Starting Anew
Sep 20th, 2007 by michelle
An akathist (Greek, akathistos) is a hymn dedicated to a saint, holy event or one of the persons of the Holy Trinity. The word akathist itself means “not sitting.”
While the Emperor of Byzantium was fighting the Persians, barbaric hordes attacked Constantinople. As months passed during the seige, the situa
tion was getting desperate. Patriarch Sergius led and endless march along the great walls of Constantinople with an Icon of the Theotokos in hand, bolstering the faith of the defenders of freedom. Unexpectedly, a great storm with huge tidal waves destroyed most of the fleet of the enemy, forcing them to retreat. The faithful of Constantinople spontaneously filled the Church of the Theotokos and with the Patriarch Sergius officiating, they prayed all night singing praises to the Virgin Mary without sitting. Hence the title of the Hymn.
My favorite type of service is the akathist. I enjoy being able to follow along both through listening and my own signing. Here is a list of several akathists.
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I hope you enjoy the new blog! I will do my best to update more frequently.
I made it! Beautiful!
I made it over too.
I also like the way Akathists tell the story of that saint or icon. The first Akathist I ever went to was for the weeping icon of Anna. It was before I was Orthodox and I didn’t know ANYTHING about Joachim and Anna. It was such a beautiful, gentle way to learn of their story while praying.
I made it too! I like your new ‘home’ here! I am now on my way to change the feed settings!