AKATHISTOS HYMN

Akathistos Hymn: translation

   Famous Byzantine kontakion, its anonymous text, containing two prooimia followed by 24 strophes in honor of the Virgin Mary, dates from as early as the sixth century, but the earliest known melodic setting, highly melismatic, dates from a 13th-century psaltikon. Its text remained unabbreviated even after the singing of complete kontakia was suppressed in the eighth century. Originally for the Feast of the Annunciation, the hymn is now sung on the vigil of the fifth Sunday in Lent.