Acolouthia
Encyclopedia
Acolouthia, in the Eastern Orthodox
and Eastern Catholic churches, signifies the arrangement of the Divine Services
(Canonical Hours or Divine Office), perhaps because the parts are closely connected and follow in order. In a more restricted sense, the term "acolouth" refers to the fixed portion of the Office (which does not change daily). The portions of the Office that are variable are called the Sequences. While the structure and history of the various forms of the Divine Office in the numerous ancient Christian rites is exceedingly rich, the following article will restrict itself to the practice as it evolved in the Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire.
The Office is composed of both music
al and rhetoric
al elements, the first usually given in the musical mode or tone (echos
), according to which the liturgical compositions are chanted. There are eight musical mode
s: four primary and four secondary (plagal
). The rhetorical elements are seldom given in a normal speaking voice, but are "read" in a simple recitative
.
As the early chanters rarely used texts set to musical notation, they learned by heart the words and music of some standard hymn
, and this served as a model for other hymns of the same rhythm or meter. For example, in a Canon
, the strophe
or stanza
of a standard hymn which indicates the melody
of a composition is known as an irmos
(eirmos, hirmos). An irmos is placed at the beginning of an Ode to introduce the melody to which it should be chanted, and to tie the theme of the Biblical Canticle on which it is based to the hymns of the Ode that follow (see Canon
). A katabasia
is the irmos that is sung at the end of an Ode by the choir
(which descend from their seats (kathismata) and stand on the floor of the church to sing it). The katabasia winds down the Ode and returns it again to the theme of the Biblical Canticle.
, Midnight Office
, Orthros
(Matins
), the four Little Hours
, and Apodeipnon
(Compline). To this could be added the Typica
, which is said on days on which there is no celebration of the Divine Liturgy
(Eucharist).
Most of the Offices start with the Usual Beginning
(a blessing by the priest
, followed by the Trisagion
and other prayers, ending with the Lord's Prayer
and the call to worship: "O come, let us worship God our King..."), followed by one or several Psalms
. The Psalter
figures prominently in the Divine Services, and are found both in the fixed and the moveable portions of the services. In the descriptions that follow, the Septuagint numbering of the Psalms will be used.
Great Vespers is combined with Matins and First Hour to form one continuous service. In the Greek practice, a Vigil is only performed for one of the Great Feasts of the church year; the Slavs will also perform the Vigil on every Saturday evening.
(Litany). Then the choir chants "Lord, I have cried" (Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116) with four stichera interposed between the last few verses. Then the Phos Hilaron
(a short hymn, praising God at the time of sunset), the prokeimenon
, the aposticha
, the Nunc dimittis
, the trisagion
, and the apolytikion
.
(either in its entirety or a selection of verses), while the priest comes to stand on the ambon
in front of the Holy Doors to recite the "Prayers of Lamp-lighting", after which he goes back inside the sanctuary. Then the deacon comes out onto the ambon and leads the Great Ektenia. Choir chants the first kathisma
(a division of the psalter), broken up into three sections, called stases. After each section the deacon leads a Little Ektenia (on Feast Days which do not fall on Sunday only the first stasis and its ektenia is performed). Then the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with eight stichera (ten on Sundays), while the deacon
performs a censing
of the entire church. After putting on his phelonion
, the priest says the Prayer of the Entrance, and he and the deacon go out the side door of the Iconostasis
to make the Little Entrance with the censer. After the prokeimenon
(and, on feast days, readings from the Old Testament
) the deacon recites the ektenias, and the priest says a prayer while all reverently bow their heads. Then all go in procession to the narthex
of the church while the choir chants stichera proper to the feast
. There the deacon recites the Litiy
(an ektenia, invoking the names of many saints, to which the choir answers Kyrie Eleison
many times). Then, if it is a Vigil, the priest blesses loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil. These will be used for the refreshment and blessing of those attending the vigil. Next the aposticha (stichera proper to the feast) are chanted by the choir followed by the Nunc Dimittis, the trisagion prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the apolytikion (hymn of the Feast), a the dismissal by the Priest.
