Introduction to Orthros (Matins)

Transcription

1 Introduction to Orthros (Matins) Stephen Bishop St Timothy Orthodox Church May 20, 2018 Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

2 Table of Contents 1 Introduction to Orthros The Orthros Service Orthros Description 2 The Orthros Order of Service Fixed and Variable Parts Service Elements 3 Definitions Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

3 Introduction to Orthros The Orthros Service The Orthros Service from The Orthodox Faith, Vol II, Worship, by Fr Thomas Hopko The morning service of the Church is called Matins It opens with the reading of six morning psalms and the intoning of the Great Litany After this, verses of Psalm 118 are sung: God is the Lord and has revealed himself unto us Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord The Troparion is then sung and, if it be a monastery, various groups of psalms which differ each day are read Once again there are hymns on the theme of the particular day On major feast days, special praises and psalms are sung, which on the Lord s Day sing of Christ s resurrection from the dead On major feasts and on Sundays, the Gospel is also read After the Gospel there is a long intercessory prayer followed by a set of hymns and readings called the Canon These songs are based on the Old Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

4 Introduction to Orthros The Orthros Service The Orthos Service (cont) Testamental canticles and conclude with the song of Mary, the so-called Magnificat (Lk ) The Great Doxology is chanted followed by the morning litanies The troparion is also repeated once again before the congregation is dismissed to begin the activities of the day The Matins service of the Church unites the elements of morning psalmody and prayer with meditation on the Biblical canticles, the Gospel reading, and the particular theme of the day in the given verses and hymns The themes of God s revelation and light are also always central to the morning service of the Church Sometimes, particularly in churches of the Russian tradition, the Matins and the Vespers services are combined to form a long vigil service On special feast days, the blessing of bread, wheat, wine, and oil is added to the Vespers, even when it is served separately from Matins The faithful partake of the blessed food and are anointed with the oil as a sign of God s mercy and grace Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

5 Introduction to Orthros Orthros Description Orthros Description One of the services celebrated in the daily cycle of services Also celebrated in the weekly cycle on Sundays before the Divine Liturgy On Sunday the focus is on the Resurrection of Christ Consists of Fixed and Variable components Fixed Elements are the same for every service Variable components change according to: The tone of the week specified in the Octoechos; The Gospel reading of the week specified in the Eothinion Gospel cycle; The festal seasons of the year; The saints and feasts of the day Orthros services also change according to the day of the week, Lent, and certain other feasts Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

6 The Orthros Order of Service Fixed and Variable Parts Parts of the Service The FIXED PARTS: The beginning prayers, the Six Psalms, and the Petitions of Peace; the Ektene that follows the Apolytikia & Theotokia; the Evlogetaria; the petitions which follow the Evlogetaria; the Having Beheld the Resurrection and Psalm 50; the prayer O God, save Your people; the Hymn and Verses of the More Honorable Than the Cherubim; the petitions; the Theotokion; and, the Doxology and final hymns The VARIABLE PARTS: The Resurrection Apolytikia & Theotokia; the Kathismata; the Hypakoai and Anavathmoi; the Kontakia and Oikoi; the Katavasiai; the Morning Gospels; the Exaposteilaria; the Ainoi; and the Doxastika Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

7 The Orthros Order of Service Service Elements The Orthros Order of Service Priest: Blessed is our God Glory to thee O heavenly King (Not said from Easter to Pentecost) Chanter: Amen Trisagion Prayers ( Holy God through Lord s Prayer) Priest: Exclamation: For thine is the Kingdom Chanter: Amen O Lord save thy people Glory Do thou, who of thine own Now O Champion dread, who cannot Priest: Ektenia: Have mercy on us Again we pray for pious Again we pray for our father and Metropolitan JOSEPH Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

