When it is said
At the Liturgy it is sung from Pascha to the Ascension, in place of the hymn to the Mother of God “It is truly right”. Only the feast of Mid-Pentecost and its last day are left out.
The Russian prayer rule makes the same change in prayers at home for those 40 days.
On the night of Pascha the two verses close the ninth ode of the canon.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
In place of “It is truly right”
At the Liturgy the choir usually sings a hymn to the Mother of God, “It is truly right”. From Pascha to the Ascension this Easter hymn is sung in its place, with “Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem” after it. Isabel Hapgood’s 1906 service book gives the change for Easter Day, and the Russian rule keeps it for all 40 days.
Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book (1906); Azbyka.ru, on the rule of prayer at Pascha
The end of the Easter canon
Both verses come from the ninth ode of the canon of Pascha, sung on Easter night. “Shine, shine” is the ode’s first verse, its irmos, and the service books credit it to St John of Damascus with the rest of the canon. “The angel cried” is one of the refrains sung between the ode’s verses. On Easter night the two together close the ode.
The Greek Pentecostarion, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s liturgical texts site; Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book (1906)
At every Liturgy
“Shine, shine” is not kept for Easter alone. Hapgood’s book has the deacon say it at every Liturgy after Communion, among the hymns of the resurrection, as he sets the paten over the chalice.
What the words mean
Why the angel greets her
The angel’s words go back to the Annunciation, when Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!” (Luke 1:28). In the Greek of both, the word is χαῖρε, “rejoice”. Fr Michael Zheltov notes a Church tradition, told in the reading for Pascha Sunday, that the “other Mary” at the tomb (Matthew 28:1) was the Mother of God, the first to hear that her Son had risen.
Fr Michael Zheltov, a short commentary on the Paschal canon, on Azbyka.ru; The Greek New Testament (Majority Text), on eBible.org
“And has raised the dead”
Churches of Russian tradition sing a longer form from the Slavonic books, with one more line: “and He has raised the dead; rejoice, O peoples!” The Greek ends on the third day. Its canon gives the same call in a refrain of its own in the ninth ode: “For Christ has risen, trampling down death and raising the dead. Rejoice, O peoples!”
The Paschal canon in Church Slavonic, on Azbyka.ru; The Greek Pentecostarion, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s liturgical texts site
“Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem”
The verse opens with Isaiah’s words to Jerusalem in the Greek Old Testament, φωτίζου φωτίζου, which Brenton’s English gives as “Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come” (Isaiah 60:1). Zheltov reads the hymn’s new Jerusalem as the heavenly one, the Church of Christ, more than the city on earth.
The Septuagint, with Brenton’s English, on eBible.org; Fr Michael Zheltov, on Azbyka.ru
The Scripture in it
The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.”
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ὁ ἄγγελος ἐβόα τῇ κεχαριτωμένῃ·
Ἁγνὴ Παρθένε, χαῖρε, καὶ πάλιν ἐρῶ· Χαῖρε·
ὁ σὸς Υἱὸς ἀνέστη τριήμερος ἐκ τάφου.
Φωτίζου, φωτίζου ἡ νέα Ἱερουσαλήμ·
ἡ γὰρ δόξα Κυρίου ἐπὶ σὲ ἀνέτειλε.
Χόρευε νῦν, καὶ ἀγάλλου Σιών·
σὺ δὲ ἁγνή, τέρπου, Θεοτόκε, ἐν τῇ ἐγέρσει τοῦ τόκου σου.
In Latin letters, to sing it
O angelos evoa ti kecharitomeni:
Agni Parthene, chere, ke palin ero: Chere!
o sos Yios anesti triimeros ek tafou.
Fotizou, fotizou i nea Ierousalim,
i gar doxa Kyriou epi se anetile.
Choreve nyn, ke agallou Sion,
sy de agni, terpou, Theotoke, en ti egersi tou tokou sou.
In Church Slavonic
А́нгел вопия́ше Благода́тней:
чи́стая Де́во, ра́дуйся, и па́ки реку́, ра́дуйся:
Твой Сын воскре́се тридне́вен от гро́ба,
и ме́ртвыя воздви́гнувый, лю́дие, весели́теся.
Свети́ся, свети́ся, но́вый Иерусали́ме:
сла́ва бо Госпо́дня на тебе́ возсия́.
Лику́й ны́не и весели́ся, Сио́не,
Ты же, Чи́стая, красу́йся, Богоро́дице,
о воста́нии Рожде́ства Твоего́.
In Latin letters, to sing it
Angel vopiyashe Blagodatney:
chistaya Devo, raduysya, i paki reku, raduysya:
Tvoy Syn voskrese tridneven ot groba,
i mertvyya vozdvignuvyy, lyudiye, veselitesya.
Svetisya, svetisya, novyy Iyerusalime:
slava bo Gospodnya na tebe vozsiya.
Likuy nyne i veselisya, Sione,
Ty zhe, Chistaya, krasuysya, Bogoroditse,
o vostanii Rozhdestva Tvoyego.
From the Paschal canon in Church Slavonic, on the Azbyka.ru prayer book, a Russian Orthodox website.