What is pictorial in church service. Order and Explanation of Church Services
pictorial
[Greek τὰ τυπικά; glory. 
i.e. “what is [required] according to the charter”], in the Orthodox. worship is one of the services of the daily liturgical circle. I. are closely connected, on the one hand, with the Palestinian monastic tradition of cell self-communion, on the other hand, with the rite of the Divine Liturgy. I. can be part of the liturgy (see) or performed as an independent service after the 6th or 9th hour. I.'s text is placed in the Book of Hours and the Followed Psalter.
Origin of the rank
By origin, the rank of I. is a Palestinian succession that arose in the practice of Kelliot monasticism. In the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified and other Palestinian monasteries, the Kelliot monks attended the church service in the temple of the central mon-rya only once a week, independently singing all the repetitions of the daily circle in the cells. At the same time, those Kelliots who took communion more than once a week, after the liturgy on Sunday, received the already consecrated Holy Gifts in the central mon-re (see Art.) and themselves communed the Holy Mysteries in soc. days (see: Patrich J. Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism: A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, 4th to 7th Cent. Wash., 1995. P. 229-253. (DOS; 32)). Chin I. was that cell service during which this happened. It included certain elements of the liturgy rite (namely, the Jerusalem rite of the liturgy of the Apostle James), including the Creed, the Lord's Prayer "Our Father", the chant "One is holy ...", etc.
For the first time I. are mentioned in the “Testament of St. Savva the Sanctified" as a service preceding the liturgy: in the multilingual monastery of St. Savva, the Syrians, Georgians and Franks were ordered to celebrate the full liturgy together with the Greeks; in their native language they were allowed to sing in their churches only I. with the reading of the Apostle and the Gospel before the start of the liturgy in the main church. Chin I. was also performed in the tomb of St. Savvas (see: Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. S. 222-223, in the second case, I. are designated as προλειτουργία). As an abbreviated description of I., one can interpret the story of the communion of St. Mary of Egypt in the wilderness from the Life of the Monk, according to Krom, before communion, St. Zosima read the Creed and Our Father, and after St. Maria read "Now you let go."
The oldest surviving full text of the rank of I. is contained in the Palestinian Book of Hours Sinait. gr. 863, 8th century (see: Dmitrievsky. 1889; Mateos. 1964), where this rite is called εἰς τὴν μετάληψιν (for communion). It consists of the following parts: the confession of the prudent thief (Lk 23:42b) and the beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12; the confession apparently served as a refrain to the commandments; see v. ); troparion with ternary doxology (beginning: Χορὸς ὁ ἐπουράνιος - ); Symbol of faith; "Our Father"; thrice; chant Εἷς ἅγιος̇ (); 3 paraphrased lines from Ps 33 with the refrain "Alleluia", acting as a communion verse; thanksgiving prayers for communion.
In the VIII-IX centuries. the rank of I., like the Palestinian Book of Hours as a whole, was adopted as the basis for performing services of the daily circle in the monasteries of the K-Polish Patriarchate, and over time - and everywhere in the Orthodox Church. Churches. However, the practical need for this rite disappeared both in connection with the spread of cinovial mon-rays, where monks attended church services daily, and in connection with the almost complete cessation of the practice of cell self-communion (nevertheless, the basis of the rites of self-communion, sometimes found, is precisely the chants .- see: Diakovsky, 1913, p. 295). Therefore, I. either began to include in the composition of the Polish ranks the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and Basil the Great, where I. formed the initial one (Ps 102 and 145, blessed are the so-called pictorial antiphons (Typicon designates them simply as “pictorial”); these texts largely supplanted the actual K-Polish antiphons of the liturgy, see Art.), as well as the final (Ps 33 after the prayer behind the ambo and the distribution of the antidoron performed at that moment - cf. with self-communion during the same psalm) part of the rite of the liturgy; or they began to perform as a separate service at the end of the 6th or 9th hour. In this regard, in different editions of the Studian and Jerusalem statutes, somewhat different practices are observed, and a separate performance of I. did not always mean a refusal to sing “pictorial antiphons” at the liturgy of the same day.
Title "I." (Τυπικὰ τῆς ἁγιωτάτης καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας) in ancient Byzants. Psalter X-XI centuries. also stands in front of the collection of hymns of the liturgy - “Only Begotten Son”, the cherubic hymn, the Creed, “Now the power” at the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, prayers after communion, and other prayers and hymns associated with the liturgy (Diakovsky. 1913. P. 278-279 ; Parpulov G. R. Toward a History of Byzantine Psalters: Diss. Chicago, 2004. Vol. 2. P. 400. Append. C1).
I. in the Studio charter
In various editions of the Studian statute, I. as an independent follow-up is supposed to be performed after the liturgy and the 9th hour - this is also mentioned in the Polish Studiysko-Aleksievsky Typikon of 1034 (Pentkovsky. Typikon. S. 276), and in the app. (Atho-South-Ital.) versions of the Studian Rule (for example, in the Messinian Typicon of 1131; see: Arranz. Typicon. P. 6). The same studio practice is attested in the Evergetid Typicon, 2nd floor. XI century, following the tradition of the Asia Minor monasteries, but here it is indicated to sing I. in the cells (Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. S. 603). After the 9th hour, I. were also performed in those cases when there was no liturgy (only in this case the Evergetides Typikon prescribes to sing them in the temple). When I. are performed in the temple, they begin with the Beatitudes (Pentkovsky. Typicon. S. 237, 240, 249, 251, 276; Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. S. 514; Arranz. Typicon. P. 80, 96 , 192).
In some cases, I. were performed before the liturgy: according to the Studian-Aleksievsky Typicon, this order was observed on Easter day (Pentkovsky. Typikon. S. 257). Singing I. before the liturgy on Easter day is mentioned in Serb. Missal 2nd floor. 14th century RNB. Weather 37 (see: Diakovsky, 1913, p. 271) and in the message of Met. Moscow St. Cyprian to igum. Athanasius, 1390-1405 (RIB. T. 6. Stb. 253).
In the Hours associated with worship according to the Studian charter (see: Plum E. E. Hours of the Studian tradition in the glory lists of the XIII-XV centuries // TODRL. 1999. T. 51. S. 91-106), I. are included in the general sequence of the "lunch", which also includes the hours of the 3rd, 6th and 9th; from the 9th hour I. are not separated. The following of I. here consists of Ps 102 and 145, the troparion “The Only Begotten Son” (after “Glory, and now”), the beatitudes (here troparia can be sung on the blessed from Oktoech and other books, after them the Apostle and the Gospel can be read ; in some manuscripts, troparia and readings are placed directly in I.), then the sequence is similar to the rank placed in the Book of Hours Sinait. gr. 863: troparion “The Face of Heaven”, Ps 33. 6, a variant of the same troparion: “Cathedral of the holy angel and archangel”, Symbol of faith, “Our Father”, prayer “Lord our God, even His most glorious Mother” (not present in all Hours), “Lord, have mercy” 12, 30 or 50 times, “One is holy”, three times “Be the name of the Lord” and Ps 33, after which “Most honorable cherub” and dismissed. Ps 102 and 145 are preceded by indications of the refrains (“burials”) “Blessed be Thou, O Lord” and “I praise the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (for Ps 102 and 145 respectively; see also: Kanter A. A. On the fulfillment of psalms 102 and 145, “blessed” and troparia on “blessed” in the liturgy // Gimnologiya, Moscow, 2000, issue 1, book 1, pp. 199-200). After Ps 102 and the troparion "Only Begotten Son", the singing "Lord, have mercy" three times and "Glory, and now" (instead of a small litany) can be indicated. The refrains to the psalms and the reference to the litany probably mean that the initial part of the I. in the Books of Hours is presented in relation to its use in the liturgy. In full, the following of I. according to the Book of Hours was performed in cell practice, while in the church, as the data of the Studio Typicons show, I. began with the beatitudes. Such a division is confirmed by the indication of the Studian-Aleksievsky Typikon for Easter (see: Pentkovsky. Typikon. S. 257), where the cell and church celebrations of I. are distinguished (in this case, I. precede the liturgy).
The order of I. in different editions of the Studian Charter has some differences. So, according to the glory. Hours of the Studio tradition and the Studio-Alexian Typicon, the following of I. has no changeable hymns, except for the troparia on the beatitudes and readings from the Holy. Scriptures. According to the Messinian Typicon, after the “Our Father” a dismissive troparion is read, at the end of I. not only Ps 33, but also 144 is performed (Arranz. Typicon. P. XLI, 96, 444; see also the Ethiopian translation of the Palestinian Hourbook, where the following I. is designated as “service of the 7th hour” - Turaev, 1904). In the Studian-Aleksievsky Typikon, as a feature of the celebration of I. within the framework of church services, the possibility of proclaiming a litany at the end of the follow-up with the addition of final exclamations of the deacon and priest is noted (Pentkovsky. Typikon. P. 251).
I. in the Jerusalem Rule
In Greek Hours of the XII century. (for example, the Greek Book of Hours of the XII century. Lesb. Leim. 295. Fol. 158-161; Sir. translation of the Greek Book of Hours of the XII century - Black. 1954. P. 81-82) the prayer “ Weaken, leave...”, which is also characteristic of later Books of Hours, compiled in accordance with the Jerusalem Rule. In these monuments, the verse “One is holy ...” is still preserved, and after “Our Father” there are no troparia or kontakions. Any hymns after "Our Father" in I. are not mentioned in the most ancient Jerusalem Typicons (see: Lossky. Typicon. P. 248). In Sir. Hours of the XII century. the reading of the troparia after Ps 33 is indicated; perhaps this is one of the earliest options for adding troparia to the sequence of I.
But no later than the XIV century. I.'s succession took on a form almost identical to that preserved to the present day. time: Ps 102; "Glory" and Ps 145; "And now" and "Only Begotten Son"; blessed with a refrain or with troparia; troparion verse Ps 33.6 and the same troparion, "Glory" - troparion "And now" - Creed; prayer "Our Father"; kontakia (the charter of kontakia is similar to the charter of troparions and kontakia according to the small entrance to the liturgy: kontakia of the day of the week, temple, saint, theotokion 
); "Lord, have mercy" 12 times; prayer (the final line of the prayer is identical to the liturgical acclamation); thrice and Ps 33; “It is worthy to eat” and leave.
In various manuscripts and printed editions of the Books of Hours and Psalms with resurrection, one can notice only slight discrepancies in the sequence of I. The service is sometimes placed after the 6th hour (or after the interhour of the 6th hour), sometimes after the 9th hour, this is also typical for Slavs, and for Greek. lists (see, for example, I. at the 6th hour in the RSL. Trinity 310, at the 9th hour in Trinity 16, 17, etc.; see also the Greek Book of Hours of the 15th century from the library of the K-Polish Patriarchate: Catalog des manuscrits conservés dans la Bibliothèque du Patriarcat Œcuménique, Turnhout, 2008, vol. P. 81). I. may be preceded by the special title "lunch" (cf .: in the Book of Hours. Krakow, in 1492: "The beginning of the typical, if there is a lunch") or joins the 9th hour without k.-l. headings, which, apparently, is a relic of the structure of the Studio Books of Hours.
In some lists and editions of the Book of Hours, the refrain to Ps 102 "Blessed be Thou, O Lord" is preserved, in Greek. in the same editions, the 1st verse of Ps 102 is placed with this refrain, then the entire psalm is recited from the beginning, this form of presentation becomes the norm in Russian. publications after Patriarch Nikon. Before the troparion "Only Begotten Son" there can be "And now" ("Glory" before Ps 145) or together "Glory, and now."
The charter of kontakion after "Our Father" is different. So, in the manuscript of the RSL. Trinity. 16 only the kontakion of the temple (Assumption) is indicated, in other lists the kontakion of the day is indicated, “Glory” - “And now” - 
in others, indications are added about the kontakion of the temple and the Menaion (Krakow, 1491), Serb. Typikon 1319 (Mirkovich. Typikon. S. 133b) indicates the kontakion of the temple, "Glory" and beyond, as elsewhere. In the manuscript of the RSL. Trinity. 17 theotokos 
appointed only on Wednesday and Friday, on other weekdays (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) - the Mother of God In the manuscripts of the RSL. Trinity. 309 and some others, a troparion is appointed, then "Glory" - and the Mother of God 
In some editions based on the Serbian manuscripts of Hours and Psalters (Hours. Vilna, ca. 1522. Psalter with resurrection: Venice, 1520, 1546, Mileshev, 1544, Cetinje, 1495), as well as in a number of Greek. editions (see, for example, the Book of Hours. Venice. 1832) the prayer is omitted in the rank, which weakens the historical connection of I. with the liturgy (in the late Greek editions of the end of the 19th century, prayer is present). On the contrary, in the Moscow editions of the Book of Hours of the XVII century. the troparion of the liturgy is added to the rank and replaced it in the pre-Nikonian Rus. Practice at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Prayer 
(see the edition of 1632 and others; in earlier editions (M., 1565; Zabludovo, 1570) this prayer is not).
