The Shepherd, April 2005
Adapted from
“THE HOUSE OF GOD AND THE CHURCH SERVICES”, 1
By the Priest N. R. Antonov
Continuation
§ 107. Great Lenten Mattins. In Great Lent Mattins may be joined to Great Compline in the same way that during the rest of the year Vespers and Mattins are linked to form a Vigil Service. The Great Lenten version of Mattins is more akin to the daily Mattins, and differs from a festal Mattins in the following respects:-
1) We do not chant “God is the Lord,” but instead intone other verses with the response: Alleluia; 2) three kathismata from the Psalter are appointed instead of two; 3) except on the greatest of celebrations, the polyeleos is not chanted, nor the accompanying hymns or the Gospel reading; 5) the canon from the Lenten Triodion is based on the usual nine ode form, but only has three odes (always the eighth and ninth and an earlier one depending on the day of the week: first on Monday, and so on). The canons from the Menaion have the usual form. The fact that the lenten canon is considerably shorter is made up for by the practice of chanting and reading either the whole or portions of the Old Testament songs on which the canons are based. On Monday we read the first ode completely, on Tuesday the second and so on. 6) the doxology is read and not chanted, and during this the Royal Gates are closed; 7) after this the supplicatory litany is intoned, followed first by the aposticha and then the exclamation “It is good to give praise unto the Lord.” This verse is the equivalent of the NuncDimittis in Vespers; 8) at the end of Mattins we do not have the threefold litany, except on days when the polyeleos is sung) but we have the Prayer of St Ephraim.
§ 108. Hours in Great Lent. The Hours in Great Lent have the following particularities: 1) after the usual three psalms, a kathisma from the Psalter may be appointed; 2) the troparions are replaced by lenten verses, which the priest intones before the Royal Gates, making three full prostrations and then a bow as he does so. The choir chants the first as a response; 3) at the end of each Hour, the Prayer of St Ephraim is appointed after the blessing and before the concluding prayer; 4) on the Sixth Hour an Old Testament reading is inserted.
§ 109. The Typica and Vespers in the Great Lenten Cycle. After the Ninth Hour, we have the Typica (see § 88). The first two psalms are, however, omitted, and we begin with the chanting (sometimes just the reading) of the Beatitudes.
Vespers: After the Typika, we have Vespers according to the appointed order, which again is more akin to daily Vespers than the festal or Sunday one. The proemial psalm is read rather than chanted, as it sometimes is in the Russian practice. There is no entrance, and after the prokeimenon we have Old Testament readings. At the end of the service, the following troparia are chanted. On the first three we make a full prostration and on the last we bow to the ground:-
“O Theotokos and Virgin, rejoice, O Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb; for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls.”
“O Baptist of Christ, keep us all in remembrance that we may be delivered from our iniquities; for to thee was given grace to intercede in our behalf.”
“Glory. Plead in our behalf, O holy Apostles and all Saints, that we may be delivered from perils and afflictions; for we have you as fervent suppliants before the Saviour.”
“Both now. Under thy compassion do we flee, O Theotokos; disdain not our prayers in times of affliction; but do thou rescue us from perils, O only pure one, O only blessed one.”
The prayers and hymns of the Great Lenten services and the appointed order of the services are to be found in a special book, called the “Lenten Triodion,” which is indispensable for the ordering of the services in this period of the year. It begins at the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee and ends on the day before Pascha.
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