Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Saturday Akathist). Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos Praise of the Mother of God with an akathist what they pray for
On Saturday, in the fifth week of Great Lent, the holy Church solemnly proclaims the prayer singing of the akathist, or thanksgiving praise to the Most Holy Theotokos.
History of the holiday
The Feast of the Praise of the Mother of God, accompanied by the reading of an akathist (laudatory texts), was established in the 7th century, and starting from the 9th century. This holiday is celebrated on Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent. It is based on the memory of the salvation of Constantinople from the Avars in 625. In that year, the emperor Heraclius went on a campaign against the Persians. The Avars took advantage of this and laid siege to the city from the sea. Then Patriarch Sergius brought the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria (according to some versions - the robe of the Mother of God) to the shore of the Bosphorus and immersed it in the waters of the bay. And then a storm began at sea, scattering the enemy fleet, after which the siege of Constantinople was lifted. In memory of the miraculous deliverance, a holiday was established. The icon that saved Constantinople from the Avars is now kept on Athos, in the monastery of Dionisiat. And the memory of these events was preserved in the chant "The Chosen Voivode", which eventually became the chant to the Akathist of the Mother of God (thanksgiving non-sedal hymn).
At first, the feast of the akathist was celebrated in Constantinople in that Blachernae church, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God and the sacred objects of her earthly life - the robe and belt were kept; but later the feast was included in the typikons (charters) of the monasteries of St. Sava of Studius and then in church liturgical books, and from that time became common to the entire Eastern Church.
This is the most ancient Akathist to the Theotokos and it is the only one intended by the church charter for worship. The akathist was written in the middle of the 7th century, according to many, by the deacon of the great Church of Constantinople, George of Pisidia, and served as a model for all subsequent akathists written in honor of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin, saints and church holidays. Subsequently, Joseph the Studite wrote a canon on the Saturday of the akathist, and others added prayers of thanksgiving to this in remembrance of the same all-powerful voivodeship of the Mother of God.
Its name "Akathist" ("non-sedal") received from the fact that on that night people standing sang the song of the Mother of God the Word; and while at other services, according to the charter, you can sit, on the present feast of the Mother of God, we all listen to the Praise standing.
Features of worship
Akathist- this is the sacred praise of the Blessed Virgin. It consists of 24 hymns, or songs: 12 kontakia and 12 ikos, arranged according to the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Each song begins with a letter corresponding to it, each kontakion ends with the Psalm "Hallelujah", each ikos - with the greeting of the archangel "Rejoice ...". All creation ends with a brief prayer to the Blessed Virgin that She save Christians from troubles and misfortunes. In this form, the akathist is read on other days; but on Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent, it is part of the divine service and is sung at Matins (usually the day before, on Friday evening) not in its entirety, but separately, in the interval of other songs, in four different performances. Each section begins and ends with the singing of the first kontakion: “To the Chosen Voivode ...”, etc.
“From now on, all generations will please Me (Luke 1:48).” These words of the Mother of God are read during the Divine Liturgy on the days of the Mother of God feasts. They are also heard at our evening services. By thought professor - theologian K.E. Skurata they have a deep prophetic meaning. “Nothing natural could affirm Her in the hope that She would not only be known, but also glorified by “all generations”! Nothing earthly could move Her to such a prophecy! The Spirit of God Himself, whose deed She blessed in prayer, enlightened Her mind, opened Her heart and moved Her lips to speak what was predestined about Her in Heaven and which, according to this predestination, the Holy Universal Church joyfully accepted.
The Most Holy Virgin herself, during Her earthly life, shunned glory and avoided it. When the people admired the Divine words of Her Son, when they glorified Him for the miracles He performed, when they solemnly met Him, the Mother of God was, as it were, on the sidelines during these days of glory. She did not come to share the glory with Her Divine Son. But when they mocked Him, when they crucified Him, dishonored Him, then the Mother of God was next to Him. The glory of the Mistress of the world was revealed by Divine grace itself.
Iconography of the Praise of the Virgin
In the XIV-XV centuries. the iconography of the “Praise of the Virgin” is also taking shape, a kind of hymn in colors, in which, like in the Akathist, the theme of the glorification of the Virgin Mary, who, according to Old Testament prophecies, became the mother of the incarnate God, is revealed.
The iconography is based on the prophecies and prototypes of the Mother of God in the Old Testament. If the very history of the life of the Theotokos as the history of the earthly Virgin Mary begins with her birth, which took place at a certain moment in the city of Nazareth, then the idea of the eternal Divine plan about Her appearance among mankind and “preparation” for the incarnation of the Lord permeated, according to the Christian interpretation, all the sacred books of the Old Testament. St. Andrew of Crete believes that “there is not a single place in all of the Inspired Scripture where an attentive researcher would not see various indications scattered about Her (the Mother of God) everywhere.” Explaining the words of the Lord addressed to King David: “From the fruit of your womb I will plant on your throne” (Ps 131:11), St. John of Damascus notes that “from the tribe of David” the Virgin Mary “vegetated”, “predetermined by the Pre-eternal ... Council of God and through the Holy Spirit, both presented and foreshadowed by various images and words of the Prophets.”
The centerpiece of the icon depicting the "Praise of the Mother of God" and its hallmarks, illustrating the Akathist, form one theme, are connected by common images and symbols. The iconography of the "Praise" was formed under the influence of several hymnographic works, first of all, the text of the song of the canon to the prophets, compiled in the 8th century by Patriarch Herman of Constantinople: " From above, the prophets foreshadow thee, Otrokovitsa: a stave, a rod, a tablet, a kivot, a candlestick, a meal, a mountain that cannot be crossed, a golden censer and a tabernacle, an impenetrable door, a chamber, and a ladder, and the throne of the Tsar».
One example is the icon "Praise of the Mother of God" with an akathist in twenty-four hallmarks. (Mid 16th century, Moscow. Comes from the local row of the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. The State Russian Museum).
In the Old Testament, many foreshadowings of the most important circumstances of the life of the Most Holy Theotokos were given: Her descent from the lineage of David, moral perfection, Mother of God majesty, ever-virginity, glorification - all this is predestined by the holy prophets.
In the iconography of the “Praise of the Theotokos” around Mary, seated on the throne, we see eleven figures of prophets, holding out unrolled scrolls with the texts of their prophecies dedicated to the miracle of the Incarnation of Christ, and attributes-symbols with which she is compared in the Old Testament texts.
