Desconocido - AKATHISTOS (HIMNO MARIAL GRIEGO) - 1981

Akathistos: (Greek Marian hymn)
Editorial: Edilán.
Year: 1981

25.5 x 19.5 4º

2 vols. Bound in hardcover with yellow silk editorial cloth with the San Lorenzo del Escorial grill logo engraved on the front and back covers. Copy numbered from a limited edition run.
The Akathistos Hymn (which literally means “standing, because it is sung in this position”) is the most famous Marian hymn of the Christian East and perhaps of the entire Church. Written in Greek in the 6th century in Byzantium and copied for Philip II on the occasion of his coronation, it is of unknown author, probably one of the Fathers of Chalcedon, but there is no conclusive evidence.

Volume I Facsimile, 32 leaves, all illuminated in gold and color, first part of the Greek manuscript. Editorial cloth, with shields on the covers. Copy no. 1206 of an edition of 2000 numbered, sealed, and signed copies. Beautiful copy, stamped in gold film, by engraved plates on drawings by Julián Robledo, and bound following the original binding. It contains the Greek text, adorned with luxurious illustrations with full-color figures on a gold background, and large full-color initials.

It consists of 24 stanzas, some of which are proclaimed and others sung, with two distinct parts: the Christological and the ecclesial; and as two superimposed planes: the plane of history and the plane of faith.

The first part contains twelve “stanzas” and follows the Christmas cycle inspired by the infancy gospel (Luke 1–2; Matthew 1–2). Mystery of the Incarnation (1–4), the outpouring of grace in Elizabeth and John (5), the revelation to Joseph (6), the adoration of the shepherds (7), the coming and adoration of the Magi (8–10), the flight to Egypt (11), the meeting with Simeon (12). Mysteries that go beyond mere historical data and open us to a symbolic and theological reading.

The second part (stanzas 13–24) proposes and sings what the Church, in the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, professed about Mary, in the mystery of the Son the Savior and of the Church of the saved. Mary is the new Eve, virgin in body and spirit, who with the fruit of her womb leads mortals back to the paradise they had lost (13); she is the Mother of God who, being throne and seat of the Infinite, opens the doors of heaven and introduces men therein (15); she is the Virgin in travail who calls the human mind to bow before a divine birth and to let itself be illumined by faith (17); she is the “Ever-Virgin,” the beginning of the virginity of the Church consecrated to Christ, her perpetual guardianship and loving protection (19); she is the Mother of the sacraments-passover that purify and deify man and nourish him with heavenly food (21); she is the Holy Ark and the living temple of God, who precedes and safeguards the pilgrimage of the Church and of the faithful toward the definitive Easter (23); she is the Advocate of mercy on the last day (24).

Volume II: Study Book. Written by Gregorio de Andrés Martínez. Bound similarly to Volume I, it consists of 113 pages plus endpapers and safety leaves, illustrated with black-and-white images.
Includes:

• History of the Codex.
• Description of the Codex and of the miniatures.
• Structure of the hymn.
• Text of the hymn in Greek and Spanish.

Excellent condition of both volumes; on a couple of pages the name of the previous owner appears.
The study and commentary volume of the codex is followed by the hymn text transcribed into Spanish.
ISBN: 8485197216