Akatyst w dawnym i nowożytnym piśmiennictwie europejskim

Abstract

On June 14, 2022, at the invitation of the dean’s authorities of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Bialystok, a lecture in the series „Lectures of the Masters” was given by Professor Aleksander Naumow, a prominent Slavic literary scholar, historian of Paleoslavist and Orthodox cultures, representing The Ca’ Foscari Venezia University in Italy and The Supraśl Academy in Supraśl. The lecture title was Akathist in European and Polish Culture. The lecture took place at 9:45 a.m. in the Maria Renata Mayenowa Hall in the building at NZS Square 1. It was one of the first lectures in the stationary formula after the pandemic break. The guest was welcomed and his achievements as a scholar were presented by Professor Jarosław Ławski, Dean of the Faculty of Philology. Professor Naumow is a Slavic literary scholar, Paleoslavist, and Orthodox historian of culture. A professor at the Jagiellonian University and Universita Ca’ Foscari in Venice, he has been affiliated with the Supraśl Academy since 2020. He conducts research on Orthodox Slavic writing and culture. He holds an honorary doctorate from Sofia University in Bulgaria is a member of the East European Commission of the Second Historical and Philosophical Department of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, and author of numerous monographs, including Apocrypha in the System of Orthodox Slavic Literature (1976); The Bible in the Artistic Structure of Orthodox Slavic Works (1983); The Gift of the Word. From Old Serbian Literature (1984); Shepherds of the Faithful Slavs. Saints Cyril and Methodius (1985); Faith and History. From the History of Orthodox Slavic Literature in the Polish-Lithuanian Lands (1996); Domus Divisa. Studies of Ruthenian Literature in the First Republic (2002); Distretti del sapere nell’Europa dell’Est (2003, co-author); Idea – immagine – testo. Studi sulla letteratura slavo-ecclesiastica (2004); Orthodox Slavonic Manuscripts in Poland. A Catalog (2002, 2004) Saint Benedict in the Tradition of Western and Eastern Christianity (2006, co-author); Franciszek Skoryna of Połock – Life and Writings (2007, co-author); Staro i novo. Studije o književnosti pravoslavnih Slovena (2009). In his lecture, the researcher discusses the contemporary reception of the Akathist, stating that we are witnessing an unexpected career of this classical work of Byzantine literature. Not only has it become the most productive liturgical genre of Eastern European Orthodoxy, having some of the characteristics of popular literature, but it has aroused interest both in circles associated with the Roman Catholic Church and among supporters of Eastern Christianity in the West. At present, researchers have recorded more than 2,600 compositions in fifteen languages, and if translations between languages and reworkings were also included, the number would at least double. They all grow out of a single Byzantine composition dedicated to the Mother of God and the mystery of the Incarnation – akathistos hymnos. This elaborate composition, which grows out of the tradition of the ancient condakions, was probably written in the 6th century. Traditionally, it is associated with St. Romanos the Melodist, an author who received the gift of song from Virgin Mary. The hymn consists of an initial stanza, added later, and 24 stanzas, annotated in the original with Greek alphabetic acrostics. The fascination with akathistos as an appealing expression of reverence and devotion was not limited to the territory of the immediate Byzantine- Slavic tradition but was given to artists in Western Europe and America. The greatest contribution to the popularization of akathists in the West among various confessions comes from Claude Lopez-Ginisty, a Swiss professor, founder, and administrator of blogs in French. He belongs to an active group of Western Orthodox Christians belonging to various jurisdictions, whose idea is to incorporate the ancient Latin tradition, mainly from the first millennium from the Swiss, French, Dutch, Belgian, British, Scandinavian, and German areas, into the liturgical tradition of Orthodoxy. Western Orthodox Christians and their sympathizers have fruitful contact with the faithful overseas. One must point in particular to Maria Murray, who administers an online database of more than two hundred akathists in English and more than one and a half thousand in Orthodox Slavonic. From the rich English-language tradition, it is worth noting the akathist in honor of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, one of the patron saints of England. The text is a poetic reworking of Life of Cuthbert by Bede the Venerable, written in such a way that each stanza corresponds to a chapter of Life. Among the active authors, we should mention Fr. Laurent Farley, author of akathists in honor of Arsenius of Winnipeg, Herman of Alaska, and one praising the Lord God. The researcher concludes that there is a true renaissance of the ancient genre, increased performance practice, and numerous similes. The purpose of the lecture, the speaker noted, was also to reveal to the reader a rich field of research and the possibility of personal participation in the phenomenon of the akathist.