Akathist by heart?

[Serry]

The Akathist Hymn to Our Lady is indeed prayed by heart, as a private devotion, by at least some Eastern Christians (as I read somewhere). Sounds inspiring! Have you done so, or are you tempted to try it? Any encouraging tips, or pitfalls to avoid?’
(My own will be: take it very gently, very gradually; and perhaps adopt some mneomic helps.)

 

[Volodymyr]

Why by heart ?? This наизусть (?) Use molitvoslov. Memorization of slavonic text very hard.

 

[Serry]

Why by heart?
Ah, and why not? Already can pray from booklet or from service book, that is no problem. To have something by heart, from memory, of course allows one to pray it any time, to savor it more, perhaps to have more feeling. It allows one to pray/sing in group more easily–but only, of course, if it is the same version!
Some might pray Akathist in Old Slavonic. Some in Greek. Some might have it in their native language–perhaps English, Spanish, French, Finnish…
Probably hard to learn it by hard, in any language, no? Unless one has practice of the Art of Memory (see Frances Yates, “The Art of Memory,” if you wish: a preliminary study of its long history, describing its development), although that has gone mostly out of use, since bulk printing.
Still, one may wish to cultivate one’s heart, one way or another.

 

[Diak]

The original Greek forms an acrostic which does not translate well into English. Also English translations vary considerably in the rendering of the Akathist. I’ll agree with Volodymyr to use an Akafistyk (book of Akathist) or texts in a Molitvoslov or Zbornik. Several of the Fathers (including St. Paissius Velychkovsky) always recommended praying from the service books when praying something other than the Jesus Prayer or Rule of St. Pachomius (of the Mother of God).