The Church may prohibit akathists not approved by the Holy Synod

All akathists non-authenticated of the Church, and not approved by the Holy Synod may be prohibited or restricted for use in the Russian Orthodox Church, reports Foma (Thomas) citing the official site of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The relevant draft "Akathist in the prayer life of the Church" is sent to all the dioceses of the Russian Church for a broad discussion.

The document notes that "in the modern everyday life of prayer akathists are given prominence", but "how to use the hymns for worship varies in different locations and does not have the conventional regulation order."

"In addition, in recent decades the introduction of the newly-written akathists into prayer practice has been hardly controlled by the ecclesiastical authority due to the circumstances of the era. This led to the circulation among the faithful of many hymns that do not comply in form and content with the Tradition of the Church," emphasized the draft.

In this regard, the Church invites believers to "use at prayer in the first place those akathists that have stood the test of centuries-old experience of prayer of the Church, among which a special place is given to the Akathist to the Mother of God, and of the newly written – those which received the approval of the Holy Synod."

While prayers and chants in honor of Russian saints and glorified in our land icons of the Virgin have been composed in Russia, prayers to feasts celebrated since ancient times, are mostly translations from Greek. Also many words that we use in the church life – the terms of theology, the names of parts of the temple and church items, as well as prayers and hymns – are of Greek origin.

In special cases when the use of akathists in a particular parish was a custom, a draft document recommends an akathist to perform in a particular place of the daily liturgical circle: at vespers – after the "Vouchsafe, O Lord" and head-down prayer; at compline – after the blessing and the Creed; at martins – after kathismata or after the 6th canon of songs; at prayer – before the Gospel.

If the document is accepted, then the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing House will have to publish a collection of exemplary texts of akathists approved by the Church hierarchy.

Anyone is welcome to take part in the discussion of the document on the official website of the Inter-Council Presence, the portal Bogoslov.ru and the official blog of the Inter-Council Presence.

The draft document is developed by the Commission of the Inter-Council Presence for worship and religious art. One may leave comments on the draft document for further consideration by the apparatus of the Inter-Council Presence till 2 May 2017.