AKATHIST. - A hymn of the Greek liturgy that celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation. The first meaning, from ἀκάθιστος (ἀκαθίζομαι), indicates that during its singing one stands. According to others the word would allude to the night vigil that accompanied its performance in the imperial palace of Constantinople. It belongs to the ancient Byzantine hymnody, and precisely to the group of the κοντάκια (from κοντός = scroll), and it is composed, like the other kontakia, of a stanza serving as a proem (προσίμων, also called κονεώλων) and of 24 other stanzas, each of which begins with a letter of the alphabet. The stanzas alternately end with the refrain: χάβε, Νόμψη ἀνόμμεντε.

Its principal theme is the Gospel narrative of the Annunciation (Lk. 1:26-36). The first 12 stanzas give its gloss with an abundance of poetic figures; in the following 12, instead, the benefits of the Incarnation are enumerated through the co-redeeming and co-restoring role of the Madonna. At a period difficult to determine (perhaps with the substitution of the original proem), the a. served to thank the Virgin for having freed Constantinople from the siege of the Ghezia.

The author of the a. is not known, and many claim its paternity. Sergius of Constantinople (610-638), G. Pisides, St. John Damascene (8th century), the poetess Cassiana (9th century), the patriarch Photius (810-898). It appears, however, that the true author is Romanus the Melodist, who lived under Anastasius I (491-518), or at most a disciple or imitator of his (Byzant. Zeitschrift, 16 [1907], p. 406; S. Eustratiades, Ρωμανός o Μελωδός καί o Ἀνάθιστος, Salonica 1917, and Θεολογία, 7 [1919], pp. 257-81).

At present the a. is sung for a fourth part on the first four Fridays of Lent and during the apodipnon (compline), and in its entirety on Friday evening or the morning of the fifth Saturday. Moreover it is 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 that it represents the popular counterpart to the rosary of Westerners.

Bibliography10 works

BIBL.: P. De Meester, L'Inno A., Studio storico letterario, in Bessarino, 2nd ser. 6 (1904) and 7 (1905); id., text and Italian version with the whole office of the Lesta, Rome 1903. After 1905 the controversy between A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus and M. Theavric, in Échos d'Orient, 7 (1904), pp. 293-300; 8 (1905), pp. 164-66; G. Cammelli, Romano il Melode, Florence 1930. Editions of the works of George of Pisidia: PG 92, 1335-48 and Greek texts relating to the hymn: 1347-72; ed. Pitra, in Analecta Sacra, 1 (1876), pp. 250-64; list of manuscripts and complete bibliography by P. F. Krypiakiewicz, De hymni acathistici autore, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 18 (1906), pp. 357-82; P. Mass and A. Baumstark, ibid., 14 (1905), p. 644; 15 (1906), p. 10; 16 (1907), pp. 656-88; C. Del Grande, L'inno a., Florence 1948.

Pacido De Meester

@incollection{ec1_acatisto, author = {De, Meester Placido}, title = {Acatisto}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {160--161}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/acatisto} }

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Akathist

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