Before Ps 33, “Glory, and now” can be pronounced, which is not recorded in all lists and editions with I. The sequence of exclamations during the dismissal can vary greatly in different manuscripts, from the simplest options (“Glory, and now”, “Lord, have mercy "twice," Lord, bless "and dismiss - for example, in the RSL. Trinity. 314) to more complex ones (with the exclamation of the priest "God, have mercy" and the subsequent dismissal, which is typical for most manuscripts of the XV-XVI centuries .).
In Greek Typicons and Triods, starting with printed editions of the 16th century. and up to modern ones, an indication is given (hardly justified from the point of view of history and the content of the rank) about reading the prayer of the hours ῾Ο ἐν παντ καιρῷ̇ () on I., performed on weekdays of Great Lent.
According to the Greek and Yugoslav. editions of the Jerusalem Charter, if I. are present in the church service, the rank may begin with Ps 102 and 145 - see the indication under 24 Dec. in royal hours in glory. Book of Hours of 1491 (Krakow), Greek. the Venetian Typicons of 1545, 1577 and others; Occasionally, such indications are also found in pre-Nikonian Rus. Menaia (for example, in the RKP. RSL. Trinity 508, XVI century, it is said about reading Ps 102 and 145 as part of I. on the royal clock). But in Russian “The Church’s Eye” (as in the period from the beginning of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century the Russian editions of the Jerusalem Rule were called) the beginning of I. with Ps 102 and 145 is completely excluded, and in all cases (on Great Lent, etc. fasts, at the end of the royal hours before Christmas, Epiphany and on Good Friday) I. begin with blessed - this can probably be explained by the preservation of studio practice. In Russian printed editions of the 17th century. there is a gradual penetration of the later Greek. practices, as can be seen from the headings of the royal hours and other places in liturgical books. so, Ps 102 and 145 on I. 24 Dec. are indicated already in the Moscow editions of the Rules of 1641 and the December Menaion of 1645 (but in the January Menaion of 1644, J. 5 Jan. begins with beatitudes). In the Charter of 1641, an indication appears about the execution of I. with Ps 102 and 145 in the event of the cancellation of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (Markov's chapter on the service on Feb. 24 on a weekday of Great Lent). On the Alleluia days of the Nativity Fast, the indication of Ps 102 and 145 at the beginning of I. appears only in the post-Nikon Typicon of 1682. However, on weekdays of Great Lent, both in Greek and in Russian. Traditions still retain the practice of starting I. with blessedness (according to Greek practice, Ps 102 and 145 begin I. only outside the fast, and in the Christmas and Peter fasts, I. begin with blessedness, as in the Great, - see: Ρήγας Γ. Τυπικόν, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1994, Σ. 113, 249).
On the first day of Easter and on Bright Week
the following of I. has a special order: almost all of its parts are replaced by Easter hymns. There are 2 ranks of Paschal I. The 1st is described in the manuscripts of Russian. “Church Eye” of the XV-XVI centuries, the 2nd is first recorded in the first printed “Church Eye” of 1610. The 1st rank says that if for some reason there is no liturgy on Easter, after the 6th hour when singing three times “Lord, have mercy”, the brethren enter the church from the narthex, then the Apostle and the Gospel are read, the troparion of Pascha “and the rest is one” is sung; apparently, the fulfillment of the Easter hour is supposed. 2nd rank is included in Russian. printed editions of the 17th century. and later, up to modern; according to this rite, at the beginning of I., the troparion of Easter is sung three times, then the ipakoi, “Glory” - the kontakion of Easter, “And now” - “The Only Begotten Son”, after “Our Father” the troparia of the Easter hours are sung, the prayer is not read, only proclaimed (cf. . with the Studio Books of Hours), instead of the troparion of Easter, Ps 33 is sung to the middle (as at the all-night vigil).
The ratio of I. and liturgy
Thus, the celebration of I. in the Jerusalem Rule falls on those days when there is no liturgy (as on certain weekdays of Great Lent, etc.) or when it is served after Vespers, that is, on days of special fasting. On days when fasting is not allowed and when the liturgy is performed after the 6th hour, I. in the practice of the XV-XVII centuries. were not made. This is indicated by the statutory headings of the Books of Hours and Psalms with the study of this time, for example, according to the manuscripts of the RSL. Trinity. 17 and 342, I.'s psalms are sung at the liturgy, and the full following of I. can be performed either instead of the liturgy, or after the 9th hour on fast days, or at cell prayer. The 9th hour on non-fasting days during this period in the practice of the Russian Church was celebrated either before the vespers, or immediately after the liturgy (see Obikhodnik of the Siya Monastery - GIM. Syn. 814. L. 334v., 360, on weekdays of the Nativity Fast - sheet 31 rev.; Obikhodnik of Kirillov of the Belozersky Monastery: Nikolsky N.K. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and its arrangement until the 2nd quarter of the 17th century. St. Petersburg, 2006. T. 2. P. 340) . A similar practice is preserved in the Orthodox Church. Churches up to the present. time - both among the Greeks (see: Ρήγας. Τυπικόν. Σ. 113), and among the Slavs.
In the Books of Hours, published in Moscow in 1652 and 1653, headings are inserted into I.'s succession on the performance of certain I. chants at the liturgy. In the same editions, instructions are given on the division of “It is worthy to eat” into 2 parts by the exclamation of the priest (this custom is kept both in the Old Believer and in the New Believer practices: see: Rozanov. Charter. 1998. S. 438; Arseny (Shvetsov), bishop (Uralsky. Charter. M.; St. Petersburg, 2001. L. 98v.). After correcting the books in Ser. 17th century the rubrics on hymns in the liturgy were mostly removed from the succession, but the hymn was re-included (missing in the editions of 1652 and 1653).
From the 17th century in the rank of I., one or another hymn often begins to be omitted, which will be performed at the Divine Liturgy, if Vespers and Liturgy follow after I.. Until con. 17th century first of all, this affected the execution of Ps 33; in the Typicon of 1695 and in the following edition of the Menaion of 1705, in the sequence of the royal hours, it is indicated that the Creed is omitted if I. precede the liturgy (see the same in the Obikhodnik of the Kirillov Belozersky Monastery - Nikolsky. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery 312).
In the 19th century in the books of the Old Believers and fellow believers, the commission of I. is recorded immediately after the 9th hour before the liturgy (Arseny (Shvetsov), Bishop Ural. Ustav. L. 110 rev. - 111 rev.). This practice caused the appearance of statutory headings in some reissues of the same faith in the Clockworks of the 19th century. Parts of I., read out before the liturgy (only those chants are performed that will not be sung at the liturgy), are indicated by a heading in the margins: “At the ninth hour” (see, for example, Chasovnik. M., 1864, L. 37 -38).
Features of the statutory regulation
One of the new features of post-Nikonian Rus. Books of Hours (as well as the Greek printed Orologies) was included in a series of kontakions on I. after the “Our Father” kontakion of the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Some interpreters of the Charter explain the appearance of this kontakion in the ordinary rank of I. by the fact that during the Transfiguration the Lord talked with Moses and Elijah about His sufferings on the Cross (see: Nikolsky. Ustav. P. 354); others attribute it to the fact that the edition, which became the basis of subsequent ones, was in turn based on a Book of Hours from a church or monastery dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord. Neither the Typicon generally accepted in the ROC, nor the Ukrainian. editions of Books of Hours and other books (see, for example: Book of Hours. K., 1711; The Rule for Divine Communion. K., 1863) do not indicate the reading of the kontakion of the Transfiguration on I.. Researchers of the liturgical Charter approach this issue in different ways, some follow only the instructions of the Typicon and therefore do not mention the kontakion of the Transfiguration (Rozanov. Ustav. 1998, pp. 269-273; 437-443; Neapolitan A., archpriest Church charter in the tables. M., 1894, 1992. P. 58; Ρήγας. Τυπικόν. Σ. 113, 249, 761), while others take into account the instructions of the Book of Hours (Nikolsky. Ustav. S. 354; Nikolajeviћ B., archpriest Veliki Typic. Beograd, 1984, p. 29).
Another discrepancy between the Book of Hours and the Typicon concerns the number of repetitions of “Lord, have mercy” after kontakia (except for weekdays of Great Lent, when the 40-fold “Lord, have mercy” is supposed): Saturdays - 12 times (see also: Rozanov. Ustav. 1998. S. 442-443); The 12-fold pronunciation of "Lord, have mercy" is also indicated in the Greek. printed Menaia on the royal clock 24 December. and 5 Jan.
In Greek manuals according to the Charter, the custom is noted to end I. with the performance not only of Ps 33, but also of Ps 144 (Ρήγας. Τυπικόν. Σ. 113, 249; compare with the practice recorded in the Messinian Typicon), which does not correspond to the instructions of the Hours.
Lit .: Dmitrievsky A. A. What is κανὼν τῆς ψαλμωδίας, so often mentioned in the biography of St. Savva the Sanctified? // RukSP. 1889. No. 38. S. 69-73; Turaev B. A. Greek Book of Hours in Ethiopian transcription // VV. 1904. T. 11. S. 385-389; Diakovsky E. P. The follow-up of clocks and pictorial ones. K., 1913. S. 269-300; Black M., ed. A Christian Palestinian Syriac Horologion. Camb., 1954; Mateos J. Un horologion inédit de St.-Sabas: Le Codex sinaïtique grec 863 (IXe siècle) // Mélanges E. Tisserant. Vat., 1964. Vol. 3. P. 47-77. (ST; 233).
encyclopedic Dictionary
pictorial- worship performed instead of the liturgy. Pictorial are also an integral part of the liturgy of John Chrysostom and the liturgy of Basil the Great. In common parlance, the pictorial is called lunch ... Orthodoxy. Dictionary-reference
pictorial- temple service, a rite that is part of the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. The figuratives serve as a separate rite after the reading of the hours on days when it is not supposed to hold the liturgy ... Orthodox Encyclopedia
pictorial- (Τά Τονικά) one of the small daily services of the Holy. church, performed after the 6th or 9th hour, and on some days (in Lent) instead of the liturgy or mass, which is why it is also called the mass. This worship received its name from ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
pictorial- @font face (font family: ChurchArial ; src: url(/fonts/ARIAL Church 02.ttf);) span (font size:17px; font weight:normal !important; font family: ChurchArial ,Arial,Serif;) the worship of the pictorial is called worship, ... ... Church Slavonic Dictionary
pictorial- pictorial, s, units. h. flax, flax, husband. (church chants) ... Russian spelling dictionary
- [Greek. μακαρισμοί], in liturgical terminology, this is how the Gospel beatitudes are called (Mt 5.3 12); this word can also be called troparia in B. hymnographic texts sung to gospel verses. As an independent... Orthodox Encyclopedia- Described by 4 evangelists (Mt 21.1-11; Mk 11.1-11; Lk 19.28-40; Jn 12.12-19) one of the main events of the last days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ His solemn arrival in Jerusalem on the eve of the Easter holiday, to some chronologically and ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia
9.1. What is worship? The worship of the Orthodox Church is the service to God by reading prayers, hymns, sermons and sacred rites performed in accordance with the Charter of the Church. 9.2. What are worship services for? Worship as the outer side of religion serves as a means for Christians to express their inner religious faith and reverent feelings for God, a means of mysterious communion with God. 9.3. What is the purpose of worship? The purpose of the worship service established by the Orthodox Church is to give Christians the best way to express petitions, thanksgiving and praises addressed to the Lord; to teach and educate believers in the truths of the Orthodox faith and the rules of Christian piety; to bring believers into mysterious communion with the Lord and communicate to them the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit.
9.4. What do the names of Orthodox services mean?
(common cause, public service) is the main divine service during which Communion (Communion) of the faithful takes place. The remaining eight services are preparatory prayers for the Liturgy.
Vespers- a service performed at the end of the day, in the evening.
compline- service after supper (dinner) .
Midnight Office – a service meant to be performed at midnight.
Matins – service performed in the morning, before sunrise.
Clock Services – commemoration of the events (by the hour) of Good Friday (the suffering and death of the Savior), His Resurrection and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
On the eve of major holidays and Sundays, an evening service is performed, which is called the all-night vigil, because among the ancient Christians it lasted all night. The word "vigil" means "awake." The All-Night Vigil consists of Vespers, Matins and the First Hour. In modern churches, the all-night vigil is most often performed in the evening on the eve of Sundays and holidays.
9.5. What worship services are performed in the Church daily?
– In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, the Orthodox Church celebrates evening, morning and afternoon services in churches every day. In turn, each of these three divine services is composed of three parts:
Evening worship - from the ninth hour, Vespers, Compline.
morning- from Midnight Office, Matins, the first hour.
