Divine Liturgy
The most important worship is Divine Liturgy. On it the great Sacrament is performed - the change of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord and the Communion of the faithful. Liturgy in Greek means joint work. Believers gather in the temple in order to glorify God together with “one mouth and one heart” and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Thus, they follow the example of the holy apostles and the Lord Himself, who, having gathered for the Last Supper on the eve of the Savior’s betrayal and suffering on the Cross, drank from the Chalice and ate the Bread that He gave them, reverently listening to His words: “This is My Body…” and “This is My Blood…”.
Christ commanded His apostles to perform this Sacrament, and the apostles taught this to their successors - bishops and presbyters, priests. The original name of this Sacrament of Thanksgiving is the Eucharist (Greek). The public service at which the Eucharist is celebrated is called the liturgy (from the Greek litos - public and ergon - service, business). Liturgy is sometimes called mass, since it is usually supposed to be performed from dawn to noon, that is, in the pre-dinner time.
The order of the liturgy is as follows: first, the objects for the Sacrament (Offered Gifts) are prepared, then the faithful prepare for the Sacrament, and finally, the Sacrament itself and the Communion of the faithful are performed. Thus, the liturgy is divided into three parts, which are called:
Proskomedia
Liturgy of the catechumens
Liturgy of the faithful.
Proskomedia. The Greek word proskomidia means bringing. This is the name of the first part of the liturgy in memory of the custom of the first Christians to bring bread, wine and everything necessary for the service. Therefore, the bread itself, used to celebrate the liturgy, is called prosphora, that is, an offering.
Divine Liturgy
The prosphora should be round, and it consists of two parts, as an image of two natures in Christ - Divine and human. Prosphora is baked from leavened wheat bread without any additions except salt.
A cross is imprinted on the upper part of the prosphora, and at its corners the initial letters of the name of the Savior: "IC XC" and the Greek word "NI KA", which together means: Jesus Christ wins. To perform the Sacrament, red grape wine is used, pure, without any additives. Wine is mixed with water in remembrance of the fact that blood and water poured out from the wound of the Savior on the Cross. For proskomidia, five prosphora are used in remembrance that Christ fed five thousand people with five loaves, but the prosphora that is prepared for Communion is one of these five, because there is one Christ, Savior and God. After the priest and deacon perform the entrance prayers in front of the closed Royal Doors and put on sacred clothes in the altar, they approach the altar. The priest takes the first (lamb) prosphora and makes a copy of the cross on it three times, saying: “In remembrance of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” From this prosphora, the priest cuts out the middle in the shape of a cube. This cubic part of the prosphora is called the Lamb. She is placed on the diskos. Then the priest cross-cuts the Lamb from the underside and pierces its right side with a spear.
After that, wine mixed with water is poured into the bowl.
The second prosphora is called the Mother of God, a particle is taken out of it in honor of the Mother of God. The third is called the ninefold, because nine particles are taken out of it in honor of John the Baptist, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, reverends, unmercenaries, Joachim and Anna - the parents of the Mother of God and the saints of the temple, daytime saints, and also in honor of the saint whose name the liturgy is performed.
From the fourth and fifth prosphora, particles are taken out for the living and the dead.
At the proskomedia, particles are also removed from the prosphora, which are served by believers for the repose and health of relatives and friends.
All these particles are laid out in a special order on the diskos next to the Lamb. Having finished all the preparations for the celebration of the Liturgy, the priest places an asterisk on the paten, covering it and the chalice with two small veils, and then all together covers it with a large veil, which is called air, and censes the Offered Gifts, asking the Lord to bless them, to remember those who brought these Gifts and those for whom they were brought. During the proskomidia in the temple, the 3rd and 6th hours are read.
Liturgy of the catechumens. The second part of the liturgy is called the liturgy of the “catechumens”, because during its celebration not only the baptized, but also those preparing to receive this sacrament, that is, the “catechumens” can be present.
The deacon, having received a blessing from the priest, comes out of the altar to the pulpit and loudly proclaims: “Bless, Master,” that is, bless the assembled believers to begin the service and participate in the liturgy.
The priest in his first exclamation glorifies the Holy Trinity: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever." The chanters sing "Amen" and the deacon pronounces the Great Litany.
The choir sings antiphons, that is, psalms that are supposed to be sung alternately by the right and left choirs.
Blessed are you, Lord
Bless, O my soul, the Lord and all my inner being, His holy name. Bless, my soul, the Lord
And do not forget all His rewards: He who cleanses all your iniquities, He who heals all your diseases,
delivering your life from corruption, crowning you with mercy and bounty, fulfilling your desire in good things: your youth will be renewed like an eagle. Merciful and merciful, Lord. Long-suffering and merciful. Bless, O my soul, the Lord and all my inner name, His holy name. Blessed be the Lord
and “Praise, my soul, the Lord…”.
Praise, my soul, the Lord. I will praise the Lord in my stomach; I will sing to my God while I am.
Do not rely on princes, on the sons of men, in them there is no salvation. His spirit will go out and return to his own land, and in that day all his thoughts will perish. Blessed is the God of Jacob his helper, his hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; who keeps the truth forever, who executes judgment on the offended, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord will decide the fettered; The Lord makes the blind wise; The Lord raises up the downtrodden; The Lord loves the righteous;
The Lord guards the aliens, he will accept the orphan and the widow, and the path of sinners will be destroyed.
At the end of the second antiphon, the song "Only Begotten Son ..." is sung. This song contains the entire teaching of the Church about Jesus Christ.
The only-begotten Son and the Word of God, He is immortal, and deigning our salvation for the sake of becoming incarnate
from the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, immutably incarnated, crucified for us, Christ God, trampling death by death, the One of the Holy Trinity, glorified by the Father and the Holy Spirit,
save us.
In Russian, it sounds like this: “Save us, the Only Begotten Son and the Word of God, the Immortal, who deigned for our salvation to incarnate from the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, who became a man and did not change, crucified and corrected death by death, Christ God, one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.” After the small litany, the choir sings the third antiphon, the Gospel beatitudes. The Royal Doors open for the Small Entrance.
Remember us in Your Kingdom, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for those are the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the mercies, for they will have mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed exile for the sake of righteousness, for those are the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you, when they reproach you, and spit you out, and speak every evil word against you, lying for My sake.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven.
At the end of the singing, the priest with the deacon, who carries the gospel on the altar, goes to the pulpit. Having received a blessing from the priest, the deacon stops at the Royal Doors and, lifting up the Gospel, proclaims: “Wisdom, forgive,” that is, reminds the believers that they will soon hear the Gospel reading, therefore they must stand straight and with attention (forgive - means directly).
The entrance to the altar of the clergy with the Gospel is called the Small Entrance, in contrast to the Great Entrance, which takes place later at the liturgy of the faithful. The small entrance reminds believers of the first appearance at the preaching of Jesus Christ. The choir sings “Come, let us worship and fall down to Christ. Save us, Son of God, risen from the dead, singing to Ty: Alleluia. After that, the troparion (Sunday, holiday or saint) and other hymns are sung. Then the Trisagion is sung: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (thrice). (Listen 2.55 mb)
The Apostle and the Gospel are read. When reading the Gospel, believers stand with their heads bowed, listening with reverence to the holy gospel.
After the reading of the Gospel, the relatives and friends of those praying in the church of the faithful are commemorated of the dead by notes.
They are followed by the litany of the catechumens. The liturgy of the catechumens ends with the words “Announcement, come out.”
Liturgy of the Faithful. This is the name of the third part of the liturgy. It can be attended only by the faithful, that is, those who are baptized and who do not have prohibitions from a priest or bishop. At the Liturgy of the Faithful:
1) the Gifts are transferred from the altar to the throne;
2) believers prepare for the consecration of the Gifts;
3) the Gifts are consecrated;
4) believers prepare for Communion and take communion;
5) then thanksgiving is done for Communion and dismissal.
After the pronunciation of two short litanies, the Cherubim Hymn is sung: “Even the Cherubim secretly form and sing the Trisagion Hymn to the Life-Giving Trinity, now let us lay aside all worldly care. As if we would raise the King of all, angelic invisibly gifted chinmi. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia." In Russian, it reads as follows: “We, mysteriously portraying the Cherubim and singing the thrice-sacred song to the Trinity, which gives life, will now leave the care of everything worldly in order to glorify the King of all, Whom the invisibly angelic ranks solemnly glorify. Alleluia."
Before the Cherubic Hymn, the Royal Doors open and the deacon performs incense. The priest at this time secretly prays that the Lord would cleanse his soul and heart and deign to perform the Sacrament. Then the priest, raising his hands, in an undertone utters the first part of the Cherubic Hymn three times, and the deacon also finishes it in an undertone. Both of them go to the altar to transfer the prepared Gifts to the throne. The deacon has air on his left shoulder, he carries the paten with both hands, placing it on his head. The priest carries the Holy Chalice in front of him. They leave the altar through the northern side doors, stop at the pulpit, and, facing the faithful, say a prayer for the Patriarch, the bishops, and for all Orthodox Christians.
Deacon: Our Great Lord and Father Alexy, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', and Our Lord Most Reverend (the name of the rivers of the diocesan bishop) metropolitan (or: archbishop, or: bishop) (the title of the diocesan bishop), may the Lord God remember in His Kingdom always, now and forever, and forever and ever.
Priest: May the Lord God remember all of you Orthodox Christians in His Kingdom always, now and forever, and forever and ever.
Then the priest and deacon enter the altar through the Royal Doors. This is how the Great Entrance is made.
The Gifts brought are placed on the throne and covered with air (a large cover), the Royal Doors are closed and the veil is drawn. The chanters complete the Cherubic Hymn. During the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne, believers remember how the Lord voluntarily went to suffering and death on the cross. They stand with their heads bowed and pray to the Savior for themselves and their loved ones.
After the Great Entrance, the deacon pronounces the Litany of Petition, the priest blesses those present with the words: "Peace to all." Then it is exclaimed: “Let us love one another, that we confess with one mind” and the choir continues: “Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Inseparable.”
Following this, usually the whole temple, the Creed is sung. On behalf of the Church, it briefly expresses the whole essence of our faith, and therefore must be pronounced in joint love and unanimity.
Symbol of faith
I believe in the One God, the Almighty Father, the Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in the One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born from the Father before all ages. Light from light, true God from true God, born uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was. For us, man, and for our salvation, he descended from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, And suffering, and buried. And resurrected on the third day according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And the packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped with the glorious, who spoke the prophets. Into one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
After singing the Creed, the time comes to bring the “Holy Exaltation” with the fear of God and without fail “in peace”, without having malice or enmity against anyone.
"Let's become good, let's stand with fear, let's pay attention, bring the holy exaltation in the world." In response to this, the choir sings: "The grace of the world, the sacrifice of praise."
The gifts of the world will be a thankful and laudatory sacrifice to God for all His good deeds. The priest blesses the believers with the words: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love (love) of God and the Father, and the communion (communion) of the Holy Spirit be with you all." And then he calls: “Woe to our hearts,” that is, we will have hearts aspiring upward, to God. To this, the singers on behalf of the believers answer: “Imams to the Lord”, that is, we already have hearts aspiring to the Lord.
The main part of the liturgy begins with the words of the priest “We thank the Lord”. We thank the Lord for all His mercies and make a prostration, and the singers sing: “It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of the Consubstantial Inseparable.”
At this time, the priest in the prayer, which is called the Eucharistic (that is, thanksgiving), glorifies the Lord and His perfection, thanks Him for the creation and redemption of man, and for all His graces known to us and even unknown. He thanks the Lord for accepting this bloodless Sacrifice, although He is surrounded by higher spiritual beings — archangels, angels, cherubim, seraphim, “singing, crying, crying and speaking the song of victory.” The priest speaks these last words of the secret prayer aloud. The singers add to them the angelic song: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts, fulfill (that is, filled) heaven and earth with Thy glory.” This song, which is called “Seraphim,” is supplemented by the words with which the people greeted the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem: “Hosanna in the highest (that is, he who lives in heaven) Blessed is he who comes (that is, he who goes) in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
The priest pronounces the exclamation: "Singing the victorious song, crying out, calling out and speaking." These words are taken from the visions of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle John the Theologian, who saw in the revelation the Throne of God, surrounded by angels having various images: one was in the form of an eagle (the word “singing” refers to it), the other in the form of a calf (“cryingly”), the third in the form of a lion (“calling”) and, finally, the fourth in the form of a man (“verbal”). These four angels continually exclaimed: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts." While singing these words, the priest secretly continues the prayer of thanksgiving, he glorifies the good that God sends to people, His infinite love for His creation, which was manifested in the coming to earth of the Son of God.
Remembering the Last Supper, at which the Lord instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the priest loudly pronounces the words spoken by the Savior at it: “Take, eat, this is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.” And also: “Drink all of her, this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.” Finally, the priest, remembering in secret prayer the commandment of the Savior to take Communion, glorifies His life, suffering and death, resurrection, ascension to heaven and the second coming in glory, loudly pronounces: These words mean: "Your gifts from Your servants we bring to You, Lord, because of everything we have said."
The singers sing: “We sing to You, we bless You, we thank You, Lord. And we pray, our God."
The priest in secret prayer asks the Lord to send His Holy Spirit on the people standing in the church and on the Offered Gifts, so that He sanctifies them. Then the priest reads the troparion three times in an undertone: “Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour sent down by Thy apostles, Him, good, do not take away from us, but renew us, praying.” The deacon pronounces the twelfth and thirteenth verse of the 50th psalm: “Create a pure heart in me, O God…” and “Do not cast me away from Your presence….”. Then the priest blesses the Holy Lamb lying on the paten and says: “And make this bread, the precious Body of Thy Christ.”
Then he blesses the cup, saying: "And the hedgehog in this cup is the precious Blood of Thy Christ." And, finally, he blesses the gifts along with the words: "Changing by Your Holy Spirit." In these great and holy moments, the Gifts become the true Body and Blood of the Savior, although they remain in appearance the same as before.
The priest with the deacon and the faithful make prostration before the Holy Gifts, as to the King and God himself. After the consecration of the Gifts, the priest in a secret prayer asks the Lord that those who partake will be strengthened in every good thing, that their sins will be forgiven, that they will partake of the Holy Spirit and reach the Kingdom of Heaven, that the Lord will allow them to turn to Himself with their needs and not condemn them for unworthy communion. The priest remembers the saints and especially the Blessed Virgin Mary and loudly proclaims: “Fairly (that is, especially) about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary”, and the choir responds with a song of praise:
It is worthy to eat, as truly bless Thee, the Mother of God, the Blessed and Immaculate and Mother of our God. The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.
The priest continues to secretly pray for the dead and, moving on to praying for the living, loudly commemorates His Holiness the Patriarch, the ruling diocesan bishop, “in the first place”, the choir answers: “And everyone and everything”, that is, asks the Lord to remember all believers. The prayer for the living ends with the exclamation of the priest: “And give us with one mouth and one heart (that is, with one accord) to glorify and sing of Your most honorable and magnificent name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever and ever.”
Finally, the priest blesses all those present: "And may the mercies of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ be with you all."
A petitionary litany begins: “All the saints who have remembered, again and again, let us pray to the Lord in peace.” That is, having remembered all the saints, let us again pray to the Lord. After the litany, the priest proclaims: “And vouchsafe us, Vladyka, with boldness (boldly, as children ask their father) to dare (to dare) to call upon you the Heavenly God the Father and speak.”
The prayer “Our Father…” is usually sung after this by the whole temple.
With the words “Peace to all,” the priest once again blesses the faithful.
The deacon, standing at this time on the pulpit, girds himself crosswise with an orarion, so that, firstly, it would be more convenient for him to serve the priest during Communion, and secondly, in order to express his reverence for the Holy Gifts, in imitation of the seraphim.
At the exclamation of the deacon: “Let us attend,” the veil of the Royal Doors twitch in remembrance of the stone that was nailed to the Holy Sepulcher. The priest, raising the Holy Lamb over the paten, loudly proclaims: "Holy to the holy." In other words, the Holy Gifts can only be given to saints, that is, to believers who have sanctified themselves through prayer, fasting, the Sacrament of Repentance. And, realizing their unworthiness, believers answer: "There is one holy, one Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father."
First, the clergy take communion in the altar. The priest breaks the Lamb into four parts as it was incised on the proskomedia. The part with the inscription “IC” is lowered into the cup, and warmth, that is, hot water, is also poured into it, as a reminder that believers, under the guise of wine, accept the true Blood of Christ.
