Akathist is what?

The term "akathist" in translation means "a chant, in the performance of which it is forbidden to sit".

What is an akathist?

In the old days it was called a non-sedentary anthem. Kathismas are the opposite of akathists. During their performance, they are allowed to sit. Akathist is a genre variety of the church hymn. It appeared at the time of early Byzantium and was often found in the Greek literature of the Middle Ages. Akathist was widely spread. From Greece, he moved to the literature of the countries of Eastern Europe.

Kondaks and Icons

There are only 24 stanzas in this song: 50% of it consists of kontakion and 50% of it is made of Icons. Many today do not even know what it is. At the end of the chant, the first Ikos and Kontakion are sung again. But what do these words mean? "Kontakion" used to be called a bundle of paper on which something is written on both sides. In the old days this word was quite famous. It should always be remembered that an akathist is a chant consisting of several sections. This is a very important point. Kontakion in the Akathist contain concise information about the life of the saint or the sense of celebration. They end with words, which are then sung at the end of all the icons that follow after them. And again many thought about the meaning of an unfamiliar word. The term "Ikos" reminds Christians of the Syrian traditions. In this country this word had two meanings at once: "poetic stanza" and "dwelling". Syrian Christians often performed hymns at home with someone from the faithful. Modern Orthodox often go to a moleben with an akathist. What it is? It is a service in which Christians ask God, the Mother of God or saints for a blessing, or they thank the Lord. Of course, this worship includes an akathist.

More about kontakion and icosa

But let's return to the Ikos and Kontakion. They are arranged in alphabetical order. It is, of course, the Greek language. But there is an exception - this is the first kontakion. You can say that it is out of order. Traditionally, both dogmatic and historical questions are reflected in the work. At the same time, in small kondaks, only the rudiments of the theme are represented, and in extensive icicles it is presented in detail. The latter consists of two sections: one contains a story about something, and in another - glorification. It happens always.

In the glorious section there are certainly hayretisms - couplets, beginning with the obligatory word "Chaere", which translates as "rejoice." In the churches, the Vespers with the Akathist are often held. What it is? In fact, this is an ordinary service. It's just that the akathist is singing on it. Every Orthodox person should know about this.

Russian and Greek Tradition

In the old days, the word "akathist" meant only one liturgical hymn, which was distributed in Byzantium, namely, a dogmatic and dogmatic chant dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. It is still considered the best example of akafistografii. This word means writing hymns. Akafistograf - a person who devises chants. So-called Christian poets. After a while, when other hymns appeared, similar to akathists, this term meant all such hymns. So a new genre was born.

Akathist is a hymn, which immediately fell in love with believers. He is very handsome, therefore, this is not surprising. Soon the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos received another name. He was called the "Great Akathist." Under this name, he is known to many people till now. The Greek tradition considers only this hymn to be an akathist, and other non-sedentary hymns, in its form reminiscent of it, in this country are called "similar". Why this name? It arose for the reason that these icons are like an akathist. They really are like him. But in our country there are many kinds of akathists. Still, we have a lot of disagreements with Greece. Including we have Akathist saints. This is a chant, in which there is information about their life.

The Great Akathist

The great akathist today has a name (from Greek this word is translated as "entry") or initiation, which is often called "cuckoo" (this term means "hood"). He literally envelops the 24 stanzas following him: 12 long and 12 squeezed icicles, following in a checkerboard pattern. What else can you say about them? Each icon starts with a Greek letter. Expansions are made up of two sections. In this case, the initial repeats the metric of the compressed icosa. And the second section consists of 12 addresses addressed to the Virgin Mary-hairetism. At present, the overwhelming number of hymnologists and specialists in Byzantium are inclined to the version that the Great Akathist appeared in 431-634. More precisely, in the gap between them. The researchers believe that several hymnographers worked on this Akathist. Most likely, so it was. It is good that the prayer-Akathists have reached our country: now they are an integral part of the Orthodox life.

Akathists in our country

In the Russian church tradition, this hymn could have come about in about 916, as in this period the translation of the book "Triod Lenten" into which it was already included was translated into the Slavonic language. There are more than 30 editions of this song, however in our country not the Athonite version of the beginning of the 14th century (the elders named John) gained fame, but the Kiev version of 1627, composed by Archimandrite Pletenecki, who called himself Elisha. It should be noted that this man translated the "Triod lenten", and in 1656 on the basis of his work the Moscow edition of this church book was published. At the beginning of the 15th century Greek anthems were spread among Slavic monks. This is evidenced by a book entitled "Canon" by Kirill Belozersky, released in 1407. Akathist is a solemn chant, so the attitude to it must be appropriate.