Daytime- from the third hour, the sixth hour, Divine Liturgy.
Thus, nine services are formed from the evening, morning and afternoon church services.
Due to the weakness of modern Christians, such statutory services are performed only in some monasteries (for example, in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery). In most parish churches, divine services are performed only in the morning and evening, with some reductions.
9.6. What is depicted in the Liturgy?
- In the Liturgy, under the external rites, the whole earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ is depicted: His birth, teaching, works, suffering, death, burial, Resurrection and Ascension to heaven.
9.7. What is called lunch?
– In the people, the Liturgy is called Mass. The name "mass" comes from the custom of ancient Christians after the end of the Liturgy to use the leftovers of the brought bread and wine at a common meal (or public dinner), which took place in one of the parts of the temple.
9.8. What is called lunch?
- The service of the pictorial (Lunch) is the name of a short service that is performed instead of the Liturgy when it is not supposed to serve the Liturgy (for example, during Great Lent) or when it is impossible to serve it (there is no priest, antimension, prosphora). The liturgy serves as some image or likeness of the Liturgy, is similar in composition to the Liturgy of the catechumens, and its main parts correspond to the parts of the Liturgy, with the exception of the celebration of the Sacraments. There is no communion during lunch.
9.9. Where can I find out about the schedule of services in the temple?
- The schedule of services is usually posted on the doors of the temple.
9.10. Why isn't there a censing of the temple at every service?
– Burning of the temple and worshipers happens at every divine service. Liturgical censing is complete when it covers the entire church, and small when the altar, the iconostasis and the people from the pulpit are censed.
9.11. Why is there censing in the temple?
- Incense raises the mind to the throne of God, where it goes with the prayers of the faithful. In all ages and among all peoples, the burning of incense was considered the best, purest material sacrifice to God, and of all the types of material sacrifice accepted in natural religions, the Christian Church withheld only this and a few others (oil, wine, bread). And outwardly nothing resembles the grace-filled breath of the Holy Spirit so much as the smoke of incense. Filled with such lofty symbolism, censing greatly contributes to the prayerful mood of believers and its purely bodily effect on a person. Incense has an uplifting, excitatory effect on the mood. To this end, the charter, for example, before the Paschal vigil prescribes not just incense, but an extraordinary filling of the temple with a smell from the placed vessels with incense.
9.12. Why do priests serve in vestments of different colors?
– The groups have adopted a certain color of the vestments of the clergy. Each of the seven colors of liturgical vestments correspond to the spiritual meaning of the event in honor of which the service is performed. There are no developed dogmatic institutions in this area, but in the Church there is an unwritten tradition that assimilates a certain symbolism to various colors used in worship.
9.13. What do the different colors of priestly vestments mean?
On holidays dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as on the days of memory of His special anointed ones (prophets, apostles and saints) the color of the royal vestment is gold.
In golden robes serve on Sundays - the days of the Lord, the King of Glory.
On holidays in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos and angelic forces, as well as on the days of memory of holy virgins and virgins dress color blue or white, symbolizing special purity and purity.
Purple adopted on the feasts of the Cross of the Lord. It combines red (symbolizing the color of the blood of Christ and the Resurrection) and blue, reminiscent of the fact that the Cross opened the way to heaven.
Dark red color - the color of blood. In red vestments, services are held in honor of the holy martyrs who shed their blood for the faith of Christ.
In green clothes the day of the Holy Trinity, the day of the Holy Spirit and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) are celebrated, since the green color is a symbol of life. Divine services are also performed in green vestments in honor of the saints: the monastic feat revives a person by union with Christ, renews his whole nature and leads to eternal life.
In black robes usually serve on weekdays. Black color is a symbol of renunciation of worldly fuss, crying and repentance.
White color as a symbol of the Divine uncreated light, it was adopted on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany (Baptism), Ascension and Transfiguration of the Lord. In white vestments, Paschal Matins also begins - as a sign of the Divine light that shone from the Tomb of the Resurrected Savior. White robes are also relied upon for Baptisms and burials.
From Easter to the Feast of the Ascension, all divine services are performed in red vestments, symbolizing the inexpressible fiery love of God for the human race, the victory of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
9.14. What do candlesticks with two or three candles mean?
“These are the dikirium and the trikirium. Dikyriy - a candlestick with two candles, signifying two natures in Jesus Christ: Divine and human. Trikirion - a candlestick with three candles, signifying faith in the Holy Trinity.
9.15. Why in the center of the temple on the lectern, instead of the icon, sometimes there is a cross decorated with flowers?
– This is what happens during the Holy Week of Great Lent. The cross is taken out and placed on the lectern in the center of the temple, in order to inspire and strengthen those who are fasting to continue the feat of fasting as a reminder of the suffering and death of the Lord.
On the feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the Origin (Deposition) of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Cross is also brought to the center of the temple.
9.16. Why does the deacon stand with his back to those praying in the temple?
- He stands facing the altar, in which the Throne of God is located and the Lord Himself is invisibly present. The deacon, as it were, leads the worshipers and on their behalf pronounces prayer petitions to God.
9.17. Who are the catechumens who are called to leave the temple during the service?
- These are people who are not baptized, but who are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. They cannot participate in the Church Sacraments, therefore, before the start of the most important Church Sacrament - Communion - they are called to leave the temple.
9.18. What date does carnival start?
- Maslenitsa is the last week before the start of Lent. It ends with Forgiveness Sunday.
9.19. Until what time do they read the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian?
- The prayer of Ephraim the Syrian is read until Wednesday of Passion Week.
9.20. When is the Shroud taken away?
– The shroud is taken to the altar before the start of the Easter service on Saturday evening.
9.21. When can one venerate the Shroud?
– You can venerate the Shroud from the middle of Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter service.
9.22. Is there Communion on Good Friday?
- Not. Since the Liturgy is not served on Good Friday, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed Himself.
9.23. Does Communion take place on Great Saturday, at Easter?
– Liturgy is served on Great Saturday and Pascha, therefore, there is also the Communion of the faithful.
9.24. How long does the Easter service last?
- In different churches, the end time of the Easter service is different, but most often it happens from 3 to 6 in the morning.
9.25. Why are the Royal Doors open during the entire Liturgy during Paschal Week?
– Some priests are awarded the right to serve the Liturgy with the Royal Doors open.
9.26. What days is the Liturgy of Basil the Great?
- The Liturgy of Basil the Great is served only 10 times a year: on the eve of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord (or on the days of these holidays, if they fall on Sunday or Monday), January 1/14 - on the day of memory of St. Basil the Great, on five Sundays Great Lent (Palm Sunday is excluded), on Maundy Thursday and on Great Saturday of Holy Week. The Liturgy of Basil the Great differs from the Liturgy of John Chrysostom in some prayers, their longer duration and more drawn-out singing of the choir, which is why it is served a little longer.
9.27. Why is the liturgy not translated into Russian to make it more understandable?
– The Slavic language is a blessed spiritualized language that the holy church people Cyril and Methodius created specifically for worship. People have lost the habit of the Church Slavonic language, and some simply do not want to understand it. But if you go to the Church regularly, and not go occasionally, then the grace of God will touch your heart, and all the words of this pure spirit-bearing language will become clear. The Church Slavonic language, due to its figurativeness, accuracy in the expression of thought, artistic brightness and beauty, is much more suitable for communication with God than the modern crippled spoken Russian language.
But the main reason for the incomprehensibility is still not in the Church Slavonic language, it is very close to Russian - in order to fully perceive it, you need to learn only a few dozen words. The fact is that even if the entire service were translated into Russian, people would still not understand anything in it. The fact that people do not perceive worship is a language problem in the least; in the first place - ignorance of the Bible. Most of the chants are highly poetic retellings of biblical stories; without knowing the source, it is impossible to understand them, in whatever language they are sung. Therefore, whoever wants to understand Orthodox worship should first of all begin by reading and studying Holy Scripture, which is quite accessible in Russian.
9.28. Why are the lights and candles sometimes extinguished during worship in the temple?
- At Matins, during the reading of the Six Psalms, candles are extinguished in churches, except for a few. The Six Psalms is the cry of a penitent sinner before Christ the Savior who came to earth. The lack of illumination, on the one hand, helps to reflect on what is being read, on the other hand, it reminds of the gloom of the sinful state depicted by the psalms, and that external lightness does not suit the sinner. By arranging this reading in this way, the Church wants to incline believers to self-deepening, so that, having entered into themselves, they enter into a conversation with the merciful Lord, who does not want the death of a sinner (Ezek. , Savior, relationships broken by sin. The reading of the first half of the Six Psalms expresses the grief of the soul that has moved away from God and is seeking Him. Reading the second half of the Six Psalms reveals the state of a repentant soul reconciled with God.
9.29. What psalms are included in the Six Psalms and why these particular ones?
—The first part of Matins opens with a system of psalms known as the Six Psalms. The composition of the Six Psalms includes: Psalm 3 “Lord, that thou hast multiplied”, Psalm 37 “Lord, let not rage”, Psalm 62 “God, my God, I will morning you”, Psalm 87 “Lord God of my salvation”, Psalm 102 “Bless my soul is the Lord”, Psalm 142 “Lord, hear my prayer”. The Psalms are chosen, probably not without intention, from different places of the Psalter evenly; in this way they represent it all. The psalms are chosen to have a uniform content and tone, which dominates the Psalter; namely, they all depict the persecution of the righteous by enemies and his firm hope in God, only growing from the increase in persecution and in the end reaching a rejoicing calm in God (psalm 102). All these psalms are inscribed with the name of David, except for 87, who is the “sons of Korah”, and they were sung by him, of course, during the persecution by Saul (maybe psalm 62) or Absalom (psalms 3; 142), reflecting the spiritual growth of the singer in these disasters. Of the many psalms of similar content, it is these ones that have been chosen here because in some places they mean night and morning (ps. ”, v. 14: “I will learn from the flattering all day long”; ps. in the days I called out and in the nights before you”, v.10: “all day long my hands have lifted up to you”, vv.13, 14: “the food will be known in the darkness of your wonders ... and I call to you, Lord, and pray in the morning mine will precede Thee"; ps.102:15: "his days are like a green flower"; ps.142:8: "I hear you do me Thy mercy in the morning"). Psalms of repentance alternate with thanksgiving ones.
Six Psalms listen in mp3 format
9.30. What is a "polyle"?
- Polyeleos is the most solemn part of matins - the divine service, which is performed in the morning or in the evening; polyeleos are served only at festive matins. This is determined by the liturgical charter. On the eve of Sunday or the Feast of Matins, it is part of the All-Night Vigil and is served in the evening.
Polyeleos begins after reading the kathismas (Psalms) with the singing of laudatory verses from the psalms: 134 - “Praise the name of the Lord” and 135 - “Confess to the Lord” and ends with the reading of the Gospel. In ancient times, when the first words of this hymn “Praise the name of the Lord” sounded after the kathismas, numerous lamps (oil lamps) were lit in the temple. Therefore, this part of the All-Night Vigil is called the "multi-eleon" or, in Greek, polyeleos ("poly" - a lot, "oils" - oil). The Royal Doors are opened, and the priest, preceded by a deacon holding a burning candle, censes the throne and the entire altar, the iconostasis, the choir, those praying, and the entire church. The open Royal Doors symbolize the open Tomb of the Lord, from where the kingdom of eternal life shone. After reading the Gospel, all those present at the service approach the icon of the feast and venerate it. In memory of the fraternal meal of the ancient Christians, which was accompanied by anointing with fragrant oil, the priest traces the sign of the cross on the forehead of everyone who approaches the icon. This practice is called the anointing. The anointing with oil serves as an outward sign of participation in the grace and spiritual joy of the feast, communion with the Church. Anointing with consecrated oil on the polyeleos is not a sacrament, it is a rite that only symbolizes the invocation of God's mercy and blessing.
9.31. What is "lithium"?
- Lithia in Greek means fervent prayer. The current charter recognizes four types of litia, which, according to the degree of solemnity, can be arranged in this order: a) “litia outside the monastery”, laid on some of the twelfth feasts and on Bright Week before the Liturgy; b) lithium at the great vespers, connected with the vigil; c) lithium at the end of the festive and Sunday matins; d) Litany for the dead after everyday Vespers and Matins. In terms of the content of the prayers and the order, these types of lithium are very different from each other, but they have in common the procession from the temple. This exodus in the first form (of those listed) of lithium is complete, and in the rest it is incomplete. But here and there it is performed in order to express prayer not only in words, but also in movement, to change its place in order to enliven prayerful attention; the further goal of the litia is to express - removing from the temple - our unworthiness to pray in it: we pray, standing before the gates of the holy temple, as if before the gates of heaven, like Adam, the publican, the prodigal son. Hence the somewhat repentant and mournful character of the lithic prayers. Finally, in the lithium, the Church proceeds from her grace-filled milieu to the outer world or to the narthex, as a part of the temple that is in contact with this world, open to all who are not accepted into the Church or excluded from it, with the goal of a prayer mission in this world. Hence the nationwide and ecumenical character (about the whole world) of lithic prayers.
