Transfiguration canon

The following verses are translated from the fifth canon for the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ. The Greek text is taken from Joseph Schirò, ed., Analecta Hymnica Graeca e codicibus eruta Italiae inferioris, vol. xii, Canones Augusti (ed. Alcestis Proiou) (Rome 1980), pp. 60-62, 68-69. In one of the manuscripts, the poem is ascribed to one “Andrew”; perhaps this is St. Andrew of Crete, the hymnographer.

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Ode 1
Δεῦτε συνανέλθωμεν τῷ σωτῆρι ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Θαβὼρ κἀκεῖ θεασώμεθα τὸ κάλλος τὸ ἄφραστον ἐκλάμπον τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ.	Come let us go up with the Savior upon the Mount of Tabor and there let us behold the inexpressible beauty that shines forth from his face.
Φυρμὸν ἢ ἀνάχυσιν οὐχ ὑπέστης τῇ ἐξ ἡμῶν οὐσιωθεὶς μορφῇ, ἀναλλοίωτε, ἐν ᾗ μεταμορφούμενος παρέδειξας τὴν δόξαν σου.	Neither blending nor mixture did you suffer when you took on our reality, assuming the form that is ours, O changeless one, in which, being transfigured, you exhibited your glory.
Τὴν δόξαν μὴ φέροντες τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ ἀναλάμψαντος ὡς φῶς πρηνεῖς κατεφέροντο τῆς πίστεως οἱ πρόβολοι· Θεὸν γὰρ εἶδεν ὅλως οὐδείς.	When they could not bear the glory of your face shining like a light, the ones who stood foremost in faith were brought to the ground and lay prone: for no one at all has seen God.*
Τῷ πόθῳ ἑλκόμενος τῆς ἐν ὄρει θεοφανείας, Ἰησοῦ, ὁ Πέτρος ἐβόα σοι· «ποιήσωμεν τρεῖς σκηνάς· καλὸν γὰρ ᾧδε εἶναι ἡμᾶς.»	Drawn by desire for your theophany on the mountain, O Christ, Peter cried to you: “Let us make three tents; for it is good for us to be here.”
Ἕνα σε δοξάζομεν τῆς τριάδος, μονογενῆ υἱὲ Θεοῦ, κἂν σάρκα προσέλαβες, καὶ μάρτυς ὁ καλέσας σε υἱὸν ἀγαπητὸν ἐν Θαβώρ.	We worship you, one of the Trinity, God’s only-begotten Son, even if you did take on flesh; and a witness is he who called you on Tabor his beloved Son.
Ὡς μέθην τὴν ἔκστασιν ὑποστάντες οἱ μαθηταὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ Θαβώριον, πρηνεῖς κατεφέροντο· Θεὸν γὰρ εἶδεν ὅλως οὐδείς.	Experiencing ecstasy like drunkenness, Jesus’ disciples upon Tabor’s height were brought to the ground and lay prone: for no one at all has seen God.*
Ode 3
Καταλείψαντες τὸν χοῦν, συνεπαρθῶμεν τοῖς Χριστοῦ μαθηταῖς καὶ ἴδωμεν τὴν δόξαν τῆν θεαθεῖσαν ἐν τῷ ὄρει Θαβώρ.	Leaving the dust behind us let us go up with Christ’s disciples and let us see upon Mount Tabor the glory that deifies.
Τῷ Χριστῷ συγκαλοῦντι ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Θαβώριον, πιστοί, συναναβάντες, έκεῖ ὀψόμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ.	Ascending, O faithful, together with Christ who summons us to Tabor mountain, there we shall see his glory.
Οἱ τοῦ ὄντως ἐραστοῦ ἐπιθυμοῦντες τῆς λαμπρότητος δεῦτε προσκολληθῶμεν τοῖς περὶ Πέτρον καὶ Ἰάκωβον.	Those of us who desire the brilliancy of the truly beloved, come, let us be joined with those who are about Peter and James.
Οἱ τὸ κάλλος ἐκεῖνο ἰδεῖν ποθοῦντες τὸ ἀμήχανον κτησώμεθα καρδίας, ἐν αἷς δεξόμεθα τὴν τούτου αὐγήν.	Those of us who long to see that inexplicable beauty, let us acquire hearts in which we shall receive its shining.
