During the persecution led by the Roman Emperor Decius in 250 A.D. against Christianity, the monks in Egypt popularized a hymn to the Virgin Mary begging for her protection. Originally in Greek, the hymn has come down to us in the West under its Latin title “Sub Tuum Presidium”. The earliest manuscript with this prayer is the John Ryland papyrus 470, in a collection at the University of Manchester (see image below). It is the oldest prayer to Mary and the oldest hymn to her as theotokos (Greek for Mary, Mother of God or God-bearer). The earliest text of this hymn was found in a Coptic Orthodox Christmas liturgy.

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