Bethlehem, make ready,
for Eden has been opened for all.
Ephrathah, be alert,
for the Tree of Life has blossomed forth
from the Virgin in the cave.
Her womb has become a spiritual paradise
wherein the Divine Fruit was planted,
and if we eat of it,
we shall live and not die like Adam.
Christ is coming forth to bring back to life
the likeness that had been lost in the beginning.
Bethlehem, make ready, for Eden has been opened for all!
(a Byzantine poetic text for the time before the Nativity of the Lord)