The Book of Hours and the Little Office of Our Lady

From the archives of the website WesternOrthodoxy.com.

The Christian Church, following both Jewish tradition and Roman secular practice, established rules or canons for recital of certain prayers and devotions at specific times of the day. These formed the Canonical Hours in which daily liturgy or Divine Office of the Church was celebrated. As the Psalmist cried, “Seven times a day do I praise thee b/c of thy righteous judgments.” [Psalms 119:164]

In medieval times, devout laymen followed the example of the professed religious (i.e. monks and nuns). The lay people wished to have their prayer books and to follow, in their own way, the Church’s program of daily devotion. The Books of Hours, though originating in the Church’s liturgy, were the first commonly popular prayer books used by men and women who lived secular lives.

“The world can be likened to books written by the hand of the Lord.” The Saxon-born monk Hugh, Prior of the Augustinian monastery of Saint-Victor in Paris wrote this in 1133. His statement is an arresting reminder of the gulf that divides our scientific, technological age from the religiously oriented world of the Middle Ages. Books then possessed a mystique which had little to do with personal expression. Books were valued because they revealed the purposes of God and enabled man to know and worship the Creator. Books of Hours were thus, in a sense, the original self-help books - a genre that remains huge today.

The most important books were those in which Christ’s saving work, His redemption of mankind, was remembered and honored in the liturgy of the Church. In both the Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire and the Catholic Church of Latin Christendom, this liturgy was ceaselessly celebrated, in accordance with the texts in the Missal and the Breviary. The missal contains the texts necessary for the celebration of the Mass. The Breviary and the Divine Office (Divinum Officium or “godly work”), hymns, prayers, and other texts were sung by monks and nuns in choir at the Canonical Hours. They were also read daily, under the breath, by all ordained deacons and priests.

The Hours were made up of seven services. The night Hours of Matins and Lauds (usually taken together) were recited between midnight and dawn. These were followed at approximately 3 hour intervals during the day by the Hours of Prime, Tierce, Sext, and None, and the evening Hours of Vespers and Compline.

The Divine Office of the day takes an hour or two to read through privately. For the monastic community who sing the Office every day of the year, it takes much longer. The composition of the Breviary has changed little since the 11th century, when it was last expanded at the request of the Cistercians and other reformed Orders. First comes a calendar, essential for making sure that the right devotions are performed on each day in the year. The calendar is necessary because the content of each service varies according to the season, the day of the week, the Saint’s days and other feasts, both fixed and movable The Ordinary, with which the Breviary proper begins, sets out the constant elements of each Hour, with certain seasonal variations. The Ordinary is mainly a list of instructions and has been called “a prompter’s script.” Next follows the Psalter containing the psalms, canticles, and hymns to be used for every Hour for every day of the week. The Proper of Time which follows contains the Office (i.e. the text) of the various prayers to be recited on each day of the liturgical year; the Proper of the Saints contains the texts for the major Saint’s days; and the Common of the Saints contains the texts for categories of Saints (e.g., apostles, martyrs, confessors) and such as do not have an individual office.

The Breviary - despite the suggestion in its title of brevity - contains the whole text of the Divine Office, with the Psalter forming an essential constituent. It also contains a number of additional prayers and devotions to be recited in choir at regular times. These were introduced by St. Benedit of Aniane, (c. 750-821), reformer of the French monasteries and counselor to Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne. Among these devotional accretions is a short service in honor of the Virgin Mary, which first appeared in the 10th century. Its recitation was made obligatory in the Benedectine monastery of Monte Casino in central Italy at an early date, but the widespread popularity in clerical circles of this extra devotion to the Virgin has been attributed to the piety of St. Ulric (d. 973) Bishop of Augsburg and of Berenger, Bishop of Verdun (d. 962). Urban II ( 1108-99) gave Papal approval by ordering the service to be recited by clerics for the success of the First Crusade.

The devotional practice of reciting this “Little Office of Our Lady” spread from the religious orders to the clergy, and from the clergy to the laity. What had started as an accretion to the Breviary became the favorite prayer book of lay people everywhere. Until the 13th century the Little Office of Our Lady was usually attached, as a kind of appendix, to the Psalter, the only prayer book normally used by lay people. During the 13th century it became detached, like fruit falling off a tree, and became a separate prayer book: The Book of Hours.

