Today marks the 5th Friday of Great Lent, where the 24 “oikoi”, or stanzas, each one beginning with the next letter of the alphabet, which comprise the Akathyst Hymn – a kontakion, a hymn of Orthodoxy in honor of the All-Holy Theotokos, the Virgin Virgin, will be chanted.
Akathyst or Akathistos means standing in Greek, as worshipers attending this sublime religious service remain standing during the chanting.
On the first four Fridays of Lent, the clergy and faithful chant the Service of the Salutations to the Theotokos. On the fifth Friday of Lent, we chant the Canon of the Akathist in its entirety.