The other part of the Lamb with the inscription “XC” is intended for the communion of the clergy, and the parts with the inscriptions “NI” and “KA” are for the communion of the laity. These two parts are cut with a copy according to the number of those who take communion into small parts, which are lowered into the Chalice.
While the clergy take communion, the choir sings a special verse, which is called "communion", as well as some chant suitable for the occasion. Russian church composers wrote many spiritual works that are not included in the canon of worship, but are performed by the choir at this particular time. Usually a sermon is delivered at the same time.
Finally, the Royal Doors are opened for the communion of the laity, and the deacon, with the Holy Cup in his hands, says: “Come with the fear of God and faith.”
The priest reads a prayer before Holy Communion, and the faithful repeat it to themselves: “I believe, Lord, and I confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who came into the world to save sinners, from whom I am the first. I also believe that This is Your Most Pure Body and This is Your Most Honorable Blood. I pray to Thee: have mercy on me and forgive my transgressions, voluntary and involuntary, even in word, even in deed, even in knowledge and ignorance, and make me worthy to partake without condemnation of Your Most Pure Mysteries, for the remission of sins and eternal life. Amen. Thy secret supper today, Son of God, accept me as a partaker, not for Thy enemy we will sing a secret, nor will I kiss Thee, like Judas, but, like a thief, I confess Thee: remember me, Lord, in Thy Kingdom. May the communion of Your Holy Mysteries, O Lord, not be for judgment or condemnation, but for the healing of soul and body.
The communicants make a prostration and, folding their hands crosswise on their chests (the right hand over the left), reverently approach the cup, calling the priest their Christian name given at baptism. There is no need to be baptized in front of the cup, because you can push it with a careless movement. The choir sings “Take the body of Christ, taste the source of the immortal”.
After communion, they kiss the lower edge of the Holy Chalice and go to the table, where they drink warmth (church wine mixed with hot water) and receive a particle of prosphora. This is done so that not a single smallest particle of the Holy Gifts remains in the mouth and so as not to immediately proceed to the usual everyday food. After everyone takes communion, the priest brings the cup into the altar and lowers into it the particles taken out of the service and brought prosphora with a prayer that the Lord would wash away the sins of all those who were commemorated at the liturgy with His Blood.
Then he blesses the believers, who sing: “We have seen the true light, received the Spirit of heaven, we have found the true faith, we worship the indivisible Trinity: She saved us.”
The deacon transfers the diskos to the altar, and the priest, taking the Holy Chalice in his hands, blesses the worshipers with it. This last appearance of the Holy Gifts before being transferred to the altar reminds us of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven after His Resurrection. Bowing for the last time to the Holy Gifts, as to the Lord Himself, the faithful thank Him for Communion, and the choir sings a song of thanksgiving: “May our lips be filled with Your praise, Lord, as if we sing Your glory, as if You made us worthy to partake of Your Holy Divine, immortal and life-giving Mysteries; keep us about Your holiness, all day long learn from Your righteousness. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia."
The deacon pronounces a short litany in which he thanks the Lord for Communion. The priest, having risen to the Holy See, folds the antimension on which stood the chalice and diskos, and places the altar Gospel on it.
By proclaiming loudly “Let us go in peace,” he shows that the liturgy is ending, and soon the faithful can go home quietly and in peace.
Then the priest reads the prayer behind the ambo (because it is read behind the pulpit) “Bless those who bless Thee, O Lord, and sanctify those who trust in Thee, save Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, preserve the fulfillment of Thy Church, sanctify those who love the splendor of Thy house, glorify those who love Thy divine power and not leave us who trust in Thee. Grant peace to Thy world, to Thy Churches, to the priest and to all Thy people. As every gift is good and every gift is perfect from above, descend from Thee, the Father of lights. And we send glory to you, and thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
The choir sings: "Be the name of the Lord blessed from now on and forever."
The priest blesses the worshipers for the last time and pronounces dismissal with a cross in his hand facing the temple. Then everyone approaches the cross in order to kiss it to confirm their fidelity to Christ, in whose remembrance the Divine Liturgy was performed.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
This is a divine service, which is predominantly performed on the days of special abstinence and extreme fasting: Wednesday and Friday during all the days of the Holy Forty Day.
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts by its nature, first of all, the evening service, to be more precise, it is communion after vespers.
During Great Lent, following the church charter, on Wednesdays and Fridays, complete abstinence from food is required until sunset. These days of especially intense physical and spiritual feat are consecrated with the expectation of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and this expectation supports us in our feat, both spiritual and physical; the goal of this feat is the joy of waiting for evening communion.
Unfortunately, this understanding of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts as an evening communion has practically been lost today, and therefore this service is celebrated everywhere, predominantly in the morning, as it is now.
The service begins with Great Vespers, but the first exclamation of the priest: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever!”, the same as at the Liturgy of John Chrysostom or Basil the Great; thus, the entire liturgy is directed towards the hope of the Kingdom, it is that spiritual expectation that determines the entire Great Lent.
Then, as usual, follows the reading of Psalm 103 "Bless, my soul, the Lord!" The priest reads prayers of the lamp, in which he asks the Lord that He "fill our lips with praise ... in order to magnify the holy name" of the Lord, "for the rest of this day, avoid various wiles of the evil one", "spend the rest of the day immaculately before the holy Glory" of the Lord.
At the end of the reading of Psalm 103, the deacon pronounces the Great Litany, with which the full Liturgy begins.
“Let us pray to the Lord in peace” are the first words of the litany, which mean that we, in the peace of our souls, must begin our prayers. First, to reconcile with everyone against whom we hold our grievances, whom we ourselves have offended, is an indispensable condition for our participation in worship. The deacon himself does not say any prayers, he only helps in the performance of divine services, calls the people to prayer. And all of us, answering “Lord, have mercy!”, should take part in common prayer, because the very word “Liturgy” means a common service.
Everyone praying in the temple is not a passive spectator, but a participant in the Divine Service. The deacon calls us to prayer, the priest, on behalf of all those gathered in the church, makes a prayer, and all of us together are participants in the service.
During the litany, the priest reads a prayer, where he asks the Lord "to hear our prayer and heed the voice of our prayer."
At the end of the litany and the exclamation of the priest, the reader begins to read Kathisma 18, which consists of psalms (119-133), called "songs of ascent." They were sung on the steps of the Jerusalem temple, climbing them; it was the song of people gathering to pray, preparing to meet God.
During the reading of the first part of the kathisma, the priest puts aside the Gospel, unfolds the holy antimension, after which the Lamb, consecrated at the Liturgy on Sunday, with the help of a spear and a spoon, shifts it onto a paten and places a lighted candle in front of it.
After that, the deacon pronounces the so-called. "small" litany. “Let us pray again and again to the Lord in peace,” i.e. “again and again in the world let us pray to the Lord.” “Lord, have mercy,” the choir answers, and with it all those gathered. At this time, the priest's prayer follows:
“Lord, do not rebuke us in Your wrath and punish us not in Your wrath… Enlighten the eyes of our hearts to know Your Truth… for Your dominion, and Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory.”
Then the second part of the reading of kathisma 18, during which the priest performs a triple incense of the throne with the Holy Gifts and prostration before the throne. The "small" litany is again pronounced, during which the priest reads a prayer:
“Lord our God, remember us, Thy sinful and indecent servants… grant us, Lord, everything we ask for salvation and help us to love and fear You with all our heart… for You are a good and philanthropic God…”
The last, third part of the kathisma is read, during which the Holy Gifts are transferred from the throne to the altar. This will be marked by ringing a bell, after which all those gathered, noting the importance and holiness of this moment, should kneel down. After the transfer of the Holy Gifts to the altar, the bell rings again, which means you can already rise from your knees.
The priest pours wine into a cup, covers the holy vessels, but does not say anything. The reading of the third part of the kathisma is completed, the “small” litany is pronounced again and the exclamation of the priest.
The choir begins singing verses from Psalms 140 and 141: “Lord, I cry to Thee, hear me!” and the stichera laid down for that day.
Stichera- These are liturgical poetic texts that reflect the essence of the celebrated day. During this singing, the deacon burns the altar and the entire church incense. Burning is a symbol of our prayers to God. During the singing of the stichera for "And now," the clergy make a solemn entrance. The primate reads a prayer:
“In the evening, as in the morning and at noon, we praise, bless you and pray to you ... do not let our hearts deviate to words or evil thoughts ... deliver us from all those who trap our souls ... all glory, honor and worship befits you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The clergy go out to the salt (elevation in front of the entrance to the altar), and the Primate blesses the Holy Entrance with the words: “Blessed is the entrance of Your saints, always now and ever and forever and ever!” The deacon, drawing the holy cross with a censer, says “Wisdom, forgive!” "Forgive" means "let's stand straight, reverently."
In the Ancient Church, when the service was much longer than today, those gathered in the temple sat, getting up at especially important moments. The diaconal exclamation, calling to stand erect and reverent, reminds us of the importance and holiness of the Entrance being made. The choir sings the ancient liturgical hymn "Quiet Light".
The clergy enter the holy altar and ascend to the high place. At this point, we will make a special stop in order to explain the next steps. I wish all of us to meaningfully take part in the ongoing worship.
After "Light Quiet"
Beloved in the Lord, brothers and sisters! The entrance was made, the clergy ascended to the high place. On those days when Vespers is celebrated separately, the entrance and ascent to the high place is the climax of the service.
Now the time has come for the singing of a special prokeimenon. A prokimen is a verse from Holy Scripture, most often from the Psalter. For the prokimen, the verse is chosen especially strong, expressive and suitable for the occasion. The prokeimenon consists of a verse, properly called a prokeimenon, and one or three "verses" that precede the repetition of the prokeimenon. The prokeimenon got its name from the fact that it precedes the reading from the Holy Scriptures.
Today we will hear two passages from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, taken from the books of Genesis and Proverbs of Solomon. For a better understanding, these passages will be read in Russian translation. Between these readings, which are called proverbs, a rite is performed, which mainly reminds us of those times when Great Lent was mainly the preparation of catechumens for Holy Baptism.
During the reading of the first proverb, the priest takes a lighted candle and a censer. At the end of the reading, the priest, drawing the holy cross with a censer, says: “Wisdom, forgive!”, thereby calling for special attention and reverence, pointing to the special wisdom contained in the present moment.
Then the priest turns to the audience and, blessing them, says: “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone!” The candle is a symbol of Christ, the Light of the world. Lighting a candle while reading the Old Testament means that all the prophecies were fulfilled in Christ. The Old Testament leads to Christ just as Great Lent leads to the enlightenment of the catechumens. The light of baptism, which unites the catechumens with Christ, opens their minds to understand the teachings of Christ.
According to the established tradition, at this moment all those gathered kneel down, about which they are warned by the ringing of a bell. After the words are spoken by the priest, the ringing of the bell reminds you that you can get up from your knees.
The second passage from the Holy Scriptures from the book of Proverbs of Solomon follows, which will also be read in Russian translation. After the second reading from the Old Testament, according to the instructions of the charter, the singing of five verses from the evening 140 psalm is supposed, beginning with the verse: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before you”
In those days, when the Liturgy had not yet acquired today's solemnity and simply consisted of communion after vespers, these verses were sung during communion. Now they form an excellent penitential introduction to the second part of the service, i.e. to the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts itself. During the singing of “May it be corrected…”, all those gathered lie on their faces, and the priest, standing at the throne, censes it, and then the altar, on which the Holy Gifts are located.
At the end of the singing, the priest says a prayer that accompanies all Lenten services, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. This prayer, which is accompanied by bows to the ground, sets us up for a correct understanding of our fasting, which consists not only in limiting ourselves in food, but in the ability to see and fight with our own sins.
On those days when the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts coincides with a patronal feast, or on other occasions indicated by the charter, readings of the apostolic epistle and a passage from the Gospel are required. Today, such a reading is not required by the charter, which means that it will not happen. Before the Special Litany, we will make one more stop in order to better understand the further course of the service. Help everyone Lord!
After "Let it be fixed..."
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord! Vespers has ended, and now the entire next course of the service is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts itself. Now a special litany will be proclaimed by the deacon, when you and I must intensify our prayers. During the pronunciation of this litany, the priest prays that the Lord accepted our fervent prayers and sent down on His people, i.e. on us, all gathered in the temple, expecting from him inexhaustible mercy, His rich bounties.
There is no commemoration by name for the living and the dead at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. Then follows the litany for the catechumens. In the Ancient Church, the sacrament of Baptism was preceded by a long period of announcement of those wishing to become Christians.
Great Lent- this is just the time of intensive preparation for Baptism, which was usually performed on Great Saturday or Easter. Those who were preparing to receive the Sacrament of Baptism attended special categorical classes, at which they were explained the basics of the Orthodox faith, so that their future life in the Church would be meaningful. The catechumens also attended divine services, in particular the Liturgy, at which they could attend until the litany for the catechumens. During its pronunciation, the deacon calls on all the faithful, i.e. permanent members of the Orthodox community, to pray for the catechumens, so that the Lord would have mercy on them, pronounce them with the Word of Truth, and reveal to them the Gospel of truth. And the priest at this time prays to the Lord and asks Him to deliver them (i.e., the catechumens) from the ancient seduction and intrigues of the enemy ... and join them to the spiritual flock of Christ.
From the middle of Lent, another litany about the “enlightened” is added, i.e. already "ready for enlightenment". The period of a long catechumen is coming to an end, which in the Ancient Church could have lasted for several years, and the catechumens are moving into the category of “enlightened” and soon the Sacrament of Holy Baptism will be performed on them. The priest at this time prays that the Lord would strengthen them in faith, confirm them in hope, perfect them in love ... and show them as worthy members of the Body of Christ.
Then the deacon says that all the catechumens, all who are preparing for enlightenment, should leave the church. Now only the faithful can pray in the temple; only baptized Orthodox Christians. After the removal of the catechumens, the reading of two prayers of the faithful follows.
In the first we ask for the purification of the soul, body and our senses, the second prayer prepares us for the transfer of the Presanctified Gifts. Then comes the solemn moment of the transfer of the Holy Gifts to the throne. Outwardly, this entrance is similar to the Great Entrance at the Liturgy, but in essence and spiritual significance, of course, it is completely different.
The choir begins to sing a special song: “Now the powers of heaven serve with us invisibly, for behold, the King of Glory enters, behold the Sacrifice, mysteriously sanctified, is transferred.”
The priest in the altar, with his hands raised up, pronounces these words three times, to which the deacon answers: “Let us approach with faith and love and we will be partakers of Eternal Life. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia."
During the transfer of the Holy Gifts, everyone should reverently kneel down.
The priest in the Royal Doors, according to the established tradition, says in a low voice: “Let us proceed with faith and love” and puts the Holy Gifts on the throne, covers them, but does not say anything at the same time.
After that, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is pronounced with three bows. The transfer of the Holy Gifts has been completed, and very soon the moment of Holy Communion of the clergy and all those who prepared for this will come. To do this, we will make one more stop to explain the last part of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. Help everyone Lord!
After the Great Entrance
Beloved in the Lord, brothers and sisters! The solemn transfer of the Holy Gifts to the throne has taken place, and now we have come very close to the very moment of Holy Communion. Now the deacon will pronounce a petitionary litany, and the priest at this time prays that the Lord will deliver us and His faithful people from all impurity, sanctify the souls and bodies of all of us, so that with a clear conscience, an unshamed face, an enlightened heart ... we will unite with Your Christ Himself, our true God.
This is followed by the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", which always completes our preparation for Communion. Saying it, the prayer of Christ Himself, we thereby accept the spirit of Christ as our own, His prayer to the Father as ours, His will, His desire, His life as our own.
The prayer ends, the priest teaches us the world, the deacon calls on all of us to bow our heads before the Lord, and at this time the prayer of head bowing is read, where the priest, on behalf of all those gathered, asks the Lord to save His people and deign us all to partake of His life-giving Sacraments.
Then follows the exclamation of the deacon - "Let's go," i.e. let us be attentive, and the priest, touching the Holy Gifts with his hand, exclaims: “The Pre-Consecrated Saint - to the Saints!”. This means that the Presanctified Holy Gifts are offered to the saints, i.e. to all the faithful children of God, to all who have gathered at this moment in the temple. The choir sings: “One is Holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen". The Royal Doors are closed, and the moment comes for the communion of the clergy.