Habakkuk with the "Autumn" Mountain, Jeremiah with the stone Tablets of the Covenant;
One of the most significant prototypes of the Mother of God is the Ark of the Covenant. This is the greatest shrine, as it contained the Tablets of the Covenant. And what were the Tablets of the Covenant? This is the stone on which the Word of God was inscribed. The Tablets of the Covenant are the image of Christ. Just as the Word became visible on the rock when God wrote the commandments, so Christ is the Word Incarnate. And just as in the Old Testament there was nothing higher than the Tablets of the Covenant, so in the New Testament there is nothing higher than Christ. The Ark was always interpreted by the Fathers of the Church as a prototype of the Mother of God: the Divine Word was embodied in her, She was His bearer.
The prophet Habakkuk sees the mysterious mountain: "God will come from the south, and the Holy One from the mountain of autumn thickets"(Hab. 3:1-3).“Mountain of Thee, shaded by the grace of God, seeing the seer Habakkuk, from Thee come out of Israel proclaiming to the Holy One, for our salvation and renewal,” the Church sings the Mother of God in irmos 4 songs of the Sunday canon 1 tone.
Ezekiel with closed gates, Jacob with a ladder;
Among the prototypes of the ever-virginity of the Mother of God can be attributed the gates of the temple, which were shown in a vision by the prophet. Ezekiel “They will not open, and no man will enter by them, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by them, and they will be shut up”(Ezekiel 44:1-2). In this antitypical vision, the whole dogma of the Ever-Virginity of the Theotokos. "Virgin praise", "combining virginity and Christmas" that the iconography is depicted in three stars on the maphoria: "before Christmas the Virgin, at Christmas the Virgin, and after Christmas the Virgin."
Jacob, who fell asleep on the way to Haran, saw a ladder that "it stands on the earth, and its top touches the sky"(Gen. 28:10-16). The angels of the Lord, and ascending and descending along it, and the voice of the Lord to Jacob, who was afraid of this vision, the staircase itself, as if in the distant future, foreshadowing the union of two worlds, “earthly and heavenly”, humanity and the Divine - all this is a weak foreshadowing of the coming deliverance and salvation, about the image of the Most Pure Theotokos, about whom it was predicted to the exiled Adam even in paradise.
Aaron with a flourishing rod;
In the ark of the covenant, by God's command, Aaron's rod was laid and miraculously vegetated and flourished: “And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their rulers gave him, from each ruler a rod, twelve rods according to their tribes, and Aaron's rod was among their rods. The next day Moses [and Aaron] entered the tabernacle of revelation, and, behold, the staff of Aaron, from the house of Levi, blossomed, budded, gave color and brought almonds.(Num. 17, 6-8). This wand represented the Blessed Virgin Mary. She came from barren parents, just as a dry rod flourished: “the growth of a dry rod indicated to Israel the pre-election of a priest; and now the glorious birth of the Virgin from the barren woman miraculously reveals the bright dignity of those who gave birth. “From the root of the vegetative David and Jesse, Anna now begins to grow the divine rod, the vegetative mysterious flower - Christ, the Creator of all.”
Gideon with rune;
Gideon, the fifth judge of the people of Israel, having heard from the Angel the will of God - to go and deliver the fatherland from the power of the Midianites, wished to receive a sign as evidence that there was a blessing of God on this matter. The sign chosen by him was this: on the fleece (sheep skin) laid by him on the threshing floor, abundant dew descended at night, while all the land around was dry; on the other night, the earth was wet with dew, and the fleece lying on the threshing floor remained completely dry (Judg. 6: 33-40). All the circumstances of this miraculous event are related to the face of the Most Holy Theotokos. The threshing floor, in a mysterious sense, signified the chosen people of God. Fleece - the Blessed Virgin, according to St. Churches. “Rejoice, animated fleece, which Gideon foresaw” (stichera of Saturday of the 5th week of Great Lent). Animated fleece - the Virgin was abundantly watered by the grace of God; while, at the same time, the Gentiles and the Israelites themselves were spiritually dry from the heat of superstition and unbelief. The fleece of Gideon was dry, and the earth was wet with dew: so the Virgin, after the birth of the Lord, did not suffer change, while the earth was moistened with the dew of true faith.
Moses with Kupina;
The naming of the Blessed Virgin "Burning Bush" finds its explanation in the prophet Moses' vision of a burning, but not burned bush (glory. "bush") - Ex. 3.2, where the bush itself acts as a prototype of the motherhood and virginity of the Mother of God at the same time. “It seems to me,” writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, - (that) the great Moses also foresaw this secret during the Epiphany in the fire that was to him ... ". And he adds, “What there (i.e., in the Old Testament) was foreshadowed by a flame and a bush, then, over time, it was clearly revealed in the mystery of the Virgin; just as the bush burns there and does not burn out: so here (that is, in the New Testament) the Virgin gives birth to light and remains incorruptible. For this reason, St. The Church calls the Mother of God "the burning bush", and Christian art often depicts Her surrounded by a fiery radiance.
Daniel with the mountain;
The book of the Prophet Daniel (Dan. 2, 31-35) describes an amazing vision of King Nebuchadnezzar: he saw a great body composed of various substances - gold, silver, copper, iron, clay - and now “Tear off a stone from a mountain without hands, and strike the body in a nose of iron and scanty, and wear them to the end ... Then, rubbing together scanty, iron, copper, silver and gold, and it was like dust from a summer threshing floor; and I was taken away by a great wind, and it found no place; but the stone that struck the body, be a great mountain, and fill the whole earth.” Such was indeed the fate of the four great kingdoms: Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Macedonian and Roman. The stone (Lord Jesus Christ), separated without hands from the mountain (the Most Holy Theotokos), crushed the mixture from which the ancient pagan world was composed, and laid the foundation for a new kingdom, "it will not crumble forever." “A stone not hand-carved from the unseen mountain to Thee, Virgo, the cornerstone is cut off, Christ, the copulation of the dispersed nature” sings the Church of the Mother of God in irmos 9 songs of the Sunday canon 4 tones).
David with the ark;
Psalm 86, vv. 3 says: “glorious saying about you, the city of God.” The City of God is Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. From the beginning, Jerusalem was an unimportant city in the country of the Jebusites, one of the tribes of Canaan. Then, when King David conquered it, made it the capital of his kingdom and built a house for himself in it, his fame grew more and more. David's successor, Solomon, erected in Jerusalem a magnificent and the only temple in the whole world to the true God, and in touching words, at the consecration of the temple, he asked the Lord to listen to the prayers here not only of the Israelites, but of the Gentiles and foreigners. From that time on, not only Jews, but also pagans began to flock to Jerusalem in multitudes, and about the city of God, which the Lord was pleased to make His dwelling, they proclaimed great things throughout the world. The Blessed Virgin in relation to Her glory, according to the teaching of St. The Church is like the city of Jerusalem. She is “the city of all the King, the most glorious and well-heard about Neizha, the verb of the former reality”, “the chamber and throne of the King, the chosen city”. Coming from the royal family of David, the Most Holy Virgin at first, like Jerusalem, did not have any external glory, she was the most humble of the virgins of her people. But having become the God-chosen Mother of the Savior of the world, She acquired the only and universal glory. The Mother of God, according to Her prediction, blesses all childbirth.
