THEOTOKION

THEOTOKION – (pl. Theotokia Gr. “referring to Theotokos;” Sl. Bogorodichey). A hymn which refers to or praises Theotokos, the Mother of God, that usually concludes a cycle of stichera or troparia. There are several categories of Theotokia: resurrectional theotokia, which are sung after “Glory…now and ever” at the end of the stichera aposticha; theotokia dogmatica, which are sung after “Both now and ever” at the end of the stichera at “Lord, I call” and contain dogmatic teaching concerning the incarnation and dual nature of Christ; and dismissal theotokia, daily and resurrectional, sung at the end of the dismissal troparia at the end of Vespers and at Matins after “The Lord is God.”