After they take communion, the Holy Gifts will be prepared for all today's communicants and immersed in the Chalice. Everyone who is going to receive communion today needs to be especially attentive and focused. The moment of our union with Christ will soon come. Help everyone Lord!
Before communion parishioners
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord! The ancient Church did not know any other reason for participating in the Liturgy, except for the communion of the Holy Gifts on it. Today, this Eucharistic feeling, unfortunately, has weakened. And sometimes we don’t even suspect why we come to the temple of God. Usually everyone just wants to pray “about something of their own”, but now we know that Orthodox worship, and especially the Liturgy, is not just a prayer “about something”, it is our participation in the sacrifice of Christ, it is our joint prayer, a joint stand before God, a common service to Christ. All the priest's prayers are not just his personal appeal to God, but a prayer on behalf of all those gathered, on behalf of everyone in the temple. We often do not even suspect that this is our prayer, this is also our participation in the Sacrament.
Participation in worship should, of course, be conscious. It is always necessary to strive to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the service. After all, every baptized person is a part of the Body of Christ, and through the universality of our communion, the Church of Christ appears to this world, which “lies in evil.”
The Church is the Body of Christ, and we are part of that Body, part of the Church. And in order not to get lost in our spiritual life, we must constantly strive for union with Christ, which is given to us in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
We very often, embarking on the path of spiritual development, do not know what we need to do, how to act correctly. The Church gives us everything we need for our revival. All this is given to us in the Sacraments of the Church. And the Sacrament of the Sacraments, or, more precisely, the Sacrament of the Church, - the Sacrament that reveals the very nature of the Church - is the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Therefore, if we try to know Christ without taking communion, then nothing will ever work out for us.
It is possible to know Christ only by being with Him, and the sacrament of Communion is our door to Christ, which we must open and receive Him into our hearts.
Now the very moment has come when all who wish to receive communion will unite with Christ. The priest with the Holy Chalice will say prayers before Holy Communion, and everyone preparing for Communion should listen carefully to them. Approaching the Chalice, you need to fold your arms crosswise on your chest and clearly pronounce your Christian name, and, after taking communion, kiss the edge of the Chalice and go to drink.
According to the established tradition, only those children who are already able to take a particle of the Holy Bread can receive communion. At this time, the choir sings a special communion verse: "Eat the bread of heaven and the Cup of life - and you will see how good the Lord is."
When Communion is over, the priest enters the altar and blesses the people at the conclusion of the service. The last litany follows, in which we thank God for the communion of the immortal, heavenly and life-giving terrible Christ's Mysteries, and the last prayer, the so-called. “beyond the ambo” is a prayer that sums up the meaning of this divine service. After it, the priest pronounces dismissal with a mention of the saints celebrated today, and these are, first of all, the Reverend Mother Mary of Egypt and St. Gregory the Dialogist, Pope of Rome, a saint of the still undivided Ancient Church, to whom the tradition of celebrating the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts goes back.
This will complete the service. I wish God's help to all who have gathered and hope that today's service, which has been constantly commented on, will help all of us to better understand the meaning and purpose of Orthodox worship, so that we will have a desire to further comprehend our Orthodox heritage more and more, through meaningful participation in worship, through participation in the Sacraments of the Holy Church. Amen.
All-night Vigil
All-night vigil, or all-night service, is called such a service that is performed in the evening on the eve of especially revered holidays. It consists of a combination of Vespers with Matins and the first hour, and both Vespers and Matins are celebrated more solemnly and with greater illumination of the temple than on other days.
This service is called all-night service because in ancient times it began late in the evening and lasted all night until dawn.
Then, out of indulgence for the infirmities of the believers, they began to start this service a little earlier and make shortenings in reading and singing, and therefore it does not end so late now. The former name of its all-night vigil has been preserved.
Vespers
Vespers in its composition recalls and depicts the times of the Old Testament: the creation of the world, the fall of the first people, their expulsion from paradise, their repentance and prayer for salvation, then, the hope of people, according to the promise of God, in the Savior and, finally, the fulfillment of this promise.
Vespers, during the all-night vigil, begins with the opening of the royal doors. The priest and the deacon silently cense the altar and the whole altar, and clouds of censer smoke fill the depth of the altar. This silent incense marks the beginning of the creation of the world. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". The earth was formless and empty. And the Spirit of God hovered over the primeval matter of the earth, breathing life-giving power into it. But the creative word of God has not yet been heard.
But now, the priest, standing before the throne, with the first exclamation glorifies the Creator and Creator of the world - the Most Holy Trinity: “Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever.” Then he calls the believers three times: “Come, let us worship our King God. Come, let us bow down and bow down to Christ, our King God. Come, let us worship and bow down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Him.” For “everything came into being through Him (that is, to exist, to live), and without Him nothing came into being that came into being” (John 1:3).
In response to this invocation, the choir solemnly sings the 103rd psalm about the creation of the world, glorifying the wisdom of God: “Bless my soul, the Lord! Blessed are you, Lord! Lord, my God, thou hast exalted zealously (i.e., very much) ... thou hast created all wisdom. Wonderful are thy works, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord, who created everything!
During this singing, the priest leaves the altar, passes among the people and burns the whole temple and the worshipers, and the deacon precedes him with a candle in his hand.
Explanation of the All-Night Vigil
Incense
This sacred rite reminds those who pray not only of the creation of the world, but also of the original, blissful, paradise life of the first people, when God Himself walked among people in paradise. The open royal doors signify that at that time the doors of paradise were open to all people.
But people, tempted by the devil, violated the will of God and sinned. By their fall, people lost their blissful paradise life. They were expelled from paradise - and the doors of paradise were closed for them. As a sign of this, after the censing in the temple and after the singing of the psalm is over, the royal doors are closed.
The deacon leaves the altar and stands in front of the closed royal doors, as Adam once did in front of the closed gates of paradise, and proclaims the great litany:
Let's pray to the Lord in peace
Let us pray to the Lord for heavenly peace and the salvation of our souls... Let us pray to the Lord, reconciled with all our neighbors, having no anger or enmity against anyone.
Let us pray that the Lord sends down to us “above” - heavenly peace and saves our souls…
After the great litany and the exclamation of the priest, selected verses from the first three psalms are sung:
Blessed is the man who does not go to the counsel of the wicked.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked will perish... Blessed is the man who does not go to counsel with the wicked.
For the Lord knows the life of the righteous, and the life of the wicked will perish...
Then the deacon proclaims a small litany: “Pack and pack (again and again) let us pray to the Lord in peace…
After a small litany, the choir calls out in verses from the psalms:
Lord, I call to You, hear me...
May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You ...
Hear me Lord... Lord! I call to you: hear me ...
Let my prayer be directed like incense incense to Thee...
Hear me, Lord!
During the singing of these verses, the deacon burns the temple incense.
This moment of worship, starting from the closing of the royal doors, in the petitions of the great litany and in the singing of the psalms, depicts the plight that the human race underwent after the fall of the forefathers, when, along with sinfulness, all sorts of needs, illnesses and sufferings appeared. We cry out to God: “Lord, have mercy!” We ask for peace and the salvation of our souls. We lament that we have obeyed the ungodly counsel of the devil. We ask God for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from troubles, and we place all our hope on the mercy of God. Deacon burning at this time means those sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, as well as our prayers offered to God.
To the singing of the Old Testament verses: “Lord, I have cried:” are joined by stichera, that is, New Testament hymns, in honor of the holiday.
The last stichera is called the theotokion or dogmatic, since this stichera is sung in honor of the Mother of God and it sets out the dogma (the main teaching of the faith) about the incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary. On the Twelfth Feasts, instead of the theotokos-dogmatics, a special stichera is sung in honor of the feast.
During the singing of the Theotokos (dogmatics), the royal doors open and an evening entrance is made: a priest-bearer comes out of the altar through the northern doors, followed by a deacon with a censer, and then a priest. The priest stands on the pulpit facing the royal doors, blesses the entrance crosswise, and, after the deacon utters the words: “forgive wisdom!” (meaning: listen to the wisdom of the Lord, stand upright, stay awake), enters, together with the deacon, through the royal doors into the altar and stands on a high place.
Evening entry
The choir at this time sings a song to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: “Quiet light, holy glory of the Immortal Father, Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, let us sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God. Thou art worthy at all times not to be the voices of the reverend. Son of God, give life, the same world praises You. (Quiet light of holy glory, the Immortal Father in heaven, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, seeing the evening light, we sing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, who gives life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore, the world glorifies You).
In this hymn-hymn, the Son of God is called a quiet light from the Heavenly Father, for He did not come to earth in full Divine glory, but the quiet light of this glory. This hymn says that only by the voices of the saints (and not by our sinful lips) can His worthy song be lifted up to Him and due glorification be performed.
The evening entrance reminds believers of how the Old Testament righteous, according to the promise of God, the types and prophecies, expected the coming of the Savior of the world and how He appeared in the world for the salvation of the human race.
A censer with incense, at the evening entrance, means that our prayers, at the intercession of the Lord Savior, like incense, ascend to God, and also means the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple.
The cruciform blessing of the entrance means that through the cross of the Lord the doors of paradise are again opened to us.
After the song: “Quiet light…” a prokeimenon is sung, i.e. a short verse from the Holy Scriptures. At Sunday Vespers it is sung: “The Lord has reigned, clothed in splendor (i.e., beauty),” and on other days other verses are sung.
At the end of the singing of the prokimen, proverbs are read on major holidays. Paroemias are the chosen places of Holy Scripture, which contain prophecies or indicate prototypes related to the events being celebrated, or instructions are given that come as if from the face of those saints whose memory we commemorate.
After the prokeimon and paroemia, the deacon pronounces a special (i.e., intensified) litany:
Then a prayer is read: “Vouchee, Lord, in this evening, without sin, be preserved for us ...”
After this prayer, the deacon pronounces a petitionary litany: “Let us fulfill (bring to fullness, bring in fullness) our evening prayer to the Lord (to the Lord) ...”
On major feasts, after the special and petitionary litany, the litia and the blessing of the loaves are performed.
Lithia, a Greek word, means common prayer. Litiya is performed in the western part of the temple, near the entrance western doors. This prayer in the ancient church was performed in the vestibule, with the aim of giving the catechumens and penitents who stood here the opportunity to take part in the common prayer on the occasion of the great feast.
lithium
Litiya is followed by the blessing and consecration of five loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil, also in memory of the ancient custom of distributing food to those praying, who sometimes came from afar, so that they could refresh themselves during a long service. The five loaves are blessed in remembrance of the Savior feeding the five thousand with five loaves. With consecrated oil (olive oil), the priest then, during Matins, after kissing the festive icon, anoints the worshipers.
After the litia, and if it is not performed, then after the petitionary litany, “stichera on the verse” are sung. This is the name of special, poems written in memory of a remembered event.
Vespers ends with the reading of the prayer of St. Simeon the God-bearer: “Now you release your servant, Master, according to your word in peace: as my eyes have seen your salvation, if you have prepared before the face of all people, light for the revelation of tongues, and the glory of your people Israel”, then reading the Trisagion and the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father ...”, singing Angelic greetings to the Mother of God: “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice ...” or the troparion of the holiday and, finally, after singing the prayer of the righteous Job three times: “Be the name of the Lord blessed from now on and forever”, with the final blessing of the priest: “The blessing of the Lord on you with that grace and love of mankind - always, now and ever, and forever and ever”.
End of Vespers - Prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and the Angelic greeting to the Theotokos (Our Lady, Virgin, rejoice) - point to the fulfillment of God's promise about the Savior.
Immediately after the end of Vespers, during the All-Night Vigil, Matins begins with the reading of the Six Psalms.
Matins
The second part of the all-night vigil - matins reminds us of the times of the New Testament: the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, for our salvation, and His glorious Resurrection.
The beginning of Matins directly points us to the Nativity of Christ. It begins with the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
Then the Six Psalms are read, i.e. the six selected psalms of King David (3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142), in which the sinful state of people, full of troubles and misfortunes, is depicted, and the only hope expected by people in God's mercy is fervently expressed. The worshipers listen to the Six Psalms with special concentrated reverence.
After the Six Psalms, the deacon pronounces the great litany.
Then a short song, with verses, is sung loudly and joyfully about the appearance of Jesus Christ into the world to people: “God is the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” i.e. God is the Lord, and he appeared to us, and he who goes to the glory of the Lord is worthy of glorification.
After that, a troparion is sung, that is, a song in honor of a holiday or a saint being celebrated, and kathismas are read, that is, separate parts of the Psalter, consisting of several successive psalms. Reading kathisma, just like reading the Six Psalms, calls us to think about our disastrous sinful state and put all our hope in God's mercy and help. Kathisma means sitting, since one can sit while reading kathisma.
At the end of the kathisma, the deacon pronounces a small litany, and then a polyeleos is performed. Polyeleos is a Greek word and means: "many mercy" or "much illumination."
The Polyeleos is the most solemn part of the Vespers and expresses the glorification of the mercy of God revealed to us in the coming of the Son of God to earth and His accomplishment of the work of our salvation from the power of the devil and death.
The Polyeleos begins with the solemn singing of laudatory verses:
Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord. Alleluia!
Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who lives in Jerusalem. Alleluia!
Confess to the Lord, for it is good, for His mercy is forever. Alleluia!
i.e. glorify the Lord, because He is good, because His mercy (to people) is forever.
When these verses are sung in the temple, all the lamps are lit, the royal doors open, and the priest, preceded by a deacon with a candle, leaves the altar and performs incense throughout the temple, as a sign of reverence for God and His saints.
Polyeleos
After singing these verses, special Sunday troparia are sung on Sundays; i.e. joyful songs in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which say how angels appeared to the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb of the Savior and announced to them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On other great holidays, instead of Sunday troparions, a magnification is sung before the icon of the holiday, that is, a short laudatory verse in honor of the holiday or saint. (We magnify you, Saint Father Nicholas, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us Christ our God)
magnificence
After Sunday troparia, or after magnification, the deacon pronounces a small litany, then the prokeimenon, and the priest reads the Gospel.
At the Sunday service, the Gospel is read about the Resurrection of Christ and about the appearances of the risen Christ to His disciples, and on other holidays the Gospel is read, relating to the event being celebrated or to the glorification of the saint.
Gospel Reading
After reading the Gospel, in the Sunday service a solemn song is sung in honor of the risen Lord: “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: Thou art our God; unless (except) you know no other, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold (here) for the joy of the whole world has come by the cross, always blessing the Lord, we sing of His resurrection: for having endured the crucifixion, destroy death with death.
The gospel is brought to the middle of the temple, and the faithful venerate it. On other holidays, believers venerate the festive icon. The priest anoints them with blessed oil and distributes consecrated bread.
After singing: “The Resurrection of Christ: a few more short prayers are sung. Then the deacon reads the prayer: “Save, O God, Thy people”… and after the exclamation of the priest: “By mercy and bounty”… the singing of the canon begins.
The canon at Matins is a collection of songs compiled according to a certain rule. “Canon” is a Greek word and means “rule”.
Canon Reading
The canon is divided into nine parts (song). The first verse of each song that is sung is called irmos, which means connection. These irmos, as it were, bind the entire composition of the canon into one whole. The remaining verses of each part (song) are mostly read and called troparia. The second ode of the canon, as penitential, is performed only in Great Lent.
In compiling these songs, especially worked: St. John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayum, Andrew of Crete (great canon of repentance) and many others. At the same time, they were invariably guided by certain chants and prayers of sacred persons, namely: the prophet Moses (for 1st and 2nd irmos), the prophetess Anna, the mother of Samuel (for the 3rd irmos), the prophet Habakkuk (for the 4th irmos), the prophet Isaiah (for the 5th irmos), the prophet Jonah (for the 6th irmos), the three youths (for the 7th and 8th th irmos) and the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist (for the 9th irmos).
Before the ninth irmos, the deacon proclaims: “Let us exalt the Theotokos and Mother of Light in songs!” and burns the temple incense.
At this time, the choir sings the song of the Theotokos: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ... Each verse is joined by a refrain: “The most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.”
At the end of the song of the Virgin, the choir continues singing the canon (9th song).
The following can be said about the general content of the canon. Irmos remind believers of the Old Testament times and events from the history of our salvation and gradually bring our thoughts closer to the event of the Nativity of Christ. The troparions of the canon are dedicated to New Testament events and represent a series of verses or hymns to the glory of the Lord and the Mother of God, as well as in honor of the celebrated event, or the saint glorified on this day.
After the canon, psalms of praise are sung - stichera on praises - in which all God's creations are called to glorify the Lord: “Let every breath praise the Lord ...”