). After the Little Ektenia the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with six or eight stichera, while the priest performs the censing
. There is no Little Entrance and there are no readings from Scripture. Rather, after the conclusion of the Theotokion
at the end of "Lord I Have Cried", the priest leads the prokeimenon, and the priest says the first of the two litanies, the reader recites the prayer "Vouchsafe, O Lord..." and the priest says the second litany and the prayer at the "Bowing of Heads". Next the Aposticha
are chanted by the choir followed by the Nunc Dimittis
, the trisagion
(a prayer to the Trinity), the Lord's Prayer
, the apolytikion
(hymn of the day), concluding with a the dismissal
by the priest.
(Greek: Apodeipnon, Slavonic: Povochernia) is the last Office of the waking day, and is served in two different manners: Little Compline and Great Compline.
Great Compline is said during the Lenten seasons and on the eves of certain Great Feasts. Great Compline is much longer than Little Compline and has a much more penitential theme to it, including numerous prostrations
.
Little Compline is read any time Great Compline is not called for. It is composed of psalms, a doxology, troparion, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the Kyrie Eleison repeated twelve times, and invitatory versicles, and Psalms 50, 69, and 162, which are followed by the greater doxology, the Creed, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the troparion proper to the feast, the Kyrie Eleison repeated forty times, several invocations, and the long prayers of dismissal.
, a benediction
, and the dismissal.
Each of the Little Hours may followed by a supplementary hour, called an Inter-Hour (Mesorion) during certain seasons of the year. The First Hour (Prime) begins with the recitation of three psalms followed by a doxology, two stichoi, a doxology, a troparion in honour of the Theotokos
, the trisagion, several variable troparia, the doxology and dismissal, while its supplementary Hour is composed of a troparion, doxology, Theotokion
, Kyrie Eleison
repeated forty times, a prayer, and a doxology. The Third Hour (Terce), the Sixth Hour (Sext), and the Ninth Hour (None) and their Inter-Hours each follow the same basic outline as the First Hour.
Before or after the Ninth Hour (depending upon the liturgical season), an office called the Typica
is recited. The Typica is only chanted on days when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated, and consists of many of the psalms and hymns that would have been chanted had the Liturgy been celebrated. Ordinarily this consists of Psalm 102, Psalm 145, and the Beatitudes, followed by prayers and hymns. But in the seasons of fasting this Office is regulated by different rubrics.
to a particular day of the week, a particular date of the year, a particular day in the liturgical seasons (for instance, during Great Lent
or the period between Pascha
(Easter) and Pentecost
). These sequences can be referred to as cycles.
The fundamental element of the Sequence is the troparion
, which is a short hymn, or one of the stanzas of a hymn. The kontakion
is a troparion which explains briefly the character of the feast celebrated in the day's Office. The oikos
is a somewhat longer troparion, which follows after the kontakion and in concise style glorifies the virtues and merits of the subject of the feast which were treated in the kontakion. The apolytikion
is a troparion which is proper to the day, and is said just before the dismissal.
The ode was originally one of the nine inspired canticles sung in the morning Office, but later the name was also given to compositions consisting of a varying number of poetical troparia and modelled after the Scriptural odes. Such odes are often combined to form a canon
(kanon) which is usually composed of nine, but sometimes of a smaller number of odes. Finally, the stichos is a short verse taken from the Psalms or some other book of Holy Scripture, while the sticheron
is a short verse of ecclesiastical composition modelled after the stichos.
Attribution
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and Eastern Catholic churches, signifies the arrangement of the Divine Services
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
(Canonical Hours or Divine Office), perhaps because the parts are closely connected and follow in order. In a more restricted sense, the term "acolouth" refers to the fixed portion of the Office (which does not change daily). The portions of the Office that are variable are called the Sequences. While the structure and history of the various forms of the Divine Office in the numerous ancient Christian rites is exceedingly rich, the following article will restrict itself to the practice as it evolved in the Eastern Roman
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
(Byzantine) Empire.
