Summa This, Summa That
Because yesterday’s Mendelssohn reminded me so much of Russian sacred music (and because today is Our Lady’s Day), I find myself moving fairly straight-forwardly to the fifth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 9 Sacred Pieces, the gorgeous “It Is Truly Meet.”
Достойно есть, яко воистину блажити Тя Богородицу,
присноблаженную и пренепорочную и Матерь Бога нашего,
Честнейшую херувим и славнейшую без сравнения серафим,
без истления Бога Слова рождшую, сущую Богородицу Тя величаем.It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos,
ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the Cherubim,
and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim,
without defilement you gave birth to God the Word.
True Theotokos we magnify you!
Attribution(s): “Our Lady of Kazan (Moscow),” licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; “The Bells,” from Shutterstock
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