Apolytikion

Apolytikion

A dismissal prayer or hymn said or sung at the end of the Greek Mass and at other times during Matins and Vespers; It was originally sung at the end of Vespers, and is very much like the Roman collect or post-communion, inasmuch as it changes for each feast-day of the year and commemorates the subject of the feast. The apolytikion of Christmas reads as follows: "Thy Nativity, O Christ, hath arisen on the world as the light of knowledge; for at it those who worshipped stars were taught by a star to adore Thee, O Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, O Orient from on high; Glory to Thee, O Lord". The one for the feast of the Annunciation is: "To-day is the crowning of our salvation and the manifestation of the Mystery which is from eternity; the Son of God becometh the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announceth the glad tidings of grace: wherefore let us cry out with him to the Mother of God; Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!"

PÉTRIDÈS in Dict. d'arch. chrét., I, 2602; PITRA, Hymnographie de l'église grecque, 42; ROBERTSON, Divine Liturgies (London, 1894), 432-451.

ANDREW J. SHIPMAN