After the singing of laudatory psalms, a great doxology follows. The Royal Doors open with the singing of the last stichera (the Mother of God on Sunday) and the priest proclaims: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” (In ancient times, this exclamation preceded the appearance of the solar dawn).
The choir sings a great doxology, which begins with the words: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we bow down, we praise Thee, we give thanks to Thee, great for the sake of Thy glory…”
In the “great doxology” we thank God for daylight and for the gift of spiritual Light, that is, Christ the Savior, who enlightened people with His teaching - the light of truth.
The “Great Doxology” ends with the singing of the Trisagion: “Holy God…” and the troparion of the feast.
After this, the deacon pronounces two litanies in a row: the august and the petitionary.
Matins at the All-Night Vigil ends with a dismissal - the priest, turning to those who pray, says: “Christ our true God (and on Sunday service: Risen from the dead, Christ our true God ...), through the prayers of His most pure Mother, the glorious apostles ... and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, as good and philanthropist."
In conclusion, the choir sings a prayer that the Lord will preserve the Orthodox Bishopric, the ruling bishop and all Orthodox Christians for many years.
Immediately, after this, the last part of the all-night vigil begins - the first hour.
The service of the first hour consists of the reading of psalms and prayers in which we ask God to “hear our voice in the morning” and correct the work of our hands in the course of the day. The service of the 1st hour ends with a victorious song in honor of the Mother of God: But as if having an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call Thee: rejoice, Unbridened Bride.” In this song, we call the Mother of God “the victorious leader against evil.” Then the priest pronounces the dismissal of the 1st hour. This concludes the all-night vigil.
Or all-night service, - such a service that is performed in the evening on the eve of especially revered holidays.
It consists of a combination of Vespers with Matins and the first hour, and both Vespers and Matins are celebrated more solemnly and with greater illumination of the temple than on other days.
This worship is called all-night because in ancient times it began late in the evening and continued all night long before dawn.
Then, out of indulgence for the infirmities of the believers, they began to start this service a little earlier and make shortenings in reading and singing, and therefore it does not end so late now. The former name of its all-night vigil has been preserved.
Vespers
Vespers in its composition recalls and depicts the times of the Old Testament: the creation of the world, the fall of the first people, their expulsion from paradise, their repentance and prayer for salvation, then, the hope of people, according to the promise of God, in the Savior and, finally, the fulfillment of this promise.
Vespers, during the all-night vigil, begins with the opening of the royal doors. The priest and the deacon silently cense the altar and the whole altar, and clouds of censer smoke fill the depth of the altar. This silent incense marks the beginning of the creation of the world. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". The earth was formless and empty. And the Spirit of God hovered over the primeval matter of the earth, breathing life-giving power into it. But the creative word of God has not yet been heard.
But now, the priest, standing before the throne, with the first exclamation glorifies the Creator and Creator of the world - the Most Holy Trinity: "Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever." Then he calls the believers three times: “Come, let us worship our King God. Come, let us bow down and bow down to Christ, our King God. Come, let us worship and bow down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Him.” For “everything came into being through Him (that is, to exist, to live), and without Him nothing came into being that came into being” (John 1:3).
In response to this invocation, the choir solemnly sings the 103rd psalm about the creation of the world, glorifying the wisdom of God: “Bless my soul, the Lord! Blessed are you, Lord! Lord, my God, thou hast exalted zealously (i.e., very much) ... thou hast created all wisdom. Wonderful are thy works, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord, who created everything!
During this singing, the priest leaves the altar, passes among the people and burns the whole temple and the worshipers, and the deacon precedes him with a candle in his hand.
| Incense |
This sacred rite reminds those who pray not only of the creation of the world, but also of the original, blissful, paradise life of the first people, when God Himself walked among people in paradise. The open royal doors signify that at that time the doors of paradise were open to all people.
But people, tempted by the devil, violated the will of God and sinned. His fall people have lost their blissful paradise life. They were expelled from paradise - and the doors of paradise were closed for them. As a sign of this, after the censing in the temple and after the singing of the psalm is over, the royal doors are closed.
The deacon comes out of the altar and stands in front of the closed royal doors, as Adam once did in front of the closed gates of paradise, and proclaims great litany:
After the great litany and the exclamation of the priest, selected verses from the first three psalms are sung:
Then the deacon proclaims small litany: “Packs and packs(more and more) Let's pray to the Lord in peace...
After a small litany, the choir calls out in verses from the psalms:
During the singing of these verses, the deacon burns the temple incense.
This moment of worship, starting from the closing of the royal doors, in the petitions of the great litany and in the singing of the psalms, depicts the plight that the human race underwent after the fall of the forefathers, when, along with sinfulness, all sorts of needs, illnesses and sufferings appeared. We cry out to God: “Lord, have mercy!” We ask for peace and the salvation of our souls. We lament that we have obeyed the ungodly counsel of the devil. We ask God for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from troubles, and we place all our hope on the mercy of God. Deacon burning at this time means those sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, as well as our prayers offered to God.
To the singing of the Old Testament verses: “Lord, I have called:” they join stichera, i.e. New Testament hymns, in honor of the holiday.
The last verse is called theotokion or dogmatist, since this stichera is sung in honor of the Mother of God and it sets out the dogma (the main teaching of the faith) about the incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary. On the Twelfth Feasts, instead of the theotokos-dogmatics, a special stichera is sung in honor of the feast.
When singing the Mother of God (dogmatics), the royal doors open and the evening entrance: a priest comes out of the altar through the northern doors, followed by a deacon with a censer, and then a priest. The priest stands on the pulpit facing the royal doors, blesses the entrance crosswise, and, after the deacon utters the words: “wisdom forgive!”(meaning: listen to the wisdom of the Lord, stand upright, stay awake), enters, together with the deacon, through the royal doors into the altar and stands on a high place.
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| Evening entry |
The choir at this time sings a song to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: “Quiet light, holy glory of the Immortal Father, Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, let us sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God. Thou art worthy at all times not to be the voices of the reverend. Son of God, give life, the same world praises You. (Quiet light of holy glory, the Immortal Father in heaven, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, seeing the evening light, we sing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, who gives life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore, the world glorifies You).
In this hymn-hymn, the Son of God is called a quiet light from the Heavenly Father, for He did not come to earth in full Divine glory, but the quiet light of this glory. This hymn says that only by the voices of the saints (and not by our sinful lips) can His worthy song be lifted up to Him and due glorification be performed.
The evening entrance reminds believers of how the Old Testament righteous, according to the promise of God, the types and prophecies, expected the coming of the Savior of the world and how He appeared in the world for the salvation of the human race.
A censer with incense, at the evening entrance, means that our prayers, at the intercession of the Lord Savior, like incense, ascend to God, and also means the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple.
The cruciform blessing of the entrance means that through the cross of the Lord the doors of paradise are again opened to us.
After the song: “Quiet light ...” is sung prokeimenon, i.e. a short verse from the Holy Scriptures. At Sunday Vespers it is sung: “The Lord has reigned, clothed in splendor (i.e., beauty),” and on other days other verses are sung.
At the end of the singing of the prokimen, on major holidays they read proverbs. Paroemias are the chosen places of Holy Scripture, which contain prophecies or indicate prototypes related to the events being celebrated, or instructions are given that come as if from the face of those saints whose memory we commemorate.
After the prokeimenon and paroemia, the deacon pronounces purely(i.e. reinforced) litany: “Rtsem (let’s say, we’ll talk, let’s start praying) all, with all our soul and from all our thoughts, rtsem ...”
Then a prayer is read: “Vouchee, Lord, in this evening, without sin, be preserved for us ...”
After this prayer, the deacon pronounces a petitionary litany: “Let us fulfill (bring to fullness, bring in fullness) our evening prayer to the Lord (to the Lord) ...”
On major feasts, after the special and petitionary litany, lithium And blessing of loaves.
lithium, the Greek word means common prayer. Litiya is performed in the western part of the temple, near the entrance western doors. This prayer in the ancient church was performed in the vestibule, with the aim of giving the catechumens and penitents who stood here the opportunity to take part in the common prayer on the occasion of the great feast.
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| lithium |
Following lithium happens blessing and consecration of the five loaves, wheat, wine and oil, also in memory of the ancient custom of distributing food to those praying, who sometimes came from afar, so that they could refresh themselves during a long service. The five loaves are blessed in remembrance of the Savior feeding the five thousand with five loaves. Sanctified oil(with olive oil) the priest then, during Matins, after kissing the festive icon, anoints the worshipers.
After the litia, and if it is not performed, then after the petitionary litany, “stichera on the verse” are sung. This is the name of special, poems written in memory of a remembered event.
Vespers ends with the reading of the prayer of St. Simeon the God-bearer: “Now you release your servant, Master, according to your word in peace: as my eyes have seen your salvation, if you have prepared before the face of all people, light for the revelation of tongues, and the glory of your people Israel”, then reading the Trisagion and the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father ...”, singing Angelic greetings to the Mother of God: “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice ...” or the troparion of the holiday and, finally, after singing the prayer of the righteous Job three times: “May the name of the Lord be blessed from now on and forever”, with the final blessing of the priest: “The blessing of the Lord on you with that grace and love of mankind - always, now and ever, and forever and ever”.
End of Vespers - Prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and the Angelic greeting to the Theotokos (Our Lady, Virgin, rejoice) - point to the fulfillment of God's promise about the Savior.
Immediately after the end of Vespers, during the All-Night Vigil, the matins by reading six-psalmia.
Matins
The second part of the All-Night Vigil - matins reminds us of the times of the New Testament: the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, for our salvation, and His glorious Resurrection.
The beginning of Matins directly points us to the Nativity of Christ. It begins with the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
Then read six psalms, that is, the six selected psalms of King David (3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142), which depict the sinful state of people, full of troubles and misfortunes, and fervently expresses the only hope expected by people in God's mercy. The worshipers listen to the Six Psalms with special concentrated reverence.
After the Six Psalms, the deacon says great litany.
Then a short song, with verses, is sung loudly and joyfully about the appearance of Jesus Christ into the world to people: “God is the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” i.e. God is the Lord, and he appeared to us, and he who goes to the glory of the Lord is worthy of glorification.
After that it is sung troparion, i.e., a song in honor of a holiday or a celebrated saint, and are read kathismas, i.e. separate parts of the Psalter, consisting of several consecutive psalms. Reading kathisma, just like reading the Six Psalms, calls us to think about our disastrous sinful state and put all our hope in God's mercy and help. Kathisma means sitting, since one can sit while reading kathisma.
At the end of the kathisma, the deacon says small litany, and then it is done polyeles. Polyeleos is a Greek word and means: "many mercy" or "much illumination."
Polyeleos
The Polyeleos is the most solemn part of the Vespers and expresses the glorification of the mercy of God revealed to us in the coming of the Son of God to earth and His accomplishment of the work of our salvation from the power of the devil and death.
The Polyeleos begins with the solemn singing of laudatory verses:
Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord. Alleluia!
Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who lives in Jerusalem. Alleluia!
Confess to the Lord, for it is good, for His mercy is forever. Alleluia!
i.e. glorify the Lord, because He is good, because His mercy (to people) is forever - always.
When these verses are sung in the temple, all the lamps are lit, the royal doors open, and the priest, preceded by a deacon with a candle, leaves the altar and performs incense throughout the temple, as a sign of reverence for God and His saints.
After singing these verses, special Sunday troparia are sung on Sundays; i.e. joyful songs in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which say how angels appeared to the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb of the Savior and announced to them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On other great holidays, instead of Sunday troparions, it is sung before the icon of the holiday magnification, i.e., a short laudatory verse in honor of a holiday or saint.
(We magnify you, Saint Father Nicholas, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us Christ our God)
After Sunday troparia, or after magnification, the deacon pronounces a small litany, then the prokeimenon, and the priest reads the Gospel.
At the Sunday service, the Gospel is read about the Resurrection of Christ and about the appearances of the risen Christ to His disciples, and on other holidays the Gospel is read, relating to the event being celebrated or to the glorification of the saint.
After reading the Gospel, in the Sunday service a solemn song is sung in honor of the risen Lord:
“Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: Thou art our God; unless (except) you know no other, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold (here) for the joy of the whole world has come by the cross, always blessing the Lord, let us sing of His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death”
The gospel is brought to the middle of the temple, and the faithful venerate it. On other holidays, believers venerate the festive icon. The priest anoints them with blessed oil and distributes consecrated bread.
After singing: “The Resurrection of Christ: a few more short prayers are sung. Then the deacon reads the prayer: “Save, O God, Thy people”… and after the exclamation of the priest: “By mercy and bounty”… the singing of the canon begins.
Canon at Matins, a collection of songs is called, compiled according to a certain rule. “Canon” is a Greek word and means “rule”.
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| Canon Reading |
The canon is divided into nine parts (song). The first verse of each song that is sung is called irmos which means connection. These irmos, as it were, bind the entire composition of the canon into one whole. The remaining verses of each part (song) are mostly read and called troparia. The second ode of the canon, as penitential, is performed only in Great Lent.
In compiling these songs, especially worked: St. John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayum, Andrew of Crete (great canon of repentance) and many others. At the same time, they were invariably guided by certain chants and prayers of sacred persons, namely: the prophet Moses (for 1st and 2nd irmos), the prophetess Anna, the mother of Samuel (for the 3rd irmos), the prophet Habakkuk (for the 4th irmos), the prophet Isaiah (for the 5th irmos), the prophet Jonah (for the 6th irmos), the three youths (for the 7th and 8th th irmos) and the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist (for the 9th irmos).
Before the ninth irmos, the deacon proclaims: “Let us exalt the Theotokos and Mother of Light in songs!” and burns the temple incense.
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The choir at this time sings the song of the Virgin:
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ... Each verse is joined by the refrain: “The most honest cherubim and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the Mother of God, we magnify Thee.”
At the end of the song of the Virgin, the choir continues singing the canon (9th song).
The following can be said about the general content of the canon. Irmos remind believers of the Old Testament times and events from the history of our salvation and gradually bring our thoughts closer to the event of the Nativity of Christ. The troparions of the canon are dedicated to New Testament events and represent a series of verses or hymns to the glory of the Lord and the Mother of God, as well as in honor of the celebrated event, or the saint glorified on this day.
After the canon, psalms of praise are sung - verses in praise- in which all the creations of God are called to glorify the Lord: “Let every breath praise the Lord ...”
After the singing of laudatory psalms, a great doxology follows. The Royal Doors open with the singing of the last stichera (the Mother of God on Sunday) and the priest proclaims: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” (In ancient times, this exclamation preceded the appearance of the solar dawn).
The choir sings a great doxology, which begins with the words:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we bow down, we praise Thee, we give thanks to Thee, great for the sake of Thy glory…”
In the “great doxology” we thank God for daylight and for the gift of spiritual Light, that is, Christ the Savior, who enlightened people with His teaching – the light of truth.
The “Great Doxology” ends with the singing of the Trisagion: “Holy God…” and the troparion of the feast.
After this, the deacon pronounces two litanies in succession: purely And pleading.
Matins at the All-Night Vigil ends vacation- the priest, addressing the worshipers, says: “Christ our true God (and on Sunday service: Risen from the dead, Christ our true God ...), through the prayers of His most pure Mother, the glorious apostles ... and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, as good and philanthropist. "
In conclusion, the choir sings a prayer that the Lord will preserve the Orthodox Bishopric, the ruling bishop and all Orthodox Christians for many years.
Immediately, after this, the last part of the all-night vigil begins - first hour.
The service of the first hour consists of the reading of psalms and prayers in which we ask God to “hear our voice in the morning” and correct the work of our hands in the course of the day. The service of the 1st hour ends with a victorious song in honor of the Mother of God:
“Victorious to the Chosen Voivode, as if having got rid of the evil ones, we thankfully describe Thy servants, Mother of God. But as if you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call you: Rejoice, Unbridened Bride.”
In this song, we call the Mother of God “the victorious leader against evil.” Then the priest pronounces the dismissal of the 1st hour. This concludes the all-night vigil.
"Law of God", Prot. Seraphim Slobodsky
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On the eve of great holidays and Sundays, it is served all-night vigil, or, as it is also called, all-night. The church day begins in the evening, and this service is directly related to the event being celebrated.
The All-Night Vigil is an ancient divine service, it was performed in the first centuries of Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ himself often prayed at night, and the apostles and the first Christians gathered for night prayers. Previously, all-night vigils were very long and, starting in the evening, continued all night.
