Apolytikion

A dismissal prayer or hymn said or sung at the end of the Gree Mass and at other times during Matins and Vespers ; it was originally sung at the end of Vespers, and is very much like the Roman collect or post-communion, inasmuch as it changes for each feast-day of the year and commemorates the subject of the feast. The apolytikion of Christmas reads as follows: "Thy Nativity, O Christ, hath arisen on the world as the light of knowledge ; for at it those who worshiped stars were taught by a star to adore Thee, O Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee, O Orient from on high; Glory to Thee, O Lord". The one for the feast of the Annunciation is: "To-day is the crowning of our salvation and the manifestation of the Mystery which is from eternity ; the Son of God becometh the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announceth the glad tidings of grace: wherefore let us cry out with him to the Mother of God ; Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!"