Isaiah with ticks.
Isaiah is one of the four great prophets, also called Old Testament evangelist by the clarity of their prophecies. According to the text of the book, in Isaiah's vision, the Lord appears on the throne, surrounded by the Powers of Heaven. And Seraphim is sent to the Prophet as to a man with unclean lips: “Then one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: behold, this touched your mouth, and your iniquity is removed from you, and your sin is cleansed”(Isaiah 6:6-7) In the interpretation of Isaiah, St. Basil the Great says: the fact that Seraphim took coal with tongs symbolizes the impregnable holiness of the altar, and coal means the Incarnation as a combination of fire and earthy, rough substance; the nature of this fire is the same as the baptism with the Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). Hieromartyr Methodius of Patara calls the hands of the Mother of God the pincers that carry Christ to Simeon; the hymnographer John the Monk says that the Mother of God is mental, mental pincers, carrying flaming coal, that is, the true Christ; St. Sophronius of Jerusalem concludes that the tongs, as said by the prophet Isaiah, signify the Virgin who lifts up the Heavenly Bread. The Lord Jesus Christ and church hymns are called coal, while the hands of the Mother of God are called ticks. 2nd troparion of the 5th ode of the canon of St. Cosmas of Mayum at the Candlemas: “Fire, - speech, carry, Pure / I’m afraid to embrace God / Light of the Nightless and dominating the world”; 3rd troparion: “You, like ticks, enlighten me with your hands, giving it, wear it”. An excerpt from the Menaine reading at the Candlemas: “Coal, manifest / to the Divine Isaiah, - Christ, like tongs, / by the hands of the Virgin / is now given to the elder”. Isaiah's memorial song speaks of the Nativity and the Incarnation: “Coal of the Mind, Pure Bride of God, Isaiah, carry His sight on your hand, Bogomati, united to our vision and lightly giving salvation to the world, we all magnify Thee.”
Shown at the bottom center kneeling prophet Balaam pointing to a star. His prediction is one of the Old Testament prophecies about Christ, His incarnation from the Mother of God: “I see Him, but not yet; I see Him, but not close. A star rises from Jacob and a scepter rises from Israel and crushes the princes of Moab and crushes all the sons of Seth” (Numbers 24:17)
The images of all representative symbols include blue medallions with the image of the Mother of God.
For the semantics of the image of “Praise”, both the pose of the Mother of God, represented sitting on a throne with her palm open in front of her chest (similar to how She is depicted in the scene of the Annunciation), and the motif of the escape, forming the figure of eight and framing the figures of Christ and the Mother of God, are essential. These features, as well as the texts of the expanded prophetic scrolls, emphasize the main theme of the Divine Incarnation, predicted by the prophets and accomplished through the Virgin Mary.
The half-figure of the Savior Emmanuel above Her is a symbol of the incarnate Eternal Christ. The branches of the blue shoots surrounding the Mother of God and the Savior are reminiscent of the Tree of Jesse (Is. 11.1) and correspond to the numerous poetic likenings of Christ to the Tree of Life, and the Mother of God to a vine, a flowering paradise. The Tree of Jesse symbolized the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and the glorification of the Mother of God - "the mediator of the law of grace ... the clearest fulfillment of every prophecy" - revealed the main dogma of the New Testament church about the incarnate God.
Along the perimeter of the icon there are hallmarks that convey the content of the Akathist kontakia and ikos. The image of the Annunciation in various iconographic versions is often repeated several times as illustrations, as a rule, for the first 3 ikos. The iconography of the first 12 compositions of the cycle was equally based on the traditional images of the Lord's feasts and episodes of the cycle of the Life of the Mother of God in accordance with the Gospels and the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James. The following 12 illustrations, not related to the gospel narrative, depict the glorification of the Mother of God (or Her icon) and Christ by heavenly powers and the earthly race (apostles, martyrs, saints, saints, kings, faithful). However, in the second part of the Iconography of the Akathist to the Theotokos, there are images of the Lord's holidays, for example, the Descent into Hell.
The composition of the compositions and the completeness of the illustrative narrative of the Akathist to the Mother of God varied significantly in different medieval monuments. Various versions of the cycle of the Akathist to the Theotokos received a unified structure in post-Byzantine manuals and originals. For example, in "Ermina" Dionysius Fournoagrafiot, early XVIII century, it is prescribed to illustrate each of the ikos of the Akathist to the Theotokos as follows:
- To the first 3 ikos “An angel of the Representative from heaven was sent to speak to the Mother of God: Rejoice! ...”, “Seeing the Holy One in purity ...”, “Misunderstood mind, understand the Virgin seeking ...” - "Annunciation" in different iconographic versions
- 4th "The Power of the Most High autumn then to the conception of a marriage-inexperienced ... " - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Mother of God, (in Russian versions, this icon was illustrated with the image of the "Annunciation" - for example, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Ferapontov Mon-re);
- 5th “Having a God-pleasing Virgin womb, rise to Elizabeth ...” – meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, Joseph and Zechariah (chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian of the Church of St. Clement in Ohrid);
- 6th "Having a storm inside doubtful thoughts, the chaste Joseph was troubled ... " – Doubts of Joseph (chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian of the Church of St. Clement in Ohrid);
- 7th "Hearing the shepherd angels singing the fleshly coming of Christ…” - Nativity of Christ (Church of St. Nicholas Orfanos in Thessalonica);
- 8th "God star having seen the Volsvi, then following the dawn ... " — Magi riding horses who saw the Star of Bethlehem (the Church of St. Nicholas Orfanos in Thessalonica);
- 9th “Videsha the youths of the Chaldees into the hand of the Maiden, who created the hands of man ... " - Adoration of the Magi (Church of St. Nicholas Orfanos in Thessalonica);
- 10th “The Preachers of God-bearing were the Volsvi…” — Journey of the Magi (Church of St. Nicholas Orfanos in Thessalonica);
- 11th "He who hath illumined the truth in Egypt..." - flight to Egypt (Church of Pantokrator in Dechany);
- 12th “I want Simeon from the current age, the lovely one is gone ... " – Meeting (Church of Pantocrator in Dechany);
- 13th "A new showing of the creature be the Builder, who was from Him to us ... " - Christ blesses, under him the faces of all the saints (the refectory of the Great Lavra on Athos);
- 14th "Seeing a strange Christmas, let's get rid of the world ..." - The Mother of God with the Child, She faces the face of the saints (the icon "Praise of the Mother of God with the Akathist" from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin);
- 15th “All be in the lower ones, and the indescribable Word does not depart from the upper ones ...” - Christ in heaven blesses the apostles and people (the church of St. Nicholas Orfanos in Thessalonica);
