Adapted from 

“THE HOUSE OF GOD AND THE CHURCH SERVICES”, 1  

By the Priest N. R. Antonov  

Continuation

THEN THE PRIEST exclaims:“Glory to Thee, Who hast shown us the light.” This means, Glory be to Thee, O Lord, Who hast revealed to us the light of the true knowledge of God. These words also carry us back to the days of Christianity’s deepest antiquity, and better than any other words remind us that this service should continue through to the rising of the sun. Properly, seeing the first rays of the light of dawn, on behalf of all the people the priest gives thanks unto the Lord that, as One kind-hearted, He has deemed us worthy once more to see the light of day, once again to see the light of the sun. “Glory to Thee, Who hast shown us the light.” [In many churches, particularly the monasteries, to this day, the services are so ordered that this exclamation is made at dawn.] Through the visible light, at this time the Christian is drawn to reflect upon the light of faith, the light of the true knowledge of God, which is shed forth upon us by the Lord Jesus Christ. So, lifting up their minds from the light of day, the natural light, to the spiritual light, the believers respond to the priest’s exclamation with the chanting of the Great Doxology (see text in your Prayer Books). Thus the Kingdom of Grace, people living here, are united with the Kingdom of Glory, the Kingdom of the Saints, in glorifying the Lord. The Great Doxology ends with the Thrice-holy Hymn, “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” After this, on feastdays the troparion of the feast is sung, and on Sundays, one of two dismissal hymns, which are so-named because they come near the dismissal of Mattins.

On Sundays of the first, second, third and fourth tones in Greek practice (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th in Russian), we chant:-

“Today is salvation come unto the world. Let us sing unto the Author of life Who arose from the grave; for, destroying death by death, He granted us the victory and great mercy.”

On the remaining Sundays, we chant:-

“Rising from the tomb and breaking the bonds of Hades asunder, Thou didst loose the sentence of death, O Lord, thereby delivering all men from the snares of the enemy. Manifesting Thyself to Thy disciples, Thou didst send them forth to preach, and through them didst grant peace to the whole world, O Thou Who alone art rich in mercy.”

Thus we hymn the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the labours of the Apostles in propagating the Christian Faith. Immediately we have a threefold litany and a litany of supplication, after which follows the dismissal and end of Mattins. In many churches in olden times a Many Years was proclaimed then for the Sovereign, which has now be replaced by one for the hierarchs.

The First Hour. After the end of the Mattins section, we read the First Hour in which we commemorate Pilate’s judgment of Jesus Christ. At the very end of this short service, the priest comes out of the sanctuary and stands before the Royal Gates and reads the following prayer:-

“O Christ, the true Light, that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, let the light of Thy countenance be signed upon us, that in it we may behold the Unapproachable Light. Direct our steps in the doing of Thy commandments by the intercessions of Thine All-pure Mother and of all Thy Saints. Amen.”

The choir then sings:

“To the, the Champion Leader, we thy flock dedicate a feast of victory and of thanksgiving, as ones rescued out of sufferings, O Theotokos. But as thou art one with might which is invincible, from all dangers that can be do thou deliver us, that we may cry to thee: Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded.”

And then the final dismissal.


§ 96. The Order of Mattins in the All-Night Vigil. [In this section, Fr Antonov simply lists the 26 sections into which he has previously divided Mattins.]