The fact that the Little Office of Our Lady was, from the first, concentrated on the Virgin Mary is of great significance. With no martyrdom or miracles associated with her during her lifetime, she became, through the mystery of the Incarnation, the central figure in an unprecedented devotion in which many of the deepest emotions of men and women were involved. It was to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, that they turned most often. Through the intensity and multiplicity of her following she became the most popular expression of faith and devotion in the Middle Ages. She was the mother-substitute of all, the new Eve, the intercessor with God. Mary was more powerful than the Saints and less awful than God. As His mother she has peculiar influence with Christ; and her position between man and his Maker, as the Middle Ages pictured it, is exactly expressed by St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux (1090-1153) when he said that Christ desires us to have everything through Mary.

Frank M. Lewis
at Walnut Creek, CA
May 2, 1984, revised April 5, 2000.

It is good to see the website's archives finally unblocked, so we can read its articles.

St. Augustine on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dearly beloved brethren, the day for which we have longed, the Feast-day of the Blessed and Worshipful and Alway-Virgin Mary, that day is come. Let our land laugh and sing with merriment, bathed in the glory of this great Virgin's rising. She is the flower of the fields on which the priceless lily of the valleys hath blossomed. This is she whose delivery changed the nature that we draw from our first parents, and cleansed away their offence. At her that dolorous sentence which was pronounced over Eve ended its course ; to her it was never said : In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. She brought forth a Child, even the Lord, but she brought him forth, not in sorrow, but in joy.

Eve wept, but Mary laughed. Eve's womb was big with tears, but Mary's womb was big with gladness. Eve gave birth to a sinner, but Mary gave birth to the sinless One. The mother of our race brought punishment into the world, but the Mother of our Lord brought salvation into the world. Eve was the foundress of sin, but Mary was the foundress of righteousness. Eve welcomed death, but Mary helped in life. Eve smote, but Mary healed. For Eve's disobedience, Mary offered obedience ; and for Eve's unbelief, Mary offered faith.

Let Mary now make a loud noise upon the organ, and between its quick notes let the rattling of the Mother's timbrel be heard. Let the gladsome choirs sing with her, and their sweet hymns mingle with the changing musick. Hearken to what a song her timbrel will make accompaniment. She saith : My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden, for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is Mighty hath magnified me. The new miracle of Mary's delivery hath effaced the curse of the frail backslider, and the singing of Mary hath silenced the wailing of Eve.

— St. Augustine of Hippo, from the Second Nocturne of Matins.

The Assumption vs. Assumptions

Among some Orthodox, especially among new members of the Orthodox Church, there seems to be an impression that "the Fathers" never deviated from one another in any detail. Thus, by reading one father or one group of fathers, one may comprehend all of Orthodoxy. This is an oversimplification and runs the risk of denying the Fathers' humanity. Yes, they were great lights, and all are worthy of study, but they must often be read in view of one another.

The Feast of the Dormition/Assumption, whose octave falls today, is one case in point. Like many other feasts, the practice moved from the East to the West, and some Western fathers had questions about it. Two in particular were St. Adamnan of Iona (d. 704) and the Venerable Bede (d. 735). The former wrote in De Locis Sanctis, "on the right side of it [the lower church] is the empty stone sepulchre of St. Mary, in which for a time she rested after her burial. But how or when or by whom her sacred body was raised from that sepulchre, or where it awaits the Resurrection, it is said that no one knows certainly." The Venerable Bede echoed his questions.

Yet this Feast is celebrated by East and West, attested to by many Fathers. I don't say this to diminish either saint, especially the Venerable Bede. But there are some who will find a doctrine eluded to by one writer and run with it as far as they can, or who read a certain Byzantine term was used one time in a missal in a far-flung corner of the continent, and thus this is transformed into "our ancient Western heritage." But scattered individual uses, liturgical or doctrinal, are by definition idiosyncratic and, at times, simply wrong. This should serve as an antidote to our relying too heavily upon any one saint or geographic congolomeration of saints, in whom there may be error, and encourage us to rather lean upon the whole testimony of the fathers and the mind of the Church.