The Office is composed of both music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al and rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al elements, the first usually given in the musical mode or tone (echos
Echos
Echos is the name in Byzantine music theory for a mode within the eight mode system , each of them ruling several melody types, and it is used in the melodic and rhythmic composition of Byzantine chant , differentiated according to the chant genre and according to the performance style...
), according to which the liturgical compositions are chanted. There are eight musical mode
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
s: four primary and four secondary (plagal
Plagal mode
A Plagal mode may mean different church chanting modes, depending on the context.-In Western Practice:A plagal mode is a musical mode, which is one of four Gregorian modes whose range includes the octave from the fourth below the tonic, or final, to the fifth above...
). The rhetorical elements are seldom given in a normal speaking voice, but are "read" in a simple recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
.
As the early chanters rarely used texts set to musical notation, they learned by heart the words and music of some standard hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
, and this served as a model for other hymns of the same rhythm or meter. For example, in a Canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
, the strophe
Strophe
A strophe forms the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. In its original Greek setting, "strophe, antistrophe and epode were a kind of stanza framed only for the music," as John Milton wrote in the preface to Samson Agonistes, with the strophe...
or stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
of a standard hymn which indicates the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
of a composition is known as an irmos
Irmos
The irmos is the initial troparion of each individual ode in a canon as chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which use the Byzantine Rite...
(eirmos, hirmos). An irmos is placed at the beginning of an Ode to introduce the melody to which it should be chanted, and to tie the theme of the Biblical Canticle on which it is based to the hymns of the Ode that follow (see Canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
). A katabasia
Katabasia
Katabasia or Katavasia is a type of hymn chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite....
is the irmos that is sung at the end of an Ode by the choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
(which descend from their seats (kathismata) and stand on the floor of the church to sing it). The katabasia winds down the Ode and returns it again to the theme of the Biblical Canticle.
Cycles
The Divine Services are composed of a number of cycles, some large some small, all of which combine to form the services. These cycles are governed by rules prescribed in the Typicon. The basic cycle is the Daily Cycle, which is composed of the Acolouthia (distinct services) into which the Sequences for that day—which are taken from the other cycles—are inserted. The liturgical day begins at sunset, so Vespers is the first service of the day.Acolouthia
The individual Offices that make up the daily cycle of services are: VespersVespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
, Midnight Office
Midnight Office
The Midnight Office is one of the Canonical Hours that compose the cycle of daily worship in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The office originated as a purely monastic devotion inspired by Psalm 118:62, At midnight I arose to give thanks unto Thee for the judgments of Thy righteousness , and also by...
, Orthros
Orthros
Orthros may refer to:*Orthros, the Matins service of the Eastern Christian Churches*Orthrus, the two-headed dog of Greek mythology*Matins, the Christian morning prayer service*Ultros, a recurring villain in the video game Final Fantasy VI...
(Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
), the four Little Hours
Little Hours
The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours...
, and Apodeipnon
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
(Compline). To this could be added the Typica
Typica
The term Typica may be used among Orthodox Christians with two distinct meanings: a description of the fact that within the Church there are a variety of liturgical practices, and a specific service that is read on days when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated.-Variety of liturgical...
, which is said on days on which there is no celebration of the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
(Eucharist).
Most of the Offices start with the Usual Beginning
Usual beginning
The usual beginning is the series of prayers with which most Divine Services begin in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite.-Normal form:...
(a blessing by the priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, followed by the Trisagion
Trisagion
The Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
and other prayers, ending with the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
and the call to worship: "O come, let us worship God our King..."), followed by one or several Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
. The Psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
figures prominently in the Divine Services, and are found both in the fixed and the moveable portions of the services. In the descriptions that follow, the Septuagint numbering of the Psalms will be used.
