{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/213/2130244.htm","path":"chr/ecf/213/2130244.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/213/2130244.htm","text":"Resp.\u2014Praise be to Him Who sent Him! (bis)\n1. Blessed art thou, O Church, for lo! in thee is the sound,\u2014of the great feast the festival of the King!\u2014Sion is deserted, her gates are sore athirst,\u2014and forsaken of festivals.\u2014Blessed thy gates that are open yet not filled,\u2014and thy halls that are enlarged yet suffice not!\u2014In the midst of thee lo! is the sound, of the nations that cry out, and have put to silence the People.\n2. Blessed art thou, O Church, that in thy festivals,\u2014the Watchers rejoice amid thy festivity!\u2014for one night the Watchers gave praise,\u2014on the earth which withheld and refused praise.\u2014Blessed thy voices that have been sown and reaped,\u2014and in Heaven stored up in garners!\u2014Thy mouth is a censer, and thy voices as perfumes, breathing vapour in thy festivals.\n3. Blessed art thou, O Church, that all oblations,\u2014are brought unto thee in this feast.\u2014The Magi once among traitors, offered them to the Truth.\u2014Blessed thy abode that He bowed Himself and dwelt therein, Son of the King Who is worshipped with gifts!\u2014Gold from the West, and spices from the East,\u2014are offered in Thy Festivals.\n4. Blessed art thou, O Church, that there is not with thee,\u2014a tyrant King slayer of babes! for he killed in Bethlehem the little ones at random,\u2014that he might put to death the Child that gives life to all.\u2014Blessed thy children that are envied and worshipped,\u2014by Kings, for those are promised for Thy worship,\u2014the crowns of the East:\u2014he who trod down thy dear ones, shall be trodden down by thy beloved.\n5. Blessed art thou, O Church, for lo! over thee,\u2014Isaiah too exults in his prophecy,\u2014\u201dLo a Virgin shall conceive and bear,\u2014a Son\u201d Whose name is great mystery!\u2014O interpretation revealed in the Church!\u2014two names that were joined and became one;\u2014\u201dEmmanuel,\u201d\u2014God be with thee ever, Who joined thee with His members!\n6. Blessed art thou, O Church, in Micah who cried out,\u2014\u201cA Shepherd shall come forth from Ephrata\u201d:\u2014for He came to Bethlehem to take\u2014from thence the rod of Jesse and to rule the nations.\u2014Blessed thy lambs that are sealed with His seal,\u2014and thy sheep that are kept by His sword!\u2014Thou art, O Church,\u2014the abiding Bethlehem,\u2014for in thee is the Bread of Life! 507\n7. Blessed art thou, O Church, for lo! in thee rejoices,\u2014Daniel also the man beloved,p. 260 \u2014who foretold that the glorious Messiah shall be killed,\u2014and the city of holiness be laid desolate at His killing!\u2014Woe to the People that was rejected and is not converted\u2014Blessed the nations that were called and turned not away!\u2014The bidden guests refused,\u2014and others in their stead enjoyed their banquet.\n8. Blessed art thou, O Church, for on thy, lute, lo! King David sings psalms in thee! In the Spirit he sings of Him \u201cThou art My Son and I\u2014this day have begotten Thee\u201d in the glories of holiness.\u2014Blessed thy ears that have been purged to hear!\u2014On His day watch thou as His Body and call on Him;\u2014be taught by Sion,\u2014which saddened His Feast; make Him glad Who has gladdened thee.\n9. Blessed art thou, O Church, that all festivals\u2014have taken flight from Sion and sheltered with thee!\u2014In the midst of thee the wearied Prophets have found rest,\u2014from the labour and the reproachthey bore in Judah.\u2014Blessed the books unrolled in thy temples,\u2014and the festivals celebrated in thy shrines!\u2014Sion is forsaken,\u2014and lo! today the nations shout in thy festivals.\n10. Blessed art thou, O Church, in ten blessings,\u2014which our Lord has given as a mystery complete:\u2014for on ten all the numbers hang, therefore art thou perfect by ten blessings.\u2014Blessed thy crowns that are twined\u2014with all blessings mixed in every crown!\u2014O blessed one,\u2014with every blessing crowned, on me too send thy blessing!\n11. Blessed art thou, Ephrata, mother of Kings, that from thee sprang the Lord of diadems!\u2014Micah gave thee tidings that He is from everlasting, and the span of His times is not comprehended.\u2014Blessed thine eyes which first of all discerned Him!\u2014thee He deemed worthy to see Him when He appeared,\u2014Chief of benediction,\u2014and Beginning of gladness, thou didst receive first of all.\n12. Blessed art thou, Bethlehem, that the towns envy thee,\u2014and the fortified cities!\u2014As they envy thee, so the women envy Mary,\u2014and the virgins daughters of princes.\u2014Blessed the maiden in whom He deigned to abide,\u2014and the city wherein He deigned to sojourn;\u2014a poor maiden,\u2014and a small city, He chose Him to humble Himself.\n13. Blessed art thou, Bethlehem, that in thee was the beginning,\u2014for Him the Son Who from everlasting is in the Father!\u2014It is hard to comprehend, that before Time He is,\u2014Who in thee made Himself subject to Time.\u2014Blessed thine ears, for in thee first was heard the cry\u2014of the Lamb of God who exulted in thee!\u2014Narrow though thy manger,\u2014He spread Himself on all sides, and was worshipped of every creature.\n14. Blessed art thou too, Mary, that thy name\u2014is great and exalted because of thy child!\u2014Thou canst tell then how and how long\u2014and where He dwelt in thee, the great One in small room.\u2014Blessed thy mouth that praised and enquired not,\u2014and thy tongue that glorified and questioned not!\u2014For His Mother was uncertain concerning Him,\u2014even while she carried Him in the womb; who then shall suffice to comprehend Him?\n15. O Woman, thou whom no man knew,\u2014how can we behold the Son thou hast borne?\u2014For no eyes suffice to stand\u2014before the transfigurations of the glory, that is on Him.\u2014For tongues of fire abide in Him\u2014Who sent tongues by His Ascension.\u2014Be every tongue warned,\u2014that our questioning is as stubble, and as fire our scrutiny.\n16. Blessed is he the priest who in the sanctuary,\u2014offers to the Father the Son of the Father,\u2014the fruit that is plucked from our tree, though it be wholly of the Divine Majesty!\u2014Blessed the hands that are hallowed and offer Him!\u2014and the lips that are spent in kissing Him!\u2014The Spirit in the Temple\u2014longed for His embrace; and at His Crucifixion rent the veil and went forth.\n17. The Archangel gave thee greeting,\u2014as the earnest of holiness\u2014Earth became to him new Heavens,\u2014when the Watcher came down and sang glory on it.\u2014The sons p. 261 of the Highest encompassed thy habitation\u2014because of the Son of the King that dwelt in thee.\u2014Thy abode below,\u2014to the Heaven above was made like by the host of Watchers.","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. XIII: Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage.: Hymn XVIII.","type":"page"}