A Homily on the Dormition/Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

This day the holy and animated Ark of the living God, which had held within it its own Maker, is borne to rest in that Temple of the Lord, which is not made with hands. David, whence it sprang, leapeth before it, and in company with him the Angels dance, the Archangels sing aloud, the Virtues ascribe glory, the Principalities shout for joy, the Powers make merry, the Dominions rejoice, the Thrones keep holiday, the Cherubim utter praise, and the Seraphim proclaim its glory. This day the Eden of the new Adam receiveth the living garden of delight, wherein the condemnation was annulled, wherein the Tree of Life was planted, wherein our nakedness was covered.

This day the stainless maiden, who had been defiled by no earthly lust, but ennobled by heavenly desires, returned not to dust, but, being herself a living heaven, took her place among the heavenly mansions. From her true life had flowed for all men, and how should she taste of death? But she yielded obedience to the law established by him to whom she had given birth, and, as the daughter of the old Adam, underwent the old sentence, which even her Son, who is the very Life Itself, had not refused ; but, as the Mother of the living God, she was worthily taken by him unto himself.

— St. John of Damascus, from the second nocturn of Matins (Roman Breviary).

May: Crowning the Virgin Mary in New Zealand

I see Fr. Jack Witbrock's Wellington Mission of St. George, in New Zealand, has the following bulletin on its website:

May 2008 – The Month of Mary, Rosary every Wednesday.

I also find this interesting, as the mission is a bi-ritual mission.

Deo gratias, and may the Blessed Mary, the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Marian Praise, on the Annunciation and Lent

In the post "Annunciation, East and West," I briefly sketched some of the similarities between the prayers and hymns in the Eastern and canonical Western Rite Orthodox liturgies for that great feast. However, the similarities are not confined merely to the Divine Liturgy, nor even to a given feast. For instance, on the Feast of Annunciation, those in the Western Rite following the Benedictine (and AWRV) tradition of the Monastic Diurnal/Breviarium Monasticum sang the 8th century hymn Ave Maris Stella, the common hymn on feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. During this season of Lent, Orthodox Christians of the Byzantine tradition frequently sing the hymn "Awed By the Beauty," a verse in honor of the Theotokos clearly tied to the Annunciation. It is worthwhile to examine the two side-by-side as outstanding examples of Marian praise:

Western Rite

Byzantine Rite

Ave Maris Stella Star of Ocean fairest, Mother, God who bearest, Virgin thou immortal, heaven’s blissful portal, “Ave” thou receivest, Gabriel’s word believest, change to peace and gladness Eva’s name of sadness. Loose the bonds of terror, lighten blinded error, All our ills repressing, pray for every blessing, Mother’s care displaying, offer him thy praying, who, when born our brother, chose thee for his Mother. Virgin all excelling, gentle past our telling, pardoned sinners - render gentle, chaste, and tender. In pure paths direct us, on our way protect us, till, on Jesus gazing, we shall join thy praising. Father, Son eternal, Holy Ghost supernal, with one praise we bless thee, Three in One confess thee.

Awed By the Beauty Awed by the beauty of thy virginity, and the exceeding radiance of thy purity, Gabriel stood amazed, and cried to thee, O Giver of Life: What grace can I offer thee that is worthy of thy beauty? By what name shall I call thee? I am lost and bewildered, But I shall greet thee as I was commanded. Hail! Thou who art full of grace!

Both Eastern and Western Orthodox Christians are struck with awe at the Burning Bush that contained the Godhead yet was unconsumed. Both hymns acknowledge her innate sanctity, the beauty of her purity "all excelling, gentle past our telling." Ave Maris Stella features a more prominent supplication for our Mother's intercessions, as well as a concluding doxology to the Holy Trinity. Although the Latin tradition has been criticized as overly rational/logical/moralistic, the Western Rite also possesses, in its canonical integrity, a rich and tenderly poetic devotion. Together, the Church's two approved forms of devotion help us better venerate her through whom God appeared, and thus the Divine Himself.

St. Demetrius of Rostov on the Nativity of the Mother of God

On the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, here is a second sermon, this by a former Metropolitan of Rostov.

