SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM. The troparion,
known from the Coptic, Ambrosian and Roman liturgies, is one of the most
ancient prayers addressed to the Virgin Mary, as confirmed by the Rylands
Papyrus 470, discovered in Egypt in 1917, and, based on paleographic
examination, dating from the 3rd c. The text transmitted by the papyrus allows
the following literal recomposition: “Under your mercy, we take refuge, O
Bearer of God; do not reject our entreaties in times of need, but deliver us
from danger, you who alone are chaste, you who alone are blessed” (G.
Giamberardini, Il “Sub tuum praesidium”: Marianum 31 [1969] 330). The troparion has a twofold value: on the
historical-liturgical level, it is the most ancient document known thus far
with respect to the veneration of the Mother of God during the period before
the Council of Ephesus; on the theological level, it records the technical term
Theotokos, which pertains to the
divine motherhood; the two titles “you who alone are chaste” and “you who alone
are blessed” refer to Mary’s sanctity, eminence and moral integrity as well as
faith in her mediation, which is connected to the statements “under your mercy,
we take refuge … deliver us from danger.” Present in the chief liturgies that
go around the coast of the Mediterranean, only the Byzantine rite has preserved
the simplest inflection and is closest to the prayer on the papyrus. Despite
its placement in the liturgy (it changes from rite to rite) one can discern a
common denominator that consists, in modern rites, in considering it as part of
the Marian liturgy, and in the ancient rites, in conveying it with more
specific indications for a Marian feast as the antiphon after the office of the
gospel. It was probably part of the troparia
for the office of the feast of Epiphany, celebrated in Egypt since the 3rd c.
with Marian emphasis. Regarding the 3rd-c. dating of the prayer, some scholars
have posed certain difficulties because of the presence of the term Theotokos, which became common after the
Council of Ephesus, but it could have been adopted in the liturgy either before
or while theologians were discussing its meaning and the extent of its
acceptability. (Elio Peretto, “Sub Tuum Praesidium,” in Encyclopedia
of Ancient Christianity, ed. Angelo Di Berardino and James Hoover, 3 vols. [Downers
Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2014], 3:644)
