O spotless Theotokos, who ineffably gavest birth to the Word Who was of the Father before the ages, open my mouth, O modest one, that I may be rendered capable of praising thee, and may acclaim thee, crying these things unto thy Spring:Rejoice, Spring of unceasing joyfulness.
Rejoice, Stream of ineffable comeliness;
Rejoice, Banishment of diverse impairments.
Rejoice, Destruction of varied ailments;
Rejoice, Brook of clarity, curing the believing.
Rejoice, Water of felicity, manifoldly healing the ailing;
Rejoice, Lymph of wisdom, banishment of ignorance.
Rejoice, Draught for the heart, brimming with ambrosia in abundance;
Rejoice, Bowl of manna with life a-streaming.
Rejoice, Laver and Nectar, divinely-wise flowing;
Rejoice, thou who hast shown us a passage from illness.
Rejoice, thou who didst quench the fire of sickness;
Rejoice, O Water of salvation.
This is the Oikos from today's service in the Pentecostarion. For more on today's commemoration of the Life-Giving Spring, see my post from last year.
OK, I had no idea what a "lymph of wisdom" meant. All I could think of was lymph node, and that seemed to have very little to do with wisdom, even metaphorically - maybe health, fighting off disease/sickness/sin, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo, for the rest of the uneducated, from the American Heritage dictionary entry for "lymph":
2. Archaic A spring or stream of pure, clear water.
[Latin lympha, water nymph, from Greek numphē, young bride, water nymph.]
Dictionary.com itself includes this alternate definition, too:
Archaic. the sap of a plant.
Father Bless
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you posting once again. Thru Christ, you provide much spiritual food to your readers.
Serge King
Cincinnati. OH