Axion Estin
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Axion estin (Greek: Άξιον εστίν, Slavonic: Достóйно éсть, Dostóino yesť), or It is Truly Meet, is a theotokion (sticheron composed in honor of the Theotokos), which is chanted in the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches.
One translation of the hymn goes as follows:
It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos,
ever blessed, and most pure, and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim.
Without corruption thou gavest birth to God the Word.
True Theotokos, we magnify thee.
The second half of the hymn, beginning with the words, "More honorable than the cherubim..." is the older part of the hymn, and is attributed to St. Cosmas of Maiuma († 773). The introduction, "It is truly meet..." was, according to tradition, revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos.
The hymn is chanted at Matins, Compline, and other services; but its most important occurrence is at the Divine Liturgy, where it is chanted at the conclusion of the Anaphora.
Often, the chanting of this hymn is followed by either a metania or a prostration.
[edit] Hymns in place of Axion Estin
During the Divine Liturgy, Axion Estin is sometimes replaced by another hymn to the Theotokos. These hymns are referred to in the service books as "in place of Axion Estin" (Slavonic: Задостойнникъ, Zadostoinnik).
At the Liturgy of St. Basil, it is replaced by the hymn:
All of Creation rejoices in thee, O full of grace:
the angels in heaven and the race of men,
O sanctified temple and noetic paradise,
the glory of virgins, of whom God was incarnate
and became a child, our God before the ages.
He made thy body into a throne,
and thy womb more spacious than the heavens.
All of creation rejoices in thee, O full of grace:
Glory be to thee.
On the Great Feasts, it is replaced by the Irmos of the ninth Ode of the Canon of the Feast.
