Sophronios of Jerusalem, Prayer to the Mother of God

Print PDF

Written by Sophronios of Jerusalem

Truly, you are blessed among women,
for you have changed Eve's curse into a blessing;
and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse,
has been blessed because of you.

Truly, you are blessed among women,
Through you the Father's blessing has shone forth on mankind,
setting them free of their ancient curse.

Truly, you are blessed among women,
because through you
your forebearers have found salvation.
For you were to give birth to the Savior
who was to win them salvation.

Truly, you are blessed among women,
for without seed you have borne, as your fruit,
him who bestows blessings on the whole world
and redeems it from that curse
that made it sprout thorns.

Truly, you are blessed among women,
because, though a woman by nature,
you will become, in reality, God's mother.
If he whom you are to bear is truly God make flesh,
then rightly do we call you God's mother.
For you have truly given birth to God.


The dates of Sophronius are AD 560-638.

Top Five Related Texts

Services of the Dormition of the Theotokos
Complete hymnography from the Menaion for the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, including all the texts for the All-Night Vigil...
Ascetic: Reflections on the Way of Self-Sacrifice
A sustained dialogue, alternating between poem and reflection, recounting the interactions of a young diciple and an elder, on the contours of the ascetic...
Lamentations of the Dormition of the Theotokos
The rite of the Burial of the Mother of God, with the lamentations before the shroud (epitaphios) of the Theotokos, which forms a part of the Feast of...
Monasticism Studies Area
In the Orthodox Christian tradition, monasticism is often called the 'barometer of the spiritual life of the Church.' So great has the influence of and...
On prayer as the source from which all good comes
A brief reflection on the nature of prayer as the source of all blessing in Christian...