Akathist to the Theotokos

On Saturday 19th March at 3:30pm we welcomed the Byzantine choir of the C.I.E.L. (Centre international d’Etudes Liturgiques), who sang the Greek office of the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God. The Akathist Hymn is a much loved Lenten Devotion in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions, in which the praises of Our Lady are solemnly sung in this most ancient hymn.

This profound, devotional liturgical poem, which sings the praises of the Holy Mother of God (the “Theotokos”) and Ever-Virgin Mary is not only the most famous work of Byzantine hymnography – the famous Byzantinist Louis Bréhier said: “By its elegant form, by the depth of the mystical feeling and the musical beauty of the words, the Akathist is unique in Byzantine literature” - but for some it is also “the most beautiful, most profound, the most ancient Marian Hymn in all Christian literature”.

Pope Benedict XVI said: “The venerable Akathist hymn to the Mother of God represents one of the highest expressions of the Marian piety of the Byzantine tradition. Praying with these words opens wide the heart and disposes it to the peace that is from above, from God, to that peace which is Christ himself, born of Mary for our salvation.”

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