9.32. What is the procession and when does it happen?
- A procession of the cross is a solemn procession of clergy and believing laity with icons, banners and other shrines. Religious processions are made on annual, special days established for them: on the Bright Resurrection of Christ - the Easter Procession; on the feast of the Epiphany for the great consecration of water in memory of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan, as well as in honor of shrines and great church or state events. There are also emergency religious processions established by the Church on especially important occasions.
9.33. Where did the processions come from?
- Just like the holy icons, the processions of the cross got their origin from the Old Testament. The ancient righteous often made solemn and popular processions with singing, trumpeting and jubilation. Narratives about this are set out in the sacred books of the Old Testament: Exodus, Numbers, Kings, Psalter and others.
The first prototypes of the processions were: the journey of the sons of Israel from Egypt to the promised land; the procession of all Israel after the ark of God, from which came the miraculous division of the Jordan River (Josh. 3:14-17); a solemn sevenfold circumambulation with the ark around the walls of Jericho, during which the miraculous fall of the impregnable walls of Jericho took place at the sound of sacred trumpets and the cries of all the people (Josh. 6:5-19); as well as the solemn nationwide transfer of the ark of the Lord by the kings David and Solomon (2 Kings 6:1-18; 3 Kings 8:1-21).
9.34. What does the Easter procession mean?
- The Holy Resurrection of Christ is celebrated with special solemnity. The Easter service begins on Holy Saturday, late in the evening. At Matins, after Midnight Office, the Paschal procession is performed - the worshipers, led by the clergy, leave the church to make a solemn procession around the church. Like the myrrh-bearing women who met the resurrected Christ the Savior outside Jerusalem, Christians meet the news of the coming of the Holy Resurrection of Christ outside the walls of the temple - they seem to be marching towards the resurrected Savior.
The Paschal procession is accompanied by candles, banners, censers and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ accompanied by a continuous ringing of bells. Before entering the temple, the solemn Paschal procession stops at the door and enters the temple only after the jubilant message has sounded three times: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life on those in the tombs!” The procession enters the temple, just as the myrrh-bearing women came to Jerusalem with joyful news to the disciples of Christ about the risen Lord.
9.35. How many times does the Easter procession take place?
- The first Paschal procession takes place on Easter night. Then, during the week (Bright Week), every day after the end of the Liturgy, the Easter procession is performed, and until the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the same processions are performed every Sunday.
9.36. What does the Procession with the Shroud on Holy Week mean?
- This mournful and deplorable procession takes place in memory of the burial of Jesus Christ, when His secret disciples Joseph and Nicodemus, accompanied by the Mother of God and the myrrh-bearing wives, carried Jesus Christ who died on the cross. They went from Mount Golgotha to the vineyard of Joseph, where there was a burial cave, in which, according to the custom of the Jews, they laid the body of Christ. In remembrance of this sacred event - the burial of Jesus Christ - the procession is performed with the Shroud, which represents the body of the deceased Jesus Christ, as it was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb.
The apostle says to believers: "Remember My Ties"(Col. 4:18). If the apostle commands Christians to remember his sufferings in chains, how much more strongly should they remember the sufferings of Christ. During the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, modern Christians did not live and did not then share the sorrows with the apostles, therefore, during the days of Passion Week, they remember their sorrows and lamentations about the Redeemer.
Anyone who is called a Christian, who celebrates the mournful moments of the suffering and death of the Savior, cannot but be a participant in the heavenly joy of His Resurrection, for, according to the words of the apostle: "But joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him"(Rom. 8:17).
9.37. On what emergencies are religious processions performed?
- Extraordinary religious processions are performed with the permission of the diocesan church authorities on cases of particular vital importance for the parish, the diocese or the entire Orthodox people - during the invasion of foreigners, during the attack of a devastating disease, during famine, drought or other disasters.
9.38. What do the banners with which the processions are performed mean?
- The first prototype of the banners was after the Flood. God, appearing to Noah during his sacrifice, revealed a rainbow in the clouds and called it "a sign of an everlasting covenant" between God and people (Gen. 9:13-16). Just as a rainbow in the sky reminds people of the covenant of God, so the image of the Savior on banners serves as a constant reminder of the deliverance of the human race at the Last Judgment from the spiritual fiery flood.
The second prototype of the banner was at the exit of Israel from Egypt during the passage through the Red Sea. Then the Lord appeared in a pillar of cloud and covered all the army of Pharaoh with darkness from this cloud, and destroyed it in the sea, but saved Israel. So on the banners, the image of the Savior is visible as a cloud that appeared from heaven to defeat the enemy - the spiritual pharaoh - the devil with all his army. The Lord always wins and drives away the power of the enemy.
The third type of banners was the same cloud that covered the tabernacle and overshadowed Israel during the journey to the promised land. All Israel gazed at the sacred cloud cover and with spiritual eyes perceived the presence of God Himself in it.
Another prototype of the banner is the copper serpent, which was erected by Moses at the command of God in the wilderness. When looking at him, the Jews received healing from God, since the bronze serpent represented the Cross of Christ (John 3:14,15). So while carrying banners during the procession, believers raise their bodily eyes to the images of the Savior, the Mother of God and the saints; with spiritual eyes, they ascend to their Archetypes that exist in heaven and receive spiritual and bodily healing from the sinful remorse of spiritual serpents - demons that tempt all people.
A practical guide to parish counseling. St. Petersburg 2009.
9. CONFUSION WITH DESTRUCTION AND CHURCHING
Very mysterious is the indication in the new order of the "Baptismal Liturgy" about what should be after vacation, that is, while reading thanksgiving prayers: “At this time the priests may commit the abduction of the holy world"(p. 91).
So, the removal of the World should be done after the dismissal. However, the priests are not obliged to commit this betrayal, but only "can." Therefore, the destruction of the world "priests may not commit"? Or can it be done at some other time? Isn't it on the 8th day? The perplexity remains unresolved (as in the rank of the Helladic modernists - p. 119).
Even more bewildering is the frivolous attitude to the rite of churching in the "Following the Baptismal Liturgy". The authors clearly did not bother to think this question through.
If the priest does not serve alone, but "More the essence", then churching is proposed to be performed during the supplicatory litany after the Great Entrance: “And Abie is one from the priest (if there are many) comes from the southern doors and creates the churching of the newly enlightened (See Appendix)”(p. 59).
Here is absurdity upon absurdity. Can church order depend on the number of serving priests? Is it permissible during the Liturgy to conduct a sacred rite associated with the introduction of boys to the altar? Should we continue the rite of churching if the petitionary litany ends before it ends, or should we begin singing the Creed despite the interference?
The statutory link is especially delightful "See Application". It's about about the text in Russian, which according to "The Table of Contents of the things found in this book"(p. 3), extends from page 107 to page 121 of the edition in question!
In this "Appendix", in particular, it is indicated: "The rite of churching<…> should not follow Communion of the Holy Mysteries, which brings a person to the fullness of communion with God and does not require additions, but must precede it. Therefore, two options are possible: if only one priest serves the Baptismal Liturgy, then he can perform the churching of the newly baptized after he takes communion himself, but before the communion of the laity(while the holy gates are closed); if several priests are liturgising, then the churching is performed by one of them immediately after the Great Entrance and the Confinement of St. gates” (pp. 120–121).
The compilers of the new rites of the "Baptismal Liturgy" did not bother to find a place for the rite of churching in their liturgical masterpiece. "Follow" refers to "Application" (Look!). The "Appendix" says that the rite of churching "should precede" Communion.
If analogues of the "Baptismal Liturgy" had existed in antiquity, the solution to this "insoluble" question would also have been known. In the “Following” under consideration, the rite of churching does not fit harmoniously, it is a foreign body in it (it does not even have its own specific place!). Obviously, the rite of churching must be held between Baptism and the beginning of the Divine Liturgy (only, of course, not the "Baptismal").
The proposal to the priest to conduct the rite of churching “after he himself takes communion, but before the communion of the laity” can be regarded as liturgical nonsense.
10. "BAPTISTIC LITURGY" AND THE DAILY CIRCLE OF SERVICE
In compiling their rite, the authors of the Baptismal Liturgy made a serious liturgical error. This mistake lies in the fact that when they invented a new liturgical order, they ignored the question on the distribution of the services of the daily cycle of worship.
As you know, the daily cycle of worship is a sequence of services determined for each day by the Charter (strictly speaking, it is not the same on different days of the church year).
In everyday practice, some services of the daily cycle are often omitted “out of weakness” - Midnight Office, Compline, Hours, sometimes even Vespers and Matins. But in case of any such shortening of the service, a competent clerk can indicate exactly which elements of the daily circle were removed (or were read "in private").
In addition to the services of the daily cycle, other services are held, called trebs. According to Archpriest Gennady Nefedov, “Private worship stands out from the whole circle of worship, taking into account the personal needs of every Christian…” (Nefedov Gennady, Archpriest Sacraments and Rites of the Orthodox Church M.: “Palomnik”, 2008, p. 5).
The main difference between treb and statutory services is the following. The requirements are served in addition to the daily circle of services and, if desired, can be freely omitted or added without violating its order. Statutory services, on the contrary, are a sequence of daily services strictly regulated by the Typicon, which does not allow distortions or flaws.
Liturgy is one of the elements of the daily cycle of worship, while Baptism is one of the rites.
On various days of the year, the Liturgy may be absent in the daily circle of services, or it may be held, combined either with the pictorial (Lunch) or with Vespers. At the same time, both pictorial and vespers are irrevocable elements of any daily liturgical cycle.
The Typikon provides for the following ratios of pictorial, Vespers, and Liturgy.
a) Pictorial and vespers in the absence of the Liturgy
There are days of the church year when, according to the Charter, the Liturgy is not required. These are the Great Heel and other weekdays of the Great Fortecost prescribed by the Typicon, Wednesday and Friday of the Cheese Week, as well as (“if the abbot happens and pleases”) weekdays of small fasts, when divine services are held according to the order of “Hallelujah”.
On these days, mass is served after the 9th hour, and in due time (immediately after it or separately) there is vespers.
The holding of the "Baptismal Liturgy" on such days would not break the structure of the daily cycle - both Mass and Vespers would be served as usual. One misfortune is that the Typicon forbids serving the Liturgy (even the "baptismal" one) these days.
b) Liturgy combined with pictorial
Thus, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on most days of the church year - except for Christmas and Epiphany Eve and weekdays of Great Lent. Liturgy may be celebrated, in accordance with the Typicon, according to the order of St. John Chrysostom or St. Basil the Great.
A characteristic feature of the daily cycle these days is the absence of a separate pictorial service (Lunchtime), and the holding of pictorial services in conjunction with the service of the Liturgy (after the 6th hour). Indeed, practically all the constituent elements of the pictorial (according to the Book of Hours) are part of the rites of the Liturgy these days.
Vespers is held separately (after 9 o'clock).
The service of the "Baptismal Liturgy", in which the rite of Baptism is provided instead of the pictorial antiphons, would abolish its indispensable element from the daily cycle - the Mass. The Typicon does not allow Mass to be held in a separate rite (say, after the 6th or after the 9th hour) if the Liturgy is being served.
Thus, if the new rites were held on the days when the Liturgy should be combined with the pictorial ones, there would be irreparable liturgical damage: the removal from the daily cycle of its irreplaceable element - the pictorial ones.
c) Liturgy combined with Vespers
This is how the service is conducted on the eve of Christmas and Epiphany (except Saturday and Sunday) and on all weekdays of Great Lent, when, according to the Typicon, a service with Liturgy is laid.
On Great Fortecost this is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts; On the Feast of the Annunciation - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday (as well as on both Christmas Eve) – Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
On these days, pictorial services are served immediately after the 9th hour, that is, before the Liturgy.
If we assume that the service of the "Baptismal Liturgy" will be performed on one of these days, then it turns out that the Sacrament of Baptism is held instead of Vespers - one of the main and indispensable services of the daily circle.
The Charter does not allow Vespers to be celebrated on these days separately from the Liturgy.
Apart from the three cases considered above, the Typicon does not provide for other possibilities for holding the Divine Liturgy within the circle of daily worship.
We are convinced that the "Baptismal Liturgy" does not fit into any of them. Consequently, the newly invented modernist rites cannot be carried out on any of the church holidays in such a way that the daily cycle of worship of that day is not distorted.
The reason for this lies in the fact that the "Baptismal Liturgy" is not an organic Orthodox service, but is a liturgical "centaur" of the service. This "centaur", on the one hand, cannot be considered as a full-fledged service, similar to the traditional Liturgy. On the other hand, it is not an ordinary extra-liturgical requirement either – it is impossible to imagine an “out-of-liturgy Liturgy”!
