Virgin Mary, Rejoice, O Blessed Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.
+ The words of this, the oldest and most beautiful of the countless prayers of the Mother of God, are taken from the Gospel - from the story about the event of the Annunciation:
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; The name of the Virgin is: Mary. The angel came to Her and said:
- Rejoice, Blessed One! The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women.
She, seeing him, was embarrassed by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this would be. And the Angel said to Her:
- Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace from God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus.
Having received the good news from the Angel, the Blessed Virgin immediately went to Her holy relative - the righteous Elizabeth, the future mother of John the Baptist. As soon as Elizabeth saw the Most Pure Virgin, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and exclaimed in a loud voice and said:
“Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb!” And where does it come from for me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? (Luke 1:26-31, 41-43).
Holy Righteous Elizabeth, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, uttered the same amazing words as the Archangel Gabriel: Blessed are You among women (or, in Church Slavonic: Blessed are You among women). And we add to the words of the Angel and Righteous Elizabeth: for Thou hast given birth to the Savior of our souls, thereby expressing to the Most Holy Theotokos faith in Her Divine Son, Whom we acknowledge with all our hearts as the Savior of our souls.