Irmos: With Thy divine light illumine the souls of those who with love rise at dawn unto Thee, O Good One, that they may know Thee, O Word of God, to be the true God Who calleth all forth from the darkness of sin.
Theotokion: “Blessed art thou among women, O thou who art full of the joy of God,” Elizabeth manifestly cried to thee when she knew thee to be her who would give birth without having known man, her who alone would remain incorrupt after giving birth.
To the prophet who entered the sanctuary and was offering up to the Creator the ministries of the Law, the holy angel appeared, announcing the divine conception of the Forerunner.
“How can this happen to me, for I am an old man, as thou seest, and I have a barren wife?” Zechariah said to the archangel. “Thou dost utter to me words which are contrary to nature!”
“Look at Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and behold how she brought forth Isaac in her old age, O man; and believe thou those things which have been justly spoken,” the great angel exhorted the elder.
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.