Τὸ μὲν ὄρος τὸ Σινᾶ καπνῷ καὶ γνόφῳ καὶ θυέλλῃ ποτέ, τὸ ὄρος τὸ Θαβὼρ δὲ μαρμαρυγὰς ἡμῖν ἀστράπτει φωτός.	Once it was, Mount Sinai was hidden with smoke and darkness and storm, but Mount Tabor illuminates us with bright flashings of light.
Ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ Θαβὼρ μεταμορφούμενος, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός, παρέδειξας τὴν δόξαν τοῖς μαθηταῖς τῆς σῆς θεότητος.	When you were transfigured on Mount Tabor, O Christ God, you showed to your disciples the glory of your divinity.
Προσκυνοῦμέν σε, Χριστέ, σὺν τῷ πατρί σου καὶ τῷ πνεύματι, τριάδα ἐν μονάδι καὶ ἐν τριάδι μονάδα, Θεόν.	We worship you, O Christ, with your Father and the Spirit, the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity, God.
Χαῖρε, νέα κιβωτὲ τῆς διαθήκης, ἧς διέθετο Θεὸς μετὰ ἀνθρώπων τῇ μεσιτείᾳ σου, παρθένε ἁγνή.	Hail, new ark of the covenant, that covenant which God made with mankind by your mediation, O pure Virgin.
Ode 8
Τῆς θεϊκῆς σου μορφῆς αὔραν ἐξέλαμψας Πέτρῳ καὶ Ἰακώβῳ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ, κύριε, ἐν ὄρει τῷ Θαβώρ, ἧς τὴν ἀκτῖνα μηδόλως ἐνεγκεῖν ἰσχύσαντες, εἰς γῆν κατεβαροῦντο.	When you had radiated the aura of your divine form on Peter, James, and John, O Lord, upon Mount Tabor, then, being utterly unable to bear its ray, they were weighed down to the earth.
Τὸν Μωυσῆν ἐν Θαβὼρ νόμου τὸν πρόμαχον συνεκάλεσας, Λόγε, καὶ προφητῶν τὸ ἄνθος, τὸν Θεσβίτην Ἠλιού, ὃν πυρὸς ἁρματηλάτην ὡς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναγαγὼν ἐξῆρας πάλαι.	You called to Tabor Moses, the champion of the Law, O Word, and the flower of the prophets, Elijah the Tishbite, whom once you took away, leading him heavenwards, borne in a chariot of fire.
Τὸ ὑπερούσιον φῶς δεῦτε ὀψόμεθα καθαρᾷ τῇ καρδίᾳ μαρμαρυγὰς ἀστράπτον τοῖς θεόπταις μαθηταῖς, ὅπως καὶ τῆς οὐρανόθεν πατρικῆς ἀκούσωμεν φωνῆς προσμαρτυρούσης.	O come let us behold with a pure heart the supersubstantial light flashing its shimmerings upon the disciples, who behold God, so that we too may hear the fatherly voice from heaven bearing witness.
Ὦ φωτοφόρου αὐγλῆς, ὦ θείας χάριτος, ὦ ἀκτῖνος ἡλίου, ἢν οἱ πηλώδεις εἶδον ἐξαστράπτουσαν αὐτοῖς! τίς ἂν τὴν δόξαν ἐκείνην ἐξειπεῖν δυνήσεται βροτῶν ἢ ἑρμηνεῦσαι;	O the lightbearing brilliance! O the divine grace! O the beam of the sun which men of clay beheld flashing out upon them! Who among mortals shall be able to describe that glory fully, or interpret it?
Ὦ παναγία τριάς, ἡ ὁμοούσιος καὶ ὁμότιμος δόξα, πάτερ, υἱὲ καὶ πνεῦμα, σὲ δοξάζω καὶ ὑμνῶ ἕνα Θεὸν ἀσυγχύτως ἐν τρισὶν ὑμνούμενον προσώποις ἀμερίστως.	O Most Holy Trinity, glory consubstantial, and co-honored, Father, Son, and Spirit, I glorify and hymn you, one God hymned indivisibly in three persons.
Ὥσπερ ἐν τόμῳ καινῷ, ἐν τῇ νηδύι σου ἐγγραφείς, θεοτόκε, ὁ σὺν πατρὶ καὶ πνεύματι ὑμνούμενος υἱὸς ἔδειξεν ἀπαραλλάκτως καὶ μετὰ τὴν σάρκωσιν τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν χαρακτῆρα.	Inscribed in your womb as on a new stone tablet, O Mother of God, the Son, who is hymned with the Father and the Spirit, exhibited unchangingly, even after being made flesh, the character of the Father.

* Or: for no one has seen God entirely.