Vespers begin with Great Vespers
In parish churches, Vespers usually begins at seventeen or eighteen o'clock. Prayers and hymns of vespers are related to the Old Testament they prepare us for matins, which is mainly remembered new testament events. The Old Testament is a prototype, a forerunner of the New. The people of the Old Testament lived by faith - by the expectation of the Coming Messiah.
The beginning of Vespers brings our mind to the creation of the world. The priests burn the altar. It signifies the Divine grace of the Holy Spirit, Who hovered during the creation of the world over the still unorganized earth (cf. Gen 1:2).
Then the deacon calls on the worshipers to rise before the start of the service with an exclamation "Get up!" and asks for the blessing of the priest at the beginning of the service. The priest, standing before the throne in the altar, utters an exclamation: "Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and forever and forever and ever". The choir sings: "Amen."
While singing in chorus 103rd psalm, which describes the majestic picture of God's creation of the world, the clergy incense the entire temple and those praying. Incense marks the grace of God, which our forefathers Adam and Eve had before the fall, enjoying bliss and communion with God in paradise. After the creation of people, the doors of paradise were opened for them, and as a sign of this, the royal doors are open during incense. After the fall, people lost their original righteousness, distorted their nature and closed the gates of paradise for themselves. They were expelled from paradise and wept bitterly. After incense, the royal doors are closed, the deacon goes to the pulpit and stands in front of the closed gates, just as Adam stood before the gates of paradise after the exile. When a man lived in paradise, he did not need anything; with the loss of heavenly bliss, people have needs and sorrows, for which we pray to God. The main thing we ask God for is the forgiveness of sins. On behalf of all those who pray, the deacon pronounces peaceful or great litany.
After the peaceful litany, the singing and reading of the first kathisma follows: Blessed is the husband,(which) do not go to the council of the wicked. The path of returning to paradise is the path of striving for God and avoiding evil, ungodliness and sins. The Old Testament righteous, who waited in faith for the Savior, kept the true faith and shied away from communication with godless and ungodly people. Even after the fall, Adam and Eve were given the promise of the Coming Messiah, that the seed of the woman will wipe out the head of the serpent. And a psalm Blessed is the husband also figuratively tells of the Son of God, the Blessed Man, who did not commit sin.
Further sing verses on "Lord, cry". They alternate with verses from the Psalter. These verses also have a repentant, prayerful character. During the reading of the stichera, the entire temple is incensed. “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before Thee,” the choir sings, and we, listening to this hymn, repent of our sins like the sinful forefathers.
The last stichera is called the Theotokos or dogmatic, it is dedicated to the Mother of God. It reveals the church teaching about the incarnation of the Savior from the Virgin Mary.
Although people sinned and fell away from God, the Lord did not leave them without His help and protection during the entire history of the Old Testament. The first people repented, which means that the first hope for salvation appeared. This hope is symbolized opening of the royal doors And entrance at the evening The priest and the deacon with the censer come out of the northern, side doors and, accompanied by the priests, go to the royal doors. The priest blesses the entrance, and the deacon, drawing a cross with a censer, says: "Wisdom, forgive me!"— which means “stand up straight” and contains a call for attention. The choir sings a hymn "Light Quiet", which speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ descended to earth not in majesty and glory, but in a quiet, Divine light. This hymn also speaks of the fact that the time of the birth of the Savior is near.
After the deacon proclaimed verses from the psalms called prokimnom, two litanies are pronounced: pure And pleading.
If the All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the occasion of a major feast, after these litanies lithium- a service containing special prayer petitions, at which the blessing of five wheat loaves, wine and oil (oil) takes place in memory of Christ's miraculous feeding of five thousand people with five loaves. In ancient times, when the All-night service was served all night, the brethren needed to refresh themselves with food in order to continue serving Matins.
After the lithium are sung "poetry on verse", that is, stichera with special verses. After them the choir sings a prayer "Now let go". These are the words spoken by the holy righteous Simeon, who with faith and hope for many years awaited the Savior and was honored to receive the Christ Child in his arms. This prayer is pronounced as if on behalf of all the people of the Old Testament, who with faith awaited the coming of Christ the Savior.
Vespers ends with a hymn dedicated to the Virgin Mary: "Virgin Mary, rejoice". It was the Fruit that the Old Testament mankind cultivated in its depths for thousands of years. This most humble, most righteous and purest Maiden, the only one of all the wives, was honored to become the Mother of God. The priest ends Vespers with the exclamation: "God bless you" and bless those who pray.
The second part of the vigil is called Matins. It is dedicated to the remembrance of the events of the New Testament.
At the beginning of Matins, six special psalms are read, which are called the Six Psalms. It begins with the words: “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men” - this is a hymn sung by the Angels at the birth of the Savior. The Six Psalms is dedicated to the expectation of Christ's coming into the world. It is an image of the Bethlehem night, when Christ came into the world, and an image of the night and darkness in which all mankind was before the coming of the Savior. Not without reason, according to custom, all lamps and candles are extinguished during the reading of the Six Psalms. The priest in the middle of the Six Psalms in front of the closed Royal Doors reads special morning prayers.
Then a peaceful litany is celebrated, and after it the deacon loudly proclaims: “God is the Lord, and appear to us. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". Which means: “God and the Lord appeared to us”, that is, he came into the world, the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah were fulfilled. Then comes the reading kathisma from the Psalter.
After reading the kathisma, the most solemn part of Matins begins - polyeles. Polyeleos translated from Greek as mercifully, because during the polyeleos, laudatory verses from the 134th and 135th psalms are sung, where the multitude of God's mercy is sung in a constant refrain: as His mercy is forever! According to the consonance of words polyeles sometimes translated as abundance of oil. Oil has always been a symbol of God's mercy. During Great Lent, the 136th psalm (“On the rivers of Babylon”) is added to the polyeleos psalms. During the polyeleos, the royal doors are opened, the lamps in the temple are lit, and the clergy, leaving the altar, perform a complete incense of the entire temple. During censing, Sunday troparia are sung "Angelic Cathedral" telling about the resurrection of Christ. At the vigils before the feasts, instead of the Sunday troparion, they sing the glorification of the feast.
Then read the Gospel. If they serve vigil on Sunday, they read one of the eleven Sunday Gospels dedicated to the resurrection of Christ and His appearances to the disciples. If the service is dedicated not to the resurrection, but to a holiday, they read the festive Gospel.
After the reading of the Gospel, a hymn is heard at the Sunday All-Night Vigils "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ".
The worshipers venerate the Gospel (on the feast - to the icon), and the priest crosswise anoints their foreheads with consecrated oil.
This is not a Sacrament, but a sacred rite of the Church, serving as a sign of God's mercy to us. From the most ancient, biblical times, the fir tree has been a symbol of joy and a sign of God's blessing, and with the olive tree, from the fruits of which oil was obtained, the righteous is compared, on whom the favor of the Lord rests: And I, like a green olive tree, in the house of God, and I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever(Ps 51:10). The dove released from the ark by the patriarch Noah returned in the evening and brought a fresh olive leaf in his mouth, and Noah knew that the water had descended from the earth (see: Gen. 8, 11). It was a sign of reconciliation with God.
After the exclamation of the priest: "By grace, generosity and philanthropy ..." - the reading begins canon.
Canon- a prayer work that tells about the life and exploits of the saint and glorifies the celebrated event. The canon consists of nine cantos, each beginning irmosome- a chant sung by the choir.
Before the ninth ode of the canon, the deacon, having shaken the altar, proclaims before the image of the Mother of God (to the left of the royal doors): “We will exalt the Mother of God and Mother of Light in songs”. The choir begins to sing a chant "My soul magnifies the Lord...". This is a touching prayer-song composed by the Holy Virgin Mary (see: Luke 1, 46-55). A refrain is added to each verse: “The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious Seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify You.”
After the canon, the choir sings psalms "Praise the Lord from Heaven", "Sing a new song to the Lord"(Ps 149) and "Praise God in His Saints"(Ps 150) along with "praise stichera". At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, these stichera end with a chant dedicated to the Theotokos: "Blessed be Thou, Virgin Mother of God..." After that, the priest proclaims: "Glory to Thee, who showed us the Light," and the great doxology. Vespers in ancient times, lasting all night, captured the early morning, and during matins the first morning rays of the sun really showed up, reminding us of the Sun of Truth - Christ the Savior. The praise begins with the words: "Gloria..." Matins began with these words and ends with these same words. At the end, the whole Holy Trinity is already glorified: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.”
Matins ends purely And pleading litanies, after which the priest pronounces the final vacation.
After the all-night vigil, a short service is served, which is called the first hour.
Watch- this is a service that sanctifies a certain time of the day, but according to the established tradition, they are usually attached to long services - to matins and liturgy. The first hour corresponds to our seven o'clock in the morning. This service sanctifies the coming day with prayer.
ABOUT THE ALL-NIGHT VISION
The All-Night Vigil, or Vespers, is an Orthodox service that combines three services: Great Vespers (sometimes Great Compline), Matins, and the First Hour. What is the meaning of the All-Night Vigil, what chants does the choir sing, what do the clergy do, how have the biblical texts sung at Orthodox services influenced world culture? Abbot Siluan (Tumanov) tells about all this.
The sole purpose of an Orthodox church is to be a place of prayer for Orthodox Christians. And even more than that, a specific, special prayer - thanksgiving. Of course, in the temple they ask, and repent, and glorify God. But the main thing is gratitude, thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the Greek word for Eucharist. This is how we call the most important thing in the life of a baptized Christian - the Sacrament of Communion, which takes place at the Liturgy. Now it is not difficult to find any information about the liturgy - the main divine service performed in the temple. A Christian prepares in it all day, which, according to ancient biblical tradition, does not begin at midnight, but from the evening of the previous day.
That is precisely why those who wish to take communion on Sunday and glorify the Risen Christ at the liturgy, already on Saturday evening come to the temple for a special service - the All-Night Vigil.
PART 1. Arise!Normal Sunday All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the eve of Sundays on Saturday evening .
Also, the All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the eve of the Twelfth Feasts, feasts marked with a special sign in the Typicon (e.g. the memory of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker…), days of temple feasts, and in some other cases according to local tradition.
About 15 minutes later, a uniform strike of one bell begins, and then a festive ringing of bells is heard. So all Christians are called to worship from the surrounding houses. And the fact that today parishioners often live at a distance of many kilometers from the temple, of course, does not matter. Those who came early rejoice at the sounds of bells and enter the temple.
So, you entered the temple. We got up. in front of you iconostasis- a wall decorated with icons. It has double doors in the center, also decorated with icons. This Royal or Great Gate . At the beginning of the All-Night Vigil they open. The altar becomes visible. A tinkle is heard censers- this is the priest censing (fumigating with fragrant smoke of incense) - the altar, without saying anything. Before him is a deacon with candles.
This action for all its simplicity, is one of the most profound and significant moments of the Orthodox evening service and reminds us of the mystery of the creation of the world hidden from human eyes and understanding.
After silent incense, the deacon comes out of the Royal Doors and, looking at us, utters a very strange word: "Get up!" Well, it is clear, of course, that we are not being called upon to make an uprising, but simply to stand up. But why? We're standing, not sitting! There, old woman Klava, she is sitting on a bench. And everyone else is worth it!
The fact is that in ancient monasteries, the monks, as they are today on Mount Athos, before the start of worship (and at some points) sat on special chairs (not very comfortable, by the way) - stasidia. There are chairs in modern temples of the Greek tradition, and not only among Catholics and Protestants.
And why is it not so in Russian churches? It is clear, after all, that it is not because of sinfulness or the inability to sit on a chair during the service, otherwise this would not have happened in other Orthodox Churches. One of the explanations is this. In Rus', churches have always been crowded with people. And try to put chairs, if there is not enough space for standing ones?
So, Vespers began . “Wait,” you say. This is not Vespers, but the All-Night Vigil!” And everyone will be right. Because The All-Night Vigil consists of three services: Great (that is, especially solemn) Vespers, Matins, and the First Hour.
The priest utters an exclamation, that is, loudly, aloud glorifies the Holy Trinity: "Glory to the saints, and the Consubstantial, and the Life-Giving, and the Indivisible Trinity, always, now and forever, and forever and ever."
On these words, the priest draws the sign of the cross with a censer in the air in front of the throne (and this is a table for the most sacred and mysterious actions in the depths of the altar), showing that through the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Christians learned about the mystery of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
"Bless, my soul, the Lord!"
Then the priest comes out of the altar and censes the whole temple, and the choir sings the 103rd, “pre-initial” psalm “Bless the Lord, my soul!”.
This psalm chosen as the beginning of Vespers because recalls the six days of creation, which, according to the Bible (chapter 1 of the book of Genesis), began in the evening. In practice, only some of the verses from it are sung. It's a pity. Although, of course, this greatly reduces the duration of worship.
This psalm is attributed to the authorship of the biblical king David himself and is a hymn dedicated to the universe created by God - the visible and invisible world. The description of nature in the psalm is done poetically and artistically strong. This ancient text inspired Christian poets of different times and peoples. His poetic transcription, owned by Lomonosov, is known. His motives are heard in Derzhavin's ode "God" and in Goethe's "Prologue in Heaven". This psalm expresses the admiration of a person contemplating the beauty of the world created by God.
The solemn singing of the choir, the pleasant smell of incense, the majestic actions of the clergy - all this reminds of the comfortable life of the first people in Paradise, at the very dawn of human history.
A then the priest enters the altar, the gates close, the chandelier (the chandelier in the center of the temple) goes out, the choir falls silent.
And here we remember the fall of the first people . And about our personal sin….
PART 2. About the Psalmsnight prayer
From ancient times, night prayer inspired those who wished to pray to God in the silence of their hearts.
From ancient times, people prayed at night (see, 62, 148; 133, 1; Prophet Nehemiah 1, 6), but this was an expression of personal piety. It was only with the advent of Christianity that night vigils became a widespread form of public worship. This is not surprising. Firstly, in the hot East, praying at night is much more pleasant, more convenient, there is no exhausting heat, heat, or blinding sun. Secondly, which is important in the era of persecution, gathering at night in secluded places, Christians were less likely to be seen, captured, and killed.
Regular night prayers were associated with the Roman division of night time into 4 guards (lat. vigilia - vigil), i.e. 4 changes of military guards. It is known that the 3rd watch began at midnight, the 4th - at the cockcrow. Christians devoted all four guards to prayers only in exceptional cases (for example, at Easter). Usually they prayed until midnight, or got up for prayer in the middle of the night.
They gathered for vigils on various occasions: before the Eucharist, before Baptism, during Great Lent, in memory of the martyrs and the departed.
These practical reasons were joined by the expectation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the desire to avoid sin.
However, from the 4th c. vigils are increasingly becoming a specifically monastic service, especially developed in the Jerusalem monasteries. Ascetics appear who strive to literally fulfill the commandment of unceasing prayer (St. Pachomius the Great and others). In the 5th century in the East, monasteries of the “unsleeping ones” arose, where the monks took turns replacing each other so that their prayer would not be interrupted for a minute.
Of course, then, in the first centuries of the first millennium, the All-Night Vigil was celebrated differently than today. In our form, the Vespers appear only around the 11th century, and by the 14th century, in text (but not quite in rites), it began to resemble contemporary worship.
However, one feature of night prayer unites all Christian vigils of all times and peoples. This - singing psalms .
Why are psalms needed at the All-Night Vigil?Psalms are not just sung or read at Vespers. They penetrate it through and through, in its entirety or in fragments of different sizes. Psalms are the skeleton of worship, on which Christian hymns and prayers of different eras are layered. New hymns are made from psalms.
It is not surprising therefore that Vespers begins with a psalm - the prelude, 103rd.
After him, a deacon stands in front of the royal doors and pronounces the peaceful or great litany "Let us pray to the Lord in peace..."
Peace is a necessary condition for all prayer. About a peaceful spirit, as the basis of all prayer, Christ speaks in the Gospel of Mark: “And when you stand in prayer, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Heavenly Father may forgive you your sins”(Mark; 11, 25). Rev. Seraphim of Sarov said: "Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved." That is why, at the beginning of most divine services, the Church invites the faithful to pray to God with a calm, peaceful conscience, reconciled with their neighbors and with God.
The litany consists of 12 petitions, for which the choir (and ideally everyone standing in the temple)answers "Lord have mercy!".