8 The Orthros Order of Service Service Elements The Orthros Order of Service - II Chanter: Amen Glory to God in the highest (3 times) Between Pascha and Ascension this should be replaced by, Christ is risen from the dead O Lord open thou my lips (2 times) 1 Six Psalms Priest: Great Ektenia Chanter: God is the Lord preceded by the verses, O give thanks unto the Lord Proper Apolytikion (Troparion and Theotokion) Priest: Little Ektenia eve 1 Note: Substitute Christ is risen (three times) for these from Easter to Ascension Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

9 The Orthros Order of Service Service Elements The Orthros Order of Service - III Chanter: Proper Kathismata Evlogetaria (not sung on certain Sundays) Priest: Little Ektenia Chanter: Proper Hypakoe, Anabathmoi, and Prokeimenon Priest: Let us pray to the Lord Chanter: Lord, have mercy Priest: For Holy art thou Chanter: Amen Let everything Priest: READ THE MATINS GOSPEL Chanter: In that we have beheld the Resurrection (not said on certain Sundays) Psalm 50 Troparia Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

10 The Orthros Order of Service Service Elements The Orthros Order of Service - IV Priest: Intercession: O God save thy people Chanter: Lord, have mercy (12 times) Priest: Exclamation: Through the mercies Chanter: Amen The Kontakion and the Ikos for the Tone of the day and the Synaxarion are read and then the proper Katabasia Priest: Little Ektenia Chanter: Holy is the Lord (3 times) Exalt ye the Lord (except from Good Friday until Pentecost) Proper Exaposteilarion and Theotokion Proper Praises (Ainoi), preceded by the verses Proper Doxastikon and Theotokion Great Doxology, in proper Tone Proper Troparion Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

11 Definitions Definitions - I A short list of descriptive terminology for the Orthros Service: Anabathmoi - (also Anavathmoi, Hymns of Ascent) A series of hymns sung after the hypakoe during Orthros, orginating in the Ascension Psalms developed in Jewish worship from the ascension to Jerusalem after captivity and, later, sung at each step leading up to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Back) Apolytikion - (Gr dismissal ) The dismissal hymn sung in honor of a saint, Christ, or the Virgin Mary on the occasion of their feast day, especially at the end of the Vespers Service (Back) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

12 Definitions Definitions - II Canon Canticle - (From Gr rule, measure, standard ) The Canon is a series of nine Canticles (or Odes) containing a number of Troparia in each, as well as a Theme Song (Irmos) The Canons are found at Matins, Compline, and certain other services in the Liturgical Cycle - The nine Biblical Odes that comprise the Canon, originally sung in their entirety daily, with a short refrain between each verse Troparia eventually took the place of the refrains 1 Canticle One The (First) Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-19) 2 Canticle Two The (Second) Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) 3 Canticle Three The Prayer of Hannah (I Kings 2:1-10) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

13 Definitions Definitions - III Canticle (cont) - 1 Canticle Four The Prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1-19) 2 Canticle Five The Prayer of Isaiah (Isaiah 26:9-20) 3 Canticle Six The Prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2:2-9) 4 Canticle Seven The Prayer of the Three Holy Children (Daniel 3:26-56) 5 Canticle Eight The Song of the Three Holy Children (Daniel 3:57-88) 6 Canticle Nine The Song of the Theotokos (the Magnificat: Luke 1:46-55); the Song of Zacharias (the Benedictus Luke 1:68-79) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

14 Definitions Definitions - IV Doxasticon Ectenia - A sticheron which is chanted between Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit and Both now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen in Orthros, at the end of the Praises (Back) - (Litany), aka Ektenia A series of petions to God occuring during an Orthodox Service (Back) Eothina - (sing Eothinon) An 11 part cycle of Resurrectional Gospel passages read for the Orthros Gospel 1) Mt (28:16 20); 2) Mk (16:1 8); 3) Mk (16:9 20); 4) Lk (24:1 12); 5) Lk (24:12 35); 6) Lk (24:36 53); 7) Jn (20:1 20); 8) Jn (20:11 18); 9) Jn (20:19 31); 10) Jn (21:1 4); 11) Jn (21:15 25) Evlogetaria (1) - Troparia sung after the reading from the Psalter The refrain repeated between the troparia is Blessed art Thou, Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