A Homily on the Nativity of the Most Pure Mother of God

The Lord, Who lives in the heavens, wishing to appear on earth and abide with men, first prepared a dwelling place of His glory: His Most Pure Mother. For it is the custom of kings that in whatsoever city they desire to live, a place of residence be prepared for them beforehand. And as the palaces of earthly kings are constructed by the most skilled craftsmen, of the most costly materials, and on the most elevated sights, which are more beautiful and spacious than all the other dwellings of men, in the same manner the palace of the King of Glory must be erected. In the Old Testament, when God desired to dwell in Jerusalem, Solomon built a temple for Him, employing Hiram, a most wise master, who possessed full knowledge of every art and science, and was skilled in every enterprise. He constructed the temple with materials of great value: with costly stone, with aromatic woods of cedar and cypress brought from Lebanon, with pure gold, and upon a high place: that is, upon Mount Moriah. The temple was of great beauty. On its walls were portrayed the likeness of cherubims, and of various trees and flowers. The temple was so spacious that the whole Israelite people could be accommodated without crowding, and the glory of the Lord would descend in fire and a cloud. Nevertheless, that temple did not suffice to contain within itself the Uncontainable God, for even though Solomon built Him a temple, "The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. 'What house will ye build me', saith the Lord: 'or what is the place of my rest?'"

At the beginning of the new era of grace, the Lord was pleased to create a temple not made by hands: the Most Pure, Most Blessed Virgin Mary. By what builder was this temple erected? In truth, by One most wise; by the very Wisdom of God, as the Scripture says, "Wisdom hath built itself a temple." All things created by the Wisdom of God are good and perfect, therefore, as it was the Wisdom of God that created the living temple of the Word (as she saith of herself through the words of the Holy Spirit, "The Lord established me in the beginning of His way") it was not possible that in her there could be any sort of imperfection or sin. The Perfect God created a perfect temple; the Most Radiant King, a most radiant palace; for the Most Pure and Undefiled Bridegroom, a bridal chamber most pure and undefiled; for the Spotless Lamb, an unsullied dwelling place. A Faithful Witness abiding in the heavens said to her, "You are most fair, my love; there is no spot in you." And the Holy Damascene says, "She is wholly the bridal chamber of the Spirit, wholly the city of God, a sea of Grace, wholly good, close to God."

With what materials was this palace built? In truth, with the most costly, for she, being like precious stone, was of royal lineage, descended from David, who placed a stone in his sling, and with it killed Goliath. The stone foreshadowed the Stone that is Christ, fashioned, as it were, from aromatic woods, of cedar and cypress. The Virgin Theotokos was born of priestly ancestors as well, who offered God sweet smelling sacrifices. Her father, the Holy Righteous Joachim, was the son of Barpather, who traced his ancestry to Nathan, the son of David. Her mother, the Holy Righteous Anna, was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the line of Aaron. Thus, the Most Pure Virgin was by her father of royal descent, and by her mother, of high priestly lineage. Of what precious materials, from what an ancestry was the most illustrious, animate palace of the King of Glory fashioned! As structures built of stone and wood in Solomon's palace were esteemed all the more for the pure gold with which they were covered, so in the case of the Nativity of the Most Pure Theotokos, the nobility of her]royal and high-priestly lineage is rendered yet more honorable by the chastity of her holy parents, which is more to be valued "than thousands of gold and silver. She is more precious than costly stones, and nothing that is dear is to be compared to her," for the Most Pure Virgin was born of parents possessed of chastity, which is loftier than all nobility, was, as the Holy Damascene testifies, writing of the Righteous Ancestors of God thus, "O blessed couple Joachim and Anna! Truly, by the fruit of your loins are you known to be blameless, according to the words of the Lord, 'You shall know them by their fruits. 'You ordered your lives in a manner pleasing to God, and worthy of her who was born of you. Having lived in chastity and righteousness, you brought forth the treasury of virginity, the Virgin, who was a virgin before giving birth, as she gave birth, and even after she gave birth. She alone, being in mind and soul, and body ever a virgin, abides always in virginity. It was fitting that this virginity, be born of chastity. Like a pair of doves, Joachim and Anna! You, having chastely observed the laws of nature, have been granted by God that which is above nature, and have brought into the world the Virgin Mother of God. While in the flesh, you have piously and virtuously borne a daughter who is higher than the angels and reigns over them. Most fair and sweet Daughter! Lily, sprung up in the midst of tares from a root most noble and august! By you the royal priesthood has been enriched!" With words such as these does the Holy Damascene clearly indicate the manner of parents who bore the Mother of God, and of what costly materials the palace of the Heavenly King was erected.