In the peaceful litany, the Church on our behalf prays for peace throughout the world, for the unification of all Christians in unanimity, for their native country, for the temple in which this divine service takes place, and in general for all Orthodox churches. About those who enter them not out of curiosity, but "with faith and reverence." In the litany, travelers, the sick, and captives are also remembered, a request is heard for deliverance from “sorrow, anger and need.”“Need” here, by the way, is not our next vital need, but a compulsion to impiety or idolatry. So we are accustomed to the fact that words that sound the same in Russian and Church Slavonic do not always mean the same thing.
In the final petition of the peaceful litany, the Mother of God is remembered with all the saints, after which we are all called "our whole belly" i.e. dedicate our whole life to Christ God.
And then the psalms are sung again. At first the first - "Blessed is the husband" , then, after a short prayer - "small litany" - the deacon, follows a whole a series of "evening" psalms: 140th (it has been used in evening worship since the 4th century, and recalls that Christian prayer replaced the Old Testament sacrifices), 141st, 129th and 116th , interspersed with ten "poems" - small texts composed by Christians. These texts are short poetic glorifications of the Risen Christ, the Mother of God or saints. They are full of intertwining meanings, and simply rereading them can bring a lot of food for the mind and spiritual joy. But when they sing in a hurry in a chorus with slurred diction, it's hard to understand. It's a pity. Therefore, if possible, it would be good to read them in advance with a translation into Russian before going to the temple.
At that time the deacon again comes out of the altar and censes the whole temple in a clockwise direction. It incense icons and us, as living icons, bearing the Image of God despite the complexity of our lives. We bow, step back from the walls of the temple, letting the deacon pass through the temple, bow when he incenses in our direction, then return to our place again.
What is the meaning of this censing?
The answer is given in the words of Psalm 140: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You, the uplifting of my hand is an evening sacrifice,”- that is “Let my prayer ascend to Thee, O God, like incense smoke; the uplifting of my hands is an evening sacrifice to Thee.” This reminds us of the Old Testament times, when in the evening of every day in the tabernacle (the portable temple of the Israelite people, heading from the Egyptian captivity to the promised land), the evening sacrifice was offered; it was accompanied by the raising of the hands of the sacrificer and the burning of the altar, where the holy tablets (stone slabs) received by Moses from God on the top of Mount Sinai were kept. The rising smoke of incense symbolizes the prayers of the faithful ascending to heaven.
Usually not all stichera are sung. But in any case, the last stichera will be performed especially solemnly: the royal doors will open again, turn on the chandelier (we say - "light", although no one remembers the times when there was no electricity in all Russian churches, and candles were lit on the chandelier).
The choir will sing solemnly « dogmatist"- a stichera revealing the teaching of the Church that the Mother of God was a Virgin before the birth of Christ, during and after, and Her birth is joy, light and salvation for the whole world.
The priest with the deacon, carrying a censer on his outstretched arm, preceded by a sexton (a man or young man helping in the altar) with candles, exits the altar through the other - the northern doors (they are to the left of the Royal Doors).
"Wisdom, Forgive" - the voice of the deacon is heard, which in translation into Russian means "Stand up, reverent before the Wisdom of God." This is another reminder of the "stasIdia" that were once in the temples - the chairs on which the monks sat during many hours of worship.
AND the choir sings the oldest Christian evening hymn - "Quiet Light" which in Russian translation sounds like this:
“The comforting light of the holy glory of the immortal, holy, blessed Heavenly Father - Jesus Christ! At sunset, seeing the light of the evening, we sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - God. It is right to sing to You at all times with joyful voices, O Son of God, who gives life, - therefore the world glorifies You.
Straightaway after singing, the deacon and the priest utter a series of small words: “let us listen”, “peace to all”, “wisdom” , which, although heard in almost all services, can easily escape our attention. But in vain.
"Wonmem" is the imperative form of the verb "attend". In Russian, we would say “we will be attentive”, “we will listen”.
Mindfulness is not always easy for us - the mind is prone to absent-mindedness. And there are many daily worries. Standing in a beautiful temple, listening to the harmonious singing of the choir, inhaling the pleasant smoke of incense, it is easy to forget, to think about your life. But we have gathered not for this, but to pray together. And the Church, which does not consist of angels or superhumans, knows this common weakness of ours, which is why it keeps saying to us: “Let’s listen,” let’s gather, strain, tune our mind and memory to what we hear. So that nothing passes by from what is happening in the temple. Let us free ourselves, at least for this short time, from memories, empty thoughts and everyday worries.
"Peace to all" - this is an ancient greeting of the priest to the people gathered in the temple. It reminds us how Christ greeted the apostles after the Resurrection: “Jesus came and stood in the midst (of His disciples) and said to them: “Peace be with you!” ... and said to them a second time: peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you." ().
Why do we remember the world now?
The word "world" (Heb. "shalom") is multifaceted in its meaning, and the translators of the Old Testament had to go through a lot of difficulties until they settled on the Greek word "irini". Why?
In addition to its direct meaning, the word "shalom" means, for example, "to be complete, healthy, intact." It means "to live in well-being, prosperity, health, both in the material and spiritual sense, in personal and social order." In a figurative sense, the word "shalom" meant good relations between different people, families and nations, between husband and wife, between man and God. Peace is also a special sign of the Covenant - the Agreement between God and people, and the priest, blessing, every time reminds us of our high calling and responsibility.
Get our attention the deacon with the choir pronounces a few phrases from the next psalm - it is called "evening prokimen".
After the lights go out, the royal doors close , and the deacon again goes to his place in front of the royal gates, so that on our behalf, "with all our soul and with all our thoughts" to pray for all spiritual and bodily needs, to pray for church authorities and secular government, for all priests, for the living and the departed. It is called "Substantial Litany". Augmented means strengthened, doubled. So the choir sings "Lord have mercy", answering the deacon, the first two petitions once, and the rest - three times.
After the special litany, the choir (and in many churches there is also a deacon with the people, so it makes sense to know this text by heart) sings another ancient evening hymn - "Give me, Lord."
Translated into Russian, it sounds like this:
“Help us, Lord, to keep ourselves from sin this evening. Blessed are You, O Lord, God of our fathers, Your name is praised and glorified forever. Amen. May Your mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we trust in You. Blessed are You, O Lord, who taught me Your commandments. Blessed are You, Lord, who has enlightened me with Your commandments. Blessed are You, Holy One, Who enlightened me with Your commandments. Lord, You are always merciful, do not reject us - the creation of Your hands. Praise is due to You, singing is due to You, glory is due to You, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and forever. Amen".
PART 3. BlessingDuring worship, we often say blessings. These are not just good, i.e. kind words in general. These are our kind words addressed to God. You may ask: “why so many words? Do they need God?
Of course not. God does not need anything: neither our singing, nor beautiful words. A mid-twentieth-century Christian writer offers us such a comparison. A beautiful picture does not need our praise. But if we do not notice its beauty, if we do not admire it, if we do not pay tribute to the skill of the artist, we will rob ourselves, make ourselves poorer spiritually. So it is in our life. We can not notice God, not thank and glorify Him for the beauty of the created world, for our life. But this will not only impoverish us spiritually, but will also prevent us from becoming human beings to the fullest. Glorifying God, we become more human, and forgetting about Him, we are more like humanoid animals, living only by instincts, the struggle for survival and vague hopes.
Therefore, we bless God and bless our lives in the name of God and in the name of God. And it fills our life with high meaning.
***
After the special and pleading litanies where Christians pray for the most essential for life and the salvation of the soul, on major holidays, a lithium is performed, which can be translated as "intensified prayer."
The choir sings special stichera dedicated to the holiday or saint that is remembered on this day, the clergy leave the altar to the entrance to the temple. The air is again filled with the aroma of incense performed by the deacon. On a table in the middle of the temple, they bring out a special, intricately arranged tray, on which a small amount of wine, a handful of wheat, a little vegetable oil and five round wheat loaves are placed in bowls. Three lit candles rise above all this.
Under the dimly lit vaults of the temple deacon prayers are heard . They contain a prayer for the salvation of people, for church and civil authorities, for the souls of Christians, for cities, for our country and the believers living in it, for the dead, a request for deliverance from the invasion of enemies, internecine warfare.
All saints are called, many of whom are listed by name.
Among other things, we will hear a request to God to deliver our city and every city and country“From hunger, destruction, coward, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine strife; O hedgehog be merciful and kind to our good and philanthropic God, turn away every anger that is moved against us, and deliver us from His proper and righteous rebuke.
And if smooth(= famine), flood, invasion of foreigners and internecine scolding(= struggle) are still clear, then what does the coward have to do with it? Of course, this is not a prayer that there will be more brave people among us, and not cowardly people. Coward- in Church Slavonic means earthquake, fire- of course, the fire, destruction - pestilence, pestilence, benevolent - benevolent proper and righteous rebuke - a just punishment that threatens us, need is violence, etc.
These petitions end with the repeated singing of "Lord, have mercy."
At the end of the litia, a long prayer is read, listing many saints of the Christian Church. in general and, in particular, those who were glorified in our area. We ask God:“Make our prayer favorable, grant us the forgiveness of our sins, cover us with the roof of Thy wings, drive away from us every enemy and enemy, pacify our life, Lord, have mercy on us and Thy peace and save our souls, as a good and lover of mankind.”
After this prayer, stichera are sung again.
with a mysterious name "on the verse"
, but essentially different from others. The clergy move closer to the center of the temple, to a table with bread.
The time is coming for the performance of another ancient Christian hymn, the text of which is preserved in the Gospel - "Now you let go."
It was spoken by St. Simeon the God-Receiver, when he received the Divine Infant Christ in his arms in the Jerusalem temple on the fortieth day after His birth. In this prayer, the Old Testament elder thanks God for allowing Simeon before his death to see the Salvation of the whole world - Christ, which was given by God for the glory of Israel and for the enlightenment of the Gentiles and the whole world. Here is the English translation of this prayer:“Now you release (me) your servant, Lord, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”
Usually the choir sings something incredibly beautiful and musically solemn, so it is difficult to make out the words, so it would be good to read the texts of the main chants in advance, before coming to the temple.
Here we can recall that Merry Christmas, since the birth of the Virgin New Testament era begins and the Old Testament loses its binding force. Turn on the chandelier (and we already remember - these are such chandeliers in the center of the temple), the troparion of the feast or a touching prayer to the Mother of God is solemnly sung , also partly based on the gospel words. Here is its Russian translation: “Theotokos Virgin Mary, full of the grace of God, rejoice! The Lord is with you; Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit born of Thee, because You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.
The deacon censes three times around the table with bread, wheat, wine and oil, and then the priest blesses them, praying that the abundance of these basic products, symbolizing prosperity and satisfaction in everything necessary for life, does not stop in our temple, in our city, country and the whole world.
The priest approaches the central doors of the altar, the table with the loaves is taken to the altar, so that the servants there cut the bread into small pieces and sprinkle it with wine. A little later, they will be distributed to believers as a reminder of the Gospel miracle, when the Lord fed 5,000 people with five loaves, as well as a reminder of the ancient practice of prayer throughout the night, when these loaves served as a reinforcement of strength for those who pray.
While we're listening the choir sings the words of the 33rd psalm .
- “I will bless the Lord at every hour, His praise is always on my lips ...
- I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my sorrows ...
“Come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed…
- Here the beggar called, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his sorrows ...
- Taste and see that the Lord is good - happy is he who trusts in Him.
“The rich have become poor and starving, but those who seek the Lord will not endure the need for any good!”
The priest turns to us, makes the sign of the cross in the air with his hand and calls on all of us the blessing of God on behalf of the incarnate God: "The blessing of the Lord is upon you, by His grace and love of mankind always, now and ever and forever and ever."
The choir sings ancient affirmative Amen, What means True!An angelic hymn sounds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men" , And the temple plunges into darkness again and silence, broken only by measured by reading six psalms, reminding us of the long expectation of all mankind for the coming of Christ the Savior into our world.
The morning has begun.
PART 4. About the Six Psalms and the Reading of the Gospel
I remember when I first consciously came to the All-Night Vigil back in 1984 and saw that the Royal Doors were closing at the beginning of the Six Psalms and the chandelier was extinguished, I decided that the service had already ended and it was time to leave the church. Good thing there was someone to stop me. After all, after a long reading in the twilight, “the most interesting” begins.
Now, of course, every part of the Vespers is “interesting” for me, because it is filled with meaning. And then, as, indeed, for many of us today, everything was simple: the gates are open, the lamps are burning, something solemnly sings, the clergy solemnly exit the altar - it means interesting. And if they read something incomprehensible in the twilight of the temple, this is not interesting, you need to endure a little, pray for something of your own, vital.
But just as the alternation of light and dusk is important in life, so in worship this alternation has meaning and significance.
The darkness in the temple not only contributes to greater prayerful concentration, but also reminds us of the Old Testament, of those millennia during which people waited for the Incarnation, suffered, bitterly realizing their inability to draw closer to God. Twilight is a light gesture of repentance, a symbol of the fact that without God we are doomed to wander in the half-light of our own opinions and fantasies. Accordingly, the light symbolizes the clarity and beauty of the path that Christ invites us all to follow.
***
So, the darkness that came in the temple marks that deep night in which Christ came to earth, glorified by angelic singing: "Gloria". These angelic words precede the reading of the special six psalms reflecting the whole variety of feelings of a person who sanctifies the morning with prayer. Here is the joy of meeting God, and the path of repentance to this joy. Reading is so important (although, alas, it is practically inaccessible in churches with poor acoustics and slurred diction of readers) that, according to the Church Charter during it, it is not customary to either cross or bow. And even more so to talk, walk around the temple, leave it, believing that this is a kind of "intermission" in worship.
After the first three psalms, the priest leaves the altar and continues to read 12 special morning prayers to himself in front of the royal doors, which he began to read even in the altar, in front of the throne.
Seeing his figure, casting shadows swaying from a small candle, with the help of which he reads from the prayer service, we remember Christ, who heard the sorrow of fallen mankind and not only descended, but also shared our suffering to the end, which is spoken of in the 87 psalm read at that time. The priest mentally prays for the Christians standing in the temple, asking them to forgive their sins, to give them sincere faith and unfeigned love, to bless all their deeds and to honor them with the Kingdom of Heaven.
After the end of the Six Psalms, the Great Litany is again pronounced, as at the beginning of the Vespers, at Vespers. All of us, following the deacon, ask Christ, who appeared on earth, whose birth is glorified at the beginning of the Six Psalms, to fulfill our petitions for the most urgent spiritual and bodily blessings.
After the petitions of the litany, the singing of the deacon and the choir of verses from the 117th psalm sound - "God is the Lord, and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
We remember how, at the age of 30, Christ entered public service, we remember His entry into Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is confessed here not as God in general, but also as the Lord, that is, the God of all Sacred history from the Creation of the world to the end of time, the God of biblical Israel.
Here the troparion is sung - the main semantic chant of the holiday. This is a cheerful, joyful moment of worship. The candles extinguished before the Six Psalms are lit again on the candlesticks. But this is only a premonition of greater joy.
The reading of kathisma begins - psalms chosen in order. The Greek word "kathisma" means "sitting", since according to the church charter while reading kathisma, worshipers are allowed to sit . So, if the benches are free, you can sit down while reading the psalms. These psalms are read not just like that. The composition of the 2nd and 3rd kathismas, for example, read on Sunday morning, includes psalms prophesying about Christ: about His suffering, the soldiers mocking Him, the perforation of His hands and feet, the division of His clothes with casting lots, His death and resurrection from the dead.
After the kathisma, the deacon proclaims a small litany, the reader reads a small text - "sedal".
And then the most solemn moment of Matins begins: the temple is illuminated by the light of all the lamps, the Royal Doors open, the clergy go to the middle of the temple with burning candles, the priest and the deacon burn the whole temple with fragrant incense, and the choir sings selected verses from 134 and 135 psalms with the refrain "Alleluia" and "for ever" His mercy ", where the Lord is glorified for many mercy to man kind.“Mercy” in Greek is eleos, (by the way, the vegetable oil that fills lamps and lamps is also called oil), “many” is poly, so this moment of worship is called polyeles .
This is a symbol of the light of the resurrection of Christ, which shone for the whole world from the cave of the Holy Sepulcher.
To the polyeleos in the weeks preparatory to Great Lent, the 136th psalm is also added, beginning with the words "On the rivers of Babylon." This psalm tells of the suffering of the Jews in the Babylonian captivity and conveys their sorrow for the lost homeland. This psalm is sung so that the "New Israel" i.e. Christians, during Great Lent, through repentance and abstinence would strive for their spiritual fatherland, the Kingdom of Heaven, wishing to be freed from the captivity of sins.
