Welcome
to
My Akathist Hymn
A Dedication to the Memory of my Mom
and
The Reconciliation of all things in Christ
"God saw you getting tired
and a cure was not to be, so He put his arms around you, and whispered, "Come with me."
With tearful eyes we watched you,
and saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best."
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Dedicated to my Mother,
+ Catherine Bradish, Gallant-Dietrich,
who passed into eternal life on Great and Holy, Friday, April 13, 2001 at 12:00 p.m.
"May Her Memory be Eternal and worthy of all praise."
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On The Akathist Hymn:
+ Archbishop Joseph Raya:
"Akathistos to the Mother of God. Akathistos (= no sitting) is a hymn celebrating the blessed Virgin Mary, the most holy Theotokos. This gem of byzantine hymnography is divided into 13 kondakia and 13 oikoi. No certain ascription of its authorship can be made. It has been attributed to Sergios, Patriarch of Constantinople, or to Georgios Pisides, deacon, archivist and sacristan of the great church of the Holy Wisdom at Constantinople, sometimes to St. Romanos the Melodist.
A brief presentation on this prayer can be found in the article Acathistus from the Catholic Encyclopedia. The term "Akathist" means "not sitting" which refers to the fact that it is celebrated in a standing posture. Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Joseph Raya explains in his book Theotokos:
"The most famous poetical work in honour of Mary is an Acathist hymn. Acathist means a prayer during which people do not sit. The Christian people stand in majesty when addressing God because they are facing Majesty. They do not sit because they are in the presence of the most awesome mystery of God who radiates upon them grandeur and divine worth. They recognize their worth and stand while adoring, praising and singing glory.
The poetical epic on Mary starts by first applying to her what the Old Testament predicts about her - not in a dry enumeration, but applied to her in a dramatic way. Heaven and earth, angels and humanity, and the whole universe, sing her praises in concert. The episodes of Holy Scripture come back to life before our very eyes, and they set our hearts aflame. We join the chorus of all those who, with Mary, witnessed the Incarnation: Gabriel, Joseph, her cousin Elizabeth, the Magi, Babylon and Egypt, heaven and earth; and those who did not witness the Incarnation but longed to see it, the Prophets and all the saints of the Old Law.
The hymn brings back to our consciousness the reasons why we honour Mary and why we sing to her what we sing: she is Mother of God, a mirror of Christ. She is the bridge between heaven and earth. In her flesh, she carries the Saviour to humanity and humanity to God.
She is "the Salvation of humanity as Moses was of his people." She is the "Manna" who nourishes us with Christ. She is the "Ark that contained the glory of the Lord." She is the "Mystic Mountain" where Moses had a vision of God, and "from which the Cornerstone, Christ, had been cut.
After enumerating the predictions of the Old Testament about Mary, the hymn sings of her maternity. She nourished with her own life Christ our God. As Mother of God her holiness and beauty are such that even angels fall in admiration before her. Her maternity and virginity are miraculous because of the infinite Word of God who was enclosed in her womb. Mary cannot be admired and loved without this concurrent consciousness of God's condescension and love. No prayer expressing love and veneration for Mary can be compared to this hymn."
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Synaxarion:
Archimandrite Ephrem:
"The authorship of the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God is the subject of much learned discussion, though many reputable scholars attribute it to St Romanos the Melodist, and so I have put this tentative translation on his page. The poem defies every translator and it is virtually impossible all the rhetorical devices which are such a striking feature of the Greek original. The original has an alphabetical acrostic for the first word of each Kontakion and Ikos and the lines begining ‘Hail!’ are marked by many internal rhymes. These are indicated in the translation by em rules.
I have translated the Greek ‘Chaire!‘ by ‘Hail!’ as this is the most natural meaning of the Greek. Even though etymologically it means ‘Rejoice!’, it is a standard greeting, like the Latin ‘Ave!‘, which is what the Roman soldiers presumably said to the Lord as they mocked him. In the New Testament it often translates the Hebrew ‘Shalom!’
Liturgically the Hymn forms part of Matins on the Saturday of the Akathist, and in the monasteries of the the Holy Mountain it is read each night at Compline. In Greek use it is chanted solemnly in four sections at Compline on the first four Fridays of Lent, the whole being chanted at Compline on the fifth, the eve of Akathist Saturday."
In the year 1991 many reprints of the icon "Queen of All" had been given as blessing to the Russian children who had cancer. Doctors at the Cancer Center were the witnesses of many miracles of healing that happened afterwards. Upon receiving the icon, one boy, who was dying from cancer, unexpectedly began to feel better. He asked that he be allowed to take the icon home and shortly afterwards received full recovery...
You may right click on the Icon of the Mother of God "The Queen of All"
"Pantanassa" and save her on your hard drive.
Father John Shandra: "Dear brothers and sisters, this Akathist was translated from Slavonik language to help English-speaking people to discover the healing power of this special prayer for those who are afflicted by dreadful cancer. You may print the Akathist in the next directory for your personal use."
You may download the original Akathist Hymn in Microsoft Word format!
Gilbert-Joseph Hache'-Gallant
(Internet Ministry)
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Troparion
Tone 8
Only Creator, with wisdom profound, You mercifully order all things,
and give that which is needed to all men: Give rest, O Lord, to the souls of Your servants who have fallen asleep, for they have placed their trust in You, our Maker and Fashioner, and our God.
Kondakion
Tone 8
With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Your servants,
where there is neither sickness nor sorrow, and no more sighing,
but life everlasting.
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For corrections and omissions, please contact the webmaster.
Gilbert-Joseph Francis Hache'-Gallant
