Supplication to the Virgin Mary means a fervent prayer and plea to the Most Holy Theotokos. The hymns of the Supplication to the Mother of God and our Mother express all the reverence of our soul wounded by sin and all the troubles of our restless heart. For the Virgin Mary is a "warm intercession" at the throne of Grace and combines the greatest holiness with the greatest honor on our part. 

The Small Supplicatory Canon is chanted throughout the year, "in every circumstance and distress of the soul." However, during the period of the Fifteen Days of August, the two Canons are chanted alternately at the end of the vespers of all days, except for the vespers of Saturday, the Transfiguration, and the Dormition. 

With profound respect, Orthodox Christians offer their supplication to the Virgin Mary, weaving it with the hymns and doxologies of the Small or Great Supplicatory Canon. And "the sweetness of the angels, the joy of the sorrowful" drips in countless ways with a thousand kinds of joys and indescribable sweet consolation to our aching heart. The All-Holy One takes us by the hand and leads us to the All-Holy and Master Christ, Her Son, co-eternal with the Father and the Comforter Spirit.