Archpriest Konstantin BUFEEV
What is called a service?
A church service is a combination according to a special plan, into one set of prayers, sections from the Holy Scriptures, chants and sacred actions to clarify some specific idea or thought.
Due to the fact that a certain thought is consistently developed in each service of Orthodox worship, each church service is a harmonious, complete, artistic sacred work, calculated to ensure that, through verbal, song (vocal) and contemplative impressions, a pious mood is created in the soul of the worshipers, to strengthen the living faith in God and prepare the Orthodox Christian for the perception of Divine grace.
Finding the guiding thought (idea) of each service and establishing a connection with its constituent parts is one of the moments in the study of worship.The order of presentation of one or another service is called in the liturgical books the “order” or “additional examination” of the service.
Origin of daily services.
The names of the daily services indicate at what hour of the day each of them should be performed. For example, Vespers indicates the evening hour, Compline indicates the hour following “Supper” (that is, after the evening meal), at Night Office - at midnight, Matins - at the morning hour, Mass - at lunchtime, that is, noon, the first hour - in our opinion it means the 7th hour in the morning, the third hour - our 9th hour in the morning, the sixth hour - our 12th hour , the ninth is our third hour in the afternoon.
The custom of prayerful consecration of these particular hours in the Christian Church is of very ancient origin and was established under the influence of the Old Testament rule three times during the day to pray in the temple for offering sacrifices - morning, afternoon and evening, as well as the words of the Psalmist about glorifying God “in the evening, morning and noon ".
The discrepancy in the account (the difference is about 6 hours) is explained by the fact that the eastern account is accepted, and in the East, sunrise and sunset differ by 6 hours compared to our countries. Therefore, the 1st hour of the morning in the East corresponds to our 7th hour, and so on.
SACRED EVENTS GLORIFIED
IN DAILY SERVICES
Vespers therefore, it is placed first among the daily services, because, according to the image of the Church, the day begins in the evening, since the first day of the world and the beginning of human existence was preceded by darkness, evening, twilight.
At Vespers, both in Jewish and Christian worship, the image of the creation of the world and man stands out vividly. In addition, in the Orthodox Church, Vespers is commemorated of the fall of people and the expected salvation through Jesus Christ...
"Evening" the hour coincides with the time of going to bed, and sleep reminds of death, followed by resurrection. Therefore, in the Orthodox service at Compline, those praying are reminded of awakening from eternal sleep, that is, of the resurrection.
“Midnight” the hour has long been sanctified by prayer: for Christians it is memorable, because at that hour the prayer of Jesus Christ took place in the Garden of Gethsemane, and also because “to the floor at the hour of the night” in the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord timed His second coming. Therefore, for the floor at the night-keeper remembers the prayer of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, His second coming and His terrible Judgment.
morning hour, bringing with him light, vigor and life, always arouses a grateful feeling towards God, the Giver of life. Therefore, this hour was sanctified by prayer among the Jews. In the Orthodox service after the morning service, the coming of the Savior into the world, who brought new life to people with Himself, is glorified.
The following exclusively Christian events are recalled on the “hours”: at 1 o'clock - the trial of Jesus Christ by the high priests, which really took place around this time, that is, around 7 o'clock in the morning; at the 3rd hour - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, which took place approximately at 9 o'clock in the morning; on the 6th - the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, coinciding with 12-2 hours. days; finally, at the 9th hour, there is a remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, which took place at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
These are the sacred events that gave rise to the establishment of the first eight daily services. As for mass, then it contains a remembrance of the entire earthly life of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Sacrament of Holy Communion by Him.
Mass or Liturgy in the proper sense is a Christian service that appeared earlier than others and from the very beginning acquired the character of a service that united the Christian community through the sacrament of Holy Communion.
At first, all these services were performed separately from each other, especially in monasteries. Over time, they began to group in rarer periods of performance, until the modern order was developed - to perform three services in three terms, namely: in the evening the ninth hour is celebrated, Vespers and Compline, in the morning- floor at Night Office, Matins and the 1st hour, in the afternoon - hours: the third, sixth and Liturgy.
Other Sacred Memories of Church Services
Wanting to make their children as pure, pious and concentrated as possible. The Holy Church gradually gave prayerful remembrance not only to every hour of the day, but to every day of the week. Thus, from the very beginning of the existence of the Church of Christ, the “first day of the week” was dedicated to the remembrance of resurrection Jesus Christ and became a solemn, joyful day, that is, a holiday. (1st Cor. XVI. 1, 2; Acts. XX, 7-8).
Friday reminded of the day of suffering of the Savior and His death; Wednesday became a reminder of the betrayal of Jesus Christ to death, which happened on that day.
Little by little, the remaining days of the week were devoted to the prayerful remembrance of the following persons: in time closer than others standing to Christ: St. John the Baptist (constantly remembered during divine services Tuesdays) Holy Apostles (after Thursdays). In addition, on Thursdays, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is also commemorated. By Saturdays - Mother of God, and Monday dedicated to the memories of the honest heavenly disembodied Angelic forces that welcomed the birth of the Savior, the resurrection, as well as His ascension.
As the faith of Christ spread, the number of Holy Persons increased: martyrs and saints. The greatness of their deeds provided an inexhaustible source for pious Christian songwriters and artists to compose in memory of their various prayers and hymns, as well as artistic images.
The Holy Church included these emerging spiritual works in the composition of church services, timing the reading and singing of the latter to the days of memory of the saints designated in them. The range of these prayers and hymns is wide and varied;
it unfolds for a whole year, and every day there are not one, but several saints being glorified.
The manifestation of God's mercy to a well-known people, locality or city, for example, deliverance from floods, earthquakes, from the attacks of enemies, etc., gave an indelible occasion to prayerfully commemorate these events.
Since every day is a day of the week and at the same time a day of the year, there are three kinds of memories for each day: 1) “daytime” or hourly memories, connected with a certain hour of the day; 2) “weekly” or weekly memories, connected with individual days of the week; 3) “annual” or numerical memories associated with certain dates of the year.
The concept of circles of worship
Due to the above circumstance, that every day there are three kinds of memories: daily, weekly and yearly each praying person can explain to himself the question of why church services speak not only of those events that took place at certain hours and days, but also of other events and even of many sacred persons.
Thanks to the same knowledge of the threefold kind of sacred remembrance that falls on each day, the prayer can explain to himself the following other observation.
If for several weeks, at least two, you attend each church service, carefully follow the content of the prayers sung and read, then you can notice that some prayers, for example, “Our Father”, a prayer to the Most Holy Trinity, litanies - are read at each service : other prayers, and these are the majority, are heard only during one service, and they are not used after another.
Consequently, it turns out that some prayers are used without fail at each service and do not change, while others change and alternate with each other. The change and alternation of church prayers occurs in this order: some prayers, performed at one service, are not performed after another. For example, the prayer “Lord, I have called...” is performed only after vespers, and the prayers “Only Begotten Son...” or “I have seen the true light...” are sung only at Mass. Then these prayers are not repeated in the church until the next day.
The next day, we hear these prayers at the same service at which we heard the day before, for example, “Lord, cry ...” at Vespers and “Only Begotten Son ...” at Mass; consequently these prayers, although they are repeated every day, are always confined to one specific service.
There are prayers that are repeated every week on a certain day. For example, “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ...” we hear only on Sunday after the Vespers; prayer "Heavenly armies. Archistratisi...” - only on Mondays. Therefore, the “turn” of these prayers comes in a week.
Finally, there is a third series of prayers, which are performed only on certain dates of the year. For example, “Your Christmas, Christ our God” is heard on December 25, in “Your Christmas, Virgin Mother of God” - on September 8 (or in the days following these numbers) on December 25. Art. Art. - Jan 7 n. Art., 8 sect. Art. Art. - 21 sects. n. Art.
If we compare the threefold kind of change and alternation of church prayers, it turns out: every day prayers are repeated relating to sacred memories and “hours”, a week later - related to sacred memories “seven”, and a year later - related to sacred memories “annual”. ".
Since all our prayers alternate with each other, repeat (as if “circling”), some with the speed of the day, others - weeks and still others - years, then these prayers have been adopted in church books the name of the service of the “circle of everyday life”, “circle of the week” and "annual circle".
Every day, the prayers of all three “circles” are heard in the church, and not just one, moreover,the main “circle” is the “everyday circle”, and the other two are additional.
Composition of church services
The alternating prayers of the daily, weekly, and yearly circles are called "changing" prayers. Meeting prayers for every service called "unchanging". Each church service consists of a combination of unchanging and changing prayers.
Unchanging prayers
In order to understand the order and meaning of our church services, it is more convenient to first understand the meaning of “unchanging” prayers. The unchanging prayers that are read and sung at each service are the following: 1) opening prayers, that is, prayers with which all services begin and which are therefore called the “Usual Beginning” in liturgical practice; 2) Litanies; 3) Exclamations and 4) Leaves or vacations.
Normal start
Each divine service begins with the call of the priest to glorify and give praise to God. There are three such invocative invitations or exclamations:
1) “Blessed is our God always, now and forever and forever and ever” (before the start of most services);
2) “Glory to the Saints, and to the Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Inseparable Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever” (before the beginning of the All-night service);
3) “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever” (before the beginning of the Liturgy).
After the exclamation, the Reader, on behalf of all those present, expresses with the word “amen” (true) consent to this praise and immediately begins to praise God: “Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.”
Then, in order to prepare ourselves for a worthy prayer, we, following the reader, turn to the Holy Spirit (“King of Heaven”) with a prayer, Who alone can give us the gift of true prayer, so that He dwells in us, cleanses us from all filth and saves us. (Rom. VIII, 26).
With a prayer for purification, we turn to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, reading: a) “Holy God”, b) “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”, c) “Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us” and d) “Lord have mercy ”, e) “Glory... and now”. Finally, we read the Lord's Prayer, that is, "Our Father" as a sign that this is the best example of our prayers. In conclusion, we read three times: “Come, let us bow down and fall down to Christ,” and we move on to reading other prayers that are part of the service. The normal start order is:
1) The exclamation of the priest.
2) Reading "Glory to Thee, our God."
3) "King of Heaven".
4) “Holy God” (three times).
5) “Glory to the Father and the Son” (small doxology).
6) "Holy Trinity".
7) “Lord have mercy” (Three times) Glory now.
8) Our Father.
9) Come and worship.
Litany
Litany is derived from the Greek ektenos, meaning "zealously".
After each service, such a prayer is heard, which, being itself lengthy, is divided into several smaller parts or passages, each of which ends on the part of the persons singing or reading, in response words; “Lord have mercy”, “God give”.
Litanies are divided into several types: 1) Great Litany, 2) Special Litany, 3) Petitionary Litany, 4) Lesser Litany, and 5) Litany for the Dead or Funeral.
Great Litany
The great litany consists of 10 petitions or divisions.
1)Let us pray to the Lord in peace.
It means; Let us call upon our prayer meeting the peace of God, or the blessing of God, and under the shadow of the face of God, who is addressed to us with peace and love, let us begin to pray for our needs. Likewise, let us pray in peace, having forgiven mutual offenses (Matt. V, 23-24).
2)About the peace from above and the salvation of our souls. Let's pray to the Lord.
“The world above” is the peace of the earth with heaven, the reconciliation of man with God or the receipt of forgiveness from God for sins through our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of forgiveness of sins or reconciliation with God is salvation of our souls about which we also pray in the second petition of the Great Litany.
3)About the peace of the whole world, the well-being of God's holy churches and the union of all. Let's pray to the Lord.
In the third petition, we pray not only for a harmonious and friendly life among people on earth, not only for the peace of the entire universe, but also for a wider and deeper peace, this is: peace and harmony (harmony) in around the world in the fullness of all God's creations (heaven and earth, the sea and everything else in them, angels and people, living and dead).
The second subject of the petition; well-being, i.e., the peace and well-being of the holy churches of God or individual Orthodox societies.
The fruit and consequence of the prosperity and well-being of Orthodox societies on earth will be extensive moral unity: harmony, a unanimous proclamation of the glory of God from all the elements of the world, from all animate beings, there will be such penetration of “everything” by the highest religious content, when God will be “perfectly in everything” (1 Cor. XV, 28).
4)About this holy temple, and with faith, reverence and the fear of God entering it. Let's pray to the Lord.
(Reverence and fear of God are expressed in a prayerful mood, in laying aside worldly cares, in cleansing the heart from enmity and envy. - From the outside, reverence is expressed in bodily purity, in decent clothes and in refraining from talking and looking around).
To pray for the Holy Temple means to ask God that He never depart from the temple with His grace; but he kept the faith from desecration by enemies, from fires, earthquakes, robbers, so that the means for maintaining it in a flourishing state would not be scarce in the temple.
