Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Akathistos "

 

This icon has a complex religious-dogmatic subject epitomizing in paints the idea of glorifying the Heavenly Queen, the Mother of Man-God Jesus Christ. It has been known and revered in Russia since the second half of the 16th century alongside other miracle-working and locally venerated icons of the Most Holy Theotokos. The name of the icon derives from the Akathistos—a series of hymns dedicated to the Most Holy Virgin. In Greek, "akathistos hymnos'" means "standing hymn" and it is sung in churches on Saturdays with people standing to glorify the Mother of God. In it, the basic ideas of the Most Holy Virgin's being the Mother of God are set forth with the inclusion into the oikoi and kontakia — long and short parts of the Akathistos—of subjects from the Old and New Testament. In view of the fact that this icon is not easily comprehensible to the common people, no special feast day has been instituted in its honor.