Where was this living palace built? In a most exalted place, as the Church testifies, saying,"Truly you are higher than all things, O Pure Virgin." Nevertheless, it was not so in respect to locality, but rather her virtues and God's benefactions. The place where the Most Blessed Virgin was born was a little town in the land of Galilee called Nazareth, which was subject to the city of Capernaum. It was inglorious and obscure, and its inhabitants were held in disdain, even as it was once said of Christ, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" But the Lord, "Who dwells on high and looks down on things that are lowly," was well pleased that His Most Pure Mother be born not in Capernaum, which in its pride was lifted up to heaven, but rather in humble Nazareth, indicating that that 'which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God," while that which is despised and disdained by them is regarded by Him as lofty and honorable. Moreover, by its very name Nazareth hints the height of the virtues of the Most Pure Virgin. For as by His nativity in Bethlehem, which name means "House of Bread", the Lord mystically signified that He is the Bread come down from heaven for the life and strength of men. So by the birth of His Most Pure Mother in Nazareth He denotes sublime things. For the name "Nazareth" means a blossoming place, sacred, removed from the things of this world, adorned as it were, with a crown, and guarded. All these epithets are clearly applicable to the Most Pure Virgin, for she is the flower sprung up from the withered tree of a barren and aged womb, which has renewed our nature which has shriveled with age. She is the flower which does not wilt, but ever blossoms with virginity. She is the most fragrant flower, giving birth to the fragrance of the only King. She is the flower which bears the Fruit which is Christ the Lord, the flower which alone has borne the fragrant Apple. She is sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit which has descended upon her and has overshadowed her. She is the holiest of all the saints, as she has borne the Word, Who Himself is more holy than all the Saints. She is excluded from the ranks of the sinners of this world, for throughout her life not even once did she know sin. All of us must say with David, "I know mine iniquity and my sin is ever before me," but she alone can say, "Without iniquity I ran, and directed my steps." She is the guide of all men, who hath not only committed no sin herself, but also turns sinners from wicked deeds, even as the Church cries out to her, "Rejoice, you who dost rescues us from the works of mire." She is crowned with glory and honor; crowned with glory, because she has blossomed from a royal root; crowned with honor, because she has sprung from a high-priestly line. She is crowned with glory, having come forth from glorious, chaste and righteous parents. She is crowned with honor, for she was esteemed worthy of the Angel's glad tidings and his attendance. She is crowned with glory, as the Mother of God, for what could be more glorious than to bear God? She is crowned with honor as the Ever-Virgin, for what could be more honorable than to remain a virgin even after giving birth? She is crowned with glory, more glorious than the Seraphim, possessed of love for God like that of the Seraphim. She is crowned with honor, more honorable than the Cherubim, having surpassed the Seraphim in wisdom and knowledge of the Divinity. "Glory, honor and peace to every man who works good," says the Apostle, and who among the earthborn surpasses the Most Pure Virgin in deeds of virtue? Having fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord, having done all HIs will, observed all His injunctions, kept all His sayings in her heart, and performed every sort of good deed to her neighbors, she is worthy to be crowned, as one who works all manner of good. She is likewise a repository, in which the treasure of her virginal chastity is guarded so carefully, that not even unto the Angel did she wish to entrust it. Upon seeing the Angel, she was troubled at his words, and considered in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. All these things concerning the Most Pure Virgin are signified by the Name "Nazareth."

Who would not affirm that lofty palace of Christ has been greatly exalted through her virtues and God's blessings? She is exalted, for she has been bestowed on us from heaven, albeit she was born on earth of earthly parents. She was bestowed from heaven, for as certain theologians say, the Archangel Gabriel, who brought glad tidings to Zacharias concerning John, and who likewise announced to Joachim and Anna the conception of the Theotokos, conveyed from heaven her most blessed name, saying unto her barren mother, "Anna, Anna, you shall bear a most blessed daughter, and her name shall be Mary." Undoubtedly, she can be called the holy city; the new Jerusalem, descended from God out of heaven, and the tabernacle of God in men's midst. Lofty is this divine tabernacle, for having borne Christ the King, it is exalted above the Seraphim. O "height hard to climb for the thoughts of men!"