The temple is called holy according to the sanctity of the sacred actions performed in it and according to the grace-filled presence of God in it, from the time of consecration. But the grace that abides in the temple is not available to everyone, but only to those who enter it. with faith, reverence and the fear of God.
5)About this city, (or about this village) every city, country, and by faith living in them. Let's pray to the Lord.
We pray not only for our city, but for every other city and country, and for their inhabitants (because, according to Christian brotherly love, we must pray not only for ourselves, but for all people).
6) About the well-being of the air, about the abundance of earthly fruits and peaceful times. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, we ask the Lord to grant us our daily bread, that is, everything necessary for our earthly life. We ask for favorable weather for the growth of bread, as well as peacetime.
7)About floating, traveling, sick, suffering, captives, and about their salvation. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, the Holy Church invites us to pray not only for those who are present, but also for those who are absent: 1) those on the road (swimming, traveling), 2) sick, infirm (that is, sick and weak in body in general) and suffering (that is, chained to a bed with a dangerous disease) and 3) those who are in captivity.
8)O deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need. Let's pray to the Lord.
In this petition, we ask the Lord to deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need, that is, from grief, calamity and unbearable embarrassment.
9)Intercede, save, have mercy, and save us, O God, by Your grace.
In this petition, we pray to the Lord to protect us, keep us and have mercy through His mercy and grace.
10) Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos, and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, remembering ourselves, and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God.
Therefore, we constantly call on the Mother of God in litanies, because She serves as our Intercessor and Intercessor before the Lord. After turning to the Mother of God for help, the Holy Church advises itself, each other and our whole life to entrust to the Lord.
The great litany is otherwise called “peaceful” (because it often asks people for peace).
In ancient times, litanies were continuous prayers in form and common prayers. all those present in the temple, the proof of which is, among other things, the words “Lord have mercy” following the deacon’s exclamations.
Special Litany
The second litany is called “double,” that is, intensified, because for each petition pronounced by the deacon, the chanters answer with the triple “Lord, have mercy.” A special litany consists of the following petitions:
1)Rtsem all with all my heart, and from all our thoughts, Rtsem.
Let us say to the Lord with all our heart and with all our thoughts: (further on, it is explained what exactly we will say).
2) Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, we pray to you, hear and have mercy.
Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, we pray to You, hear and have mercy.
3) Have mercy on us. God, by Your great mercy, we pray to You, hear and have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, according to Your great goodness. We pray to You, hear and have mercy.
4)We also pray for all the Christ-loving host.
We also pray for all the soldiers, as defenders of the Faith and the Fatherland.
5)We also pray for our brethren, priestesses, holy monks, and all our brotherhood in Christ.
We also pray for our brethren in the service and in Christ.
6) We also pray for the blessed and ever-memorable Orthodox Patriarchs, and the pious kings, and the faithful queens, and the creators of this holy temple, and for all the late fathers and brothers, who lie here and everywhere, Orthodox.
We also pray for St. Orthodox Patriarchs, about faithful Orthodox tsars and queens; - about the always memorable creators of the Holy Temple; about all our dead parents and brothers buried here and in other places.
7) We also pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, visitation, forgiveness and forgiveness of the sins of the servants of God, the brethren of this Holy Temple.
In this petition, we ask the Lord for bodily and spiritual blessings to the parishioners of the church where the service is performed.
8) We also pray for those who bear fruit and do good in this holy and all-honourable temple, for those who labor, sing and come forward, expecting great and rich mercy from You.
We also pray for people: “fruit-bearing” (i.e., those who bring material and monetary donations for liturgical needs in the temple: wine, oil, incense, candles) and “virtuous” (i.e., those who make decorations in the temple or donate to maintain the splendor in the temple), as well as about those doing some work in the temple, for example, reading, singing, and about all the people who are in the temple in anticipation of a great and rich mercy.
Pleading Litany
The petitionary litany consists of a series of petitions ending with the words “We ask the Lord”, to which the chanters answer with the words: “Give, Lord.” The petitionary litany reads thus:
1)Let us fulfill (evening or morning) prayer to our Lord.
Let's make (or supplement) our prayer to the Lord.
Save protection, have mercy and save us, O God, by Your grace.
3)Day (or evening) of the whole accomplishment, holy, peaceful and sinless, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord to spend this day (or evening) expediently, holy, peacefully and sinlessly.
4) The angel is peaceful, faithful mentor, guardian of our souls and bodies, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for the Holy Angel, who is a faithful mentor and guardian of our soul and body.
5)Forgiveness and forgiveness of our sins and transgressions, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for forgiveness and forgiveness of our sins (heavy) and sins (light) of ours.
6)Kind and useful to our souls and peace of the world, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for everything useful and good for our souls, peace for all people and the whole world.
7)End the rest of your life in peace and repentance, we ask the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord that we live the rest of our lives in peace and a calm conscience.
8) Christian death of our belly, painless, shameless, peaceful, and a good answer at the terrible Judgment of Christ, we ask.
Let us ask the Lord that our death would be Christian, that is, with confession and Communion of the Holy Mysteries, painless, shameless and peaceful, that is, that before death we make peace with our loved ones. Let us ask for a kind and fearless answer at the Last Judgment.
9) Our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commit ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ God.
Small Litany
The small litany is an abbreviation of the great litany and contains only the following petitions:
1.Packs and packs (again and again) let's pray to the Lord in peace.
2. Intercede, save, have mercy and save us. God, Your grace.
3. Having remembered our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Our Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, let us commit ourselves and each other, and our whole life to Christ God.
Sometimes these petitions of the great, special, small and petitionary litanies are joined by others, composed on a special occasion, for example, on the occasion of the burial or commemoration of the dead, on the occasion of the blessing of water, the beginning of teaching, the onset of the New Year.
These litanies with additional "changing petitions" are contained in a special book for prayer singing.
Funeral Litany
a) Great:
1. Let us pray to the Lord in peace.
2. For heavenly peace and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
3. For the forgiveness of sins, in the blessed memory of those who have passed away, let us pray to the Lord.
4. For the ever-memorable servants of God (the name of the rivers), peace, silence, their blessed memory, let us pray to the Lord.
5. To forgive them every sin, voluntary and involuntary. Let's pray to the Lord.
6. For the uncondemned to stand at the terrible throne of the Lord of glory, let us pray to the Lord.
7. Let us pray to the Lord for those who are weeping and sick, looking forward to Christ's consolation.
8. Oh, let them go from all sickness and sorrow, and sighing, and inspire them, where the light of the face of God shines. Let's pray to the Lord.
9. Oh, yes, the Lord our God will restore their souls in a place of light, in a green place, in a place of peace, where all the righteous abide, let us pray to the Lord.
10. Let us pray to the Lord for their counting in the bowels of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
11.0 deliver us from all sorrow, anger and need, let us pray to the Lord.
12. Intercede, save, have mercy and save us, O God, by Your grace.
13. Mercy of God, the kingdom of heaven, and forgiveness of sins, having asked for ourselves, each other and our whole life to Christ God.
b) Small and
c) The Triple Litany for the Dead consists of three petitions in which the thoughts of the Great Litany are repeated.
exclamations
While the deacon on the solea pronounces the litanies, the priest on the altar recites (secretly) prayers to himself (there are especially many secret prayers in the liturgy), and the end pronounces them loudly. These ends of the prayers, recited by the priest, are called "exclamations." They usually express base, why we, praying to the Lord, can hope for the fulfillment of our prayers, and why we have the boldness to turn to the Lord with petitions and thanksgiving.
By direct impression, all the exclamations of the priest are divided into introductory, liturgical and litanious. In order to clearly distinguish between the one and the other, one must carefully assimilate the exclamations of the litany. The most common are the following exclamations:
1.After the Great Litany: Yako(i.e. because) All glory, honor and worship befits Thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
2. After a special litany: For God is merciful and loving of mankind, and we send up glory to You, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
3. After the pleading litanies: For God is good and philanthropic, Thou art we send glory to Thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
4.After a small litany:
a] For Your dominion, and Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, always, now and forever and forever and ever.
b] As the God of mercy and generosity and philanthropy, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
c] For bless Thy Name and glorify Thy kingdom, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
G] For you are our God, and we send glory to you, to the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
e] Thou art the King of the world and the Savior of our souls, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever.
However, in addition to the above, there are several more exclamations that contain the same thoughts as the noted eight exclamations. For example, after the Vespers and Prayers, the following exclamations are also pronounced:
a] Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and those who are in the sea far off: and be merciful, be merciful, Master, on our sins and have mercy on us. Merciful and philanthropist, Thou art God, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
Hear us. God our Savior, You, in Whom they hope in all the ends of the earth and in the distant sea, and being merciful, be merciful to our sins and have mercy on us, because You are a merciful philanthropist God is and we send Glory to you ...
b] Mercy, and bounty, and the love of mankind of Your Only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, with your most holy, and good, and life-giving spirit, now and ever and forever and ever.
By the mercy, generosity and philanthropy of Your Only Begotten Son, with whom You (God the Father) are blessed with Your Most Holy, Good and life-giving Spirit.
c] As holy, Thou art our God, and rest in the saints, and we send glory to Thee, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever.
Because you are Holy, our God, and you dwell in the saints (with your grace) and we send glory to you.
Deadly exclamation:
As you are the resurrection and the life and rest of your dead servants (name of the rivers) Christ our God, and we glorify You, with Your Father without beginning, and Your most holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever.
Vacations
Each church service ends with special prayer hymns, which together constitute a “vacation” or “vacation”. The order of dismissal is this, the Priest says: “Wisdom”, that is, let's be careful. Then, turning to the Mother of God, he says: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”
The chanters answer with the words: “To the most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim”... Further thanks to the Lord for the perfect service, the priest says aloud: “Glory to Thee, Christ God, our Hope, Glory to Thee”, after which the chanters sing: “Glory now ”, “Lord have mercy” (three times), “Bless”.
The priest, facing the people, lists all the Saints, through whose prayers we turned to God for help, namely - 1) the Mother of God, 2) Holy Week, 3) Holy Day, 4) Holy Temple, 5) Holy Local Territory, and finally, 6) the Godfather of Joachim and Anna. Then the priest says that through the prayers of these saints the Lord will have mercy and save us.
With leave, believers receive permission to leave the temple.
Changing prayers
As already mentioned, selected passages from the Holy Scriptures and prayers written by pious Christian writers and poets are read and sung in the Church. Both those and others are introduced into the composition of church services in order to depict and glorify the sacred event of the three circles of worship: daily, weekly and annual.
Readings and chants from St. Books are named after the book from which they are borrowed. For example, psalms from the book of Psalms, prophecies from books written by prophets, the Gospel from the Gospel. The changing prayers that make up sacred Christian poetry are found in church liturgical books and bear various names.
The most important of them are the following:
1)Troparion- a song that briefly depicts the life of a Saint or the history of a holiday, for example, the famous troparia: “Your Christmas, Christ Our God”, “Thou hast been transfigured on the mountain, Christ our God ...”, “The rule of faith and the image of meekness”.
The origin and meaning of the name “troparion” is explained differently: 1) some produce this word - from the Greek “tropos” - temper, image, because the lifestyle of a saint is depicted in the troparion or a description of the holiday is contained; 2) others from “trepeon” - a trophy or a sign of victory, which indicates that the troparion is a song proclaiming the victory of a saint or the triumph of a holiday; 3) others derive from the word “tropos” - tropes, that is, the use of the word not in its own meaning, but in the meaning of another object by the similarity between them, this kind of word usage is indeed often found in troparia; saints, for example, are likened in them to the sun, moon, stars, etc.; 4) finally, the word troparion is also produced from “tropome” - they changed, since the troparia are sung alternately on one or the other kliros, and “trepo” - I turn, because “they refer to other prayers and relate to them.”
2)Kontakion(from the word “kontos” - short) - a short song depicting some separate feature of the celebrated event or the Saint. All kontakia differ from troparia not so much in content as in the time at which they are sung during the service. An example of a kontakion is - “Virgin today ...”, “Choose Voivode ...”
Kontakion - derived from the Greek word "kontos" - small, short, which means such a short prayer, in which the life of a saint is briefly glorified or a recollection in brief main features of some event. Others - the name kontakion is derived from the word that names the material on which they were previously written. Indeed, initially “kontakia” - were called bundles of parchments, written on both sides.
3)magnificence- a song containing the glorification of a Saint or a holiday, magnification is sung during the all-night service before the festive icon, first by the clergy in the middle of the temple, and then repeatedly repeated on the kliros by the singers.
4)Stichira(from the Greek “stichira” - many lines) - a chant consisting of many verses written in one size of versification, having for the most part verses of Holy Scripture in front of them. Each stichera contains the main idea, which is variously revealed in all stichera. For example, the glorification of the Resurrection of Christ, the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Ap. Peter and Paul, John the Theologian, etc.