- 16th "Every nature is angelic marvel at the great work of your incarnation…” - Christ blesses among the angelic faces (chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian, the church of St. Clement in Ohrid);
- 17th “Vetia of the many-talked, like a silent fish, we see the Mother of God about You ...” - The Virgin and Child surrounded by "vitii" (orators) (chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian, Church of St. Clement in Ohrid);
- 18th "Save the world though..." - The theme of free suffering is revealed. For example, Christ, talking with the apostles, goes through the mountains. In medieval monuments, usually or "Descent into Hell", for example, in the church of St. Demetrius Markov Monastery, or "Christ in Glory", for example, in the Church of Pantokrator in Dechany);
- 19th "Wall to the virgins Virgin Mother of God, and to all who resort to You ... " - The Virgin and Child surrounded by virgins (Church of St. Demetrius of the Markov Monastery);
- 20th “Every song is conquered by the one who strives for the multitude of Thy many bounties…” - Christ on the throne, surrounded by angels, blesses, below the saints and reverends (the church of St. Demetrius of the Markov Monastery);
- 21st “The light-receiving candle that appears in darkness, we see the holy Virgin ...” - The Mother of God with the Child (or a candle) on a cloud, light shines around her, kneeling people in the cave, looking at her (Church of St. Demetrius of the Markov Monastery);
- 22nd “Grace to give voskhetev debts of the ancients…” - Christ tears apart the charter with the inscriptions of the manuscript of Adam (the church of St. Demetrius of the Markov Monastery);
- 23rd “Singing Your Nativity, we all praise Thee, like an animated temple to the Mother of God ...” - The Virgin and Child, around her singing bishops, priests, deacons (chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian, Church of St. Clement in Ohrid);
- 24th "Oh All-Singing Mother .." - The Virgin and Child, around Her are kings, priests, bishops, reverends (the refectory of the Great Lavra on Athos).
Already in the Paleologian era, a stable tradition of historicized illustration of the 23rd and 24th ikos (in the Russian tradition of the 12th icos and 13th kontakion), and sometimes other ikos of the 2nd half of the Akathist to the Theotokos or proimia (beginning, introduction ) "To the Chosen Voivode... ". Such illustrations depicted the very service of A. the Mother of God with a litiya or worship of the icon of the Mother of God, which reflected the real Constantinople processions with icons of the Mother of God. This tradition spread in the illustrations to the Akathist to the Mother of God already in the end. XIII-XIV centuries.
In the cycles of the Akathist to the Mother of God of the Paleologian era, the 2nd proimium was illustrated relatively infrequently, but already at that time there were 2 main iconographic types: the image of the Mother of God or lithium with the icon of the Virgin, as well as the image of the siege of Constantinople, which included elements of the sieges of the city of different years. This second type of illustrating the proimium also took root in Russia and is known from the paintings of the 16th-17th centuries, as well as from some icons of the 17th century: Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, end. XVI century; Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, 1642-1643; Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Moscow Kremlin, 1644; Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, 1641; "Annunciation with Akathist" from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikitniki (Moscow), 1659
T. N. Mikhelson suggested that starting from the 15th century. in the monuments of the Moscow school, when depicting the siege in the Akathist to the Mother of God, a tradition could have developed of comparing the Avars with the Mongol-Tatars and Constantinople with Moscow.
Bibliography:
- Pivovarova N. V., Icon "Praise of the Mother of God" with an akathist in twenty-four hallmarks // The Russian Museum presents: Holy Russia / Almanac. SPb. , 2011.
- Orthodox encyclopedia, 5 volumes. Church Scientific Center of the Russian Orthodox Church "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2002
- “We worship your Most Pure Image…”. The image of the Mother of God in works from the collection of the Russian Museum. State Russian Museum, 1995.
- Tales about the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos with a presentation of the prophecies and types relating to Her, the teachings of the Church about Her, miracles and miraculous icons of Her. On the basis of Holy Scripture, the testimonies of St. Fathers and church giving. Moscow, 1904 http://deva-maria.narod.ru/zitie9.htm
- Purification of the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, almanac "Alpha and Omega", No. 24, 2000. Author - Yulia Sadovskaya.
- http://uspenie.paskha.ru/word/Testament/&job=print according to the article by archim. Cyprian (Kern)
Prepared by Veronika Afanasieva
Today is the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Saturday Akathist). This is an unusual day, and worship on this day is special. Below we invite you to find out what is the difference between today's worship and also learn about the history and significance of the celebration of the Saturday Akathist.
Saturday of the 5th week is called the Saturday of the Akathist (because this is the only day when, according to the Charter, the reading of the Akathist is required in the service), and the service itself was called the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos.
On this day, at Matins, an akathist to the Mother of God is read in memory of Her intercession and deliverance of Constantinople during these days of fasting from the Saracens and Scythians in 626.
The akathist is read in four steps, each time 3 ikos and 3 kontakia: after the kathismas (16th and 17th) and after the 3rd and 6th odes of the canon. Each reading begins and ends with the singing of the kontakion to the Chosen Governor. For each reading, the clergy go through the royal doors to the middle of the temple.
In the morning it is necessary to sing the Great Doxology.
Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Saturday Akathist) in the Valaam Monastery.
On the history and significance of the celebration of the Sabbath Akathist
When the priest comes to the pulpit and pronounces these words: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit," this means that we are glorifying the Holy Trinity. And the whole temple says it's true - says "Amen."
Today, brothers and sisters, is the Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent. And according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, a special service is always performed on this day. You and I are used to the fact that during fasting we hear prayers of repentance, the Church is clothed in mourning (the vestments of the priests are black during the week, purple on Saturday and Sunday). But today the Church has put on festive clothes and glorifies the Most Holy Theotokos. Today is Saturday Akathist. This is how the day is called in the charter. It is so called because on the eve of the evening worship is performed in the temples and the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos is read in a special rite. The same akathist that you all probably know and which begins with the kontakion "The Chosen Victorious Voivode."
