Another Option for Lenten Prayer Regime

The Icon of Our Lady the Softener of Evil Hearts is both a spiritually stunning and miraculous Icon from Russia, the Akathist to Our Lady the Softener of Evil Hearts is also a beautiful meditation that deserves consideration for those seeking a wholesome addition to their Lenten discipline. The Akathist is provide via H/T from Eirenikon.

Below is the text of the Akathist as taken from Eirenikon's Blog - which should be high on your list of bookmarks and favorites!

The Apolytikion in Tone 5

Soften our evil hearts, O Theotokos, * and quench the attacks of those who hate us * and loose all straitness of our soul. * For looking on thy holy icon * we are filled with compunction by thy suffering and loving-kindness for us * and we kiss thy wounds; * we are filled with horror for the darts with which we wound thee. * Let us not, O Mother of Compassion, * according to the cruelty of our hearts, perish from the cruelty of heart of those near us, ** For thou art in truth the Softener of Evil Hearts.

Kontakion I

We cry out with heartfelt emotion to the chosen Virgin Mary, far nobler than all the daughters of the earth, Mother of the Son of God, Who gave salvation to the world: Look at our life which is filled with every sorrow and remember the sorrow and pain which thou didst suffer as one born on earth with us, and do with us according to thy merciful heart, that we may cry unto thee: Rejoice, much-sorrowing Mother of God, turn our sorrows into joy and soften the hearts of evil men!

Oikos I

An angel announced the birth of the Saviour of the world to the shepherds in Bethlehem and with the multitude of the heavenly hosts praised God, singing: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among men!” But thou, O Mother of God, having nowhere to lay thy head, since there was no room in the inn, gave birth to thy first-born Son in a cave and, wrapping Him in swaddling clothes, laid Him in a manger. Knowing the pain in thy heart, we cry out to thee:

Rejoice, for thou wast warmed by the breath of thine own beloved Son!
Rejoice, for thou didst wrap the eternal Child in swaddling clothes!
Rejoice, for thou didst nourish with thy milk the One who sustaineth the universe!
Rejoice, for thou didst turn a cave into a heaven!
Rejoice, for thou didst make thy throne upon the Cherubim!
Rejoice, for thou didst remain a virgin both in giving birth and after birth!
Rejoice, much-sorrowing Mother of God, turn our sorrows into joy and soften the hearts of evil men!

From the Orations of St Gregory of Nazianus

The very Son of God, older than the ages, the Invisible, the Incomprehensible, the Incorporeal, the Beginning of beginning, the Light of light, the Fountain of Life and Immortality, the Image of the Archetype, the immovable Seal, the perfect Likeness, the Definition and Word of the Father: He it is who comes of His own Image and takes our nature for the good of our nature, and unites Himself to an intelligent soul for the good of my soul, to purify like by like. He takes to Himself all that is human, except for sin. He was conceived by the Virgin Mary, who had been first prepared in soul and body by the Spirit; His coming to birth had to be treated with honor, virginity had to receive new honor. He comes forth as God, in the human nature He has taken, one Being, made of two contrary elements, flesh and spirit. Spirit gave Divinity, flesh received it.

Archbishop Raya (of blessed memory) on the Immaculate Conception

The Byzantine Tradition celebrates the Fest of the Immaculate Conception as "the Maternity of St Anna," the mother of the Theotokos. The feast is held on 9 December. Below is Archbishop Raya's comment from Byzantine Daily Prayer.

The soul of the Virign Mary whom God had chosen from all eternity to be the Mother in the flesh of the Incarnate Word was created full of grace and free from original sin, united to a body formed according to the laws of nature through the operation of love of her parents, Joachim and Anna. This privilege, accepted throughout the centuries, was officially proclaimed as a dogma by Pope Piux IX in the year 1854. It is known in the Roman Church as the Immaculate Conception. (Byzantine Daily Worship, p. 537)

Note also the Ninth Ode of the Second Canon of Orthros for the feast from the December Menaion:

The Son of the Eternal Father, our Lord and our God, took flesh from the Virgin and appeared to us to bring light to those in darkness and to gather together those who were scattered. O Theotokos, worthy of all praise, we magnify you!

Today let the prophets, the chosen ones, rejoice, for their prophecies announcing the grace of God, have begun to be fulfilled in the venerable conception of the pure Mother of God who will bring forth the joy of the world.

The throne of glory has been prepared for the Lord; the gate of salvation has now been announced, the passage reserved for the Master and Creator alone. Through her, we shall attain eternal life.

With Anna, Joachim cries out: You alone have heard our voice in supplication, O Lord and Creator; in granting an end to our sterility You have given us the Root of immortality. We glorify you!

The ladder is now prepared: by it, the Lord and Creator will come down to lift up the human race. Heaven rejoices with the angels! The human race exults with all creation because of the grace of deification.

I sing of your unequaled good will, O Lady: you are my illumination, my glory and my pride, my source of wisdom, the cause of my joy, my expectation and my hope, my fortress, my rampart and my defense.

Our community is celebrating the Feast of the Maternity this year with a Divine Liturgy devoted to the cause of Life, from conception to natural death. Given the love of the Theotokos for all of God's children, I am happy that we are connecting the cause of life to her holy conception.