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It is Truly Meet


Axion estin (Greek: Ἄξιον ἐστίν, Slavonic: Достóйно éсть, Dostóino yesť), or It is Truly Meet, is a megalynarion and a theotokion, i.e. a magnification of and a Hymn to Mary which is chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. It is a troparion and a sticheron composed in honor of the Theotokos (i.e. the Virgin Mary). The same name also refers to a style of icon of the Theotokos.

The hymn in Greek is:

Ἄξιόν ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς,
μακαρίζειν σε τὴν Θεοτόκον,
τὴν ἀειμακάριστον καὶ παναμώμητον
καὶ μητέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
Τὴν τιμιωτέραν τῶν Χερουβεὶμ
καὶ ἐνδοξοτέραν ἀσυγκρίτως τῶν Σεραφείμ,
τὴν ἀδιαφθόρως Θεὸν Λόγον τεκοῦσαν,
τὴν ὄντως Θεοτόκον,
σὲ μεγαλύνομεν.

One translation of the hymn goes as follows:

It is truly right to bless thee, O Theotokos,
thou the ever blessed, and most pure, and the Mother of our God.
Thou the more honorable than the cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim,
who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word,
thou the true Theotokos, we magnify thee.

The second half of the hymn, beginning with the words, "More honorable than the cherubim..." is the older part of the hymn, and is an Irmos attributed to St. Cosmas the Hymnographer († 773). The introduction, "It is truly meet..." was, according to tradition, revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.


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