Many brethren ask us: when we pray to the Panagia, which service should we choose? There are two principal ones, and both have their place in the life of the Church.,The Akathist Hymn was composed in the 7th century as a hymn of thanksgiving after the deliverance of Constantinople from the siege of the Avars. It has twenty-four oikoi, arranged alphabetically, and is chanted standing — whence its name (“Akathistos”, “not seated”).,The Supplicatory Canon (Paraklesis) is a short hymn addressed to the Panagia in hours of affliction, sickness, or temptation. It is not liturgical in the strict sense of the term, but complements the personal prayer of the faithful.,At the Monastery of Philotheou we chant the Supplicatory Canon of the Glykophilousa on Sunday evening, and the Akathist during the First Stanza of Great Lent.