There are many stichera, but they all have different names, depending on the time of their performance at the service. If the stichera is sung after the prayer “Lord, I have called,” then it is called the “stichera for the Lord, I have called”; if the stichera is sung after the verses in which the glorification of the Lord is contained (for example, “Let every breath praise the Lord”), then the stichera is called the stichera “in praise”.
There are also stichera “on the verse”, and the stichera of the Theotokos are stichera in honor of the Mother of God. The number of stichera of each category and the verses preceding them varies - depending on the solemnity of the holiday - then 10, 8, 6 and 4. Therefore, the liturgical books say - “stichera for 10, for 8, for, 6, etc. These numbers indicate the number of psalm verses to be sung with stichera. At the same time, the stichera themselves, if they are not enough, can be repeated several times.
5)Dogmatist. Dogmatists are called special stichera, which contain the teaching (dogma) about the incarnation of Jesus Christ from the Mother of God. And the prayers, which primarily speak of the Most Holy Theotokos, are called by the common name “Theotokos”.
6)Akathist- “not seated”, prayer, especially laudatory singing in honor of the Lord, the Mother of God or the Saint.
7)antiphons- (alternate singing, counter-voicing) prayers that are supposed to be sung alternately on two kliros.
8)Prokimen- (lying in front) - there is a verse that precedes the reading of the Apostle, the Gospel and proverbs. The prokeimenon serves as a preface to the reading and expresses the essence of the remembered person. There are many prokimens: they are daytime, festive, etc.
9)involved a verse that is sung during the communion of the clergy.
10)Canon- this is a series of sacred hymns in honor of a Saint or a holiday that are read or sung at the Vespers at the time when the worshipers kiss (apply) the Holy Gospel or the icon of the holiday. The word "canon" is Greek, in Russian - a rule. The canon consists of nine or sometimes fewer parts called "songs".
Each song, in turn, is divided into several sections (or stanzas), of which the first is called “irmos”. Irmos are sung and serve as a link for all the following sections, which are read and called troparia of the canon.
Every canon has a specific subject. For example, in one canon the Resurrection of Christ is glorified, and in another - the Cross of the Lord, the Mother of God, or some Saint. Therefore, the canons have special names, for example, the “Sunday canon”, the canon of the “Life-Giving Cross”, the canon of “Theotokos”, the canon of “Saint”.
According to the main subject of the canon, special refrains are read before each verse. For example, during the Sunday canon, the refrain: “Glory to Thee, Our God, glory to Thee...”, under the canon of the Theotokos, the refrain: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”
The concept of liturgical books
The books necessary for worship are divided into sacred liturgical books and church liturgical books. The first contains a reading from the Bible (Holy Scripture): these are the Gospel, the Apostle, the Prophetic books and the Psalter; the second contains the changing prayers of the daily, weekly and annual circle.
Circle prayers daytime, that is, the order and text of the daily church services: Midnight Office, Matins, Vespers, etc. are contained in a book called the Book of Hours.
Circle prayers weekly content:
a) in a book called “Oktoih” or Osmoglasnik, which is divided into 8 parts, corresponding to eight church tunes, and is used at all times, except for the period of Great Lent and ending with the feast of the Holy Trinity;
b) in the book - “Triod”, (two types: “Lenten Triod” and “Color”), used during Great Lent and up to the feast of the Holy Trinity inclusive.
Finally, the prayer circle annual are contained in the Menaion or Monthly Book, divided into 12 parts according to the number of 12 months. All the prayers and hymns in honor of the Saints in the Menaion are arranged according to the numbers, and those in the “Octoechos” according to the days.
In addition, those and other departments are divided into services: evenings, mornings and liturgies. For convenience, the prayers and hymns of the great feasts are contained in a special book called the Feast Menaion.
However, familiarization with the liturgical books would be insufficient if it were not for the following book, called the "Ustav" or Typicon.
This voluminous book contains a detailed procedure for performing services at various times and days of the year, and also indicates the state and behavior of those praying in the temple, during worship and outside the temple, during the day.
The Rule is the main guide for worship.
14.1. What is worship?
- Worship - service, or service to God, consisting of reading and singing prayers, reading the Holy Scriptures, rituals performed by a clergyman in a certain order (order).
14.2. What are worship services for?
- Worship as the outer side of religion expresses the religious faith and reverent feelings of Christians towards God. During worship, believers experience a meeting with the Lord, unity with Him.
14.3. What is the purpose of worship?
– The purpose of the worship service established by the Orthodox Church is to give Christians the best way to express petitions, thanksgiving and praises addressed to the Lord; to teach and educate believers in the truths of the Orthodox faith and the rules of Christian piety; to bring believers into mysterious communion with the Lord and communicate to them the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit.
14.4. What do Orthodox liturgy mean?
– Liturgy (common cause, public service) is the main divine service during which Communion (Communion) of the faithful takes place. The remaining eight services are preparatory prayers for the Liturgy.
Vespers is a service celebrated at the end of the day, in the evening.
Compline - service after the supper (dinner) .
Midnight Office – a service meant to be performed at midnight.
Matins – service performed in the morning, before sunrise.
Clock Services – commemoration of the events (by the hour) of Good Friday (judgment, suffering and death of the Savior) and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
On the eve of major holidays and Sundays, an evening service is performed, which is called the all-night vigil, because among the ancient Christians it lasted all night. The word "vigil" means "awake." The All-Night Vigil consists of Vespers, Matins and the First Hour. In modern conditions, the all-night vigil is most often performed in the evening on the eve of Sundays and holidays.
14.5. What worship services are performed in the Church daily?
– Evening, morning and afternoon services are performed in churches every day. In turn, each of these three divine services is composed of three parts:
Evening Divine Liturgy - from the ninth hour, Vespers, Compline.
Morning - from Midnight Office, Matins, the first hour.
Daytime - from the third hour, the sixth hour, the Divine Liturgy.
Thus, nine services are formed from the evening, morning and afternoon church services.
Now full statutory divine services are performed only in some monasteries. In most parish churches, divine services are performed only in the morning (hours and Liturgy) and in the evening (vespers, matins and the first hour) with some reductions.
14.6. Where can I find out about the schedule of services in the temple?
– The schedule of services is usually posted on the doors of the temple, information stand or on the website of the parish.
14.7. What is depicted in the Liturgy?
- In the Liturgy, under the external rites, the whole earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ is depicted: His birth, teaching, works, suffering, death, burial, Resurrection and Ascension to heaven.
14.8. On what days is the Liturgy of Basil the Great celebrated?
- The Liturgy of Basil the Great is served only 10 times a year: on the eve of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord (or on the days of these holidays, if they fall on a Sunday or Monday), January 1/14 - on the day of memory of St. Basil the Great, on five Sundays Great Lent, Great Thursday and Great Saturday of Holy Week. The Liturgy of Basil the Great differs from the Liturgy of John Chrysostom in some prayers, their longer duration and more drawn-out singing of the choir, so it is a little longer.
14.9. What is called lunch?
– In the people, the Liturgy is called Mass. The name "mass" comes from the custom of ancient Christians after the end of the Liturgy to use the leftovers of the brought bread and wine at a common meal (or public dinner), which took place in one of the parts of the temple.
14.10. What is called lunch?
- The service of the pictorial (Lunch) is the name of a short service that is performed instead of the Liturgy when it is not supposed to serve the Liturgy (for example, during Great Lent) or when it is impossible to serve it (there is no priest, antimension, prosphora). The liturgy serves as a kind of image or likeness of the Liturgy, is similar in composition to the Liturgy of the catechumens, and its main parts correspond to those of the Liturgy. There is no communion during lunch.
14.11. What is a polyole?
- Literally from Greek, the word "polyeleos" can be translated as "many mercy" (polys - many and eleos- mercy). Polyeleos is the most solemn part of Matins, which symbolizes the giving of many mercy from God. Polyeleos are performed only on Sunday and holiday matins.
When the polyeleos begins and the first words of the 134th psalm “Praise the name of the Lord” sound, numerous lamps are lit in the temple - oil lamps. The Royal Doors are opened, the priest, preceded by a deacon holding a burning candle, censes the throne and the entire altar, the iconostasis, the clergy, the choir, those praying, and the entire temple. The open Royal Doors symbolize the open Tomb of the Lord, from where the kingdom of eternal life shone forth. After reading the Gospel, all those present at the service approach the icon of the feast, venerate it, then approach the priest, who crosswise anoints his forehead with consecrated oil. The cruciform anointing of the foreheads of believers with consecrated oil means the outpouring of God's mercy on them and is also one of the types of blessing. The anointing has not only a symbolic meaning, but also really conveys the gift of grace for the sanctification of the soul and body.
The anointing with consecrated oil on the polyeleos is not an ecclesiastical sacrament, it is a sacred rite of the Church.
14.12. What is lithium?
– Lithia in Greek means “earnest prayer”. In Orthodox worship, it is part of the all-night vigil on the eve of church holidays.
A special kind of lithium is established for praying for the deceased, performed when he is taken out of the house, and also, at the request of his relatives, during church commemoration of him at any other time.
14.13. What psalms are included in the Six Psalms and why these particular ones?
– The Six Psalms is one of the most important parts of the morning service of the Orthodox Church, consisting of six selected psalms. The importance of this part of the morning service is evidenced by the fact that the Six Psalms is read at every morning service almost all the time of the year (with the exception of Bright Paschal Week).
The composition of the Six Psalms includes: Psalm 3 “Lord, that thou hast multiplied”, Psalm 37 “Lord, let not rage”, Psalm 62 “God, my God, I will morning you”, Psalm 87 “Lord God of my salvation”, Psalm 102 “Bless my soul is the Lord”, Psalm 142 “Lord, hear my prayer”. Psalms are chosen from different places of the Psalter evenly. The psalms are chosen to have a uniform content and tone, which dominates the Psalter; they all depict the persecution of the righteous by enemies (primarily the spirits of malice) and his firm hope in God, which only grows stronger from the increase in persecution and finally achieves exultant peace in God (psalm 102). When reading the Six Psalms, penitential psalms alternate with thanksgiving ones.
14.14. Why is the liturgy not translated into Russian to make it more understandable?
– The Church Slavonic language was created by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius specifically for worship as the language of the Church, as the language of communion with God and knowledge of God. This language absorbed the Christian symbols and meanings contained in the texts of the Christian literature of Byzantium and the ancient literature of Ancient Greece. For more than a thousand years it has been the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church and a number of other local churches. The thousand-year-old spiritual experience of Russian saints is captured in the images of the Church Slavonic language. Church Slavonic introduces Orthodox Christians into the liturgical life of the Church.
Regarding the translation of the service into Russian, they have been arguing for quite a long time. But there are a number of problems here. The translation of the service into Russian will provoke a sharp stylistic decline and loss of the initial meaning of many words and expressions that will bear the imprint of our everyday communication - very often with a negative connotation. Such a translation would impoverish the content of liturgical texts.
To translate at least an approximate meaning of Slavic expressions in Russian, it will be necessary to use complex and cumbersome constructions.
Many church hierarchs believe that the problem of understanding worship by parishioners will not be solved by simply translating liturgical texts into modern Russian, but it can create a situation where for many faithful children of the Church, worship in Russian instead of Slavonic will be perceived as completely unjustified.
Separately, it should be said that there is a useful practice of translating liturgical texts or prayers, their explanation not for liturgical purposes, but for educational purposes.
14.15. Why do priests serve in vestments of different colors?
- A certain color of the vestments of the clergy has been assigned to groups of church holidays. Each of the seven colors of liturgical vestments correspond to the spiritual meaning of the event in honor of which the service is performed. There are no developed dogmatic institutions in this area, but there is a tradition in the Church that assimilates a certain symbolism to various colors used in worship.
14.16. What do the different colors of priestly vestments mean?
- On holidays dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as on the days of memory of His special anointed ones (prophets, apostles and saints), the color of the vestment is gold or yellow. In golden robes they serve on Sundays.
On holidays in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, as well as on the days of remembrance of the holy virgins and virgins, the blue color of the vestments is used, symbolizing special purity and purity.
Violet is adopted on the feasts of the Holy Cross. It combines red (symbolizing the color of the blood of Christ and the Resurrection) and blue, reminiscent of the fact that the Cross opened the way to heaven.
Dark red is the color of blood. In red vestments, services are held in honor of the holy martyrs who shed their blood for the faith of Christ.
In green vestments, the day of the Holy Trinity, the day of the Holy Spirit and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) are celebrated, since the green color is a symbol of life. Divine services are also performed in green vestments in honor of the saints: the monastic feat revives a person by union with Christ, renews his whole nature and leads to eternal life.
In black vestments, they usually serve on the weekdays of Great Lent. Black color is a symbol of renunciation of worldly fuss, a symbol of crying and repentance.