On special feast days, the polyeleos are followed by the singing of a “magnification,” a short verse praising a feast or a saint. The magnificence is first sung by the clergy in the middle of the temple in front of the icon of the feast. Then, during the incense of the entire temple, the choir repeats this text many times.
But The main meaning of the polyeleos is the news of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, on Sunday (and we remember that it always begins on Saturday the day before), special troparia are sung, telling about the visit of the myrrh-bearing women (that is, women who brought fragrant oil - myrrh) to the tomb, the appearance of an angel to them with the news of the resurrection of the Savior and the command to tell His apostles about it.
Before each troparion, the refrain is sung: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification." By the way, this does not mean at all that God teaches us how to make excuses. Although the Slavic “justification”, like the Russian one, goes back to the word truth, here it means the truth of the Law of the Old Testament, the commandments of God. Therefore, we translate this phrase as follows: “I praise you, Lord, because you taught me your commandments!”
And finally, the last of the followers of Jesus Christ who learned about His resurrection from the dead were the apostles. This moment of the gospel story is celebrated in the climax of the entire Vespers - in reading the Sunday Gospel.
Yes exactly. No matter how solemn polyeleos, but the culmination of the whole festive matins is not she gospel reading . And not right away.
Before him will be the deacon's small litany, then the reader will read a special short "ipakoi" (from the Greek "listen") then the choir will beautifully sing the special antiphons "powerful" (they consist of the verses of the 15 psalms, the "song of the degrees" i.e. the steps of the Jerusalem temple, where they were once sung), and repeat after the deacon short phrases from the psalms - the morning prokeimenon.
AND only then the deacon will pray "And that we may be vouchsafed to hear the Holy Gospel."
“Why, then,” you ask, “also pray about this? After all, you just need to hear what the priest reads and that's it! Is it really that difficult?
Of course, we will hear the priest and so. But many people hear what the Church says, but there are fewer believers. Because hearing is not enough. You also need to understand, and accept, and realize how to apply the word you heard to your life. Therefore, we especially pray that the Lord would help us not only to hear, but also to embody these holy words in our concrete lives. And this is where wisdom is needed. Special, not worldly, often paradoxical. Therefore, we pray especially, therefore the deacon will once again remind us that the wisdom of the Gospel must be heeded with special reverence, reverently, straightening up, listening.
AND only after this prayer will the passage from the Gospel prescribed by the typikon be read. And through the trembling voice of the priest, we will hear the voice of the apostle addressed directly to our hearts.
Witnesses of eternity.
PART 5. About the Canon at MatinsThey seldom sing these days. This tradition is fading away. Many sing, but do not sing. Seriously, so that from the heart.
There can be many reasons for this. Maybe sincerity, spontaneity is leaving life. Maybe the sense of community of people, so naturally expressed in common singing, is disappearing. And in general, people are used to expressing their feelings in a different way.
Still, singing is a special state of man. It naturally arises when the soul is overwhelmed with feelings. Joy, sorrow, love for the Motherland.
And a very special singing gives rise to a feeling of gratitude. Thanks be to God that we are not alone. And this is especially noticeable in the temple, where there is so much singing and other things, albeit not modern, but finding a path to the heart of each of us.
***
There are eleven Sunday Gospel readings, and throughout the year they are carefully, one after another, offered to us on Sunday ( from the point of view of modern man- Saturday) all-night vigils, telling about the resurrection of the Savior and His appearances to the myrrh-bearing women and disciples. Gospel readings are repeated in a circle. Every 12 weeks the cycle starts again.
The gospel is usually read in the middle of the temple, where the Holy Book is carried out from the altar, as from the Holy Sepulcher. After the reading, the deacon holds the gospel, announcing, like an angel, the news of the Resurrection of Christ. The parishioners bow to the Gospel, like disciples, and a little later they kiss it, like the myrrh-bearing wives, and they all sing "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ" It is usually difficult for beginners to make out the difference at the beginning of two adjacent phrases. “Behold, through the Cross, joy has come to the whole world” And "Always bless the Lord..." But "se bo" is, in this case, "because (joy for the whole world came through the Cross)", A "Always"- this is also in the Church Slavonic "always". And of course, you should not listen to the “theological reasoning” of grandmothers who sing (and demand this from others) “he will always come” or “because he will come,” as if Christ had not yet come and risen!
But, unfortunately, we are still far from perfect. Therefore, according to the Church Charter, immediately after the joyful hymn "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ" is read (and in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, for example, it is sometimes sung) penitential 50th psalm, beginning with the words "Have mercy on me, O God" . In practice, this psalm is far from being read in all churches, as it has become a tradition in recent centuries. But this combination of joy from finding God and sadness about our sinfulness is generally characteristic of Christianity.
After the penitential psalm, the choir sings special verses calling on God to have mercy on us through the prayers of the apostles and the Mother of God, the opening verse of the 50th psalm is repeated again: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies cleanse my iniquity!”
Then all the believers go to the middle of the temple, kiss the Gospel or the icon on the lectern, and the priest draws with a brush on the forehead of each person the sign of the cross with consecrated oil - oil.
By the way, contrary to the opinion of many "competent parishioners", this is not chrismation, although oil - fir, as a rule, smells good. Myrrh - a substance brewed in a special way from oil and aromas - is used once in a lifetime during the sacrament of Chrismation, which in our time is combined with the sacrament of Baptism. Well, of course, they also smear the kings with peace, but this is irrelevant for you and me.
We testify that the Old and New Testaments are an inseparable story of the salvation of mankind, and the resurrection of Christ is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. “Jesus is risen from the tomb, as if he had prophesied(i.e. as predicted ), give us eternal life(i.e. eternal life) and great mercy." The "great favor" that Christ shows to the penitent is the salvation of man, bestowed upon all the faithful.
On some days and holidays, these verses are replaced by other hymns. For example, on Sunday night services before Lent and during Lent, special troparia are sung “Open the door of repentance…” setting us up for a worthy meeting of the post.
But we do not just remember the events that once happened, but also honor with grateful memory those who, being inspired by the news of the Resurrection, changed their lives beyond recognition, became witnesses of the faith, saints.
CanonAs we have said, people are imperfect. Someone is in a hurry to go home, someone for other reasons is in a hurry to get to the anointing as soon as possible, but in many churches, alas, some crowding is created. And often behind the hustle and bustle (thank God, if this is not in your church!) what is sung and read completely falls out of attention. The parishioners, busy approaching the icon and anointing, hear fragments of recited phrases and beautiful melodies of the choir.
But in vain. Because in During the anointing with oil, one of the most important parts of Matins, the canon, is performed.
Canon- translated from Greek - means "rule, pattern." This word has many meanings, but what they have in common is proportionality, hierarchy, generally accepted.
Canon as a genre appeared in the 7th century. This is a musical and poetic composition, consisting of 9 sections. In Greek they are called "odes", in Slavonic - "songs". Each such song is a poetic retelling of certain passages from the Old and New Testaments, the so-called. biblical songs sung at different periods of history by the Old Testament prophets and righteous men about the greatest events in their life and the whole of Israel. And their content turned out to be so important that through the centuries it has come down to our days. This is evidence of the highest religious animation, they are the color of biblical poetry. In the style of the ancient text, over time, "troparia" began to be added to the lines of the original - short texts glorifying holidays or saints.
Each hymn of the canon consists of 14 troparia interspersed with verses from the Bible. In practice, on Sundays, four troparia with refrains are read “Glory, Lord, to Your holy resurrection”, “Glory, Lord, to Your honest Cross and resurrection”, “Most Holy Mother of God, save us”, “Christ is risen from the dead”, “Glory to You our God, glory to You”, “Have mercy on me God, have mercy on me” and so on.
The canon is divided into three parts - 1.3; 4,5,6 and 7,8,9 cantos, interrupted by two litanies.
Each canon glorifies a particular feast or saint of the day. The Sunday canons glorify the Resurrection of Christ, the victory over sin and death. The holiday canons detail the meaning of the holiday and the life of the saint, as an example of the transformation of the world that is already taking place.
The troparions of the canon are read, and the initial verses of each of its individual songs are sung in chorus. These opening verses are called "irmoses"(from Greek to bind). Irmos is a rhythmic pattern for all subsequent troparia of this song and is dedicated to the recollection of certain events from the Old Testament, which has a symbolic meaning for the New Testament.
For example, the text of the irmos of the 1st song “Let us sing to the Lord, gloriously be glorified” recalls the miraculous passage of the Jews across the Red Sea. The Lord is glorified in it as the Almighty Redeemer from evil and slavery.
Irmos of the 2nd song is built on the material of the accusatory song of Moses in the Sinai desert (), awakening feelings of repentance among the Jews who fled Egypt, therefore it is sung only on the weekdays of Great Lent.
Irmos of the 3rd song is based on the thanksgiving song of Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, for giving her a son (). “My heart is in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God… there is no one holy, like the Lord, and there is no righteous, like our God”. By the way, it is clear that we are not talking about a real horn here. People did not have them in the Old Testament either. The horn is an allegory, a symbol of strength, the power of people faithful to God.
In the irmos of the 4th song, a Christian interpretation is given of the appearance of the Lord God to the prophet Habakkuk in the brilliance of sunlight from behind a wooded mountain. In this phenomenon, the Church sees the glory of the coming Savior ().
In the 5th irmos of the canon, the motive of which is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Christ is glorified as a peacemaker and it also contains a prophecy about the resurrection from the dead (). Together with the morning praise of the Lord, we combine the request for peace to be sent down to us.
6th irmos - from the story of the prophet Jonah, who was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a whale. This event reminds us of immersion in the sinful abyss. This irmos also expresses the idea that there is no such misfortune and horror, among which the voice of one who prays with all his heart () would not be heard (). We thank the Lord that He did not neglect us, mired in sins, but came and saved us.
Irmoses of the 7th and 8th odes of the canon are based on the songs of three Jewish youths thrown into the fiery Babylonian furnace. This event is also a description of Christian martyrdom.
The 7th ode of the canon is a solo thanksgiving song of one of the three youths - Azariah. The following phrases are often found here: “Blessed are you, Lord God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is your name forever”, “all your works are true”, “God of our fathers”, “God, blessed are you.”
The 8th song of the canon is the common song of the three youths: Ananias, Azariah, Misail. In fact, this is a continuation of the previous song, for convenience it is separated into a separate song. In the irmos of the 8th song there are phrases: “Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord”, “sing and exalt to all ages”, “let the whole creation bless the Lord”, “let us bless Christ forever”, “unceasingly to all ages”.
Between the 8th and 9th odes of the canon, a song is sung in honor of the Mother of God, beginning with the words “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,” with a chorus "The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious Seraphim without comparison."
Before this glorification of the Mother of God, the deacon censes the altar and the right side of the iconostasis. Then, stopping in front of the icon of the Mother of God in the iconostasis, he traces the sign of the Cross in the air with a censer and proclaims: “Theotokos and Mother of Light, let us exalt in songs” and then burns the whole temple incense.
The 9th ode glorifies God with the prayer of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel" ( ; ).
After the canon, a small litany is heard for the last time at the Vespers. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, after the small litany and the exclamation of the priest, the deacon proclaims "Holy is the Lord our God." The same words are repeated in chorus three times.
As you can see, there are many layers in worship that appeared in different eras. There are many meanings, a verbal treasury of the theological and poetic wealth of the Church.
And it's a pity when all this passes us by. For us who are hungry for spiritual food, the Church offers precious treasures for the mind and the salvation of the soul. But we rarely even notice this, perceiving the divine service as a kind of beautiful noise, as a time that, according to tradition, must be defended in the temple.
Happy is he who understands the meaning of what is happening in the temple. He enters the Sacred History not only with his mind, but also physically, meaningfully continues the joy and repentance of the ancient righteous.
Happy is he who sings a song to God from the depths of his grateful heart. Because it's not just a repetition of ancient words. This is evidence that our soul is overwhelmed with living feelings for God, that for us worship and rites are not just a pious tradition, but the song of our soul. And although there are many songs in our lives, this one is the only important song on Earth.
PART 6. About the Great DoxologyToday, many perceive the Church as something positive, but has already said its last word in history.“Yes, we remember, at one time she contributed to the formation of Russian culture, writing and the formation of statehood. Yes, it gave Russia a number of famous historical figures. Yes, there were many other merits. But today, what can the Church say to Russians in the 21st century? Why visit the temple so often? What is so important happening in the temple to tear off the sweetest hours of sleep and rest from your days off after a hard working week and dedicate them to the temple?”
The “religiosity” that is widespread today completely allows the layman to combine the incompatible: "God is in the soul, and the body is in the store or in front of the TV."
Moreover, it is no secret that the life of the Church is incomprehensible to people who rarely visit it. And not only because of the difficult language of worship and various symbols. The Church and secular society have different views on many fundamental issues of life - marriage, family, fidelity, morality, chastity, continuity of traditions, etc.
But what is the Church? These are not some bearded elders behind high walls with gilded crosses and domes. The Church is all of us bearing the name of Christ. And something more than our moral character depends on what is in our heads, what our actions are inspired by and what they are, our actions.
We remind the world of the meaning of its existence. We, different and far from perfect, gather in churches to glorify God, and this is our only, inestimably important message to the world. A world losing its mind without God.
***
After the canon, a short text is read in the morning , briefly speaking about the spiritual essence of the holiday and bearing the special name "light", which roughly translates as "heralding the approach of light." In the Sunday canon, this hymn is called the Greek word "exapostilarium" - from the verb "I send", because in ancient times the singer was sent from the kliros to the middle of the temple to sing this hymn.
On the days of major holidays, this luminary can be sung by the choir.
After this, the choir sings stichera beginning with the words "Let every breath praise the Lord". They, like at Vespers, are dedicated to special, glorifying, "praising" God psalms - the 148th, 149th and 150th. Therefore they are called "Poems for Praises".
The content of the “stichera for praise”, like other stichera for Vespers, praises the evangelical or church event that is being celebrated on a given day or the memory of the saint being celebrated.
The stichera ends with the majestic singing of one of the oldest Christian hymns - great doxology (IV century). Great, because it is quite large in text. Based on an angel song "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" sung at the Birth of Jesus Christ () and excerpts from the psalms, the doxology is complex in content. It glorifies God and contains requests for salvation from sin, healing of the soul, knowledge of the will of God. The text is ancient, so there are practically no petitions for our earthly needs - healing from illnesses, for example, and help in everyday affairs.
So the Church constantly reminds us of what is important and what is secondary in our life.
In ancient times, it was the custom to distribute the hymns and readings of the night service so that the singing of the lamp and the doxology, symbolizing the light that came into the world through the birth of Christ, fell on the appearance of the first rays of the rising sun.
This custom has survived to this day on Mount Athos and in some other monasteries. That's why after the singing of the stichera, the chandeliers shine again on the praises, and in the open Royal Doors a priest is seen glorifying Christ: "Glory to Thee, Who hast shown us the light."
Doxology is usually sung to beautiful tunes. Some are so beautiful that you can't make out the words behind them. A pity - the text is important for a Christian.
The singing of the doxology to the Trisagion ends “Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us!” and the troparion of the day - a short chant that reveals the meaning of the holiday.
After the restrained and sublime text of the Great Doxology, we now pray in more detail for our basic, daily needs. The deacon on the pulpit reads the "double" and "petitional" litany, as at Vespers.
At the end of the second litany, the priest turns to face us and blesses with the words “Peace to all!”, and then mentally reads a prayer. In ancient times, it was read aloud:“Lord, holy one, living on the heights and lower (located below, on earth) looking around, and with Your all-seeing eye looking at all creation! Before You, we bowed down in soul and body and pray to You, Holy of Holies: stretch out Your invisible hand from Your holy habitation and bless us all, and if we have sinned in any way, voluntarily or involuntarily, You, as a good and philanthropic God, forgive us, granting us Your blessings necessary for life in the world and for spiritual life.
The All-Night Vigil ends just as it began - with the doxology of the Holy Trinity, after which the priest, facing us, says “release” - a prayer that “let us go” from the church, blessing us to leave the common service. It recalls the saints of the temple and the day being celebrated, and joins a request to God for our mercy and salvation.
Following the last blessing of the priest, the choir sings for many years to the Patriarch, the ruling bishop, rector and parishioners, the royal doors are closed, the chandeliers are turned off and… let's go? No, not yet. The "First Hour" is read - the last, final part of the All-Night Vigil.
