THE THEOTOKARION OF ST. NEKTARIOS ... ODE 4

Hail, paradise of delight

And of eternal life,

Hail, tree of life,

Fountain of immortality.

 

Hail, spring of grace,

Hail, throne of the Lord,

Hail, pure Virgin,

Hail, temple of the divine.

 

Hail, enclosed garden

of the Holy Spirit,

Hail, hallowed temple

of divine grace.

 

Hail, boast of virgins,

Hail, virgin mother,

Hail, adornment of the faithful,

Hail, Mother of God.

 

Hail, refuge of the oppressed,

Hail, stronghold of the suffering.

 

Hail, death of Hades,

Hail, lifting of the curse,

Hail, deliverance of mortals,

Hail, just retribution.

 

Hail, consolation of the faithful,

Hail, grace of virgins,

Hail, restoration of Adam,

Hail, deliverance of Eve.

 

Hail, pure Virgin,
who shattered the power of death.

Hail, for you crushed the head of the serpent,
who was the author of evil.

 

 

 

ENDNOTES FOR THE CIRCUMSPECT

Dedications.  I must first express my heart-felt gratitude to dear friends for graciously buying St. Nektarios’ Theotokarion in Greece.  Telling someone going abroad to spend time and energy to find books which they do not need and then load up their bags with unnecessary weight takes a lot of nerve, which I guess I have.  Please pray for the servants of God, the subdeacon Bilyan and his wife Emily!  May St. Nektarios pray for them, too!

Second, I owe a debt of gratitude to my eagle-eyed Aeteia for proofing my translation.  Any errors remaining are purely my own.

 

Abbott-Smith reports that “in LXX and NT” an ᾠδή is “always in praise of God or Christ.” 

The NT does not admit ᾆσμα.  Scott reports that ᾆσμα can mean song, ode or hymn. 

ὕμνος appears “in LXX and NT [as] a song of praise addressed to God.”  It is furthermore synonymous with ψαλμός, which, Abbott-Smith adds, “is sung to a musical accompaniment.” 

When Kittel says that ψαλμός, ὕμνος and ᾠδή “are brought together [in Eph. 5:19] with a view to rhetorical force,” namely, that of synonymia, he might have been describing the conjunction of ᾆσμα, ὕμνος and ᾠδή in the current ode.

“Immortality” (ἀφθαρσία).  This word appears to be more usually translated as incorruption, and so has acquired the status of a religious technical term in English.  By contrast, neither incorrupt nor incorruption are found in The Concise Oxford Dictionary, whose editors confined themselves to words “in living use or familiar through their occurrence in frequently quoted literature of the past.”  Davis’ frequency list of English words does not include it in the top 20K.  Apparently Greeks are not alone in using rare words for religious effect.

We would expect to translate παράδεισε τρυφῆς idiomatically as luxuriant garden (following Muraoka), but ζωῆς τε αἰωνίας depends on παράδεισε.  “Virgin” (κόρη).  Anglophones usually render as maiden, which is impossible.  Please see the relevant note on the canon to the Father of the Forerunner, Zechariah, to see why. 

“The divine” (τοῦ θείου).  One wants to say of God as does the Nun Christina.  St. Nektarios, however, clearly writes τοῦ θείου, not τοῦ θεοῦ.

“Enclosed garden” (ἐσφραγισμένε κῆπε).  It appears to be a reminiscence of the Song of Solomon 4:12 (κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη), but not a direct quote.

“Oppressed” (καταπονουμένων).  Montie reports crushed, worn out.

“Suffering” (χειμαζομένων).  Great Scott reports toss like a storm, distress.  This leads to the metaphorical meanings—common in the passive participles—like tempest-tossed, storm-driven, then to distressed, suffering grievously.

“Consolation” (παράκλησις).  Lampe reports that this word could also be taken as refreshment, entreaty, advocacy.

“Grace” (φίλτρον).  Great Scott reports that this word means love-charm, spell, affection, love; Schrevelius, charm, grace, attraction; Giles, excitement to courage; Montie, love, affection (in the pl.).  Mr. K. reports tenderness, tender love, affection; charm, spell, philter.  Bude adds to the preceding vulgo gratia dicitur, hoc est, corporis habitus, gestus, dignitas, aut venustas, ita oculis hominum grata.  The Lexico de Magia goes on about this word, whose referent is so vital to the upkeep of magicians.  The reader may decide for himself which of these definitions he likes best.  I am half-inclined to render charm.