White color as a symbol of Divine uncreated light is accepted on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany (Baptism), Ascension and Transfiguration of the Lord. In white vestments, Paschal Matins also begins - as a sign of the Divine light that shone from the Tomb of the Resurrected Savior. In white vestments, the clergy perform divine services on the days of the celebration of the memory of the angelic forces.
White robes are also relied upon for baptisms and burials. From Easter to the Feast of the Ascension, all divine services are performed in red vestments, symbolizing the inexpressible fiery love of God for the human race, the victory of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
14.17. Why is censing performed in the temple?
- Incense has a symbolic meaning.
The censer's smoke symbolizes God's grace, which, like smoke, envelops the faithful in the temple. Before the beginning of the incense, the priest says a special prayer for the blessing of the censer, in which he asks the Lord to send down to the believers the grace of the Holy Spirit. The smell of incense is designed to elevate and inspire the feelings of believers, tearing them away from everyday life and earthly vanity.
Incense smoke also symbolizes prayer. This is indicated in the Holy Scriptures: “And when he took the book, then four living creatures and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden cups full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8). In the psalm it is sung: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before Thee” (Ps. 141:2). Just as smoke easily rises, so the prayer that comes from the heart of a person ascends to God, just as incense has a pleasant smell, so prayer done with love and humility is pleasing to the Lord.
14.18. Why isn't there a censing of the temple at every service?
– Burning of the temple and worshipers happens at every divine service. Liturgical censing is complete when it covers the entire church, and small when the altar, the iconostasis and the people from the pulpit are censed.
14.19. Who are the catechumens who are called to leave the temple during the service?
– In the Church, people who are preparing to receive the sacrament of holy Baptism are called catechumens. Announcement is the process of teaching and instructing people in the faith and church life. Being unbaptized, they cannot yet fully participate in the Divine Liturgy, its sacred part, when the blessing of the Gifts and the Communion of the faithful - baptized people - take place. Therefore, according to the liturgical charter of the Church, before the beginning of the third part of the Liturgy (called the Liturgy of the Faithful), after the words of the deacon, “Announcement, depart,” they are called to leave the church.
14.20. Why does the deacon stand with his back to those praying in the temple?
- He stands facing the altar, in which the Throne of God is located and the Lord Himself is invisibly present. The deacon invites and encourages the worshipers to pray together, facing east.
14.21. Why are the lights and candles sometimes extinguished during worship in the temple?
- In the morning, during the reading of the Six Psalms, candles are extinguished in churches, except for a few. The Six Psalms is the cry of a penitent sinner before Christ the Savior who came to earth. The lack of illumination disposes believers to self-deepening, helps to reflect on what they read, and reminds them of the gloom of a sinful state. The reading of the first half of the Six Psalms expresses the grief of the soul (darkness), which has moved away from God and is seeking Him. Reading the second half of the Six Psalms reveals the state of a repentant soul reconciled with God.
14.22. What do candlesticks with two or three candles mean, which are used during divine services by a bishop?
“These are the dikirium and the trikirium. Dikyriy - a candlestick with two candles, signifying two natures in Jesus Christ: Divine and human. Trikirion - a candlestick with three candles, signifying faith in the Holy Trinity. Dikiriy and trikiriy are used during hierarchal worship to bless the people.
14.23. What is Shrovetide?
– The last week before Lent is called “Cheese Week”, among the people it is called Maslenitsa. During this week, the charter prescribes to refrain from eating meat, but it allows you to eat milk, cheese, butter and eggs even on Wednesday and Friday.
Maslenitsa is not a holiday. The celebration of Maslenitsa is more of a secular or even pagan invention than a Christian one. It is hard to imagine that, having recalled the Last Judgment, the Church would immediately bless them for overeating, drunkenness and unrestrained fun. There is no such blessing in any charter. On the contrary, by banning the use of meat products, the Church brings the faithful close to the beginning of Lent. For a person who loves the temple of God, cheese week is filled with reflections on the Last Judgment of Christ. In the churches on the "cheese" week on Wednesday they begin to read the Lenten prayer of the great ascetic of the 4th century, the Monk Ephraim the Syrian with prostrations. Therefore, fun these days among Orthodox Christians is moderated by church services, and Shrovetide itself should not become a time of gluttony.
14.24. What date does Shrovetide start?
- Maslenitsa is the last week before the start of Lent. It ends with Forgiveness Sunday.
14.25. What is Forgiveness Sunday?
This is the name of the last Sunday before Lent. On this day, the Gospel is read at the Liturgy - an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:14-21), which, in particular, speaks of forgiveness of offenses to others, without which it is impossible to receive forgiveness of sins from the Heavenly Father.
In accordance with this Gospel reading, Christians have a pious custom to ask each other for forgiveness of sins, known and unknown offenses on this day, and to take all measures for reconciliation. Therefore, this Sunday is called Forgiveness Sunday. In the evening, after Vespers, the priest sets an example and is the first to ask everyone for forgiveness. After that, all the parishioners come up and ask forgiveness from him, as well as from each other. Without sincere heartfelt reconciliation with all, the grace-filled field of fasting can be fruitless, even if one wishes to hold a fast according to church rules.
14.26. Until what time do they read the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian?
- The prayer of Ephraim the Syrian is read until Wednesday of Passion Week.
14.27. Why in the center of the temple on a lectern, instead of an icon, sometimes there is a cross decorated with flowers?
– This is what happens during the Holy Week of Great Lent. The cross is taken out and placed on the lectern in the center of the temple, in order to inspire and strengthen those who are fasting to continue the feat of fasting as a reminder of the suffering and death of the Lord.
The cross is also taken out to the center of the temple on the holidays of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and the Origin (Deposition) of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.
14.28. When can one venerate the Shroud?
– You can venerate the Shroud from the middle of Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter service.
14.29. When is the Shroud taken away?
- The shroud is taken to the altar before the start of the Easter service on Saturday almost at midnight.
14.30. Is there Communion on Good Friday?
- Not. Since the Liturgy is not performed on Good Friday, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed Himself.
14.31. Does Communion take place on Great Saturday, at Easter?
– Liturgy is celebrated on Great Saturday and Easter, therefore, there is also the Communion of the faithful.
14.32. How long does the Easter service last?
- In different churches, the end time of the Easter service is different, but most often it happens from 3 to 6 in the morning.
14.33. Why are the Royal Doors open throughout the Liturgy not only on Paschal Week?
—Some priests are awarded the right to serve the Liturgy with the Royal Doors open until the Cherubic Hymn or the Lord's Prayer. The Liturgy is also served with the Royal Doors open during the hierarchal service.
14.34. What is a procession and when does it happen?
- A procession of the cross is a solemn procession of clergy and believing laity with icons, banners and other shrines. Religious processions are made annually, on the special days established for them: on the Bright Resurrection of Christ - the Easter procession; on the feast of Theophany for the great consecration of water in memory of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan, a procession with the Shroud of the Savior on Good Friday, a procession with the Shroud of the Mother of God on the Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, processions on the days of patronal feasts of churches or monasteries, as well as in honor of shrines and great church or state events. There are also emergency religious processions established by the Church on especially important occasions.
14.35. Where did the processions come from?
- The ancient righteous often made solemn and popular processions with singing, trumpeting and jubilation. Narratives about this are set out in the sacred books of the Old Testament: Exodus, Numbers, Kings, Psalter and others.
The first prototypes of the processions were: the journey of the sons of Israel from Egypt to the promised land; the procession of all Israel after the ark of God, from which came the miraculous division of the Jordan River (Josh. 3:14–17); a solemn sevenfold circumambulation with the ark around the walls of Jericho, during which the miraculous fall of the impregnable walls of Jericho took place at the sound of sacred trumpets and the cries of all the people (Josh. 6:5–19); as well as the solemn nationwide transfer of the ark of the Lord by the kings David and Solomon (2 Kings 6:1–18; 3 Kings 8:1–21).
In the New Testament history, the founder of the processions was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem is an image of the procession given by the Lord himself, Who solemnly entered the city for the suffering on the Cross, accompanied by the people and with universal exclamations: "Hosanna to the Son of David."
Solemn processions with a cross at the head entered the composition of Christian services in ancient times. Constantine the Great (III-IV centuries) went to war accompanied by priests with the presentation of the cross. Emperor Justinian (5th-6th centuries) legislated the time and order of religious processions: before the construction of a monastery, temple or chapel, he forbade religious processions without bishops and clerics. Every outstanding event in the life of the Church was accompanied by religious processions. The days of foundation and consecration of churches, the transfer of relics and other sacred objects, the meetings of archpastors, the days of special church and civil celebrations have always been accompanied by processions. The so-called propitiatory processions of the cross were especially developed in the East during the days of great national disasters: during wars, earthquakes, pestilence, floods, droughts, famines and other terrible natural phenomena. Such processions were performed with special preparations and special solemnity. So, during the earthquake in Constantinople and most of Greece, in the procession, both Archbishop Proclus and Emperor Theodosius the Younger humbly walked without shoes. St. Simeon of Thessalonica (XI century) says about the content of the processions: “On the paths and crossroads we pray in order to cleanse all the paths and crossroads defiled by our sins. We will raise sacred icons from churches, wear out honest crosses, and sometimes, where we have, the sacred relics of saints in order to sanctify both people and everything that they need for life - that is, houses, paths, water, air and the earth itself. as trampled down and defiled by the feet of sinners. All this so that the inhabited city and the whole country become partakers of Divine grace ... "
In Russia, the practice of religious processions was adopted from the Greek church tradition and exists throughout the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.
14.36. What does the Easter procession mean?
- The Paschal procession is performed in memory of the procession of the myrrh-bearing women to the tomb of the Savior, where they went to mourn His death and anoint His body with incense.
The worshipers, led by the clergy, leave the temple to make a solemn procession around the temple. The Easter procession takes place with candles, banners (church banners - a symbol of victory over death and the devil), censers and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ under the continuous ringing of the bells with the singing of the Easter stichera: "Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior ...". Like the myrrh-bearing women who met the resurrected Christ the Savior outside Jerusalem, Christians meet the news of the coming of the Holy Resurrection of Christ outside the walls of the temple - they seem to be marching towards the resurrected Savior.
Before entering the temple, the solemn Paschal procession stops at the door and enters the temple only after the jubilant message has sounded three times: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life on those in the tombs!” People during the procession enter the temple, just as the myrrh-bearing women came to Jerusalem with joyful news to the disciples of Christ about the risen Lord.
14.37. How many times does the Easter procession take place?
- The first Easter procession takes place on Easter night. Then, during the week (Bright Week), every day after the end of the Liturgy, the Easter procession is performed, and before the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the same processions can be performed every Sunday.
14.38. What does the procession with the Shroud on Holy Week mean?
- This mournful and deplorable procession takes place in memory of the burial of Jesus Christ, when His secret disciples Joseph and Nicodemus, accompanied by the Mother of God and the myrrh-bearing wives, carried Jesus Christ who died on the cross. They went from Mount Golgotha to the burial cave, in which, according to Jewish custom, they laid the body of Christ. In remembrance of this sacred event - the burial of Jesus Christ - the procession is performed with the Shroud, which represents the body of the deceased Jesus Christ, as it was taken down from the cross and buried.
The apostle says to believers: "Remember My Ties"(Col. 4:18). If the apostle commands Christians to remember his sufferings in chains, then, of course, one should remember the sufferings of Christ. Anyone who is called a Christian, who celebrates the mournful moments of the suffering and death of the Savior, cannot but be a participant in the heavenly joy of His Resurrection, for according to the words of the apostle: "But joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him"(Rom. 8:17).
14.39. What do the banners with which the religious processions are performed mean?
- Banners are the sacred banners of the Church with the image of the Savior, the Mother of God, especially revered saints and holidays, symbolizing the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over death and the devil.
The first prototype of the banner was revealed to Noah after the Flood. God, appearing to Noah during his sacrifice, revealed a rainbow in the clouds and called it "a sign of an everlasting covenant" between God and people (see Gen. 9:13–16). Just as a rainbow in the sky reminds people of the covenant of God, so the image of the Savior on banners serves as a constant reminder of the deliverance of the human race at the Last Judgment.
The second prototype of the banner was revealed at the exit of Israel from Egypt during the passage through the Red Sea. Then the Lord appeared in a pillar of cloud and covered all the army of Pharaoh with darkness from this cloud, and destroyed it in the sea, but saved Israel. The Lord always wins and drives away the power of the enemy.
The third type of banners is a cloud that covered the tabernacle and overshadowed Israel during the journey to the promised land. All Israel gazed at the sacred cloud and with spiritual eyes perceived in it the presence of God Himself.
Another prototype of the banner is the copper serpent, which was erected by Moses at the command of God in the wilderness. When looking at him, the Jews received healing from God, since the bronze serpent represented the Cross of Christ (see John 3:14–15).
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