19 APRIL 1919, Page 22

The Akathist Hymn and Little Compline. (Williams and Norgate. 3s.

net.)—This neat little book contains the Greek text, faced by an excellent English version, of the hymn which is sung in the Greek Church during Lent, especially on the Friday

of the fifth week. The hymn is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to whose intercession the Greeks ascribed the deliverance of Constantinople when the Persian Chosroes besieged the city in 626. It is called " akathist " because the worshippers always stood up while it was sung.