L'icône de la Mère de Dieu "IL EST DIGNE" ("AXION ESTI", "DOSTOÏNO
IEST"), protectrice du Mont Athos où elle est conservée au Protaton de
Karyès (Xème siècle). (Acathiste traduit en français par le père Denis
Guillaume au tome VI du Supplément aux Ménées.)
The “It is Truly Meet” Icon of the Mother of God is in the high place
of the altar of the cathedral church of the Karyes monastery on Mount
Athos.
One Saturday night an Elder went to Karyes for the
all-night Vigil. He left, instructing his disciple to remain behind and
read the service in their cell. As it grew dark, the disciple heard a
knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw an unknown monk who
called himself Gabriel, and he invited him to come in. They stood before
the icon of the Mother of God and read the service together with
reverence and compunction.
During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, the
disciple began to sing “My soul magnifies the Lord...” with the Irmos
of St Cosmas the Hymnographer (October 14), “More honorable than the
Cherubim....”
The stranger sang the next verse, “For He has
regarded the low estate of His handmaiden....” Then he chanted something
the disciple had never heard before, “It is truly meet to bless Thee, O
Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God...”
Then he continued with, “More honorable than the Cherubim....”
While
the hymn was being sung, the icon of the Theotokos shone with a
heavenly light. The disciple was moved by the new version of the
familiar hymn, and asked his guest to write the words down for him. When
the stranger asked for paper and ink, the disciple said that they did
not have any.
The stranger took a roof tile and wrote the words of
the hymn on its surface with his finger. The disciple knew then that
this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. The angel said,
“Sing in this manner, and all the Orthodox as well.” Then he
disappeared, and the icon of the Mother of God continued to radiate
light for some time afterward.
The Eleousa Icon of the Mother of
God, before which the hymn “It Is Truly Meet” was first sung, was
transferred to the katholikon at Karyes. The tile, with the hymn written
on it by the Archangel Gabriel, was taken to Constantinople when St
Nicholas Chrysoberges (December 16) was Patriarch.
Numerous
copies of the “It Is Truly Meet” Icon are revered in Russian churches.
At the Galerna Harbor of Peterburg a church with five cupolas was built
in honor of the Merciful Mother of God, and into it they put a
grace-bearing copy of the “It Is Truly Meet” icon sent from Athos.
Synaxe de la Mère de Dieu, en mémoire de la révélation de l'hymne "AXION ESTIN" par le saint Archange Gabriel (982).
https://doxologia.ro/sfantul-cuvios-gavriil-din-kapsala
http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/06/11/101694-commemoration-of-the-appearance-of-the-archangel-gabriel-to-a-mo
During the reign of the emperors Basil and Constantine
Porphyrogenitos, and the patriarchate of St Nicholas Chrysoberges
(984-995), a certain Elder and his disciple lived near Karyes, the
administrative center of the Holy Mountain.
One Saturday evening,
the Elder decided to go to Karyes to participate in the Vigil service
for Sunday. He left, instructing his disciple to remain behind and read
the service in their cell. As it grew dark, the disciple heard a knock
on the door. When he opened the door, he saw an unknown monk who called
himself Gabriel, and he invited him to come in. They stood before the
icon of the Mother of God and read the service together with reverence
and compunction. During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, the disciple began
to sing “My soul magnifies the Lord...” with the Irmos of St Cosmas the
Hymnographer (October 14), “More honorable than the Cherubim....”
The
stranger sang the next verse, “For He has regarded the low estate of
His handmaiden....” Then he chanted something the disciple had never
heard before, “It is truly meet to bless Thee, O Theotokos, ever-blessed
and most pure, and the Mother of our God...” Then he continued with,
“More honorable than the Cherubim....”
While the hymn was being
sung, the icon of the Theotokos shone with a heavenly light. The
disciple was moved by the new version of the familiar hymn, and asked
his guest to write the words down for him. When the stranger asked for
paper and ink, the disciple said that they did not have any.
The
stranger took a roof tile and wrote the words of the hymn on its surface
with his finger. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk,
but the Archangel Gabriel. The angel said, “Sing in this manner, and
all the Orthodox as well.” Then he disappeared, and the icon of the
Mother of God continued to radiate light for some time afterward.
The tile was taken to Constantinople when St Nicholas Chrysoberges (December 16) was Patriarch.
