials.

To “Be strengthened”: “Thou who strengthenest…”

To this blessed tower, which beareth a treasure given freely and beyond price — for it is given from that one and only thing, the pearl written of in the Gospel.

We gaze upon this blessed tower that encloseth the treasure, that it may enrich us who are poor; and it proclaimeth to us in hope the gift of the riches of immortality.

The Father without beginning, the Son who hath a beginning in the flesh but not in the Godhead, the Spirit who proceedeth — three Persons in one Godhead we glorify; we worship the holy Trinity.

O holy prophets, who with the eye of the spirit saw beforehand and said: Behold, we have the holy Pillar of light, the Mother of God, the immaculate Virgin, higher than the heavens.

To “I have heard”: “I have heard, O Lord…”

That blessed woman, the companion of the apostles, holy Nino, beheld a strange sight: the Pillar borne by an invisible hand.

The nectar of abundant tears, like a siphon, mightily drew down the Pillar that had been raised into the air, and it abideth in our midst unto the ages.

The Robe shineth, the Pillar giveth light, the Cross flasheth and sendeth forth its rays like lightning, and the Church crieth out: Kings and peoples, rejoice today! O Thou who didst fashion the Pillar, Lord and Creator of lights, enlighten our soul and heart, O Trinity, God, one Godhead.

Let us venerate the Pillar, our strength and the boast of all the world, the all-holy Theotokos, our hope.

To “From the night”: “Lest ever…”

Rejoice, O living Pillar, illumined with divine radiance, who burnest brightly like fire in the throne and in our midst, like a flame that is never quenched, and givest light to our soul and mind.

When children were slaughtered at the altar of the idols, Samael exulted; but now, when children are enlightened in the font before the Pillar, Satan laments and the angels rejoice, and let us glorify and worship Christ.

The swaddling-cloth of light, the Robe of the Deliverer lying beneath the Pillar of light as a shelter, over which the Pillar blazeth like fire and the angels sing unceasingly, let us magnify and praise unto the ages.

One of the Trinity, the new Child, God uncircumscribed before the ages, hath given us as our hope the garment that wrapped the light of His body, the Robe of light, before which we bow with fear.

O Prince of lights, born of the Light of the Father without a mother and of the Pillar of light, the Virgin, without a father, O Jesus who pourest light upon our souls, enlighten us who are darkened.

To “He cried”: “Forgive…”

When the blood of infant children steamed at the altar of Armazi, it was sweetly savoured by Samael, while their wretched souls tasted the stench of hell.

The Pillar obeyed the nectar of the tears of blessed Nino, and having flown up, it returned to us again and ever feedeth us with gladness.

Over the radiant swaddling-cloth of thy Son, the Robe, the Pillar of light blazeth like fire, like lightning, O Virgin Theotokos: make the faithful king shine with light.

O glory of women and boast of virgins, illumined Pillar, who raisest us to heaven to thy Son, O Mother of God, have mercy on those who praise thee.

To “Blessed”: “The Hebrew children…”

The Hebrew children, fleeing from Pharaoh the king, walked without straying in the wilderness by the pillar of fire and said: Blessed art Thou.

Children were slaughtered at the altar of Armazi, but now they are enlightened before the Pillar of light and cry: Blessed art Thou.

The Hebrew children, when they went before Christ, One of the Trinity, praised Him with palms and said: Blessed art Thou.

Ye children, sons of the Cathedral Church, sealed with light, let us sing to the radiant Pillar, the Mother of God, and say: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, born of the Virgin.

To “Bless”: “Sevenfold…”

This Church that imitateth heaven and the living Pillar overshadow with clouds of light the garment of light, the fiery swaddling-cloth, the all-holy Robe, and become a body for the host of angels who sing with joy: Let us bless and worship Christ God, who ordereth all things in wisdom.

O lowly woman raised to the heavens, blessed Nino, companion of the apostles, thou didst fly down like an arrow of bright lightning, burning the shrines of the idols and wounding the demons, and pouring out upon the souls and minds of us the faithful the Pillar of light.

Let us glorify together the three objects of three forms that image the Trinity — the Church, the Robe and the living Pillar — as we confess the Trinity as one Godhead, a unity of three lights, Father, Son and Spirit, undivided and unconfused, awaiting the life to come.

Rejoice, O golden jar full of manna; and again rejoice, O font of light full of myrrh, making men immortal;

rejoice, O censer full of fragrance, giving us to smell the trees of paradise;

rejoice, O Mother of the Son of God.

To “Magnify”: “The heavens on high were amazed…”

O Pillar, blazing like fire with unfailing and unsetting light, who shinest into the souls and hearts of the faithful, and the beams and rays of thy light reach the ends of the earth, and all the earth is filled with thy glory!

Let us praise, sing to and venerate the holy vessel that encloseth the light, raised up like a pillar, in which the divine light burneth for ever, and the Robe that encloseth the divine light and looketh down from above, that it may enlighten our souls.

O Jesus, Sun of glory, this radiance of wonders, which Thou hast gathered for our salvation, laid up for us as a treasure that cannot be stolen and given us as a pledge of that boundless kingdom to come: glory to Thy goodness.

A covering of light, our shelter: the holy Robe and the living Pillar, adorned by being neighbours to each other, and the dwelling and throne of God, spread out as heaven, lofty, sitting in majesty with twofold lights, equal to the heavens: O sweet neighbourhood of those who share one dwelling!

O Trinity, one Godhead, Thine is this wisdom and dispensation, boundless and beyond the grasp of men; Thou alone hast revealed these objects of light for our salvation: O unbegotten Father, begotten Son, proceeding Spirit, one Godhead.

Let us venerate the Mother of Christ, the pillar and foundation of the world, the golden jar full of manna that giveth us to taste its fragrance, the throne of God Most High, the golden ark, the holy burning lampstand, the font of light.

Let us sing to, glorify and venerate the images of the Trinity, the treasures of threefold light, the dwelling of God — the body of the Church, the Robe of God and the living Pillar, the lights and luminaries of the world.

Today the divine and holy Robe shineth and adorneth the Church of God, and the holy and living Pillar flasheth like lightning and giveth forth a fragrance which we breathe in faith, and we taste the myrrh, the fountain of immortality, we who worship the holy Trinity.

To “Praise”. Glory: “Today Christ…”

Today Christ, the Son of God, prepareth a radiant, blessed and wondrous joy for His Bride the Church, which holdeth in her womb the living Pillar as a holy lamp; it flasheth like lightning, giveth light to all the world and gladdeneth the ends of the earth; and we, the children of the Church, cry out with the powers of heaven and say: Through the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of the living Pillar, O God, save us.