Vespers
Vespers is the first office of the day, chanted around the time of sunset, and has three variations: Little Vespers, Great Vespers, and daily Vespers. This is the service that introduces the feast being celebrated that day. Since the day begins at sunset, Vespers for Sunday is celebrate on Saturday evening, etc. At an All-Night VigilAll-Night Vigil
The All-Night Vigil , Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff,written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical...
Great Vespers is combined with Matins and First Hour to form one continuous service. In the Greek practice, a Vigil is only performed for one of the Great Feasts of the church year; the Slavs will also perform the Vigil on every Saturday evening.
Little Vespers
Little Vespers is chanted only before an All-Night Vigil. It is a very abbreviated forma and consist of the Usual Beginning, after which the Reader says Psalm 103 while the priest silently reads the Prayers of Lamplighting (Lychnic). This is followed by the Great EkteniaEktenia
Ektenia , often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholic liturgy...
(Litany). Then the choir chants "Lord, I have cried" (Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116) with four stichera interposed between the last few verses. Then the Phos Hilaron
Phos Hilaron
Phos Hilaron is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in New Testament Greek. Often referred to by its Latin title Lumen Hilare it has been translated into English as Hail Gladdening Light or O Gladsome/Joyous Light. It is the earliest known Christian hymn recorded outside of the Bible...
(a short hymn, praising God at the time of sunset), the prokeimenon
Prokeimenon
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, a Prokeimenon is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading...
, the aposticha
Aposticha
The Aposticha are a set of hymns accompanied by psalm verses that are chanted towards the end of Vespers and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine Rite....
, the Nunc dimittis
Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
, the trisagion
Trisagion
The Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
, and the apolytikion
Apolytikion
The Apolytikion or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy; and it is read at each of the Little Hours...
.
Great Vespers
Great Vespers is celebrated on Sundays and feast days, either separately or as part of the All-Night Vigil. It starts with a blessing by the priest and the "Usual Beginning" (unless it is a Vigil, in which case the blessing is different and the Usual Beginning is abbreviated). It is an All-Night Vigil, the priest and deacon perform a full censing of the church. The chanters sing Psalm 103Psalm 103
Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm from the Book of Psalms . The first verse attributes it to King David, the author of many Psalms. J.A...
(either in its entirety or a selection of verses), while the priest comes to stand on the ambon
Ambon (liturgy)
The Ambon or Ambo is a projection coming out from the soleas in an Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic church. The ambon stands directly in front of the Holy Doors...
in front of the Holy Doors to recite the "Prayers of Lamp-lighting", after which he goes back inside the sanctuary. Then the deacon comes out onto the ambon and leads the Great Ektenia. Choir chants the first kathisma
Kathisma
A Kathisma , literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used by Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine Rite...
(a division of the psalter), broken up into three sections, called stases. After each section the deacon leads a Little Ektenia (on Feast Days which do not fall on Sunday only the first stasis and its ektenia is performed). Then the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with eight stichera (ten on Sundays), while the deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
performs a censing
Thurible
A thurible is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in the Catholic Church as well as in Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, some Lutheran, Old Catholic, and in various Gnostic Churches. It is also used...
of the entire church. After putting on his phelonion
Phelonion
The phelónion The phelónion The phelónion (Greek: (plural, , phailónia; Latin paenula) is a liturgical vestment worn by a priest of the Eastern Christian tradition. It is worn over the priest's other vestments and is equivalent to the chasuble of Western Christianity.- Origin :...
, the priest says the Prayer of the Entrance, and he and the deacon go out the side door of the Iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
to make the Little Entrance with the censer. After the prokeimenon
Prokeimenon
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, a Prokeimenon is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading...
(and, on feast days, readings from the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
) the deacon recites the ektenias, and the priest says a prayer while all reverently bow their heads. Then all go in procession to the narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
of the church while the choir chants stichera proper to the feast
Proper (liturgy)
The Proper is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the Liturgical Year, or of a particular saint or significant event...