During Great Lent, as you know, akathists are not read, the canons are read. But today the Church highlights and in a special rite blesses the reading of the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos. If we look at history, we will see that it is not so easy to find out what caused the establishment of such a day.
Some church historians say that Byzantium in the VI-VII centuries. suffered very frequent attacks by barbarians. Sometimes they were Persians, sometimes Saracens, sometimes even our ancient Slavic ancestors. Orthodox Byzantium always, of course, prayed to the Mother of God. And from Her various miracles were revealed. So, through the prayers of the Byzantines and their emperor, the Patriarch, of the entire clergy, when the Hodegetria icon was carried out, a storm suddenly arose, which sank enemy ships. The Byzantines saw such intercession more than once. And this served to establish a day of special veneration for the Mother of God. But if you and I carefully read the akathist and listen to the prayers of today, then we will not hear memories of armed conflicts, thanksgiving for victory. No, on the contrary, on Saturday Akathist, the feast of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos is remembered.
Other historians say that the Saturday of the Akathist was once the pre-feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The holiday was not always set on one specific day (as it is in our time - April 7th, according to the new style), it was also a transitional one and was postponed to Sunday. And then the Sabbath of the Akathist became a prefeast.
But whatever the real history of the establishment of this holiday, we celebrate this service with joy and thanksgiving. Especially during Great Lent, when there is not so much joy that is expressed precisely in divine services. And of course, always, when we serve the Mother of God, we remember that She is our most important Representative, Intercessor. It is to Her that we offer our most fervent prayers, we ask for help in our most important needs. Once we were adopted by the Lord Jesus Christ himself in the person of the Apostle John the Theologian, who stood at the Cross of the Lord, when the Lord said: “Behold thy Mother,” addressing the Apostle John, and, addressing the Mother of God, said: “Behold thy son.” And now we are all children of the Heavenly Queen of the Most Holy Theotokos.
When spiritual laziness, despondency finds itself on you, call on the Most Holy Theotokos: “Most Holy Theotokos, help me! Holy Mother of God, save me!” and strain your spiritual strength, go to church, pray to God, repent of your sins, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
Save everyone Lord! Amen.
Materials used: sermon by Archpriest Peter Bornovalov.
More than half of Great Lent has already passed, and all this time we have been trying to limit ourselves in something, setting our thoughts to fight against sins. As you know, it is customary to read the canons during fasting, since they are of a repentant nature. However, there is a day in the fasting calendar that relaxes our strictness and encourages us to rejoice. On April 13, the Church celebrates the Saturday of the Akathist (or Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos).
This bright day with its joyful mood anticipates Easter. Many believers gather in the temple to sing a song of praise - the Akathist to the Mother of God.
What is the holiday about?
The events took place approximately in the VI-IX centuries from the birth of Christ. The position of the Christians in Constantinople in those days was not enviable. Every now and then the city was attacked by different peoples. Arabs, Persians, Scythians, barbarians repeatedly tried to capture the city. But every time this was avoided thanks to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
So, in 860, during the attack on the city of the Rus from the sea, a miracle happened. After fervent prayer in the temple, the Christians made a procession around the city with the Robe of the Mother of God. And when the believers approached the sea, Patriarch Photius lowered the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos into the water, and after that a strong storm began on the sea, as a result of which the Rus had to retreat.
Miraculous salvation of Constantinople
“For as soon as the vestments of the Virgin went around the walls, the barbarians, abandoning the siege, withdrew from the camp, and we were redeemed from the impending captivity and were honored with unexpected salvation ... The invasion of enemies turned out to be unexpected - their retreat was also unexpected ... "
(It is noteworthy that literally a few years later the Russians sent their ambassadors to Constantinople and announced their desire to be baptized. Thus, under the princes Oskold and Dir, a small baptism of the Russian people took place in Kyiv.)
Vysoko-Petrovsky copy of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God
After the miraculous liberation of Constantinople from trouble, believers throughout the night in the temple sang a laudatory song to the Theotokos "The Chosen Voivode" in front of Her miraculous image called "Blaherna", which was written by the Evangelist Luke. Delight and jubilation filled the hearts of people, and therefore they stood all night long in the temple, glorifying and thanking the Lord and His most pure Mother. Hence the name "akathist" came from, which in Greek means "non-saddle".
The tradition of singing the akathist to the Mother of God with time became firmly established in the Church Charter. This service, celebrated on the 5th week of Great Lent, is especially loved by believers. The author of that very first akathist is Gregory of Pissidia, a deacon who served in the church of Constantinople.
It is known that the akathist was compiled in the middle of the 7th century. Later, the canon of the Sabbath of the Akathist was also compiled, but by a different author, Joseph Studit.
Over time, other akathists dedicated to the Mother of God, the Lord and the saints appeared. And such prayerful standing entered a wider liturgical circle. Most often, an akathist is sung at the evening service on the eve of a holiday or memorial day of a particularly revered saint.
The second name of the akathist to the Theotokos is the akathist of the Annunciation. And indeed, throughout the singing of the akathist, the welcoming Archangelic voice “Rejoice, blessed one, the Lord is with you!” Such singing reminds believers of this great feast, which most often falls during Great Lent.
The akathist consists of 12 ikos, 12 kontakia, which is 24 songs according to the number of letters of the Greek alphabet. Traditionally, the beginning of the song is composed in accordance with these letters. At the end of each kontakion, “Alleluia” is sung three times, which means “Praise God!” in Greek. And each ikos contains 7 paragraphs with the refrains of the Archangelic exclamation “rejoice”. The akathist also includes a special, 13th kontakion, which is read three times, and after it the 1st ikos and 1st kontakion are read again, thus forming an invisible prayer circle.
The Church has developed a tradition of performing an akathist at the festive morning, when the priests go to the center of the temple and unite with the people in prayer in singing the akathist. Thus, the clergy become closer to the people, making prayer a single whole. And that is why the akathist fell in love with the people so much that it has already gone beyond the church walls. Many believers love to perform an akathist in private, adding it to their home prayers.
There is also an icon of the Mother of God called "Akathist". Its full name is "Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos with an akathist."
Icon “Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos”
An ancient image of the 16th century of Greek origin is now kept in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In the center of the icon, the Mother of God is depicted sitting on a throne, and on the sides of her are the Old Testament prophets holding scrolls with prophecies about the Mother of God in their hands. Along the perimeter of the icon there are also stamps depicting the earthly life of the Mother of God. The iconography of this icon is based on the idea that the Mother of God became the mother of the incarnate God the Word.
