ACATHISTOS. – A hymn of the Greek liturgy that celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation. The first meaning, from ἀκάθολος (ἀκαλούς), indicates that during its singing one stands. According to others, the word alludes to the night vigil that accompanied its performance in the imperial palace of Constantinople. It belongs to the ancient Byzantine hymnography, precisely to the group of κονταξικὰ (from κονταξι = scroll), and, like the other kontakia, it consists of a stanza in the manner of a proem (προολίων, also called κονταξιλίων) and 24 other stanzas, each beginning with a letter of the alphabet. The stanzas alternately end with the refrain: γὰρ, Νύμφη ἀνώμευτε.
Its principal theme is the evangelical narrative of the Annunciation (Lk. 1:26-38). The first 12 stanzas provide a gloss on it with an abundance of poetic figures; in the following 12, the benefits of the Incarnation are enumerated through the co-redemptive and co-restorative role of the Virgin. At a time difficult to determine (perhaps with the substitution of the original proem), the hymn was used to thank the Virgin for having delivered Constantinople from various sieges.
The author of the hymn is unknown, and many claim its authorship. Among them are Sergius of Constantinople (610-638), G. Pisides, St. John Damascene (8th century), the poetess Cassiane (9th century), and Patriarch Photius (810-898). It seems, however, that the true author is Romanos the Melodist, who lived under Anastasius I (491-518), or at most one of his disciples or imitators (Byzant. Zeitschrift, 16 [1907], p. 406; S. Eustratiades, Ἰωμανοὺς ὁ Μελωδὸς καὶ ὁ Ἀκὰνθος, Thessaloniki 1917, and Θεολογία, 7 [1919], pp. 257-81).
At present the hymn is sung in its entirety on the first four Fridays of Lent and during the Apodeipnon (the meal), and in full on Friday evening or Saturday morning of the fifth week. It is also sung in church at the request of the faithful and in case of public calamity. There is no Christian in the East who does not know it by heart, and it may be said to represent the popular counterpart to the rosary of the West.