Axion Estin

The Byzantine hymn to the Mother of God.

Sung at nearly every Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite, immediately after the consecration. It is the East’s equivalent of the Hail Mary in frequency — short, universally known, and sung by everyone.

The Hymn

It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos,
ever blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God.

More honourable than the Cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim,
without corruption you gave birth to God the Word.

True Theotokos, we magnify you.

In Greek

Axion estin os alithos
makarizein se tin Theotokon,
tin aeimakariston kai panamomiton
kai mitera tou Theou imon.

About This Hymn

The claim in the middle is the boldest thing said about any creature in Christian worship: more honourable than the Cherubim, more glorious than the Seraphim. The East does not hedge. It is sung, matter-of-factly, at the most solemn moment of the Liturgy, by congregations who have been singing it since childhood.