There are temples in honor of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos. There is such a temple in Moscow
Our Lent is close to completion, and today the Church brings praise to the Most Holy Theotokos. Holy Great Lent is the focus of our life, the comprehension of all Divine mysteries, all the mysteries of our salvation, to which we partake through the Mother of God. The Church brings praise to the Mother of God from the Archangel Gabriel, who says to Her: “Rejoice, O Gracious One, the Lord is with You, blessed are You among women.”
She brings to the Most Holy Theotokos the praise of the holy righteous Elizabeth, the mother of the greatest of all those born of women, who also calls Her Blessed and Blessed. The Holy Church, including all of us, today brings praise to the Most Pure Mother of God.
At the Divine Liturgy, when the Transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts is performed, we sing: “Every creature rejoices in You, O Gracious One, the angelic cathedral and the human race, consecrated to the Temple and the Verbal Paradise.” This happens at the very moment when the grace-filled presence of Christ Himself in His Most Pure Body and Blood appears among us in the Church.
And after the exclamation of the priest: Pretty much about the Most Holy, Most Pure and Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary ... - a wonderful prayer is read, which is read secretly (i.e. not aloud) by the clergyman, in the altar before the already consecrated Holy Gifts, standing on throne.
This exclamation of the Mother of God is pronounced in the presence of Christ Himself - His Most Pure Body and Life-Giving Blood. In the subsequent prayer, the priest prays for all those who are grieving and burdened, for all those who are sick, in need, work, imprisonment, for all who are in sins and infirmities.
And this appeal is not accidental, because in the person of the Mother of God we have a grace-filled Intercessor and Prayer for each person individually and for the entire human race.
The Lord comes again and again to everyone in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. By partaking of His Most Pure Body and Blood, we are united with Him forever.
Saint Simeon the New Theologian, the great Athos ascetic of the 11th century, once after communion of the Holy Body and Life-Giving Blood, having returned to his wretched cell, experienced joy and truly felt the Lord coming to a person in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
“I wonder and tremble,” says Simeon the New Theologian, “contemplating my feeble body. My feeble hands became at that moment the hands of Christ; my feeble body became part of the body of Christ; I was permeated by the Divinity, I joined and communed with Christ, I was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. This happiness is given to every believer. The Holy Church lives by him, preaching Christ crucified and risen, eternally triumphant.
And how our ancestors loved to pray to Her, unlike us, who are spiritually lazy and in constant slumber! They constantly turned to the Mother of God and knew from the experience of their lives that their prayer would not be in vain, but would be heard, and the Mother of God would cover them with Her omophorion and protect them from all the misfortunes encountered on the path of life.
When this song of praise to the Mother of God is sung, the priest prays for the whole Church with a lengthy prayer. This prayer is for everyone, in sorrows and needs of those who exist; about everyone, in dungeons, in illnesses and in the bitter works of the afflicted; about all who suffer from unclean spirits, who perish in sins. This prayer is for all the people whose names cannot be remembered. But the Lord knows all of them, and they are all in the memory of the Most Pure Mother of God, who prays for every person, and all people bring praise to Her on behalf of the Church and in the face of the Church.
“Behold, from now on, all give birth to Me,” says the Mother of God, and this prophecy is being fulfilled in such a way that for two thousand years the entire human race has been unceasingly, every day bringing praise to the Mother of God in the song that sounds after Matins: “The Mother of God and Mother of Light in let us exalt the song." And something unusual appears to us in what the Church reveals about man, about the Mother of God, about Her extraordinary closeness to God.
One of the greatest people, the prophet Isaiah, says: “Woe is me! I died! for I am a man of unclean lips... and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). When God approaches a person, we can only speak about it with trembling through the mouth of the Old Testament prophet, and we say that we perish, approaching God with our unclean lips.
And the Mother of God, in humility and at the same time in unshakable confidence, confesses that in childbirth all mankind will bring praise to Her, to please Her, and in these words there sounds some special, exceptional joy of victory, which will be given to all.
We know that there are saints in our Church, and those who do deeds of true love, the Lord always blesses. But so that in childbirth, childbirth, so that all of humanity, always and unceasingly! And not just for one great feat of the past, which is of decisive importance for all people, but also for the fact that Her love and the deeds of Her love are constantly growing - such a human race, except for the Mother of God, does not know.
Praise and gratitude to the Mother of God, who truly saves us all, is bursting forth from new and new hearts. And these incomprehensible words that all human races bring praise to Her and bless Her speak, on the one hand, of how the humility of the Mother of God, the most important quality of a person, can be measured. For the praise of the Most Holy Theotokos is revealed by the depth of Her humility: “Like a contemplation of the humility of His servant, behold, from now on, all birth will please me.” The Lord Himself says about this: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Mt. 11.29).
The Lord asks us to learn only one thing - humility and meekness, and nothing else, because this is the perfection of man. And he who humbles himself will be exalted.
We can see the mystery of the humility of the Mother of God through Her exaltation and pleasing to all the human race until the end of time and in endless, blessed eternity. On the other hand, we can see in the mysterious words of praise of the Mother of God our spiritual connection with this mystery because She will be appeased by “all the mothers.”
This also applies to us. This spiritual connection and our entry into the joy of the Lord is given to each of us through the intercession of the Mother of God. In order to bring praise to the Mother of God, you need to understand what is at stake.
The light must shine even a little, and this mystery will be revealed, as St. Seraphim of Sarov, to whom the Mother of God appeared twelve times during his earthly life, speaks about this in a conversation with Motovilov. After his face shone brighter than the midday sun on a winter Russian meadow, he said to Motovilov: “Do not be afraid, your love of God, because you yourself are in the same light.”
A person can never see the holiness of another if he himself does not share in this holiness, because this is given only by the same Holy Spirit, the same grace. And therefore, to please the Mother of God, to bring Her praise for us means to mysteriously enter into Her glory, into Her eternal blessedness.
To enter, of course, still to the smallest extent that we are only capable of now, but always with the consciousness that salvation is granted to all of us by Her glory. Her humility. Her purity. Her obedience. Her intercession.
We can praise the Mother of God only by the measure of our humility, our obedience, our purity, which testify that, thanks to Her, we are partakers of God.
Holy Mother of God, help us! Holy Mother of God, save us!
Troparion on the day of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Saturday Akathist).
Brideless Virgin / and Mother of the All-Pure, / having received the annunciation from the Archangel, /
with diligence, thou hast ascended into the Mountain, / and kissing your south, all-honorable Elizabeth, /
Thou wast called the mother of the Lord from this, / and exalted the Lord who glorified Thee: /
Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Your womb.
