In Thee All Creation Rejoiceth
This song, attributed to St John Damascene (676-749), a contemporary of our own St Bede, acclaims Mary as the birth-giver of God. Christ’s birth is a joy for all creation, because spirit and body alike are blessed by it.
In Thee Rejoiceth
IN thee rejoiceth, O thou who art full of grace, every created being, the Hierarchy of the Angels, and all mankind, O Consecrated Temple and super-sensual Paradise, Glory of Virgins, of whom God, who is our Gd before all the ages, was incarnate and became a little child. For he made of thy womb a throne, and thy belly did he make more spacious than the heavens. In thee doth all Creation rejoice, O thou who art full of grace: glory be to thee.
Translated by Isabel Hapgood
Another Translation
ALL creation rejoiceth over thee,* thou that art highly favoured,* the ranks of angels, and the race of men, O hallowed temple and spiritual* paradise, glory* of virgins, from whom God took flesh and became a little child, even our God from everlasting;* for he made thy womb a throne, and thy womb* he made wider than the heavens. All creation rejoiceth over thee, thou that art highly favoured: glory be to thee.
* In Greek ἐπὶ σοὶ, recalling Isaiah 62:5: ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over (ἐπί) the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee (ἐπὶ σοί).’
* See Luke 1:28. The words often translated as ‘full of Grace’ are rendered as ‘highly favoured’ in the Authorised Version.
* In Greek λογικός, translated in the AV by ‘spiritual’ or ‘reasonable,’ that is, not belonging to the senses but to some higher realm.
* In Greek καύχημα, translated in the AV by ‘boast’ or ‘glory.’
* See Psalm 90:2: ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.’ On the analogy of the Prayer Book’s translation of the Creed, ‘even our God before all worlds’ would be another possibility.
* The Greek uses two synonyms for ‘womb,’ μήτρα and γαστήρ, but English does not have two to correspond. Hapgood’s ‘belly’ for γαστήρ is authentic, but unlovely; γαστήρ is translated ‘womb’ in Luke 1:31.
Greek Text
Ἐπὶ σοὶ χαίρει, Κεχαριτωμένη, πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις· Ἀγγέλων τὸ σύστημα καὶ ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος, ἡγιασμένε ναὲ καὶ παράδεισε λογικέ, παρθενικὸν καύχημα, ἐξ ἧς Θεός ἐσαρκώθη καὶ παιδίον γέγονεν, ὁ πρὸ αἰώνων ὑπάρχων Θεὸς ἡμῶν· τὴν γὰρ σὴν μήτραν θρόνον ἐποίησε, καὶ τὴν σὴν γαστέρα πλατυτέραν οὐρανῶν ἀπειργάσατο. Ἐπὶ σοὶ χαίρει, Κεχαριτωμένη, πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις· δόξα σοι.