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of the Spirit, concerning whom it has been cried out in wonder somewhere: Who is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke perfumed? Hail, pure gold, who was tested in the furnace of God by the fire of the Spirit, and bearing nowhere a wrinkle of evil; from whom both the lampstand, and the table, and all the golden things according to the law, by allegorical emphasis, are transferred to you, the golden-named and many-named. Hail, incorruptible wood, who did not receive the worm of sinful corruption, from whom the spiritual altar was built for God, not constructed of incorruptible wood, but from immaculate loins. Hail, royal purple, who from your virginal blood wove a purple robe for the one who says in the Song of Songs: The lock of your head is like purple; a king is bound in the tresses. How beautiful you have become, or how you have been made sweet? Hail, fine-spun linen, who spun the depth of divine thoughts in her mind, and was unyielding to contrary allurements; For how, she says, shall this be to me, since I know not a man? Through whom the ephod mixed of purple and gold is for the high priest of the Powers above. Hail, hyacinth, the flame-bright fleece of virginity from which the garment of incarnation was mystically wrought for God. Hail, light cloud, who had the earthy and heavy tabernacle somehow light, as if airy, and covering the bread of life as on an altar, on which Isaiah proclaimed the Lord to be seated. Hail, immaculate one, the untouched treasure of virginity, who gave birth to the immaculate Word, from whom virginity 96.696 shone forth, transforming the world. Hail, pure one, who alone boastfully possesses a pure heart. Truly the mountain that receives God, from which the new Israel is purified more honorably and more lastingly than the old. Hail, unbedded one, bearing in a motherly way the infant-nurturing milk, from whom He who nourishes all things milks virginal milk. Hail, undefiled one, who alone is accessible to God for habitation, and possessing the dignity of God from birth; wherefore you are worshipped also by all the heavenly Powers. Hail, fleece, the symbol of victory concerning Gideon, from which the immortal dew flowed tropologically, who said in his own words: Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Hail, field of God, having contained in your womb the uncontainable in all things; whose all things are in his grasp, and who was present in your hands; which when said is inconceivable, and when conceived is incomparable. Hail, Mother of God, the only handmaid of her own Son, and both by nature, after whom there is no virgin mother, as blessed virginity returned to the former incorruption in paradise. Hail, God-receiver, luminous element of the divine infinity, of whom the infinite one was contained in a foot-long womb, and in himself contained the ends of the earth. Hail, Theotokos, properly and truly, the awesome bond of men to God, through whom heavenly things are united to those on earth, making the things of man to rise in exchange to God, and the things of God to man. Hail, bridal chamber, raised up by the beauties of virginity, for the one who says in the Song of Songs: I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. Of whose union with the flesh those things are added: Go forth and see King Solomon, in the crown with which his mother crowned him, on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the gladness of his heart. Hail, ewe-lamb, who is childless according to marital union, and a mother according to divine conception. From whom the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, came to sojourn. Hail, cloud of light, who in the desert of life by intercession overshadows the new Israel; from whom the ordinances of grace have been heard, from whom the sun of righteousness has risen, brightening all things with the rays of incorruption. Hail, lampstand, the golden and well-rooted vessel of virginity, whose wick is the grace of the Spirit, and oil, the holy body taken from your immaculate flesh, from which is Christ, the light that never sets; who for those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death kindled eternal life. Hail, full of grace, more graceful than all joy both in deed and name, from whom unceasing joy into the world, Christ