Sermon by Schema-Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). Word on the Akathist to the Mother of God
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
A darling, people, to this quiet and good refuge, an early Helper, ready and warm salvation, the protection of the Virgin ... Dear brothers and sisters, once a woman, admiring the wonderful teaching of Christ the Savior, raising her voice, exclaimed: blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts who fed you (Luke 11:27). These few words express that greatness and that glory of the Mother of God, with which the whole world, visible and invisible, repaid Her for Her love and mercy to suffering humanity.
It is always gratifying for a believing Christian heart to remember this love and mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos, but it is especially gratifying to remember this for us, the inhabitants and visitors of this holy monastery, which was honored with a wondrous visit from the Mother of God, over whom She promised to constantly spread Her Divine cover.
The Orthodox Church of Christ, above all earthly and heavenly creatures, venerates the most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. According to the teachings of the Church, She is the only hope of sinners, the salvation of all who flow to Her from troubles and misfortunes, a source of mercy and an invincible wall, an immutable intercession to the Creator, the hope and intercession of the faithful, all those who grieve Joy and offended Intercessor.
She vigilantly intercedes in prayers for us before God. Before Her eyes, every day, every night, every hour and moment, there are countless people, some of whom are surrounded by countless hordes of invisible enemies seeking their death, others are weighed down by exorbitant sorrows and misfortunes, while others suffer from serious illnesses and diseases; and the Most Blessed Mother of God sees them all.
Out of Her boundless love for the human race, She takes every tear, every trouble, and every sigh close to her heart, and unceasingly prays to Her Divine Son and Lord, that He be merciful to human iniquities and that He deliver His servants from all evil. St. Demetrius of Rostov writes: “Being the Mediator between God and our sins, the Most Holy Theotokos does not allow our sins to ascend close to God and, with the voice of Her prayers for us, reflects the voices of our sins crying out to God against us.” Therefore, there is not a single true Christian who, with complete trust and love, would not lift up his private and public prayers to the Mother of God and would not feel Her grace-filled help.
Dear brethren and sisters, the word of God proclaims to us that there is a world of evil spirits, who are unceasingly concerned about the destruction of human souls. The Holy Apostle Peter says to Christians: be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Therefore, where can a poor and weak person hide and find refuge from the deceit of these adversaries?
A Christian finds refuge from them only in the protection of the Mother of God. In the akathist we just read, we heard the following words: Rejoice, demons' lamentable defeat (Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, ikos 2), rejoice, tormenting the inhuman tormentor from the authorities (Ibid., ikos 5), rejoice at the torment of invisible enemies (Ibid., ikos 4) Rejoice, fall of demons (Ibid., ikos 6). These words assure us that the Mother of God drives away demons from us, Her name alone puts evil spirits to flight. And the holy Church of Christ knows many cases when the Most Blessed Mother of God delivered people from invisible enemies.
The Prologue tells of a certain man named Kodrat. He was possessed, and once the demons drove him through the desert for ten weeks. He was dying of hunger and was already expecting death. But now, in a moment of enlightenment of his mind, he turned with a prayer to the Mother of God, and the Blessed Virgin Herself appeared to him in the desert, cast out demons from him, strengthened him, showed him the way to his parents' house, and he became completely healthy. There are many other similar examples.
But the Most Holy Theotokos delivers not only from invisible enemies, She delivers pious people from visible enemies as well. In Alexandria there lived a reverent, merciful, Christ-loving husband, who had a wife of humble disposition and a fasting woman, and a daughter of six years of age. One day he had to go on business from Alexandria to Constantinople.
MARCH 22 - CELEBRATION OF THE Albazin Icon of the Mother of God, called "The Word Flesh"When he was already leaving, his wife asked him: “To whom do you entrust us, our lord, during your absence?” "Our Lady Mother of God!" - answered the husband. Leaving one slave in the house, he left. The enemy of all goodness, the devil, inspired this slave with an evil idea to kill the wife and daughter of his master, rob the estate and run away with the stolen property. For this purpose, he took a knife and went to the upper room, where the mother and daughter were. But as soon as he approached the door of the chamber, where they were engaged in needlework, he was suddenly stricken with blindness and, seeing nothing, could move neither forward nor backward.
Exhausted and unable to find a way out, he began to shout and call his mistress to come out to him and help him. Not suspecting any malicious intent, she nevertheless answered him: "Come to us." Then he began to call her daughter, but she did not let her mother and daughter come to him. In the end, seeing that his plans were not fulfilled, in a fit of anger he stabbed himself with a knife and fell to the ground with a terrible cry.
The neighbors ran to the noise, the lady came out, and he, being still alive, told them about his evil intention and the misfortune that had befallen him. And all those gathered glorified God and His Most Pure Mother, who saved the lives of His pious servants. This example teaches us, dear ones, that we too should always resort to the help and intercession of the Mother of God. There was and still is a pious custom among Christians - to entrust their relatives and children to the protection and protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, letting them go on a long journey, or, on the contrary, leaving them for some reason.
Dear brothers and sisters, our earthly life is full of sorrows and sorrows. No wonder it is so often called the vale of lamentation and lamentation. A man is born with weeping, and he goes to another world with many sighs and torments. So no one can escape sorrows and tears in this life; a person has much more troubles and misfortunes than joys. Everyone knows from experience how sometimes life's grief presses the soul from all sides, the heart is weary from anguish and sorrow, and sometimes tears flow involuntarily from the eyes.
It is difficult for a person to endure misfortunes, and he sometimes falls into despondency, and a feeling of sadness takes possession of him. But, my dears, the most important thing is not to despair, be of good cheer! When a cloud of sorrows surrounds you, so that it seems that there is no way out of this situation, then remember that you have a Mother in heaven, the Queen of Heaven, Who sees you, hears and knows all your spiritual movements. Call on Her with faith, and She will immediately come to you and save you from troubles and misfortunes.
Let us pray to Her that she hears us even at this hour and delivers us from all sorrow and misfortune, cleanses us from all vice and sin, and makes us joyful in the eternal kingdom of her Son, so that we always cry out to her with love: Rejoice, all-good, quick hearer fulfilling our petitions for the good! Amen.
The Saturday service of the fifth week of Great Lent is called "Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos."
This is an amazingly warm, kind and joyful holiday, like the first news of the coming Easter, the end of Great Lent and the beginning of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. On this day, the Church “will recreate praiseworthy singing” to the Lady, in memory of the triple deliverance of the reigning city of Constantinople from the attack of enemies by Her all-powerful intercession (Avars - in 626, Persians - in 677, Arabs - in 717).
