Today in my readings, I read:

The saints of God live even after their death. Thus, I often hear in church the Mother of God singing her wonderful, heart-penetrating song which she said in the house of her cousin Elizabeth, after the Annunciation of the Archangel. At times, I hear the song of Moses; the song of Zacharias — the father of the Forerunner; that of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel; that of the three children; and that of Miriam. And how many holy singers of the New Testament delight until now the ear of the whole Church of God! And the Divine service itself — the sacraments, the rites? Whose spirit is there, moving and touching our hearts? That of God and of His saints. Here is a proof for you of the immortality of men’s souls. How is it that all these men have died, and yet are governing our lives after their death — they are dead and they still speak, instruct and touch us?

– “My Life in Christ” St. John of Kronstadt

What a wonderful thing to reflect upon! It’s true — we hear the Magnificat sung during Orthros. And if you heard the whole Canon (which is usually just done in an abbreviated form) you would hear the other canticles he mentions, all sung by a chanter or choir offering their voices to these ancient expressions of faith, joy and piety.

This is what I thought of recently when facing the accusation that the Ancient Church somehow died away. One of the things I couldn’t express to someone who hasn’t seen it is what it sounds like, looks like, feels like to attend the services where, as St. John says “the saints of God live even after their death.” I thought of it this week when we sang the Evlogitaria during Orthros, when chanters take the verses and everyone joins in to sing the refrain “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.” How many centuries have we sung that? Or the Trisagion Hymn? (I think I’ve heard that dates back to the sixth century.)

There’s a wealth to the history of even the incidental hymns in the services. I just happened to notice today that we commemorate “The Appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a Monk on Mt. Athos, and the Revelation of the Hymn, “It Is Truly Meet…” Or Axion Estin”

Well, that sounded interesting, and I’ve always liked that hymn (hasn’t everyone always liked that hymn?), so I went to the OCA Website to check it out. Here’s the story:

The “It is Truly Meet” Icon of the Mother of God is in the high place of the altar of the cathedral church of the Karyes monastery on Mount Athos.

One Saturday night an Elder went to Karyes for the all-night Vigil. He left, instructing his disciple to remain behind and read the service in their cell. As it grew dark, the disciple heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw an unknown monk who called himself Gabriel, and he invited him to come in. They stood before the icon of the Mother of God and read the service together with reverence and compunction.

During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, the disciple began to sing “My soul magnifies the Lord…” with the Irmos of St Cosmas the Hymnographer (October 14), “More honorable than the Cherubim….”

The stranger sang the next verse, “For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden….” Then he chanted something the disciple had never heard before, “It is truly meet to bless Thee, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God…” Then he continued with, “More honorable than the Cherubim.…”

While the hymn was being sung, the icon of the Theotokos shone with a heavenly light. The disciple was moved by the new version of the familiar hymn, and asked his guest to write the words down for him. When the stranger asked for paper and ink, the disciple said that they did not have any.

The stranger took a roof tile and wrote the words of the hymn on its surface with his finger. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. The angel said, “Sing in this manner, and all the Orthodox as well.” Then he disappeared, and the icon of the Mother of God continued to radiate light for some time afterward.

The Eleousa Icon of the Mother of God, before which the hymn “It Is Truly Meet” was first sung, was transferred to the katholikon at Karyes. The tile, with the hymn written on it by the Archangel Gabriel, was taken to Constantinople when St Nicholas Chrysoberges (December 16) was Patriarch.

Numerous copies of the “It Is Truly Meet” Icon are revered in Russian churches. At the Galerna Harbor of Peterburg a church with five cupolas was built in honor of the Merciful Mother of God, and into it they put a grace-bearing copy of the “It Is Truly Meet” icon sent from Athos.