15 Definitions Definitions - V Evlogetaria (2) - O Lord, teach me Thy statutes (Psalm 118:12 LXX) The Evlogitaria of the Resurrection are sung at Sunday Matins after the Kathismata (Back) Exaposteilarion - (Gr dispatching ) A special hymn sung at Matins after the Canon It refers to Christ s activity after the Resurrection, particularly His dispatching of the disciples to preach to the world (Back) Hypakoe Irmos - A troparion sung at Matins on Great Feasts and Sundays after the Evlogitaria of the Resurrection and the Small Litany (Back) - The Theme Song of each Ode of the Canon The word Irmos means link, since originally the Troparia that followed it were sung in the same rhythm, and thus were linked to it Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

16 Definitions Definitions - VI Katavasia - Concluding stanza of a Canticle of the Canon Found after each Ode of the Canon on major Feasts and on ordinary days, the Irmos of the last Canon sung (there are usually several Canons sung together) is sung as Katavasia after Odes Three, Six, Eight and Nine (Back) Kathisma - (Pl Kathismata) Selections from the Psalter, read at Vespers, Matins, and various other services, during which the Faithful are permitted to sit (Back) Kathisma Hymn - Short hymns sung after the Kathisma readings, during which the Faithful are permitted to sit (except for certain prescribed days) Sometimes referred to as Sedalens or Sessional Hymns Kontakion - Originally a long poetic composition Now only the brief preliminary stanza remains Sung before the Ikos after the Sixth Ode of the Canon, at the Liturgy, Hours, and various other services (Back) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

17 Definitions Definitions - VII Octoechos Ode Oikos - Service book containing the canons and hymns of the eight tones or modes of Byzantine music They are used in all services, arranged every eight weeks, one for each tone, and are attributed to St John of Damascus (eighth century), one of the greatest Orthodox hymnographers and theologians - The Biblical Odes (also called canticles) are nine hymns that are taken directly from Scripture They are chanted at Matins and form the basis of the canon, a major component of Matins - also, Ikos A short composition that follows the Kontakion, between the Sixth and Seventh Odes of the Canon (Back) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

18 Definitions Definitions - VIII Praises - (also, Ainoi) Psalms 148, 149, 150; stichera are interspersed between the final verses on days the great doxology is sung (Back) Prokeimenon Six Psalms - Verses from the Psalter sung immediately before Scripture Lessons, primarily at Liturgy, Vespers and Matins The Prokeimenon sung immediately before the Gospel Lesson is called the Alleluia (Back) - The suite of psalms read at the start of Orthros Psalms 3, 37 (38), 62 (63), 87 (88), 102 (103), and 142 (143)The Six Psalms comprise an entire scale of experiences which illumine the Christian life of the New Testament - not merely its overall joyous mood, but also the sorrowful path to that joy (Back) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

19 Definitions Definitions - IX Service Books - special books containing the hymns or the services of the Orthodox Church There are eight, as follows: Gospel (Evangelion), Book of Epistles (Apostolos), Psalter (Octoechos or paraklitiki), Triodion, Pentecostarion, Twelve Menaia, Horologion, and Service or Liturgy book (Euchologio or Ieratiko) Stikheron Synaxarion - (pl Stikhera; also, Sticheron, Stichera) A stanza sung between verses taken from the Psalms, primarily at Vespers (at Lord, I have cried and the Apostikha) and Matins (at the Apostikha or the Praises) - 1) A brief biography of a saint read in the church on occasions of his feast day 2) Book or books containing lives of the saints Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20

20 Definitions Definitions - X Theotokion Troparion - (Gr referring to Theotokos ; Sl Bogorodichey) A hymn which refers to or praises Theotokos, the Mother of God (Back) - A short musical composition similar in length and style to the Kontakion They are sung at the end of Vespers, after God is the Lord and the Apostikha at Matins, at the Liturgy and other services (Back) Stephen Bishop Intro to Orthros May 20, / 20