The reason for the establishment of the holiday was the attack on Constantinople by the enemy fleet. It is difficult to say exactly when this happened. Historians differ in their opinions, indicating various dates for the period from the 6th to the 9th century. The position of the Orthodox Greeks at that time was desperate. Feeling the weakness of their forces, the Greeks turned with a prayer to God and the Intercessor zealous for the Christian race - the Mother of God. A procession was made around the city, and when the procession approached the sea, the patriarch plunged the robe of the Mother of God into the water. The sea, hitherto quiet and calm, suddenly became very agitated, a terrible storm arose and sank the ships of the enemies.
Then all that night, the grateful people, who were in the Blachernae Church, proclaimed to the Defender of the city a victorious, all-night and non-sedal (akathist - Greek letters. non-sedal) song: Since then, it has been decided annually on this day, i.e. on Saturday of the 5th week of Great Lent, to celebrate a particularly solemn service in honor of the Blessed Virgin.
The miraculous Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God, painted by the holy Evangelist Luke, and objects associated with her earthly life - a robe and a belt were kept in the Blachernae Church. Emperor Constantine the Great, the founder of Constantinople, dedicated it to the Mother of God. He revered the Blessed Virgin as the patroness of his own and of his new capital, erecting many churches in Her honor.
At first, the feast of the akathist was celebrated in Constantinople in the Blachernae Church, but later the feast was included in the typicons (charters) of the monasteries of St. Sava of Studius and then in church liturgical books, and from that time became common to the entire Eastern Church.
This is the most ancient Akathist to the Theotokos and it is the only one intended by the church charter for worship. The akathist was written in the middle of the 7th century, according to many, by the deacon of the great Church of Constantinople, George of Pisidia, and served as a model for all subsequent akathists written in honor of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin, saints and church holidays. Subsequently, Joseph the Studite wrote a canon on the Saturday of the akathist, and others added prayers of thanksgiving to this in remembrance of the same all-powerful voivodeship of the Mother of God.
The Akathist got its name from the fact that on that night people stood up and sang the song of the Mother of God the Word; and while at other (services) according to the charter you can sit, on the present feast of the Mother of God we all listen to (praise) standing.
Akathist consists of 24 hymns, or songs: 12 kontakia and 12 ikos, arranged according to 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Each hymn begins with a letter corresponding to it, each kontakion ends with the Psalm "Alleluia", each ikos ends with the greeting of the archangel "Rejoice ...". The main theme of the akathist is the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Incarnation of the Son of God. It is believed that the Sabbath Akathist was a kind of fore-feast of the Annunciation There is another name for it - "Akathist of the Annunciation", although later another one will be written to the Annunciation.
At the festive morning, the entire akathist is read in four steps, each time 3 icos and 3 kontakia. Each reading begins and ends with the singing of the kontakion to the Chosen Governor. For each reading, the clergy go through the royal gates to the middle of the temple in blue vestments. There is a parish tradition to read the akathist in turn before the venerated icons of the Mother of God of the temple.
Icon of Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (Kyiv)
On the theme of the Akathist, the icons "Praise to the Mother of God" were painted, the main theme of which is the glorification of the Virgin Mary, who, according to Old Testament prophecies, became the mother of the incarnate God. The iconography is based on the words of the song of the canon to the prophets, compiled in the 8th century by the Patriarch of Constantinople Herman: “From above, the prophets foreshadow thee, Otrokovitsa: a stamen, a rod, a tablet, a kivot, a candlestick, a meal, a mountain without insects, a golden censer and a tabernacle, an impenetrable door, a chamber, and the ladder, and the throne of the Kings. Based on this song, the icons depict the following Old Testament prophets holding certain objects in their hands: Jacob with a ladder, Moses with the Burning Bush, Balaam with a star, Gideon with a rune, Ezekiel with a gate, Jeremiah with a tablet, Isaiah with tongs and coal, Jesse and Aaron with flourishing rods, David and Solomon with models of the Jerusalem Temple, Daniel and Habakkuk with mountains.
The most ancient icon of the Praise of the Mother of God in Russia is the icon "Praise of the Mother of God with the Akathist" from the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, created by a Greek master in the second half of the 14th century.
On the Day of Praise, the Saturday of Praise, the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the German knights on the ice of Lake Peipus. This is reported in the annals, that year April 5 - coincided with the Sabbath day of Praise of the Mother of God.
In honor of the Praise of the Mother of God, "Praise Churches" were built.
Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Church of Praise of the Blessed Virgin (1912-1915)
Praise to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God - Tree of the Russian State
In the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow, it has become a pious tradition every year for the Praise of the Mother of God to bring out for worship the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, the very one in front of which Father Seraphim prayed in his cell. The last Russian Emperor, Passion-bearer Nicholas II, who deeply revered the Monk Seraphim, donated a gold frame adorned with precious stones, the work of the famous jeweler Faberge, to the miraculous image of the Mother of God. During the years of persecution against the Church, it was preserved by believers, and now it is in the Patriarchal Sacristy.
Praise to the Theotokos, apostles; XVI century; Cretan school; location: Italy. Venice. Museum of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies; 87 x 68 cm
CLICKABLE
What is the significance of the Praise of the Mother of God in the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian?
Pious Christians spend the time of fasting in prayerful deeds of abstinence and struggle with their passions and lusts, with the temptations of the devil. It is not difficult for such a long time to lose heart, to become exhausted in body. And so the Holy Church, desiring to support her faithful children, reminds them of the miraculous help and intercession for us of the sinful Mother of God.
Chants of Saturday Akathist
Troparion, tone 8: Secretly commanded reception in the mind, in the blood of Joseph with diligence, the incorporeal one, the verb Unskilful: Having bowed the heavens with convergence, invariably fits all in Thee. Seeing him in Thy beds, having received the sign of a slave, I am horrified to call Thee: Rejoice, Bride, not Bride.
Translation: Having understood the mysterious meaning of the command of God, the incorporeal [Archangel] hastily appeared in the house of Joseph and said to the Unmarried Woman: “He who has bowed the heavens by [His] descent, without changing, is all contained in You. And seeing Him in Your bowels, assuming the form of a slave, I exclaim in amazement: Rejoice, Virgin, who did not enter into marriage!
Kontakion, tone 8: To the chosen Voivode, victorious, as if we had got rid of the evil ones, with thanksgiving, we will describe Ty, Thy servants to the Theotokos: but as if having an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call Ty: Rejoice, O Bride of the Bride.
Translation: To you, the supreme Commander, having got rid of troubles, we, Your unworthy servants, Mother of God, sing a song of victory and thanksgiving. You, as having invincible power, free us from all troubles so that we cry out to You rejoice (an ancient greeting, the current "hello"), Bride who has not entered into marriage!