Οἶκος Ψ'
The Living Temple of the Word
The faithful praise the Theotokos as the sanctified dwelling place of the Lord.
Singing of your childbirth, we all praise you as a living temple, Theotokos. For when he made his home in your womb, the Lord who holds all things in his hand sanctified it, glorified it, and taught everyone to cry out to you: Rejoice, tabernacle of God and of the Word; rejoice, Holy One greater than the Holy of Holies.✦1
The Ark and the Crown
Mary is honored as the gilded ark of the Spirit and the glory of both royalty and priesthood.
Rejoice, ark gilded by the Spirit; rejoice, inexhaustible treasure of life. Rejoice, precious crown of godly kings; rejoice, revered boast of devout priests.
The Tower of Victory and Salvation
The hymn concludes by acclaiming the Theotokos as the protector of the Church and the personal source of the believer's healing and salvation.
Rejoice, unshaken tower of the Church; rejoice, impregnable wall of the Kingdom. Rejoice, through whom victory trophies are raised; rejoice, through whom enemies fall. Rejoice, healing of my flesh; rejoice, salvation of my soul.2 Rejoice, Bride unwedded.3
Read the original Latin
Ψάλλοντές σου τὸν τόκον, ἀνυμνοῦμέν σε πάντες, ὡς ἔμψυχον ναόν, Θεοτόκε. Ἐν τῇ σῇ γὰρ οἰκήσας γαστρί, ὁ συνέχων πάντα τῇ χειρὶ Κύριος, ἡγίασεν, ἐδόξασεν, ἐδίδαξε βοᾶν σοὶ πάντας· Χαῖρε, σκηνὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Λόγου, χαῖρε, Ἁγία ἁγίων μείζων. Χαῖρε, κιβωτὲ χρυσωθεῖσα τῷ Πνεύματι, χαῖρε, θησαυρὲ τῆς ζωῆς ἀδαπάνητε. Χαῖρε, τίμιον διάδημα βασιλέων εὐσεβῶν, χαῖρε, καύχημα σεβάσμιον ἱερέων εὐλαβῶν. Χαῖρε, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὁ ἀσάλευτος πύργος, χαῖρε, τῆς Βασιλείας τὸ ἀπόρθητον τεῖχος. Χαῖρε, δι' ἧς ἐγείρονται τρόπαια, χαῖρε, δι' ἧς ἐχθροὶ καταπίπτουσι. Χαῖρε, χρωτὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ θεραπεία, χαῖρε, ψυχῆς τῆς ἐμῆς σωτηρία. Χαῖρε, Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.1.14;Rev.21.3 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Rev.21.3 — And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them [as their God].'
Notes
- 1 ↩σκηνή rendered as 'tabernacle' (dwelling-tent of God's presence), not 'scene' or generic 'tent'.
- 2 ↩χρωτός is flesh/body (surface of the body); rendered 'flesh' to pair with ψυχῆς 'soul'.
- 3 ↩Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε is the fixed paradoxical title; 'Bride unwedded' preserves the paradox without archaic 'Hail' diction for χαῖρε.
Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing