Stasis 2
It is truly meet
to magnify the one who grants life,
Thee, that stretched Thine hands wide upon the Cross,
broke and smashed the might and power of the foe.
-Thine hands made me and fashioned me; make me understand and I shall learn Thy commandments.
It is truly meet
Thee to magnify, who fashioned all things,
Thy sufferings, from corruption deliver us,
and Thy Passion grants dispassion to our souls.
-Those who fear Thee will see me and be glad, because I have hoped in Thy words.
All Earth quaked in fear
and the sun concealed itself, 0 Saviour,
when, 0 Christ, our light, Thou set bodily,
as the light that knows no evening was entombed.
-I know, Lord, that Thy judgements are justice, and that in truth Thou disciplined me.
Seeing Thee on high,
never separated from the Father,
yet below on Earth, laid out as a corpse,
the dread Seraphim, my Saviour, shake with fear.
-0 let Thy mercy be for my comfort, according to Thy word to Thy servant.
See, the Temple Veil,
rent asunder at Thy crucifixion,
Heavens beacons hide, 0 my Christ, their light,
to see Thee, the Sun, now hid beneath the earth.
-Let Thy mercies come to me, and I shall live, because Thy law is my meditation.
Come, now, let us sing,
let our sacred hymn lament the dead Christ,
singing as the Myrrh-bearing women did,
that with them we too may hear the word “rejoice!”
-Let the proud be shamed, for they have wronged me unjustly; but I shall meditate on Thy commandments.
“Dreadful is the wound,
all my inward parts are rent asunder,
as Thine unjust slaughter I see, 0 Word”,
cried the Virgin most afflicted as she wept.
-Let those who fear Thee and know Thy testimonies turn back to me.
“Tell me, Word of God,
how am I to close Thy lips and sweet eyes,
how to bury Thee as befits the dead?”
cried the noble Joseph, shivering with fear.
-Let my heart become blameless in Thy statutes, that I may not be ashamed.
Suffering, 0 Word,
Thou were quite bereft of form and beauty;
Rising, Lord, Thou shone forth resplendently,
and with Thy Godheads rays made mortals fair.
-My soul faints for Thy salvation, I have hoped in Thy words.
Seeing Thee, my Christ,
Thee, the Light invisible, now hidden,
lifeless in the grave, then the sun on high
shook and trembled as its light grew dark in fear.
-My eyes have grown weak looking for Thy salvation and the word of Thy justice.
Bitterly she wept,
Thine all-blameless Mother, when she saw Thee
lying dead, 0 Word, lying in the tomb,
the eternal God no language can express.
-Because I have become like a wineskin in the frost, I have not forgotten Thy statutes.
“0 my Child, behold
the disciple whom Thou loved; my sweet one,
see Thy Mother too, and grant us a word”,
cried the Virgin as she raised her sad lament.
-How many are Thy servants days? When will Thee execute judgement on my persecutors?
Hades, deaths dread lord,
shook in fear, he shuddered when he saw Thee,
Sun of glory, deathless and radiant,
and he gave up all his prisoners in haste.
-Glory to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Great eternal God,
co-eternal Word and Holy Spirit,
look down in Thy goodness on those who rule,
grant their sceptres strength against the warlike foe.
-Both now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.
Wholly undefiled,
Mother, who gave birth to life, pure Virgin,
end all scandals which still beset Church,
and as thou art loving Mother, grant her peace.
It is truly meet
to magnify the one who grants life,
Thee, that stretched Thine hands wide upon the Cross,
broke and smashed the might and power of the foe.
