HOMILY

By His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America

At the Service of the Akathist Hymn

 

Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church

New York, New York

March 31, 2023

 

Beloved sisters and brothers in Christ,

         Tonight, just days after our celebrations of the Annunciation of the Theotokos and Greek Independence Day, we gather to praise the Mother of God, our Panagia, with this magnificent canticle that we call the Akathist Hymn.

The Theotokos is our Celestial Champion, the one who surrounds us with her ceaseless prayers and intercessions.

We call on her, to keep the Mother Church of Constantinople – where the Akathist Hymn was composed – safe and secure.

We call on her, to protect Greece and Cyprus, and the Hellenic Diaspora, wherever they may be.

We call on her, to bring justice and peace to Ukraine. For in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, her massive icon – six meters high – stands in the apse of this eleventh century Temple.

We call on her, for our own needs, so that as a merciful mother, she might entreat her Son and our God for the spiritual sustenance that we all so desperately lack.

Tonight, we join with Orthodox Christians around our Nation and around the world as we chant:

Τῇ ὑπερμάχῷ στρατηγῷ τὰ νικητήρια,

ὡς λυτρωθεῖσα τῶν δεινῶν εὐχαριστήρια,

ἀναγράφω σοι ἡ πόλις σου, Θεοτόκε·

ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον,

ἐκ παντοίων με κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον,

ἵνα κράζω σοί· Χαῖρε Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε.

 

To You the Champion, we your City dedicate

a feast of victory and thanksgiving,

as ones rescued out of sufferings, O Theotokos.

But as you are one with might that is invincible,

from all dangers that can be deliver us,

that we may cry to you: Rejoice, Bride unwedded!

* * *

         This special Hymn, Τῇ Ὑπερμάχῷ, the hymn that is the spiritual National Anthem for all Greek People, was first chanted in the year 626 AD. More than seventy years after the composition of the 24 Stanzas of the Hymn, by Saint Romanos the Melodist, a Deacon who served in Hagia Sophia. The stanzas were extremely popular, but in the year of 626 AD, they became much more.

Constantinople was besieged by Avars from the Caucasus region, and by Persians, who meant to sack and plunder the Queen of Cities.

The Patriarch at that time, Sergios, wanted to inspire the City’s defenders. So, he processed all around the famous Theodosian walls, holding the Icon of Panagia Vlachernitissa. And that same night, a great storm suddenly arose and destroyed the enemy fleet, such that the invaders were forced to retreat. When daybreak came, their victory was manifest, much like it was made known “by the dawn’s early light,” which we sing in our American National Anthem.

The people of Constantinople saw this as the direct intervention of the Theotokos. In thanksgiving, they stood all night in Hagia Sophia chanting the Akathist Hymn, giving it its name. This is when Τῇ Ὑπερμάχῷ was chanted for the first time, together with the original beginning of the Hymn -- Τὸ προσταχθὲν μυστικῶς λαβὼν ἐν γνώσει, which we chanted tonight at the beginning of the service.

 

My beloved Christians,

How many times have these sacred verses been repeated through the centuries! Again and again – Ἔτι καὶ ἔτι – as we chant in our liturgies. Yet, we can never utter these prayers and praises enough.

For our best weapons in this life – indeed, our only true and efficacious weapons – are the cries of our hearts to God, to His Holy Mother and to the Saints. It is through our supplications, our thanksgivings, our petitions and our laudations that we draw near to God. God is always near to us, but we must find our way to Him.

Through the prayers of the Church, and through our personal petitions to Heaven, we are brought to the consciousness of God in our moments of crisis.

Therefore, let us take this opportunity tonight, and especially in the coming days of Holy Week, to arm ourselves with this weapon of prayer. As the Apostle says, let us “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” [*]

On this Throne is seated the Son of God, Who listens to His Holy Mother, as she entreats Him for our sake. And She is Κεχαριτωμένη – filled with every grace, as the Archangel Gabriel hailed Her. [†]

Through the Her holy intercessions, may we attain to the Holy Passion and Glorious Resurrection of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is praised and glorified with His Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.