Most hymns to the Mother of God are “general purpose”, usable throughout the year, while some have verses for a variety of occasions. This spiritual song is intended for singing in connection with a particular feast of the Theotokos: her entry into the Temple in Jerusalem, which we celebrate on November 21.
For the new hymnal, we have kept essentially unchanged the version in the Marian Hymnal (1984), only changing the key from C to D:
And here is the Slavonic.
Discussion
The images here are taken largely from the Protoevangelium of James, and the liturgical texts for the feast.
There is a SLIGHT diconnect between melody and text in the last line of the third verse: any sort of pause between “filled with gracious” and holy gifts” seems to strive against the sense. It would be good to teach cantors to sing “through” the bar line here – that is, to take at most a very quick breath and keep going, maintaining the rhythm – and this could be done with the other verses as well.
Thoughts or suggestions?
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