HOLY AND GREAT LENT: THE AKATHISTOS HYMN TO THE MOTHER OF GOD (THEOTOKOS)

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

HOLY AND GREAT LENT: THE AKATHISTOS HYMN TO THE MOTHER OF GOD
[THEOTOKOS]

A Prayer of Saint Basil the Great
[Great Compline]

LORD, O Lord, that hast delivered us from every arrow that flieth by day, do Thou
deliver us also from every thing that walketh in darkness. Accept the lifting up of
our hands as an evening sacrifice. And vouchsafe us blamelessly to pass through
the course of the night, being untempted of evils; and deliver us from every
troubling and fear which cometh to us of the devil. Grant compunction to our souls;
and to our thoughts, mindfulness of the inquisition at Thy terrible and just judgment.
Nail down our flesh with the fear of Thee, and mortify our members which are upon
the earth, that through the quiet of sleep we may rejoice in the vision of Thy judgments.
And remove from us every shameful imagining and hurtful desire. And raise us up
at the hour of prayer, established in faith, and advancing in Thy commandments, by
the grace and the goodness of Thine Only-begotten Son, with Whom Thou art blessed,
with Tine All-Holy and Good and Life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages
of ages. Amen.

THE AKATHISTOS HYMN

One of the greatest marvels of Greek religious poetry, with a richness of imagery that is the despair of any translator, the Akathistos Hymn has twenty-four main stanzas, alternatively long and short: each long stanza bear the title ‘ikos’ and ends with the refrain ‘Hail, Bride without bridegroom,’ while each short stanza is termed ‘kontakion’ and ends with the refrain ‘Alleluia.’ The title ‘AKATHISTOS’ means literally ‘NOT SITTING,’ the hymn being so called because is made up of praises addressed to the Holy Ever-Virgin, each beginning with the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel, ‘HAIL’ or ‘REJOICE’ (Luke 1:38). The Hymn passes in review the main events connected with Christ’s Incarnation, starting with the Annunciation (first ikos) and ending with the Flight into Egypt (sixth ikos) and the Presentation in the Temple (seventh kontakion).

The Akathistos Hymn, so it seems, was originally composed at an epoch when the Annunciation was still celebrated together with Christmas and had not yet become a separate festival. Perhaps at one time it was sung on 26 December, the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos. It was probably during the reign of the Emperor Justinian (527-65) that the Annunciation first began to be celebrated on 25 March; and either when this happened or else soon after–and in any case not later than 718 – the Akathistos Hymn was also appointed to be sung on 25 March. More recently, perhaps during the period of the TOURKOKRATIA (TURKISH OCCUPATION) after the Fall of Queen City of Constantinople (1453), the Hymn was transferred from the fixed to the movable calendar, and instead of being sung on 25 March it was appointed for Saturday of the Fifth Week. The custom of singing a portion of the HYMN AT COMPLINE ON THE FIRST FOUR FRIDAYS OF HOLY AND GREAT LENT IS MORE RECENT STILL:while found among the Greeks, such a practice IS NOT PART OF THE SLAV USE.

The link between the Akathistos Hymn and the Feast of the Annunciation still continues to be much in evidence: for example, most of the texts at Friday Vespers before the Vigil of the Akathistos are taken directly from the Office for 25 March. The Annunciation almost always falls within the period of the Great Fast, and that is why this special Office of praise to the Mother of God has found a place in the Lenten Triodion.

At the beginning of the Akathistos Hymn, there is sung a Kontakion greatly loved by the Orthodox people, ‘To thee, our leader in battle and defender…’, celebrating the deliverance of the city 0f Constantinople from its enemies through the aid of the Mother of God. It seems that this Kontakion was not originally part of the Akathistos Hymn, for in the Hymn itself there is nowhere any allusion to such a deliverance. Most probably the Kontakion was written from the attack of the Persians and Avars in 626 A.D.; in that case, the Akathistos Hymn is almost certainly more ancient than the Kontakion. Understood in the broader sense, the Kontakion expresses, in the conscience of the Orthodox faithful, their sense of continuing DEPENDENCE ON THE PROTECTING INTERCESSION OF THE HOLY AND EVER VIRGIN MARY AT ALL MOMENTS OF CRISIS AND PERIL. (Resources: The Lenten Triodion]

A BLESSED FORTY-DAY FAST TO ALL OF YOU!

_______________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father Georrge