THE AKATHISTOS HYMN: A COMMEMORATION OF THE INCARNATION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 7, 2000 (VIS) - In keeping with tradition, on the afternoon of December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father, after placing a floral tribute before the statue of Mary Immaculate in Rome's Piazza di Spagna, will travel to St. Mary Major Basilica. There, in this Jubilee year, the Akathistos hymn will be sung.

An explanatory note published today states that the celebration will be presided by the Pope and that representatives of various Byzantine-Catholic Churches will attend. The ancient Akathistos hymn of the Christian-Byzantine tradition will be sung in Greek, Paleoslavonic, Hungarian, Romanian and Arabic.
The Akathistos hymn - from the Greek "a-kathistos," meaning "without sitting" - is a song of supplication and praise in commemoration of the mystery of the Incarnation. The name derives from the fact that people must stand while the hymn is being sung. It is composed of 24 verses grouped into four parts. The first 12 verses, using much poetical symbolism, deal with the theme of the Annunciation while the second 12 refer to the participation of Mary Mother of God (Theotokos) in the redemption and in the restoration of humanity to the mysteries of Christ.

In the Byzantine-rite Churches, the hymn is sung on the evening of the Friday preceding the fifth Saturday of Lent, which normally falls near March 25, Feast of the Annunciation.

In addition to the liturgical celebration of the Akathistos hymn, it is sung in special circumstances to implore the protection of the Mother of God and it is particularly appropriate, the note concludes, for the celebration of the Great Jubilee.

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