Hail, holy Sophia, the messenger divinely-appointed
Of bronze, shining beneath virgin oil, God-anointed.
In the hand of the Lord you were taken as His lyre,
A sacred tool, to awaken in the nations holy desire.
Lament, O Asia! for you have given our sibyl death!
The chorus of a myriad sighs draws a single breath.
But fear not, O Asia! for the sibyl's precious dower
Renders the kingdom of heaven her pleasant bower.
The metalworker hones her craft, seeking perfection,
But what is there more perfect than your reflection
Caught in the gleaming silver on Demetrius's breast,
Upon whose authority your life was so cruelly wrest?
"Whore," is on the lips of every Mekhanite patriarch;
Atop pulpits, presbyters denounce you, "Heresiarch!"
Against you are all the worldly authorities arranged
With epistles and schemata to make hearts inflamed.
Yet unbreakable was your faith to the God Unbroken!
Fearlessly you prophesied to our nation now-chosen,
Persecuted as we are by neighbor and by magistrate,
With ceaseless patience we await our destined fate.
When we witness the craftsman of heaven and earth
Break open the firmament, to unleash unlimited mirth,
There shall be much weeping and gnashing of teeth
As all the slaves of the flesh howl savagely beneath.
Come, Christ Jesus, you who were of the Spirit born,
Descend with the Six Angels through heavens torn!
Hasten too Ezekiel who rides within the Lord's wheel
Toward the shrouded east for the architect of steel.
The architect's skill, and the Six Angels' supervision,
United with Jesus' will, and holy Sophia's precision,
Join as one to fulfill Christ Jesus' prophecy to raise
The third, infinite Temple of the Lord in three days.
And there in the house of the Lord I will surely dwell
With you, holy Sophia! How gladly my heart will swell!
For there is none upon the earth whose love is sweet
As the love of Wisdom, she who extinguishes all deceit.
