{"id":565028,"date":"2026-04-02T17:13:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=565028"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:13:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:13:47","slug":"patriarch-bartholomew-akathist-hymn-ode-to-freedom-constantinople","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/patriarch-bartholomew-akathist-hymn-ode-to-freedom-constantinople\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew says Akathist Hymn is \u2018magnificent ode to freedom\u2019 at Constantinople Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said the Akathist Hymn is \u201ca magnificent ode to freedom<\/a>\u201d at the opening of a conference marking 1,400 years since its first chanting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The event took place on Thursday, March 26, at the Marasli Patriarchal Urban School in Istanbul, Turkey, and was attended by hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, clergy, diplomatic representatives\u2014including the Greek Consul General in Constantinople\u2014along with university professors and researchers.<\/p>\n

His All-Holiness highlighted the profound link between freedom and the mystery of the Incarnation: \u201cAs we venerate the holy icon of the Virgin Mary, we stand before the great miracle of freedom. God has honoured humanity with the gift of freedom\u2014an inviolable freedom, even by God Himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Incarnation could not have taken place if man, in the person of the Virgin Mary, had not freely accepted the call from above. The \u2018Yes\u2019 of the Mother of God is the definitive revelation that freedom, in all its greatness, is voluntary obedience to God\u2019s call.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this context, Patriarch Bartholomew stressed that the Akathist Hymn expresses this theological truth: \u201cThe Virgin Mary says \u2018Yes\u2019 to God\u2019s plan for our salvation, as the representative of all humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

His All-Holiness also underlined the historical connection between the Akathist Hymn and Constantinople, describing it as \u201can unsurpassed monument of faith, theology, poetic inspiration, linguistic style and expressive art\u201d.<\/p>\n

25 March marked 1,400 years<\/a> since the first chanting of the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God, likely composed by Saint Romanos the Melodist, at the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople, during the city\u2019s deliverance from the Avar and Persian siege.<\/p>\n

Photo: Ecumenical Patriarchate
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said the Akathist Hymn is \u201ca magnificent ode to freedom\u201d at the opening of a conference marking 1,400 years since its first chanting. The event took place on Thursday, March 26, at the Marasli Patriarchal Urban School in Istanbul, Turkey, and was attended by hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, clergy, diplomatic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":564378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20221,37141,2468,37181,10555],"class_list":["post-565028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-akathist-hymn","tag-akathist-hymn-1400-years","tag-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew","tag-ode-to-freedom","tag-virgin-mary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}