Hail Gladdening Light, Φώς Ιλαρόν (Phos Hilaron )

This is an ancient Christian hymn, perhaps the oldest Christian hymn we have, dating from the 3rd or 4th century.
We say it when a new liturgical day begins, at Vespers. It is an invitation to praise the One God in three "hypostas" at the moment when the physical light disappears and a new one should be lit: the light of wisdom.

Original Ancient Text:

Φώς ιλαρόν αγίας δόξης αθανάτου Πατρός, ουρανίου, αγίου, μάκαρος, Ιησού Χριστέ, ελθόντες επί τήν ηλίου δύσιν, ιδόντες φώς εσπερινόν, υμνούμεν Πατέρα, Υιόν, καί άγιον Πνεύμα, Θεόν, Αξιόν σε εν πάσι καιροίς υμνείσθαι φωναίς αισίαις, Υιέ Θεού, ζωήν ο διδούς, διό ο κόσμος σέ δοξάζει.

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[youssefnajjar]

oh luz radiante de la santa gloria del padre, inmortal, celestial bendito y santo bendito seas oh Jesucristo habiendo llegado a la puesta del sol y viendo la luz vespertina te cantamos oh Dios, padre hijo y espiritu santo con voces justas oh hijo de dios dador de vida por eso l mundo entero te glorifica.

[Parkour1002]

Glory to Christ The Word of God

[gratefulsoldier]

Amen.



[vaeates]

@stavroula04 If you want some of the best Greek language scholarship in regards to the first few centuries A.D., you should check out Randall Buth's books. He reconstructs the pronunciation from the best scholarship and documents existing. Some ancient Greek is Koine, some is Attic. You have to define what part of "Ancient" you are talking about.

[TheonHafet300]

@ForgeTrackAudio1024 HEY!! David Crowder made it BETTER!! lol jk

[DanVilAl]

οι was pronounced like υ also (French u or [y]) but both started to be pronounced like i in the X century, except in some dialects (like Athenian dialect now extinct). The orthodox tradition is to pronounce koine greek hymns exactly like modern greek pronunciation (and I mean specifically by "modern greek" the standard pronunctiation based on Peloponesian dialects, and not Cretan or Cypriot or Pontic.

[DanVilAl]

Well, if we are discussing pronuctiation, this hymn from the III or IV century can't have been pronounced like Ancient Attic Greek certainly as it is in Koiné Greek. η should have been pronounced like i already at this time, except in some dialects (Pontic Greek mantained the e sound for η in many words). Aspirated were already fricatives, and diphthongs were being monophthong about this time; υ was still pronounced as french u though (according to many authors)

[ForgeTrackAudio1024]

One dislike? Probably a Crowder nut.

[Jimlead]

Ena einai to fws to alithino. K kanenas theos panw apo afton.

[vaggelisinnova]

ΚΥΡΙΕ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΕ ΕΛΕΗΣΟΝ ΜΕ

ΥΠΕΡΑΓΙΑ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΕ ΣΩΣΟΝ ΜΕ

ΔΟΞΑ ΤΟ ΠΑΤΡΙ ΤΟ ΥΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΑΓΙΟ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ.

[Lysandros]

@stavroula04 Amen to that!