With what sort of beauty is this noetic palace of Christ adorned? Listen to the sweet words John of Damascus, who speaks of her thus, "She was offered to God, the King of All, clad in the splendor of virtues, as it were, in a vesture of gold, and adorned in the grace of the Holy Spirit. All her glory is within, for while every wife derives glory from without, from her husband, the glory of the Theotokos is from within, that is to say, the Fruit of her womb. And again he says, "O Virgin, full of God's grace, O holy temple of God, which the Solomon who created the world has erected and in which He has dwelt! Not with gold, nor with inanimate stones are you adorned. In stead of gold the Spirit shines in you; in place of precious stones, you have Christ within you, the Pearl of great price. Such is the adornment of this palace, the beauty of which far exceeds that of Solomon's temple, in which were depicted the Cherubim, trees, and flowers. Likewise, in this animate temple, in the Most Pure Virgin, a semblance to the Cherubim may be seen; for by her manner of life, which was like that of the Cherubim, she was not only the equal of the of the Cherubim, but surpassed them. If the Church frequently refers to other Saints as Cherubim, singing, "What shall we call you, O Saints? Cherubim, for Christ has rested upon you," how much more is the Virgin Theotokos like a Cherub? for within her Christ abode in the flesh, and in her most immaculate hands God sat as though upon a throne: Therefore is she called a Cherubic throne. Moreover, in her person the likeness of fertile trees is depicted, for spiritually she is like a fruitful olive tree or a blooming date-palm in the house of the Lord. Therefore, she is now called the life-giving garden, as the Church sings , "From a barren root the God of wonders has made a life-bearing garden to spring up for us: His Mother." All this is said in respect to her spiritual beauty, but she was not lacking in physical beauty. Many of the teachers of the Church testify that there has never been, nor shall ever be a virgin as fair as the Virgin Theotokos. When Saint Dionysius the Areopagite saw her, he would have called her God, had he not known that God was born of her. The Divine grace,with which she was filled, shone forth brilliantly from her face. Such was the palace which the Heavenly King prepared beforehand on earth! She was beautiful in both soul and body, "as a bride adorned for her husband," and, what is more, exceeding spacious: "Your womb He made more spacious than the heavens, and therein Christ, God uncontainable, has been contained."

Palaces are usually constructed in such a manner that not only the King, but a multitude of his attendant servants and those who come to him from throughout the world may by amply accommodated. The spacious abode of the Word, the Most Pure Virgin, accommodates not only God the Word as King, but also us His servants, who draw close to God, Who dwells in her. She contains both God and us in her womb, in her compassionate bosom. The chosen and holy vessel, the Apostle Paul, moved by compassion, said to his beloved, spiritual children, "Our heart is enlarged; ye are not straitened in us." In which of the Saints may be found such all-embracing, Divine compassion as in the Virgin Mary? Here the chaste are accommodated, and the sinner is not excluded. Here the penitent has his place, while he who is despairing and unrepentant has a refuge like a new ark which shelters not only clean, but unclean animals as well; its entrance is not barred. Her compassion easily accommodates all those who sorrow, who are offended, who hunger, who are strangers, who are troubled, and who are sick. For it is not possible for her to be lacking in mercy, whose womb bore for us the Gracious God.

The palaces of earthly kings are guarded by armed guards, who do not allow everyone desirous to enter therein to do so, but rather stop and carefully question everyone as to why they have come. But as for the living palace of Christ, although she is surrounded by Cherubim and Seraphim, by the innumerable choirs of Angels, and by all the Saints, at the doors of her compassionate mercy no one hinders anyone who desirous of entering, neither do the guards expel anyone, nor do soldiers drive anyone away after having questioned him as to why he has come, but having prayerfully entered, he receives a gift which profits him according to his petition. Thus, let us hasten to the compassionate bosom of her who was born of a barren womb, hailing her thus, "Rejoice, O immaculate palace of the King of All! Rejoice, dwelling place of God and of the Word! To Him, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and to you, O Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and Bride of the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory from us mortals unto the ages, Amen.

— St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov*

* — I wish to thank Carson Chittom for his generous donation of the dash ("—") in this line!