Kontakion 1 of the Akathist — To Thee, the Champion Leader
Opening stanza of the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God, composed in Greek in the sixth century (traditionally attributed to Romanos the Melodist) and sung akathistos — standing, without sitting — as a sign of veneration. The complete hymn has 24 stanzas (Kontakia + Oikoi) which traverse the mysteries of the Incarnation and the divine motherhood of Mary. It is one of the most ancient Marian hymns of the Undivided Church, still sung today in the Eastern Catholic Churches (Byzantine, Melkite, Ukrainian, Ruthenian). St John Paul II prayed this hymn with the Eastern Catholic patriarchs at Saint Mary Major, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2000.
To thee, the Champion Leader, do we, thy servants, dedicate a feast of victory and of thanksgiving as ones rescued out of sufferings, O Mother of God; but as thou hast invincible power, deliver us from all dangers, that we may cry to thee:
Hail, O Bride unwedded!
In Latin
Greek (original):
Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ τὰ νικητήρια,
ὡς λυτρωθεῖσα τῶν δεινῶν, εὐχαριστήρια,
ἀναγράφω σοι ἡ πόλις σου, Θεοτόκε·
ἀλλ’ ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον,
ἐκ παντοίων με κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον,
ἵνα κράζω σοι· Χαῖρε, Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε.
Latin (versio liturgica):
Tibi, Imperatrici defensori, victoriæ præmia,
ut a malis liberata gratiarum actiones,
dedico tibi, civitas tua, Dei Genitrix;
sed quæ habes potestatem invictam,
ex omnimodis me periculis libera,
ut clamem tibi: Ave, Sponsa innupta.