When it is said
Said just before Holy Communion, near the end of the prayers to prepare.
It is also sung at Matins (the morning service) on 6 August, the feast of the Transfiguration.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
A hymn of the Transfiguration
The hymn comes from the feast of the Transfiguration, when Christ’s face shone like the sun before three of His disciples (Matthew 17:1-2). It is the last verse of a canon (a long hymn sung at Matins on 6 August). The service book credits the canon to the monk and hymn writer St John of Damascus. The first letters of the canon’s verses spell out “Moses saw the face of God on Tabor”.
Near the cup
The Greek and the Russian prayer books both set it near the very end of the prayers before Communion, after the short verses said on the way to the cup. G. V. Shann’s English prayer book of 1891 prints it among the words to say “on approaching to communicate”.
Azbyka.ru prayer book: the order of prayers before Holy Communion (in Church Slavonic and Russian); G. V. Shann, Euchology (1891), prayers before Holy Communion
What the words mean
Your two comings
The two comings are Christ’s first coming, when He lived among us, and His coming again. Hebrews 9:28 sets them side by side, saying that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many and will appear a second time to bring salvation.
The Scripture in it
… so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ἔθελξας πόθῳ με, Χριστέ, καὶ ἠλλοίωσας τῷ θείῳ Σου ἔρωτι·
ἀλλὰ κατάφλεξον πυρὶ ἀΰλῳ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, καὶ ἐμπλησθῆναι τῆς ἐν Σοὶ τρυφῆς καταξίωσον,
ἵνα τὰς δύο σκιρτῶν μεγαλύνω, Ἀγαθέ, παρουσίας Σου.