The Inter-Hours are brief services in the Daily Office of the Eastern Orthodox

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 Greek Catholic Churches. The Inter-Hours are called for during the Lenten seasons of the Church year. They are styled after the 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...

—First Hour

Prime (liturgy)

Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the...

, Third Hour

Terce

Terce, or Third Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn....

, Sixth Hour

Sext

Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon...

, and Ninth Hour

None (liturgy)

None , or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said around 3 p.m...

—only briefer.

The Inter-Hours are called for during the Lesser Fasts (Nativity Fast

Nativity Fast

The Nativity Fast is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, in preparation for the Nativity of Christ, . The fast is similar to the Western Advent, except that it runs for 40 days instead of four weeks. The fast is...

, and the Apostles' Fast

Apostles' Fast

The Apostles' Fast, also called the Fast of the Holy Apostles, the Fast of Peter and Paul, or sometimes St. Peter's Fast, is a fast observed by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians...

. According to Nikolsky Ustav, they are to be read 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...

 if the Ladder of Divine Ascent is not read during the Little Hours.

Each Inter-Hour follows one of the Little Hours is named for the Hour it follows (i.e., the Inter-Hour of the First Hour, etc.). The structure of each Inter-Hour is as follows:

• O come, let us worship...
• Three Psalms
  Psalms
  The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
  
   (these are fixed for the particular Inter-Hour, and do not vary from day to day)
• 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 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...
  
  
• Troparia
  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...
  
  
• Lord, have mercy (40 times)
• Concluding prayers and blessing
• Prayer of St. Ephraim
  Prayer of Saint Ephrem
  The Prayer of Righteous Ephrem , is a prayer attributed to Saint Ephrem the Syrian and used during the Great Lent by the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine rite...
  
  
• Final prayer
• Dismissal by the Priest

The Fixed Psalms are as follows:

• Inter-Hour of the First Hour—45, 91, 92 (LXX)
• Inter-Hour of the Third Hour—29, 31, 60
• Inter-Hour of the Sixth Hour—55, 56, 69
• Inter-Hour of the Ninth Hour—112, 137, 139

The Inter-Hours are only done on "days with Alleluia"; that is to say, days when the services follow a Lenten format and, as a result, 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...

may not be celebrated. According to present-day usage, the Inter-Hours are often said only on the first day of the Lesser Fasts.