Praise of Mary
Day One ('Sunday') part 3
Editor’s Note:
This will likely be my last post on these poems honoring the Holy Virgin Mary according to the Ge’ez rite for a bit. In the future, we will come back to these and the Princeton dissertation of His Holiness (disputed 5th Patriarch of the EOTC) abune Pawlos (Paul) on filseta (her translation) we’irgeta (her ascension); what the Latins call her Assumption, and the Greeks call her Dormition. A full version will Godwilling be made available to you dear readers and others.
O blessed woman amongst women, you were appointed to be the beloved woman. You are the second inner room, appointed the holy of holies, inside which is the ark of the covenant, the ten words that were written by the fingers of the lord. He first brought us this news through iota, which is the first name of our savior Jesus Christ, who became man from you, without change, and became the conciliator of the new testament. And by the spilling of his holy blood he purified the faithful (ones) and the pure (ones) of the people.
Beg for us, holy woman!
And because of this, we magnify you, all of us, o our lady, pure woman who gave birth to God. We beg you and look up toward you, so that we may receive forgiveness from the Lover of Mankind. You are the portable, temporary, and holy dwelling place of the Lord, gilded on all sides, crafted of wood that cannot be eaten (by termites, moths, and worms); that, for us, is like the word of the Lord, who became man without splitting and without changing. His divinity is pure, without decay, equal with (God) the Father, and he (the Son) is the one who was announced to the pure woman. Without seed, he became like us, with the skill of his holy wisdom; he who became man from you, he who is without accursedness, added his divinity.
Beg for us, holy woman!
You are the holy place which the cherubim who were illustrated in the illustration of the Lord encircle. The word, who was made flesh from you, o pure woman, without change, became the blotter outer of our sins and the destroyer of our trespasses.
Beg for us, holy woman!
You are the pure food-basket of gold, in which the manna is hidden; the bread which came down from the heavens, and gave life to the whole world.
Beg for us, holy woman!
You are the candlestick of gold which carries a sunbeam ray at all times; he who is the light of the world, the light of light, who has no beginning, true God of God, who became flesh of you, without change. And by his advent, he illuminated us, those who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. And he adjusted our feet to the path of peace, with the mystery of his holy wisdom.
Beg for us, holy woman!
Interpreter’s Notes:
Drawn in the image of is a more dynamic and thought-for-thought rendering of illustrated in the illustration of, pero like, I have a deep sickness which is a desire to show you authentically what the Ge’ez looks like. This is why I recently edited another Marian prayer to say blessed are you amongst all women and blessed is the fruit of your belly (kers), rather than the common womb (mahitsen). For whatever reason, the Ge’ez authors and editors chose belly, gut, innards, inside, the totality of the region that contains the womb rather than just the womb itself. They chose to say rectangle instead of square. My fealty pays them homage.