. There the deacon recites the Litiy
Litiy
The Litiy or Litiyá is a procession, followed by intercessions, which takes place during the All-Night Vigil in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. Whenever there is a Litiy there is also an Artoklasia...
(an ektenia, invoking the names of many saints, to which the choir answers Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
many times). Then, if it is a Vigil, the priest blesses loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil. These will be used for the refreshment and blessing of those attending the vigil. Next the aposticha (stichera proper to the feast) are chanted by the choir followed by the Nunc Dimittis, the trisagion prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the apolytikion (hymn of the Feast), a the dismissal by the Priest.
Daily Vespers
Vespers, as it is celebrated on ordinary weekdays (i.e., Sunday night through Friday night when there is no occurrence of a Great Feast or major feast day) is very much the same as Great Vespers, but minus some of the more festal aspects. The deacon does not normally serve at daily Vespers, but all of his parts will be done by the priest. After the opening blessing and Psalm 103, the priest recites Great Ektenia. The reader then recites a kathisma (except on Sunday night or any night following an All-Night VigilAll-Night Vigil
The All-Night Vigil , Opus 37, is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff,written and premiered in 1915. It consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical...
). After the Little Ektenia the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with six or eight stichera, while the priest performs the censing
Thurible
A thurible is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in the Catholic Church as well as in Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, some Lutheran, Old Catholic, and in various Gnostic Churches. It is also used...
. There is no Little Entrance and there are no readings from Scripture. Rather, after the conclusion of the Theotokion
Theotokion
A Theotokion is a hymn to Mary, the Theotokos , which is read or chanted during the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches....
at the end of "Lord I Have Cried", the priest leads the prokeimenon, and the priest says the first of the two litanies, the reader recites the prayer "Vouchsafe, O Lord..." and the priest says the second litany and the prayer at the "Bowing of Heads". Next the Aposticha
Aposticha
The Aposticha are a set of hymns accompanied by psalm verses that are chanted towards the end of Vespers and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine Rite....
are chanted by the choir followed by the Nunc Dimittis
Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
, the trisagion
Trisagion
The Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
(a prayer to the Trinity), the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
, the apolytikion
Apolytikion
The Apolytikion or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy; and it is read at each of the Little Hours...
(hymn of the day), concluding with a the dismissal
Dismissal
Dismissal or dismissed may refer to:Dismissal*In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful motion to dismiss. See motion *Termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer...
by the priest.
Compline
ComplineCompline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
(Greek: Apodeipnon, Slavonic: Povochernia) is the last Office of the waking day, and is served in two different manners: Little Compline and Great Compline.
Great Compline is said during the Lenten seasons and on the eves of certain Great Feasts. Great Compline is much longer than Little Compline and has a much more penitential theme to it, including numerous prostrations
Zemnoy poklon
Poyasny and zemnoy poklon are different kinds of bows used in an Eastern Orthodox worship service....
.
Little Compline is read any time Great Compline is not called for. It is composed of psalms, a doxology, troparion, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the Kyrie Eleison repeated twelve times, and invitatory versicles, and Psalms 50, 69, and 162, which are followed by the greater doxology, the Creed, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the troparion proper to the feast, the Kyrie Eleison repeated forty times, several invocations, and the long prayers of dismissal.
Midnight Office
The Midnight Office is normally celebrated only in monasteries, except for the Paschal Vigil when it has a unique structure followed only on that day. Throughout the year, there are three different forms of the Midnight Office: Saturday, Sunday, and Weekday.Matins
The first part of Orthros, consists of twelve prayers read by the priest in front of the Holy Doors while the reader reads the Six Psalms, the greater litany, two stichera followed by Psalms 134 and 135, a third sticheron followed by the gradual psalms, an antiphon with the prokeimenon, the reading of the Gospel, many acclamations and the Canon, while the second part of the Orthros, corresponding to Lauds in the Roman Office, is composed of Psalms 148, 149, 150, several similar stichera, the greater doxologyDoxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
, a benediction
Benediction
A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.-Judaism:...
