Image of Yoḥannǝs

Now I have begun, as I would recount the righteousness of your image in the desert, the sowing of the mind with eloquence. Pure of conduct, Yoḥannǝs, gold of faith, hidden. It binds my tongue and dries up my heart. May the spirit of your aid come from the heaven of the firmament. Salutation to your conception and to your birth, O holy one. By the angel’s annunciation to the bearer of the likeness of the destroyer, the priest. Yoḥannǝs, son, fruit of the womb of the barren one. They rejoice in your patience and in your fasting, O beloved. Abraham the tested and Job the afflicted. Salutation to the remembrance of your name, which gladdens the hearts. More than sweet wine and more than pleasant milk. Yoḥannǝs, pure, repository of the dwelling of wisdom. Place me beneath your bosom on the day of distress and affliction, when the five senses depart from the face. Salutation to your head, until it is compared to the sky. The crown of fasting, heavy, which was upon him. The tongue of shame, Yoḥannǝs and Paul, his likeness. I praise your honor and I glorify now. The flow of speech, all over me, I have extended.

Salutation to your countenance, which is like a seal, for those who are merciful. The seal of his countenance is from the deed of Christ, the king of the heights. Yoḥannǝs, rooted in the adornment of grace and majesty. Drive me and raise me up to the enclosure of the ascetic struggle and the fast. Your mountain of righteousness, askesis, its name. Salutation to your garment, a chariot of joy and humility. Yoḥannǝs, a sea for the sea of wisdom from childhood. For she who bore you is the one who gladdens hearts and minds. In winter and in summer, the cloud that does not pass away. The plant of faith, the sun, the light for the world. Salutation to your hands, which found the whole. When the angel found you as you were sleeping upon it. Yoḥannǝs, distant, it was said concerning you: I have given grace and multiplied abundance. From his father ʾƎndǝryās, he brought the cross. Salutation I say to your navel, one. That which dwells, hidden, for your belly in the midst of the festival. Walatta Māryām wove you, and Gabra Masqal, the flower of nard. In fasting and in prayer, when the house of God was prayed in. The fragrance, Yoḥannǝs, they bore you.

I have offered salutation to your entire countenance. For upon it is the majesty of Christ, the king of delight. Yoḥannǝs, lofty from the enamel of the canon and the flower of the dandelion. The word of my mouth is the path of heaven above. And in the heart of all people, they are in astonishment. For the needy of the world, even to their treasuries, it is full. The fruit of faith is in the field, for it was ordained by you. The time of delight, Yoḥannǝs and Matthew, the month of the festival. Your fame has gone out even to the ends of the earth. And your righteousness has grown strong in heaven.