The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has issued an encyclical marking the 1,400th anniversary of the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos, regarded as the first such hymnographic composition in the history of the Church. The hierarchs described the Akathist as “the most beloved hymn of our liturgical life, the sweetest delight of Christians.”
The hymn is characterised as “a lofty and triumphant composition, which, with a unique richness of eloquence, refers both historically and theologically to the Incarnate Divine Economy and to the unique contribution of the All-Pure Mother of God therein”.
“The repetition in this hymn of the word ‘Rejoice’ one hundred and forty-four times to the All-Blessed Virgin clearly bears a mystical meaning, referring to the one hundred and forty-four thousand pure saints of the Apocalypse, who sing the ‘new song’ before the Throne of God and ‘follow the Lamb wherever He goes.’” (Rev. 14:1–5), the Synod explained.
“The deliverance of the City of Constantinople and of the entire Empire from the severe assault of the Avars and the Persians, while Emperor Heraclius was absent with the army, striving far away for the recovery of the Precious Cross of Christ, was rightly attributed to the mighty protection and assistance of the Most Holy Theotokos, to whom the founder, Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great, had piously dedicated New Rome.”
A City Under the Protection of the Mother of God
The document recalls the miracle of the Mother of God during the first siege of Constantinople, when a sudden shift in the wind destroyed the besiegers’ fleet and saved the city.
Following this victory, the faithful gave thanks to the Mother of God by chanting for the first time the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos in “the historic Church of Blachernae, where, according to ancient tradition, a sacred vigil was celebrated weekly in honour of the Mother of God, often even in the presence of the Emperor”, the Constantinopolitan hierarchs noted.
This special service took place on the night of 7 August 626, after the end of the siege.
“The Akathist Hymn calls every faithful person to vigilance, to stand upright and steadfast, in humility and prayer, before the great challenges of our age, in these grievous days of many upheavals and wars through which humanity is now passing,” the encyclical concludes.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has designated 2026 as the jubilee year of the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos.
Photo: Doxologia.ro / Fr. Silviu Cluci (The Siege of Constantinople – fresco at the Moldovița Monastery)
