Hymn
of Praise to Saints Joachim
and Anna
from the Prologue
of Ohrid
by Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
Be glad, O barren one,
Be glad, O aged Anna.
You will
conceive and give birth
To a wondrous child, a chosen one –
As once did the aged Sarah,
And the mother of Samson,
And the mother of Samuel,
And the mother of John –
Yet you will
be more glorious than all,
For you will give birth from the womb
To the wonderful
Virgin, the only
Wonderful Mother of the Most-high King.
Be glad, O Joachim,
Father of
the unprecedented mother,
Of whom the Creator desires
To be clothed with
glory.
The Law loses its
power
When God wills, and where he wills.
Who can gainsay
God?
Can there be any dispute with God?
Not by disputation,
but by love
Does God change his laws.
Before love, all laws
Are as if nonexistent.
When men hunger, the Lord
Makes the dry field
fertile;
And because of the spiritual hunger of the world,
He makes
the barren one fertile.
For the salvation
of men, the Lord
Arranges for the best.
This is why
all the Church of the saints
Cries out to him: “Glory!
Glory!”
Hymn of Praise on the Nativity of the Most-holy Mother of God
also from The Prologue of Ohrid
O greatly desired and long-awaited one,
O Virgin,
thou hast been obtained from the Lord with tears!
A bodily temple of the Most-Holy Spirit
shalt thou become,
And shalt be called Mother of the Eternal
Word.
The Burning Bush
they called thee,
For thou wilt receive within thyself the divine fire:
Ablaze with
fire but not consumed,
Thou shalt bear the Golden Fruit and offer it to the world.
Thou shalt be the Bearer of him who bears the heavens,
To whom all
of heaven offers up praise!
The Miracle of miracles shall come to pass within thee,
For thou
shalt bear heaven, thou who art “more spacious than the heavens!”
Thou art more precious to us, O Virgin, than precious stones,
For thou
art the source of salvation for mankind.
For this, may the entire universe glorify
thee,
O Most-holy Virgin, O white Turtledove!
The King of Heaven shall desire to enter the world,
And shall
pass through thee, O Beautiful Gate!
O Virgin, when thou dost become woman thou shalt bear Christ for us;
From thy body, the Sun shall blaze forth.
