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11.
Hail the divine and dignified,
high and holy, heaven-kindly Trinity,
blessed across the broad and abundant plains,
who the speech-bearers, the dejected earth-dwellers
must by rights praise highly with all their means,
now that the pledge-fast God has revealed to us
the Savior so that we are able to understand him.
Therefore they, deed-brave, have been endowed
with glory, so that the soothfast kindred of the Seraphim,
glorying upwards among the angels forever,
unwearying they sing of majesty very loftily
with a loud voice, fair to all far and near.
They hold an office most choice with their king—
and Christ granted it to them, so that they might
brook his presence at the table in their eyes
for ever and ever, adorned with the sky,
worthying the Wielder widely and broadly,
and with their wings ward over the face
of Lord Almighty, the Eternal Ruler,
and about the princely seat they eagerly throng—
whichever of them can bounce in flight
nearest to our Savior in those peaceful yards.
They adore the Dear One and in dazzling light
they call these words to him, glorifying
the noble Originator of all creation:
“Holy you are, holy, Lord of the High-Angels,
True Power of Victories, always you shall be holy,
Lord of All Lords! Always shall your splendor
abide, earthly among mankind—through all time
widely worthied. You are the God of Armies,
because you filled both earth and heaven,
Shelter of Warriors, with your glories,
Helmet of All Creatures!
Let there be in the heights eternal salvation,
and praises on the earth, bright among the warriors.
You are blessed dearly, who came to the multitudes
in the name of the Lord, as a comfort to the abject.
May you be the eternal praises of the lofty heavens
forever without end.” (378-415)
12.
Hail and behold! What a marvelous exchange
in the lives of men, that the Gentle Shaper
of humankind should take up sinless flesh
in a woman, who knows naught
of the caress of a man, nor did the Owner of Victories
come through the seed of any man on earth—
but it was a keener craft than all the earth-dwellers
could comprehend due to its mysterious nature.
How he, Triumph of the Skies, High-Lord of Heaven,
effected help for humankind through his mother’s womb.
And so going forth, the Savior of the People
deals out every day his forgiveness as a help
to men, the Lord of Hosts. Therefore let us
praise him faithfully and vigorously
in our words and deeds. It is a lofty counsel
in every person that always keeps the memory,
that most often, most inwardly, and most eagerly
that they should honor God.
He shall reward them with recompense
of his love, the hallowed Savior himself,
even in the homeland where had never come,
in the delights of the land of the living,
where he shall blessedly afterwards abide,
and inhabit to the fullness of life
without end. Amen. (416-39)
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