Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God

Devotions

An ancient Byzantine hymn of praise to Mary as Theotokos, sung standing throughout, traditionally linked to Constantinople’s deliverance from siege and treasured across the Eastern Christian tradition.

The Akathist Hymn is an ancient Byzantine hymn of praise to Mary as Theotokos, Mother of God, composed of twenty-four stanzas and traditionally sung or recited standing throughout — “akathistos” means “not sitting.” Popular tradition connects its origin to Constantinople’s deliverance from a siege, most often identified with the year 626, though both the hymn’s precise date and its authorship remain genuinely disputed among scholars.

Quick Facts

  • Category: Marian Devotions — Traditional Marian Prayers and Practices
  • Origin: An ancient Byzantine hymn to the Theotokos, traditionally associated with Constantinople; exact date and author disputed
  • Observance: Prayed across the first four Fridays of Great Lent, with the complete hymn sung on the fifth Saturday, the Saturday of the Akathist
  • Church status: an established devotion of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, shared by Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodoxy
  • Private revelation: not dependent on private revelation

What Is This Devotion?

The Akathist Hymn is a lengthy hymn of praise addressed to Mary under her title Theotokos, God-bearer, structured as twenty-four stanzas that follow the Greek alphabet acrostically, alternating longer stanzas (oikoi) with shorter refrains (kontakia). Its name comes from the Greek akathistos, “not sitting,” because the whole community traditionally stands throughout its singing, a mark of special reverence in Byzantine liturgical practice. The hymn moves through the events of the Annunciation and the Incarnation, praising Mary’s role in salvation history while always keeping her Son, not Mary in isolation, as its ultimate point of reference.

Origin and History

The most widely repeated tradition connects the hymn’s composition and its adoption into the liturgy to the deliverance of Constantinople from a siege, most commonly identified with the joint Avar and Persian siege of the city in 626. According to that tradition, Patriarch Sergius I led processions along the city walls carrying an icon of the Virgin during the siege, and after the city’s deliverance the population gathered at the Church of the Theotokos at Blachernae to sing the hymn standing through the night in thanksgiving. Genuine scholarly disagreement, however, surrounds both the hymn’s date and its author: some scholars connect its origin to other sieges of Constantinople in 617–618, 671, or as late as 860, and authorship has been variously attributed to St. Romanos the Melodist, the great sixth-century Byzantine hymnographer, to Patriarch Sergius himself, or left as genuinely uncertain. No scholarly consensus exists on either question, and this page presents both the 626 siege and the attribution to Romanos the Melodist as the most commonly cited possibilities, not as settled fact.

Catholic Theology

Although it belongs to the Byzantine tradition rather than the Roman Rite, the Akathist Hymn rests on doctrine held in common across East and West: Mary’s title Theotokos, defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431 specifically to safeguard the truth that the child born of Mary is truly God as well as truly man. Like every legitimate Marian devotion, the hymn’s praise of Mary is inseparable from its confession of who her Son is; honoring her as Theotokos is, at its root, an act of faith in the Incarnation.

How to Practice It

  • In Byzantine liturgical use, the hymn is divided into four parts, one sung at Matins or a related service on each of the first four Fridays or Saturdays of Great Lent, depending on the local typikon.
  • The complete hymn is sung at Matins on the fifth Saturday of Great Lent, traditionally called the Saturday of the Akathist.
  • Stand for the hymn’s recitation, following the tradition its name reflects.
  • Outside of Lent, many Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians also pray it privately or at parish Marian devotions.
  • Latin-Rite Catholics may encounter and pray the hymn as a way of sharing in a companion tradition, especially where a parish has ties to an Eastern Catholic community.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

The Akathist Hymn’s principal liturgical setting is Great Lent, sung in four parts across the season’s first four Fridays or Saturdays and in full on the fifth Saturday. It is not part of the Roman Rite’s general calendar, so Latin Catholics will not typically find it listed on an ordinary parish calendar; it belongs properly to the Byzantine liturgical tradition, observed by Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome as well as by Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Church Status

This is a devotion of great antiquity within the Byzantine liturgical tradition, fully at home in the Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with the Pope while retaining their own liturgical patrimony. It should be described as a treasured particular-church tradition rather than a universal Latin-Rite observance; Eastern Catholics are not somehow less Catholic for keeping it, and Latin Catholics are not obligated to it.

Common Misconceptions

“The Akathist Hymn was written by a single, certainly known author.”

It was not, at least not with any scholarly consensus. Both its date and its author are genuinely disputed; St. Romanos the Melodist and Patriarch Sergius are the two names most often proposed, but no agreement exists among scholars, and some evidence points to other candidates or periods entirely.

“This is an Eastern Orthodox devotion that Catholics have no claim to.”

The Akathist Hymn belongs to the shared Byzantine liturgical tradition, kept by Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome just as much as by Eastern Orthodox Christians. It is not foreign to Catholic life; it simply belongs to a different, equally Catholic liturgical family than the Roman Rite most Latin Catholics know.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “Akathist” mean?

It comes from the Greek akathistos, meaning “not sitting,” referring to the tradition of standing throughout the hymn’s singing as a mark of reverence.

Is the Akathist Hymn only for Orthodox Christians, or do Catholics use it too?

Eastern Catholic Churches, which are in full communion with the Pope while keeping their own Byzantine liturgical tradition, pray the Akathist Hymn as part of their own patrimony. It is a genuinely Catholic devotion in that sense, even though it is unfamiliar to many Latin-Rite Catholics.

When is it prayed liturgically?

Chiefly during Great Lent, divided across the first four Fridays or Saturdays with the complete hymn sung on the fifth Saturday, known as the Saturday of the Akathist.

Who wrote the Akathist Hymn?

No one knows for certain. St. Romanos the Melodist and Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople are the two figures most commonly proposed, but scholars have not reached agreement, and the question remains genuinely open.

Sources

Explore More