Πνεύματος, περὶ ἧς που θαυμαστικῶς βεβόηται· Τίς αὕτη ἀναβαίνουσα ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου, ὡς στελέχη καπνοῦ τεθυμιαμένη; Χαῖρε, χρυσίον καθαρὸν, ἡ ἐν χωνείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοκιμασθεῖσα τῷ πυρὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ μηδαμοῦ ῥυτίδα κακίας φέρουσα· ἐξ οὗ ἥ τε λυχνία, καὶ ἡ τράπεζα, καὶ πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον χρύσεα κατ' ἔμφασιν ἀλληγορικὴν, ἐπὶ σὲ τὸν χρυσώνυμον καὶ πολυώνυμον μεταλαμβάνεται. Χαῖρε, ξύλον ἄσηπτον, ἡ φθορᾶς ἁμαρτικῆς μὴ προσηκαμένη σκώληκα, ἐξ ἧς τὸ νοητὸν θυσιαστήριον, οὐκ ἐκ ξύλων ἀσήπτων κατεσκευασμένον, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀχράντων λαγόνων Θεῷ δεδομημένον. Χαῖρε, πορφύρα βασιλικὴ, ἡ ἐκ παρθενικῶν αἱμάτων σου ἐξυφάνασα ἁλουργίδα τῷ λέγοντι ἐν Ἄσμασι· Πλοκίον κεφαλῆς σου ὡς πορφύρα· βασιλεὺς δεδεμένος ἐν παραδρομαῖς. Τί ὡραιώθης, ἢ τί ἡδύνθης; Χαῖρε, βύσσος κεκλωσμένη, ἡ βάθος θείων νοημάτων ἐν διανοίᾳ κλώσασα, καὶ ταῖς ἐναντίαις θέλξεσιν ἄχαυνος· Πῶς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω; ∆ι' ἧς ἡ ἐπωμὶς πορφυροχρυσόμικτος τῷ ἱεραρχοῦντι τῶν ἄνω ∆υνάμεων. Χαῖρε, ὑάκινθος, τὸ φλογοφανὲς τῆς παρθενίας ἔριον ἐξ οὗ μυστικῶς τῷ Θεῷ ἱερούργηται ἄμφιον σωματώσεως. Χαῖρε, κούφη νεφέλη, ἡ τὸ γεῶδες καὶ βρίθον σκῆνος, κοῦφόν πως, ὡς ἀερῶδες, ἔχουσα, καὶ τὸν ἄρτον τῆς ζωῆς ὡς ἐν θυσιαστηρίῳ καλύπτουσα, ἐν ᾗ καθῆσθαι Κύριον Ἡσαΐας προσηγόρευσε. Χαῖρε, ἅχραντε, τὸ ἀνέπαφον τῆς παρθενίας κειμήλιον, ἡ τὸν ἄχραντον Λόγον γεννήσασα, ἀφ' ἧς ἡ παρθενία 96.696 ἐξέλαμψε τὸν κόσμον συντέμνουσα. Χαῖρε, ἁγνὴ, ἡ μόνη τὴν καρδίαν ἁγνὴν αὐχηματικῶς ἔχουσα. Τὸ ὄρος ἀληθῶς τὸ θεόδεκτον, ἀφ' οὗ ἁγνίζεται ὁ νέος Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ πάλαι τιμαλφέστερον καὶ χρονιώτερον. Χαῖρε, ἀλόχευτε, βρεφοτρεφῆ γαλουχίαν μητροπρεπῶς φέρουσα, ἀφ' ἧς ἀμέλγει γάλα παρθενικὸν, ὁ τρέφων τὰ σύμπαντα. Χαῖρε, ἀμόλυντε, ἡ μόνη Θεῷ εἰς ἐνοίκησιν εὐπρόσιτος, καὶ Θεοῦ ἀξίωμα ἐκ γεννήσεως ἔχουσα· διὸ σὺ προσκυνητὴ καὶ πάσαις οὐρανίαις ∆υνάμεσι. Χαῖρε, πόκε, τὸ περὶ τὸν Γεδεὼν νίκης σύμβολον, ἐξ ἧς ἀπεῤῥύη τροπικῶς ἡ δρόσος ἡ ἀθάνατος, ὁ αὐτολέκτως φάμενος· Θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον. Χαῖρε, χωρίον Θεοῦ, τὸν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀχώρητον ἐν γαστρὶ χωρήσασα· οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐν δρακὶ, καὶ σοῦ παρόντος ἐν χερσίν· ὃ καὶ λεγόμενον ἀδιανόητον, καὶ διανοούμενον ἀσυνείκαστον. Χαῖρε, Θεοῦ Μήτηρ, ἡ μόνη τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ δούλη, καὶ ἄμφω φύσει, μεθ' ἣν οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ παρθένος τῆς μακαρίας παρθενίας εἰς τὴν πρὶν ἐν παραδείσῳ ἀναδραμούσης ἀφθαρσίαν. Χαῖρε, Θεοδόχε, φωτοειδὲς στοιχεῖον τῆς θείας ἀπειρίας, οὗ ὁ ἄπειρος, ποδιαίᾳ γαστρὶ περιεχόμενος, καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχων τὰ πέρατα. Χαῖρε, Θεοτόκε κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς, τὸ πρὸς Θεὸν ἀνθρώποις φρικτὸν συναπτήριον, δι' ἧς τὰ οὐράνια τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἥνωνται, Θεῷ τὰ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ Θεοῦ ἀντανίσχουσα. Χαῖρε, παστὰς, ἡ παρθενίας ἐγερθεῖσα κάλλεσι, τῷ λέγοντι ἐν Ἄσμασιν· Εἰσῆλθον εἰς κῆπόν μου, ἀδελφή μου νύμφη. Οὗ πρὸς σάρκα συναφείας ἐκεῖνα ἐπάγεται· Ἐξέλθετε καὶ ἴδετε ἐν τῷ βασιλεῖ Σολομὼν, ἐν τῷ στεφάνῳ, ᾧ ἐστεφάνωσεν αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ νυμφεύσεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐφροσύνης τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ. Χαῖρε, ἀμνὰς, ἡ ἄτεξ κατὰ γαμικὴν σύνοδον, καὶ τοκὰς κατὰ θείαν σύλληψιν. Ἐξ ἧς ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, ἐπεδήμησε. Χαῖρε, νεφέλη φωτὸς, ἡ ἐν ἐρήμῳ τοῦ βίου πρεσβευτικῶς τὸν νέον Ἰσραὴλ σκιάζουσα· ἀφ' ἧς τὰ τῆς χάριτος διατάγματα ἤκουσται, ἐξ ἧς ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος ἀνατέταλκε μαρμαρυγαῖς ἀφθαρσίας καταφαιδρύνων τὰ σύμπαντα. Χαῖρε, λυχνία, τὸ χρυσοῦν τῆς παρθενίας σκεῦος καὶ εὔριζον, οὗ θρυαλλὶς, ἡ χάρις τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ ἔλαιον, τὸ ἐξ ἀχράντων σαρκῶν ληφθὲν σῶμα ἅγιον, ἐξ ὧν φῶς Χριστὸς τὸ ἀνεπίδυτον· ἡ τοῖς ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου καθημένοις τὴν ἀΐδιον ζωὴν παράψασα. Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, τὸ πάσης χαρᾶς χαριέστερον καὶ πρᾶγμα, καὶ ὄνομα, ἐξ ἧς χαρὰ ἀδιάδοχος εἰς τὸν κόσμον Χριστὸς