Axion Estin
Axion estin (Greek: Ἄξιόν ἐστιν, Slavonic: Достóйно éсть, Dostóino yesť), or It is Truly Meet, is a megalynarion and a theotokion, i.e. a magnification[1] of and a Hymn to Mary used in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. It consists of a troparion and a sticheron composed in honor of the Theotokos (i.e. the Virgin Mary).
Axion estin is also the name of type of icon of the Theotokos, also known as the Eleousa type, after the icon of Karyes (Mount Athos) in front of which, according to tradition, the hymn was revealed in the late 10th century. At Karyes, the icon is currently kept in the Protaton.[2]
Icon
Axion Estin is also the name given to the icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God) before which, according to tradition, the hymn was revealed. It stands in the high place of the altar (sanctuary) of the katholikon (main church) of Karyes on Mount Athos.
According to tradition, an Elder and his disciple lived in a cell[3] on Mount Athos. One Saturday night the Elder left to attend the All-Night Vigil in Karyes. He told his disciple to chant the service alone. That evening an unknown monk who called himself Gabriel, came to the cell, and they began the Vigil together. During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, when they began to sing the Magnificat, the disciple sang the original hymn "More honorable than the Cherubim…" and afterwards the visiting monk chanted it again, but with "It is truly meet…" preceding the original Irmos. As he sang, the icon began to radiate with Uncreated Light. When the disciple asked the visiting monk to write the words of the new hymn down, he took a roof tile and wrote on it with his finger, as though the tile were made of wax. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. At that moment the Archangel disappeared, but the icon of the Mother of God continued to radiate light for some time afterward.
The Eleousa ("merciful") Icon of the Mother of God, before which the hymn "It Is Truly Meet" was first chanted, was transferred to the katholikon (main church) at Karyes, known as the Protaton. The tile, with the hymn written on it, was taken to Constantinople when St. Nicholas II Chrysoberges was Patriarch (984-996).
Since that time the icon has been considered the protector of the Holy Mountain and its holiest object.
Feast Day
The feast day celebrating the revelation of the hymn by the Archangel Gabriel, and the Icon of the Theotokos of the same name, is celebrated on June 11.
See also
References
- ^ In the archaic sense of the word; see "magnification". "magnify". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise. Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491.
- ^ "Ιερό Κελλί «Άξιον Εστί» | Άγιο Όρος". Retrieved 24 September 2023.
External links
- The Official site of the Holy Cell Axion Estin, on Mt. Athos
- The Revelation of Axion Estin
- It is Truly Meet the Synaxarion of the feast (note: the icon depicted here is not "Axion Estin")
- Miraculous Icon of Axion Esti
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