concept
Akafist
akafist
also: акафист, акафисты, akathistos
A lengthy Orthodox hymn of praise to Christ, the Mother of God, or a saint, built from alternating kontakia and ikosy and traditionally sung standing; composing an original akafist was a rare literary skill, and Nikolai's unrecognized gift for it is the story's central subject.
Reading notes
- On Holy Night §41 the gift of writing akafisty
An akafist (акафист, from Greek akathistos, "not sitting," because the congregation stands throughout) is a lengthy Orthodox hymn of praise addressed to Christ, the Mother of God, or a saint, built from an alternating sequence of kontakia and ikosy. Composing an original akafist -- as opposed to reciting the standard ones -- was and is a rare, semi-formal literary art within Orthodox devotional writing, which is precisely why Ieronim treats Nikolai's ability as miraculous.