In the Byzantine Calendar, July 2 is the feast of the Deposition of the Most Holy Robe of the Mother of God in the Church of Blachernae, whose Apolytikion is:
O Ever-Virgin Theotokos,shelter of mankind,
thou hast bestowed upon thy people
a mighty investiture,
thine own immaculate body's
raiment and sash,
which by thy seedless childbirth
have remained incorrupt;
for in thee nature and time are made new.
Wherefore, we implore thee
to grant peace to the world,
and great mercy to our souls.
With those truly devoted to the Ever-Virgin Immaculate and Inviolate Mother of God in East and West, let us pray and sing in reparation for all offenses made against her. We wonder if those Eastern Churches not in communion with the Roman and Apostolic See wish to have contact with those who speak carelessly of the Most Holy and Ever-Virgin Mary, who is in Heaven in her spotless Body and Soul. Carelessness about the All Holy and Ever-Virgin Theotokos is about as anti-Ecumenical as one can get...
Pray for us, o Holy Mother of God!
Agni Parthene (Αγνή Παρθένε),
sung by the monks of Simonopetra (Athos)
