Irmos: Give me a robe of light; dress in light like a robe, O most merciful Christ our God.
Holy Angel of God, my guardian, pray to God for me.
Free me from all misfortunes, and save me from sorrows, I pray to you, holy Angel, given to me by God, my good guardian.
Holy Angel of God, my guardian, pray to God for me.
Illuminate my mind, O blessed one, and enlighten me, I pray to you, holy Angel, and always instruct me to think usefully.
Slava:
Tire my heart from real rebellion, and be vigilant, strengthen me in good things, my guardian, and guide me wonderfully to the silence of animals.
And now:
The Word of God dwells in You, Mother of God, by man showing You the heavenly ladder; Because of you, the Most High has come down to us to eat.
Get dressed - getting dressed. Ustavi - direct; hold. From the present rebellion - from the present storm, confusion. Children, strengthen me in good things - strengthen me to stay awake in good things (in the good state of the soul). Animals - full of life. Ladder - ladder.
+ Dress yourself in light like a robe - words from Ps.103, v. 2: Dress yourself in light like a robe, stretch out the sky like a skin. (You dress yourself in light like a robe, you stretch out the heavens like a tent.)
Instruct me wonderfully to the silence of the animals: the image of the helmsman, the steward, who, out of a storm-rebellion, directs (instructs) the ship to a quiet haven, where the lives of those floating will be saved - to the silence of the animals. Let us also recall the episodes of the Gospels in which Christ calms the storm: ...They said: Mentor! Mentor! We are perishing. But He stood up and rebuked the wind and the disturbance of the water; and they stopped, and there was silence (Luke 8:24; cf. Matt. 8:26; Mark 4:39). Images of sailing through the stormy “sea of life” are constant in church poetry, and especially in the 6th song of the canon.
The Word of God dwells in You, Mother of God, by man showing You the heavenly ladder; Because of you, the Most High has come down to us to eat. The troparion develops the biblical image of a ladder from the dream of the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 28:12-13, 16-17: And I saw in a dream: behold, a ladder stood on the earth, and its top touched the sky; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood on it and said: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give you and to your descendants... Jacob woke up from his sleep and said: “Truly the Lord is present in this place; but I did not know!”
Jacob's Ladder is a prototype of the Most Holy Theotokos, Who became a ladder between heaven and earth: having become incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, the Lord Jesus Christ descended into the world.