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Sung by the Greek Byzantine Choir, from "The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom".
The Axion Estin is a theotokion (a sticheron composed in honor of Mary the Theotokos - the "God-bearer") chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches at Matins, Compline, and other services, with the most important being its occurrence at the Divine Liturgy, where it is chanted at the conclusion of the Anaphora. The second half of the hymn, beginning with the words, "More honorable than the cherubim..." is older, and is an Irmos - the initial verse of each individual ode in a canon - attributed to St. Cosmas the Hymnographer (d. 773 or 794). The introduction, "It is truly meet..." was, according to tradition, revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.
The text of the hymn runs:
Άξιον εστίν ως αληθώς
μακαρίζειν σε την Θεοτόκον,
την αειμακάριστον και παναμώμητον
και μητέρα του Θεού ημών.
Την τιμιωτέραν των Χερουβείμ
και ενδοξοτέραν ασυγκρίτως των Σεραφείμ
την αδιαφθόρως Θεόν Λόγον τεκούσαν,
την όντως Θεοτόκον,
Σε μεγαλύνομεν.
"Meet it is truly
to bless you, O God-bearer (Theotokos),
the ever-blessed, and most pure,
and Mother of our God.
More honorable than the cherubim,
and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim,
Without corruption you gave birth to God the Word;
the true God-bearer,
We magnify you!"
According to tradition, an Elder and his disciple lived in a cell on Mount Athos. One Saturday night the Elder left to attend the All-Night Vigil in the settlement of Karyes. He told his disciple to chant the service alone. That evening an unknown monk who called himself Gabriel, came to the cell, and they began the Vigil together. During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, when they began to sing the Magnificat, the disciple sang the original hymn "More honorable than the Cherubim" and afterwards the visiting monk chanted it again, but with "It is truly meet" preceding the original Irmos. As he sang, an icon of Mary began to radiate with Uncreated Light. When the disciple asked the visiting monk to write the words of the new hymn down, he took a roof tile and wrote on it with his finger, as though the tile were made of wax. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. At that moment the Archangel disappeared, but the icon continued to radiate light for some time afterward. This icon before which the hymn was revealed is eventually also called Axion Estin. The feast day celebrating the revelation of the hymn is celebrated on June 11.
The Axion Estin is a theotokion (a sticheron composed in honor of Mary the Theotokos - the "God-bearer") chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches at Matins, Compline, and other services, with the most important being its occurrence at the Divine Liturgy, where it is chanted at the conclusion of the Anaphora. The second half of the hymn, beginning with the words, "More honorable than the cherubim..." is older, and is an Irmos - the initial verse of each individual ode in a canon - attributed to St. Cosmas the Hymnographer (d. 773 or 794). The introduction, "It is truly meet..." was, according to tradition, revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.
The text of the hymn runs:
Άξιον εστίν ως αληθώς
μακαρίζειν σε την Θεοτόκον,
την αειμακάριστον και παναμώμητον
και μητέρα του Θεού ημών.
Την τιμιωτέραν των Χερουβείμ
και ενδοξοτέραν ασυγκρίτως των Σεραφείμ
την αδιαφθόρως Θεόν Λόγον τεκούσαν,
την όντως Θεοτόκον,
Σε μεγαλύνομεν.
"Meet it is truly
to bless you, O God-bearer (Theotokos),
the ever-blessed, and most pure,
and Mother of our God.
More honorable than the cherubim,
and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim,
Without corruption you gave birth to God the Word;
the true God-bearer,
We magnify you!"
According to tradition, an Elder and his disciple lived in a cell on Mount Athos. One Saturday night the Elder left to attend the All-Night Vigil in the settlement of Karyes. He told his disciple to chant the service alone. That evening an unknown monk who called himself Gabriel, came to the cell, and they began the Vigil together. During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, when they began to sing the Magnificat, the disciple sang the original hymn "More honorable than the Cherubim" and afterwards the visiting monk chanted it again, but with "It is truly meet" preceding the original Irmos. As he sang, an icon of Mary began to radiate with Uncreated Light. When the disciple asked the visiting monk to write the words of the new hymn down, he took a roof tile and wrote on it with his finger, as though the tile were made of wax. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. At that moment the Archangel disappeared, but the icon continued to radiate light for some time afterward. This icon before which the hymn was revealed is eventually also called Axion Estin. The feast day celebrating the revelation of the hymn is celebrated on June 11.
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