, and the dismissal.
Each of the Little Hours may followed by a supplementary hour, called an Inter-Hour (Mesorion) during certain seasons of the year. The First Hour (Prime) begins with the recitation of three psalms followed by a doxology, two stichoi, a doxology, a troparion in honour of the Theotokos
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
, the trisagion, several variable troparia, the doxology and dismissal, while its supplementary Hour is composed of a troparion, doxology, Theotokion
Theotokion
A Theotokion is a hymn to Mary, the Theotokos , which is read or chanted during the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches....
, Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
repeated forty times, a prayer, and a doxology. The Third Hour (Terce), the Sixth Hour (Sext), and the Ninth Hour (None) and their Inter-Hours each follow the same basic outline as the First Hour.
Before or after the Ninth Hour (depending upon the liturgical season), an office called the Typica
Typica
The term Typica may be used among Orthodox Christians with two distinct meanings: a description of the fact that within the Church there are a variety of liturgical practices, and a specific service that is read on days when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated.-Variety of liturgical...
is recited. The Typica is only chanted on days when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated, and consists of many of the psalms and hymns that would have been chanted had the Liturgy been celebrated. Ordinarily this consists of Psalm 102, Psalm 145, and the Beatitudes, followed by prayers and hymns. But in the seasons of fasting this Office is regulated by different rubrics.
Sequences
The Sequences supply for all the Acolouths of the Daily Cycle the material required for a particular Remembrance — that is to say, the material properProper (liturgy)
The Proper is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the Liturgical Year, or of a particular saint or significant event...
to a particular day of the week, a particular date of the year, a particular day in the liturgical seasons (for instance, during Great Lent
Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha . In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity...
or the period between Pascha
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
(Easter) and Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
). These sequences can be referred to as cycles.
The fundamental element of the Sequence is the troparion
Troparion
A troparion in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas. The word probably derives from a diminutive of the Greek tropos...
, which is a short hymn, or one of the stanzas of a hymn. The kontakion
Kontakion
Kontakion is a form of hymn performed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The word derives from the Greek word kontax , meaning pole, specifically the pole around which a scroll is wound. The term describes the way in which the words on a scroll unfurl as it is read...
is a troparion which explains briefly the character of the feast celebrated in the day's Office. The oikos
Oikos
An oikos is the ancient Greek equivalent of a household, house, or family....
is a somewhat longer troparion, which follows after the kontakion and in concise style glorifies the virtues and merits of the subject of the feast which were treated in the kontakion. The apolytikion
Apolytikion
The Apolytikion or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy; and it is read at each of the Little Hours...
is a troparion which is proper to the day, and is said just before the dismissal.
The ode was originally one of the nine inspired canticles sung in the morning Office, but later the name was also given to compositions consisting of a varying number of poetical troparia and modelled after the Scriptural odes. Such odes are often combined to form a canon
Canon (hymnography)
A canon is a structured hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on the Biblical canticles. Most of these are found in the Old Testament, but the final ode is taken from the Magnificat and...
(kanon) which is usually composed of nine, but sometimes of a smaller number of odes. Finally, the stichos is a short verse taken from the Psalms or some other book of Holy Scripture, while the sticheron
Sticheron
A sticheron is a particular kind of hymn used in the Divine Liturgy, acolouthia or other services of the Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite....
is a short verse of ecclesiastical composition modelled after the stichos.
External links
- Method for Full Description of Akolouthies developed for Philotheou MonasteryPhilotheou monasteryFilotheou monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It stands on the north-eastern side of the peninsula.It was founded by the Blessed Philotheus, in the end of the 10th century...
on Mount AthosMount AthosMount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
Attribution