Augustin Sokolovski
On Friday evening of the Fifth Week of Great Lent, the Church celebrates the Laudation of the Most Holy Theotokos. This day is also called Akathist Saturday. It is the fifth week of Great Lent. On this day, according to the Charter of Divine Services, an Akathist is to be read at matins. This is a special genre of liturgical texts, which is very popular in popular piety.
At the service of Akathist Saturday, we learn how this text should ideally be read. It is divided into four parts and is read as part of the regular structure of the service. The Akathist is not read by itself, but is combined with psalms, canons, and other parts of the service. This is very important, since in historical Churches, and Orthodoxy is a historical Church, public worship does not allow improvisation. The public worship of the Orthodox Church has Old Testament roots, and at the same time, it reflects the eternal glorification of God, which is performed by the angelic world.
We often encounter the phenomenon of using so-called emoticons in language, especially in communication and correspondence. What does this phenomenon mean? It means that language, ordinary human written language, ceases to cope with its functions. It no longer expresses emotions. On the other hand, human emotions have also changed. They no longer want or are unable to adapt to the needs of the generally accepted language.
And here is a very important thing: if the Akathist, as a genre, begins to displace other liturgical texts, this means that it is turning into a kind of emoticon. It turns out that we, Orthodox Christians, are gradually losing the ability to address God with the help of Scripture and the liturgical texts laid down in the charter but are displacing them with Akathists. This should not be so. We must cultivate love for traditional worship, to know and understand it. Such zeal is pleasing to God and will undoubtedly, by the power of grace, bear spiritual fruit.
I would like to end this reflection with the words from the “Confessions” of the Church Father Saint Augustine (354–430): “Great are you, O Lord, and worthy of all praise; great is your power and immeasurable is your wisdom.” And man, a part of your creation, wants to glorify you, man, who carries his mortality everywhere, who carries with him the testimony of his sin and the testimony that you “resist the proud.” And yet man, a part of your creation, wants to glorify you. You delight us with this glorification, for you hast created us for yourself, and our heart knows no rest until it finds rest in you.” These words apply to both personal and liturgical prayer, and they also apply to the Akathist. They speak of the Glory of God as the true purpose and true happiness of every person. Let us remind ourselves that correct, true, right praise to God is one of the main definitions of Orthodoxy.