In a tomb they laid you,
O Christ the Life.
The angelic hosts were overcome with awe,
And glorified Your condescension.

O Life, how can You die?
How can you dwell in a tomb?
Yet by Your death You have destroyed the reign of death,
And raised all the dead from hell.

Earth’s bounds You have measured,
O Jesus, King of all,
Yet today You dwell in a narrow tomb,
Raising the dead from their graves.

Lo, the sovereign Ruler
Of creation is dead.
Almighty God is laid in a new tomb,
To empty the graves of all their dead.

In a tomb they laid you,
O Christ the Life.
By Your death You have cast down the might of death
And become the font of life for all the world.

You have been numbered
Among transgressors, O Christ.
You have justified us all, O Lamb of God,
By freeing us from the devil’s works.

He who holds the earth
In the hollow of His hand
Has been put to death and held fast by the earth,
To save the dead from hell’s grasping hand.

O my Life, my Savior,
Dwelling with the dead in death,
You have destroyed the iron bars of hell,
And have risen from corruption.

—Orthodox Church, The Matins of Holy Saturday (excerpt)

SEE ALSO: Bruce Benedict, “Poem for Easter”