Istanbul, March 24, 2026
Photo: artfile.ru
Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy Synod of Constantinople issued an encyclical marking the 1,400th anniversary of the first solemn standing chanting of the Akathist Hymn, commemorating the deliverance of Constantinople from the siege of the Avars and Persians in 626 AD.
The encyclical opens with the kontakion’s famous introductory verse: “To Thee, the Champion Leader, we Thy servants dedicate a feast of victory and of thanksgiving as ones rescued out of sufferings, O Theotokos!” He describes the Akathist as “a lofty and dithyrambic composition” referring “with a unique wealth of eloquence” to the Divine Incarnation and the role of the Most Pure Theotokos within it.
Pat. Bartholomew and the Synod noted that the word “Rejoice” is addressed to the Theotokos 144 times throughout the hymn, a number they connect to the 144,000 holy ones of the Book of Revelation who sing “a new song” before God’s throne and “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
The statement recounts that Constantinople’s salvation from the Avar and Persian siege—while Emperor Heraclius was away campaigning for the recovery of the True Cros—was attributed to the Theotokos, to whom Constantine the Great had “devoutly dedicated the New Rome.” A miraculous storm brought about “the complete destruction of the besiegers’ fleet,” after which the people gathered at the Blachernae Church on the night of August 7, 626, singing the kontakion with its new preface as “a debt of gratitude and an obligatory doxology.”
The Patriarchate calls the Akathist “the most beloved hymn of our liturgical life,” describing it as “an incomparable monument of the Greek language and a most intricately woven work of Divinely inspired theology.” The hierarchs write that bishops and priests chant it with compunction, monks recite it daily, theologians analyze its “lofty dogmatic ascents,” and iconographers depict “beautiful icons” drawn from its rich content.
Closing with a call to prayer amid “the wretched days of many upheavals and military conflicts through which humanity is presently passing,” the hierarchs ask that the Mother of “the Peace of God” act once again as “Champion Leader of every wronged and imperiled person” and grant the human race “the true and surpassing-all-understanding Peace of her Son.”
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