Watch(Greek ὧραι) - Christian public prayers, consecrating a certain time of day.
Like the rest of the clock The first hour consists of three psalms and various prayers. In modern practice, all this is readable. The people, tired of the long service, no longer listen to the reader, and are going home. But if you listen carefully, and also look at the translation of the text, you can get spiritual benefit. After all, the First Hour is not just a reading of “something” for the sake of observing the ancient institutions, but a meaningful recollection of the events of the Holy History and prayers that sanctify the morning.
In three psalms - 5, 89 and 100, which are read at the First Hour, as well as in other prayers of this hour, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise is remembered, about that morning hour when Christ was brought to the judgment of Caiaphas.
In the prayers of the hour, we ask God to "early hear our voice" and help in the affairs of the day.
Following the prayer “Who is for all time…”, the priest humbly leaves the altar in stole, without shiny robes. In twilight, he ends the First Hour with a prayer to Christ, in which He is glorified as "the true light that enlightens every person who comes into the world." “Christ, true Light, enlightening and sanctifying every person who comes into the world! Imprint on us the light of Your face, that we may see in Him the unapproachable light, and direct our steps towards the fulfillment of Your commandments, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen".
At the end of the prayer, the priest bows before the icon of the Mother of God in the iconostasis, and the choir sings a song of victory in Her honor, “The victorious Chosen Governor.” In translation, it sounds like this:“To the Commander who defends us, for deliverance from terrible troubles, we, Your servants, Mother of God, celebrate thanksgiving celebrations! But You, as having invincible power, deliver us from all dangers, but we cry out to You: Rejoice (we welcome You), Bride who has not known marriage!
Then the priest says "release" again, this time briefly. The choir sings "Lord, have mercy" three times , in some churches they will add a few more popular chants in honor of the Virgin and saints. And now that's it.
***
We go out of the temple into the world.
As born again, once again accepted the grace of the Orthodox faith.
Just as when singing the exapostilary, the singer was sent from the kliros to the center of the temple, just as the apostles left Jerusalem to different ends of the universe, so we are sent into the world to return to the temple again after the sermon.
Yes, sermons. Because after we have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ, our actions and words are preaching.
This sermon is entrusted to all of us - Orthodox Christians who attend common church services, including the All-Night Vigil. We, regardless of the degree of spiritual growth, with one mouth glorify God and testify before the whole world about the transforming action of Orthodoxy, the unceasing action of God in this world.
Therefore, paradoxically, we - the unreasonable ones - are called to the Church in order to return reason to the crazy world that surrounds us. Return through the transformation of your life.
The temple is not only a place where you can run when it's bad. The temple is the embassy of our heavenly Motherland. And it depends on us, who prayed at Vespers, how much our country will not only remember the glorious Orthodox pages of its past, but will also live pleasing to God, truly Orthodox.
It would be good to love the All-Night Vigil so much that every Saturday and holiday evening would be empty without it, so that the soul would call to the temple.
And the Lord will not leave us and will visit with love our heart, worn out in worldly storms.
hegumen Siluan (Tumanov)
All-night vigil
On Sundays and holidays, a special service to God is performed in the evening (and in other places in the morning), usually called the all-night vigil, or the all-night vigil.
This service is called so because in ancient times it began in the evening and ended in the morning, therefore, the whole pre-holiday night was spent by believers in the church for prayer. And now there are St. monastery, where the all-night vigil lasts about six hours from the beginning of it.
The custom of Christians to spend the night in prayer is very ancient. The apostles, partly following the example of the Savior, Who more than once in His earthly life used the night time for prayer, partly out of fear of his enemies, had prayer meetings at night. The first Christians, fearing the persecution of idolaters and Jews, prayed at night on holidays and days of remembrance of the martyrs in suburban caves, or the so-called catacombs.
The Vigil depicts the history of the salvation of the human race through the coming to earth of the Son of God and consists of three parts, or sections: Vespers, Matins and the first hour.
The beginning of the all-night service is performed as follows: the royal doors are opened, the priest with a censer and the deacon with a candle burn St. altar; then the deacon says on the pulpit: Arise, Lord bless! The priest says: Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity, always, now and forever, and forever and ever. Then the priest calls on the faithful to worship Christ the King and our God; the singers sing selected passages from Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul… Lord my God, thou hast exalted greatly (i.e., very much)… Waters will rise on the mountains… Wonderful are Your works, Lord! Thou hast created all wisdom! Meanwhile, the priest with the deacon, having censed the altar, go around the whole church with the censer and censing St. icons and worshipers; after this, towards the end of the singing of psalm 103, they enter the altar, and the royal gates are closed.
This singing and the actions of the priest with the deacon before they enter the altar remind us of the creation of the world and the happy life of the first people in paradise. The closing of the royal doors depicts the expulsion of the first people from paradise for the sin of disobedience to God; the litany that the deacon says after the closing of the royal doors recalls the joyless life of our forefathers outside paradise and our constant need for God's help.
After the litany, we hear the singing of the first psalm of King David: Blessed is the man, who (who) does not go to the advice of the wicked, and the way of the wicked will perish, work (serve) the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; blessed are all who hope nan (on Him). Resurrect Lord, save me, my God; of the Lord is salvation, and on Thy people Thy blessing. Selected places from this psalm are sung in order to depict both the sorrowful thoughts of our forefather Adam on the occasion of his fall, and the advice and exhortations with which our forefather Adam addresses his offspring in the words of King David. Each verse from this psalm is separated by an angelic doxology of alleluia, which means from the Hebrew language praise God.
After a small litany, two touching prayers are sung to the Lord God: Lord, I have cried to Thee, hear me. Hear me, Lord, Lord, cry to Thee, hear me; heed the voice of my supplication, call me to Thee, hear me, O Lord! (Psalm 140)
May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before Thee, the uplifting of my hand is an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!
May my prayer come like incense before Thee; the lifting up of my hands shall be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!
This singing reminds us that without the help of God it is difficult for a person to live on earth; he constantly needs God's help, which we remove from ourselves by our sins.
When those who follow the singing, Lord, cry out prayers called stichera, the evening entrance is made.
It is performed as follows: during the last stichera in honor of the Mother of God, the royal gates are opened, first the priest with a burning candle comes out of the altar with a burning candle, then the deacon with a censer and the priest. The deacon censes St. icons of the iconostasis, and the priest stands on the pulpit. After singing the Hymn of the Theotokos, the deacon stands at the royal door and, depicting the cross as a censer, proclaims: Wisdom, forgive me! The chanters respond with the following touching song of the Hieromartyr Athenogenes, who lived in the 2nd century AD:
Quiet light of the holy glory, Immortal Heavenly Father, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, let us sing to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. Thou art worthy at all times to sing to be the voices of the reverend, Son of God, give life: the world glorifies Thee with the same.
Quiet light of holy glory, Immortal Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, the giver of life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore the world glorifies You.
What does the evening entrance signify? The removal of a candle means the appearance before the coming of Christ, St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord Himself called a lamp. The priest, during the evening entrance, depicts the Savior, who came into the world to make amends before the Lord for the guilt of man. The words of the deacon: Forgive wisdom! They inspire us that we should observe sacred actions with special attention, while standing, praying to the Lord, may He forgive us all sins.
During the singing of Light, a quiet priest enters the altar, kisses St. throne and stands on a high place, turning his face to the people. With this action, he depicts the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven and His reign in all glory over the world, therefore, after the singing of the Quiet Light, the chanters sing: The Lord reigned in beauty, clothed, i.e. That Jesus Christ, after His ascension, reigned over the world and clothed himself in beauty. This verse is taken from the psalms of King David and is called a prokimen; it is always sung on Sunday. On other days of the week, other prokeimenes are sung, also taken from the psalms of David.
After the prokeimenon, on the feasts of the Twelve and the Mother of God, and on the feasts in honor of the saints of God, especially those revered by us, paroemias are read, or three small readings appropriate for the feasts from the books of the Old and New Testaments. Before each proverb, the deacon's exclamation of wisdom indicates the important content of what is being read, and by the exclamation of the deacon, let us hear! It is suggested that we be attentive while reading and not mentally entertain ourselves with foreign objects.
Litiya and blessing of loaves.
Litiya and the blessing of loaves are sometimes performed on more solemn feasts after the special and petitionary litanies.
This part of the all-night service is performed as follows: the priest and deacon leave the altar to the western part of the church; the stichera of the feast are sung on the kliros, and after them the deacon prays for the Sovereign Emperor, the Sovereign Empress and for the entire Reigning House, for the diocesan bishop and all Orthodox Christians, that the Lord save us all from troubles and misfortunes. Litiya is performed in the western side of the temple in order to announce the feast to the penitents and the catechumens, who usually stand in the porch, and pray for them together with them. Here is the basis for praying for a letter for every Christian soul, which is in sorrow and grief, in need of God's mercy and help. Litiya also reminds us of the ancient processions that the leading Christians performed during public disasters at night for fear of being persecuted by the pagans.
After the litia, after the stichera sung on the verse, after the dying song of Simeon the God-Receiver, and when the troparion of the holiday is sung three times, the blessing of the loaves is performed. In the early days of Christianity, when the all-night vigil continued until dawn, to strengthen the strength of those praying, the priest blessed bread, wine and oil and distributed them to those present. As a reminder of this time and for the sanctification of the faithful, and at the present time, the priest prays over 5 loaves, wheat, wine and oil and asks God to multiply them and that the Lord sanctify the faithful who eat from these breads and wine. Oil (oil), consecrated at this time, is used to anoint those praying at the All-Night Vigil, and wheat is eaten. The five loaves consecrated in this case are reminiscent of the miracle that the Lord performed during His life on earth, when He fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves.
The first part of the all-night vigil ends with the words of the priest: the blessing of the Lord is on you, that grace and love of mankind always, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.
At this, there is a ringing, reminiscent of the end of Vespers and the beginning of the second part of the All-Night Vigil.
The second part of the All-Night Vigil
The second part of the All-Night Vigil is Matins following Vespers. It begins with the joyful song of the angels on the occasion of the birth of Christ: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.
After it, the Six Psalms is read, which contains the six psalms of King David, in which this pious king prays to God to cleanse people from sins, with which we offend God every minute, despite His constant providence for us. During the reading of the Six Psalms, the priest, first in the altar, and then on the pulpit, prays to God to send God's mercy to people. The humble exit of the priest from the altar to the pulpit points to the quiet, solitary life of the Lord Jesus in Nazareth, from which He only occasionally came to Jerusalem to pray during the feasts. The Six Psalms ends with a proclamation in honor of the Triune God: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!
After the great litany, pronounced after the Six Psalms, a verse from the psalms of King David is sung four times: God the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, pointing to the appearance of the Savior to people as a Teacher and Wonderworker.
Then the troparion of the feast is sung, and two kathismas are read.
Kathisms are the divisions of the psalms of the king and the prophet David, of which there are 20 divisions in the psalter. These divisions of the psalms are called kathismas, because during their reading it is allowed for those praying to sit in the church. The Greek word kathisma means seat. Every day different kathismas are read, so that during the week the whole psalter is read.
Polyeleos
After each kathisma, the clergyman pronounces a small litany. Then the most solemn part of the all-night vigil begins, called polyeleos, which means from the Greek language much mercy, or much oil. The Royal Doors open, large candles before St. the icons extinguished during the reading of the six psalms and kathismos are lit again, and on the kliros a laudatory song is sung to God from Psalms 134 and 135: Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord, alleluia! Blessed be the Lord from Zion (where in ancient times there was a tabernacle and a temple) living in Jerusalem, hallelujah! Confess to the Lord (confess your sins), as good (because He is good), as if His mercy is forever, alleluia! Confess to the God of heaven, for it is good, for His mercy is forever, hallelujah! The priest and deacon are burning incense throughout the church. The opened royal doors signify to us that the angel has rolled away the stone from the tomb of the Lord, from where a new eternal life has dawned on us, full of spiritual joy and fun. The walking of the clergy around the church with a censer reminds us of St. myrrh-bearing women who went to the tomb of the Lord on the night of the resurrection of Christ to anoint the body of the Lord, but received joyful news from an angel about the resurrection of Christ.
On Sundays, after the singing of the laudatory verses 134 and 135 of Psalms, in order to better imprint the thought of the resurrection of Christ in those who pray, troparia are sung, in which the reason for our joy in the resurrection of Christ is expressed. Each troparion begins with words glorifying the Lord: Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification (i.e., Thy commandments). The Sunday Polyeleos ends with the reading of St. gospel about one of the appearances of the resurrected Savior. The Holy Gospel will be worn out in the middle of the temple, and the faithful will kiss St. The gospel, having (at the same time) in thought all the benefits of the risen Lord. The choir at this time sings an invocative song to bow to the resurrection of Christ:
Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: Thou art our God; unless (except) you know no other, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold (here) for the joy of the whole world has come by the cross, always blessing the Lord, we sing of His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death with death
The polyeleos for the twelfth feasts and feast days of the holy saints of God differs from the Sunday polyeleos in that after the laudatory verses 134 and 135 of the psalms, the clergy go out to the middle of the temple, where the icon of the feast relies on the lectern, and magnification is sung, while verses in honor of St. Myrrh-bearing women are not sung. The gospel is read, having application to the day of the feast; worshipers in the temple kiss St. icon on the lectern and anointed with oil consecrated during the lithium, but not St. peace, as some ignorantly call this oil.
After reading the gospel and praying to the Lord God for mercy on us sinners, usually read by the deacon before the icon of the Savior, the canon, or rule, is sung to glorify God and the saints and to ask for the mercy of God through the prayers of the saints of God. The canon consists of 9 sacred songs, modeled on those Old Testament songs that were sung by righteous people, starting with the prophet Moses and ending with the father of the Forerunner John, the priest Zechariah. At the beginning of each song, irmos (in Russian - communication) is sung, and at the end of katavasia (in Russian - convergence). The name of the song is katavasia, because for its singing it is necessary, according to the charter, for both choirs to come together. The content of the irmos and katavasia is taken from those songs, on the model of which the entire canon is composed.
1. The song is modeled on the song that the prophet Moses sang about the miraculous passage of the Jewish people through the Red Sea.
2. The song is modeled on the song that the prophet Moses sang before his death. With this song the prophet wanted to dispose the Jewish people to repentance; as a song of repentance, according to the charter of the Orthodox Church, it is sung only during Great Lent. At other times, after the first ode in the canon, the third ode immediately follows.
3. The song is modeled on the song sung by the righteous Anna after the birth of her son Samuel, the prophet and wise judge of the Jewish people.
4. The song is modeled on the song of the prophet Habakkuk.
5. The song of the canon has for its content thoughts taken from the song of the prophet Isaiah.
6. The song resembles the song of the prophet Jonah, which he sang when he was miraculously delivered from the whale's belly.
Songs 7 and 8 are modeled on the song sung by three Jewish youths about the miraculous deliverance from the kindled Babylonian furnace.
After the 8th song of the canon, the song of the Mother of God is sung, divided into several verses, after which the song is sung: The most honorable cherubim and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without corruption (illness) of God the Word, the begotten, existing Mother of God, we magnify Thee.
9. The song contains thoughts taken from the song of the priest Zechariah, which he sang after the birth of his son, the Forerunner of the Lord John.
In ancient times, Matins ended with the onset of the day, and now, after singing the canon and reading Psalms 148, 149 and 150, in which St. King David enthusiastically invites all nature to glorify the Lord, the priest thanks God for the light that has appeared. Glory to Thee, Who showed us the light, says the priest, turning to the throne of God. The chorus is a great doxology to the Lord, beginning and ending with the song of St. angels.
Matins, the second part of the All-Night Vigil, ends with a special and petitionary litany and dismissal, usually pronounced by a priest from the open royal doors.
Then the first hour is read - the third part of the all-night vigil; it ends with a song of thanksgiving in honor of the Mother of God, composed by the inhabitants of Constantinople for delivering them through the intercession of the Mother of God from the Persians and Avars who attacked Greece in the seventh century.
Victorious to the Chosen Voivode, as if having got rid of the evil ones, we thankfully describe Thy servants, Mother of God. But as if you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call you: Rejoice, Unbridened Bride
To you, who has the upper hand in battle (or war), we, Your servants, the Theotokos, bring victorious (solemn) songs, and, as delivered by You from evil, songs of thanksgiving. And you, as one who has invincible power, deliver us from all troubles so that we cry out to You: Rejoice, Bride who does not have a bridegroom from people.
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